 |
| View at Grant's Pass. |
This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
[440]
water.
On one of the little islands, and commanding the Pass, was a small earth-work, called Fort Powell, and across the channel, only a few yards distant, was a small light-house, as seen in the sketch made by the writer on an April evening, 1866.1 on the easterly Point of Dauphin Island was a
stronger work, called Fort Gaines, commanding the main entrance; and southeasterly from it, on Mobile Point, was the still stronger work, Fort Morgan, formerly Fort Bowyer, with a heavy light-house near it. The ship channel passed close under the guns of Fort Morgan, and in it the Confederates had driven piles to obstruct it, and sown torpedoes in profusion.
These forts were well armed and manned, and within the Bay, and not far distant, lay a small Confederate squadron, commanded by Admiral Buchanan.2 his flag-ship was a powerful ram, called Tennessee,3 one of the most formidable of that class of war-vessels; and she was accompanied by three ordinary gun-boats, named, respectively, Selma, Morgan, and Gaines.
such were the defenses of the harbor of Mobile, at its entrance, thirty miles south of the city.
Considering all things, they were very formidable, but not sufficiently so to cause the gallant Farragut to hesitate for a moment.
He had fixed upon the 4th of August as the day for the attack, but as the Tecumseh had not then arrived, operations were deferred until the next day, when they began before six o'clock in the morning.
Farragut had arranged his wooden ships in couples, lashed together, for the passage of the forts.
His flag-ship was tethered to the Metacomet. in order to have a general oversight and direction of all movements, he took the perilous position of the main-top of the Hartford, his flag-ship, where he was lashed, that he might not be dislodged by the shock of battle.
By means of a tube, extending from his lofty position to the deck, he was able to give orders clearly, in defiance of the uproar of the strife.
In that exposed situation he remained during the perilous passage of the forts and the conflict with the gun-boats, that ensued.
It was a marvelous and sublime exhibition of faith and courage.
He illustrated his own remark that “exposure is one of the penalties of rank in the navy.”
the exploit has been celebrated by the pencil and song.
at the hour above-named, Farragut's fleet steamed up toward Fort Morgan.
The four armored vessels passed the bar in advance, and at a little before seven o'clock, the Tecumseh opened fire upon the Fort, then a mile off. The latter soon replied, when a general engagement ensued.
Because of
1 this is from a sketch made from a steamer, looking East. On the left are seen the mounds of Fort Powell; on the right the light-house, and in the channel, the remains of the obstructions placed there by the Confederates. In the far distance is seen a part of Mobile Point.
2 see page 360, volume II.
3 the Tennessee was 209 feet in length, 48 feet beam, with timber sides 8 feet in thickness, and double. Plated with two-inch iron. She was fitted with a tower and turret; also, with a formidable beak. She carried two T-inch, and four 6-inch rifled guns, which cast projectiles respectively weighing 110 and 95 pounds. She was propelled by two powerful engines.
Scanned printed text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.