the commanders of companies to stay them, the men in the rear, seeing the slaughter in front, and that they were not covered by the marines, commenced to retreat; and, as there is no stopping a sailor if he fails on such an occasion on the first rush, I saw the whole thing had to be given up." The attack on this part of the fort, though a failure, diverted a part of the enemy's attention, and rendered the work laid out for the main storming column of troops much easier.

"On

At the word of command, the division of Gen. Ames, which had been gradually drawn forward under the shelter of hastily-formed breastworks, rushed toward the fort, the brigade of Curtis taking the lead. The palisades had been so much injured by the fire of the fleet that a few vigorous strokes from the axemen sufficed to clear gaps for the passage of the troops, and in the face of a severe enfilading fire a lodgment was soon effected on the west end of the land front. Pennybacker's and Bell's brigades followed in rapid succession, the latter moving between the work and the river. this side," says Gen. Terry, "there was no regnlar parapet, but there was an abundance of cover afforded to the enemy by cavities from which sand had been taken for the parapet, the ruins of barracks and storehouses, the large magazine, and by traverses behind which they stubbornly resisted our advance. Hand to hand fighting of the most desperate character ensued, the traverses of the land face being used successively by the enemy as breastworks, over the tops of which the contending parties fired in each other's faces. Nine of these were carried, one after the other, by our men." At five o'clock, when about half of the land front of the fort had been thus captured, it became apparent that more troops were needed to support the assaulting column, and Abbott's brigade was ordered up, its place in the defensive line facing Wilmington being supplied by the sailors and marines. The attack then went on with redoubled fury, the fire of the navy meanwhile continuing upon that part of the work not occupied by the Federal troops, and upon the beach on Cape Fear River, under the apprehension that reenforcements might be thrown over there by the rebels from the right bank of the river. All this time signals between the land and naval forces were exchanged with great exactness, and the cooperation between the two services was in the highest degree harmonious and useful. By 9 P. M. two more traverses were carried, and an hour later Abbott's brigade drove the enemy from their remaining stronghold, and the occupation of the work was complete. The enemy fell gradually back to Federal Point, where, being cut off from further retreat, they surrendered unconditionally about midnight. About 4 P. M. Hoke had advanced against Paine's division, as if intending a general assault, but retired after a slight skirmish with the outposts. The garrison originally numbered over 2,300 men, of whom 1,971, with 112 officers, were captured. The rest were killed and

The fleet suffered a loss of between two and three hundred in killed and wounded, principally in the assaulting column of sailors and marines, and two 15-inch guns were exploded on board the monitors. In other respects the ships experienced little damage.

The greater part of the guns of the fort were dismounted, or otherwise injured by the fire of the fleet, but the work itself received no damage which was not susceptible of immediate repair, its strength being about the same as before the bombardment. According to Admiral Porter, who had visited the Malakoff during the siege of Sebastopol, it was a much more formidable work than that celebrated stronghold, and its capture caused an almost unprecedented rejoicing throughout the United States. The capture of the fort having sealed the fate of the rebel supremacy in Cape Fear River, their remaining works covering the mouth of the river, including Fort Caswell and the forts at Smith's Island, Smithville, and Reeves's Point, together with the gunboats Chickamauga and Tallahassee, were destroyed or evacuated, whereby 169 guns and large amounts of ammunition and commissary stores fell into the hands of the Federals. Among the guns were some English ones of Sir William Armstrong's make. Admiral Porter immediately sent some of his light draught gunboats into the river, and by a skilful ruse decoyed several blockade-runners under the shelter of Fort Caswell, where they were of course speedily captured.

The operations of the South Atlantic Squadron were much curtailed by a variety of circumstances, the chief of which was the withdrawal of the greater part of the troops of the Department of the South, under Gen. Gillmore, to reënforce the Army of the James. Deprived of this necessary coöperative branch, Admiral Dahlgren found it impossible to make any serious demonstration against Charleston, and the fleet in that quarter was principally employed in blockade duties. A detachment of vessels coöperated in the St. John's River with the army movements in Florida in the spring, and subsequently in demonstrations against James's Island, Bull's Bay, and other places. On Feb. 17th the gunboat Housatonic was destroyed by a torpedo off Charleston, and two

small armed steamers, the Columbine and Water Witch, fell into the enemy's hands in the course of the year.

The chief events in the history of the West Gulf squadron were those connected with the capture of the fortifications guarding the entrance to the bay of Mobile, and the consequent closing of that port against the blockade-runners. Although in many respects it was desirable to obtain possession of these works, the exigencies of the service in other quarters had not previously permitted the cooperation of so large a body of troops as was needed for the undertaking. The rebels availed themselves of this circumstance to construct several ironclads and armed vessels, and threatened to raise the blockade of Mobile. Early in the year Admiral Farragut reconnoitred the approaches to the city, and offered, with the assistance of an iron-clad or two and a few thousand troops, to gain full possession of the bay; but as neither of these could at once be obtained, he was forced to confine himself to threatening demonstrations, although, as he privately informed the Naval Department, should the rebel iron-clads come out to attack his wooden fleet, the issue would necessarily be a doubtful one. He, however, expressed himself in readiness to measure his strength with Admiral Buchanan, whenever the latter should venture to offer battle, and kept his fleet in constant readiness for such a contingency.

At length, in the latter part of July, Admiral Farragut received an addition of four monitors to his squadron, the Tecumseh, Winnebago, Manhattan, and Chickasaw, and a cooperative land force under Gen. Granger was promised by Gen. Canby, commanding the military division of the southwest. The entrance to Mobile Bay is divided by Dauphin Island into two passages, the easterly of which is about four miles wide and twenty feet deep, and the other a shallow strait of not above five feet depth. On either side of the main channel stand Forts Gaines and Morgan, the former occupying the east end of Dauphin Island, and the latter the end of a long sandy point which makes out into the bay directly opposite. The channel runs close under the guns of Fort Morgan, and a large part of it had been obstructed with piles and torpedoes. Fort Morgan was a powerful stone, casemated work, mounting forty-eight guns, including some of very heavy calibre, and the armament of Fort Gaines consisted of twenty-one guns. About a mile distant from Fort Gaines, on Dauphin Island, was Fort Powell, a lesser work, adjoining which were a water battery and some earthworks. On the evening of Aug. 4th the monitors and wooden vessels were all assembled off the bar of Mobile Bay, and at 5.40 A. M. of the 5th the whole fleet moved up the bay in the following order, two abreast and lashed together: the Brooklyn with the Octorara on the port side, the Hartford and Metacomet, the Richmond and Port Royal, the Lackawanna and Seminole, the Monongahela

and Kennebec, the Ossipee and Itasca, and the Oneida and Galena. Between the four first couples and Fort Morgan, at a distance of about two hundred yards from the latter, moved the monitors, headed by the Tecumseh, for the double purpose of keeping down the fire of the water-battery and parapet guns of the fort, and attacking the rebel iron-clads when the fort was passed. The object of coupling the wooden ships, an expedient as novel as it was ingenious, was to insure mutual protection by enabling each to tow along its consort, in case the latter should be crippled. The Admiral was on board his flag-ship the Hartford, and in order to get an unobstructed view of operations, and to give his orders with clearness, caused himself to be lashed to the main-top.

At about seven o'clock, as the head of the column came abreast of the fort, the latter opened fire, and the action soon became general. The enemy confidently expected, from the close quarters at which the fighting was to take place, to be able to sink or disable several of the attacking vessels. But here, as at the pas sage of the forts in Mississippi in 1862, Farragut converted what might well have seemed a disadvantage into a positive advantage to himself, by pouring such continuous broadsides into the fort as to drive the gunners from their guns, and enable the ships to pass with comparatively slight damage. At 7.40, while the firing was at its height, and the fleet making rapid progress in spite of the obstructions in its path, the monitor Tecumseh struck a torpedo, which blew a large hole through her bottom, just under the turret, and almost imediately she filled with water and sank. At this moment the Brooklyn, by backing her engines to avoid torpedoes, temporarily arrested the progress of the fleet, and the Admiral, regardless of torpedoes. at once dashed to the head of the column, first despatching a boat from the Metacomet to pick up the survivors of the Tecumseh. Of these only four officers and seventeen men were found; four swam ashore and were made prisoners, and the rest, with her commander, T. A. M. Craven, were drowned.

Soon after eight o'clock the whole column had passed the forts, with no serious disaster beyond the loss of the Tecumseh. The Oneida, which brought up the rear, and was conse quently more exposed to the fire of the fort than the rest of the fleet, had her boiler penetrated by a 7-inch rifle-shell, and was deprived of motive power; but she was towed safely along by her consort, the Galena, and made good use of her guns until the fort was passed. Meanwhile the rebel fleet, consisting of the iron-clad ram Tennessee and the gunboats Sel ma, Gaines, and Morgan, had held a position inside the bay a little north of Fort Morgan, whence they poured a galling fire upon the fleet. The Tennessee, under the immediate command of Admiral Buchanan, made a dash at the Hartford and several other ships, during the passage of the fort, but subsequently sought

shelter under its guns; and under the supposition that she had retired from the fight, Admiral Farragut ordered the fleet to cast off their couplings and come to anchor, with the exception of the light-draught gunboats, which were directed to pursue and destroy the Selma, Morgan, and Gaines. The Metacomet captured the Selma after a brisk engagement, but the Morgan and Gaines succeeded in getting under the protection of Fort Morgan. The former subsequently crept along the shore during the night into Mobile, but the latter was so seriously injured that she had to be destroyed. Several of the large ships were already at anchor, when, shortly before nine o'clock, the Tennessee was seen standing toward the Hartford, with the desperate intention apparently of fighting single-handed the whole fleet. Of the singular combat that followed, the following description is given by Admiral Farragut:

I was not long in comprehending his intentions to be the destruction of the flag-ship. The monitors, and such of the wooden vessels as I thought best adapted for the purpose, were immediately ordered to attack the ram, not only with their guns, but bows on at full speed, and then began one of the fiercest naval combats on record. The Monongahela, Commander Strong, was the first vessel that struck her, and in doing so carried away his own iron prow, together with the cutwater, without apparently doing her adversary much injury. The Lackawanna, Capt. Marchand, was the next vessel to strike her, which she did at full speed; but though her stem was cut and crushed to the plank ends for the distance of three feet above the water's edge to five feet below, the only perceptible effect on the ram was to give her a heavy list. The Hartford was the third vessel which struck her, but, as the Tennessee quick ly shifted her helm, the blow was a glancing one, and as she rasped along our side, we poured our whole port broadside of 9-inch solid shot within ten feet of her casement.

The monitors worked slowly, but delivered their fire as opportunity offered. The Chickasaw succeeded in getting under her stern, and a 15-inch shot from the Manhattan broke through her iron plating and heavy wooden backing, though the missile itself did not enter the vessel. Immediately after the collision with the flag-ship I directed Capt. Drayton to bear down for the ram again. He was doing so at full speed, when, unfortunately, the Lackawanna run into the Hartford just forward of the mizzen-mast, cutting her down to within two feet of the water's edge. We soon got clear again, however, and were fast approaching our adversary, when she struck her colors and run up the white flag.

She was at this time sore beset; the Chickasaw was pounding away at her stern, the Ossipee was approaching her at full speed, and the Monongahela, Lackawanna, and this ship were bearing down upon her, determined upon her destruction. Her smokestack had been shot away, her steering chains were gone, compelling a resort to her relieving tackles, and several of her port shutters were jammed. Indeed, from the time the Hartford struck her until her surrender, she never fired a gun. As the Ossipee, Commander Le Roy, was about to strike her, she hoisted the white flag, and that vessel immediately stopped her engine, though not in time to avoid a glancing blow. During this contest with the rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee, and which terminated by her surrender at 10 o'clock, we lost many more men than from the fire of the batteries of Fort Morgan.

The Tennessee, as was effectually shown by the determined resistance which she made, was

perhaps the strongest vessel ever constructed by the enemy. She was 209 feet in length, with a breadth of beam of 48 feet, had in the centre an external casement, with sloping sides, about 80 feet in length by 30 feet in breadth, and drew about 14 feet of water. Her deck was plated with 2 inches of wrought-iron, her sides with 4 inches, and her casemate with from 5 to 6 inches. Her armament consisted of 4 6-inch broadside rifles, and 2 7-inch pivot rifles, all of the Brooks pattern. But one shot, a 15-inch one from the Manhattan, penetrated her armor, and, in view of the hard pounding which she received, her injuries were on the whole inconsiderable. Admiral Buchanan lost a leg in the action, and ten or twelve of the crew were killed and wounded. The prisoners surrendered numbered 20 officers and about 170 men; and those on the Selma, 90 officers and men. The casualties in the fleet, exclusive of those on board the Tecumseh, were 52 killed and 170 wounded.

Meanwhile, on the 4th, a cooperative body of troops under Gen. Granger had landed on Dauphin Island, in accordance with an arrangement between Admiral Farragut and Gen. Canby, and commenced the siege of Fort Gaines. The rebel commander, Colonel Anderson, seeing that the Federal fleet held uninterrupted possession of Mobile Bay, concluded that further resistance was hopeless, and on the 7th surrendered his garrison of 818 men unconditionally. Fort Powell had been blown up by the rebels on the evening of the 5th. These obstructions being removed and Grant's Pass secured, the fleet was relieved from any apprehensions with regard to obtaining supplies; but it was nevertheless determined to complete the work originally undertaken by the capture of Fort Morgan, which still held out. The troops were accordingly transferred to the rear of the fort, and lines of investment drawn across the sandy spit on which it is situated. On the 22d, fire was opened from the shore batteries and the fleet, and on the next day Gen. Page, the rebel commander, surrendered unconditionally. When possession was taken of the work it was found that, with what Admiral Farragut called “childish spitefulness," he had destroyed many of the guns and other property which had been surrendered. Thenceforth during the year Mobile was effectually cut off from external

commerce.

In the course of the year, says the Secretary of the Navy, "the three English-built piratical cruisers which, under the rebel flag, have, during the last two years, roamed the seas, robbing and destroying our merchantmen, shunning all armed antagonists, and have found refuge and protection, and too often supplies and other assistance, in neutral ports, have terminated These were the Alatheir predatory career." bama, the Florida, and the Georgia-the first sunk off Cherbourg by the Kearsarge, the second captured in Bahia harbor by the Wachusett and the third captured at sea, off the coast of

Portugal, by the Niagara. Early in June the Alabama, after a prosperous career among the American merchantmen in the Southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, returned to northern waters and put into Cherbourg. The Kearsarge, Captain John A. Winslow, then lying at Flushing, immediately sailed for Cherbourg to watch the movements of the Alabama; and on June 15th her commander received a note from Captain Semmes of the privateer, announcing his intention to fight the Kearsarge, and begging Captain Winslow not to depart until the two vessels could have an opportunity to measure their strength. As this was precisely what the Federal commander desired, he willingly awaited the movements of his adversary. The relative proportions and armaments of the two antagonists were as follows:

17 66

Kearsarge. 214 feet. 198 66 33 66 16 64

Depth..
Horse-power, two engines of. 300 each. 400 h. power.

Tonnage.
1,150
1,030
Armament of the Alabama.-One 7-inch Blakely rifle;
one 8-inch smooth-bore 68-pounder; six 82-pounders.
Armament of the Kearsage.-Two 11-inch smooth-bore
guns; one 30-pounder rifle; four 32-pounders.

The Kearsarge had twenty-two officers and one hundred and forty men, and the Alabama, so far as can be ascertained, about one hundred and forty officers and men, the greater part of the ship's company consisting of British subjects. Her gunners were trained artillerists from the British practice-ship Excellent. Availing himself of an ingenious expedient for the protection of his machinery, first adopted by Admiral Farragut in running past the rebel forts on the Mississippi in 1862, Capt. Winslow had hung all his spare anchor-cable over the midship section of the Kearsarge on either side; and in order to make the addition less unsightly, the chains were boxed over with inch deal boards, forming a sort of case, which stood out at right angles to the side of the vessel.

At twenty minutes past ten on Sunday morning, June 19th, the Alabama was seen standing out from Cherbourg harbor, accompanied by the French iron-clad Couronne, and followed by the steam yacht Deer-hound, whose owner, an Englishmen named Lancaster, was on board with his family, ostensibly to witness the engagement, but really, as it subsequently appeared, to act as a tender to the Alabama. Upon seeing the Alabama approach, Capt. Winslow kept out to sea a few miles, in order "that the positions of the ships should be so far off shore that no questions could be advanced about the line of jurisdiction." Upon reaching a point about seven miles from the land the Kearsarge put about, and steered directly for the Alabama, which first opened fire at a range of about a mile. The following account of the fight that ensued is given by Capt. Winslow:

Immediately I ordered more speed; but in two minutes the Alabama had again loaded, and fired another broadside, and following it with a third, with out damaging us except in rigging. We had now ar

rived within nine hundred yards of her, and I was apprehensive that another broadside, nearly raking as it was, would prove disastrous. I accordingly ordered the Kearsarge sheered, and opened on the Alabama.

The positions of the vessels were now broadside to broadside, but it was soon apparent that Captain Semmes did not seek close action. I became thea fearful lest, after some fighting, that he would again make for the shore. To defeat this I determined to keep full speed on, and with a port helm to run under the stern of the Alabama, and rake, if he did not prevent it by sheering and keeping his broadside to He adopted this mode as a preventive, and, as a consequence, the Alabama was forced, with a ful head of steam, into a circular track during the engagement.

us.

The effect of this manœuvre was such that, at the last of the action, when the Alabama would have had the action continued from the first in parallel made off, she was near five miles from the shore; and lines, with her head in shore, the line of jurisdiction would no doubt have been reached.

The firing of the Alabama from the first was rapid and wild; toward the close of the action her firing became better. Our men, who had been cautioned against rapid firing without direct aim, were much more deliberate; and the instructions given to point the heavy guns below rather than above the water line, and clear the deck with the lighter ones, were fully observed. I had endeavored with a port helm to close in with the Alabama, but it was not until just before the close of the action that we were in a position to use grape; this was avoided, however, by her surrender. The effect of the training of our men was evident; nearly every shot from our guns was telling fearfully on the Alabama, and on the seventh rotation on the circular track she winded, setting fore trysail and two jibs, with head in shore. port broadside was presented to us with only two Her speed was now retarded, and by winding her guns bearing, not having been able, as I learned af terward, to shift over but one. I saw now that the was at our mercy, and a few more guns well directed brought down her flag. I was unable to ascertain whether they had been hauled down or shot away, but a white flag having been displayed over the steru, followed by two guns fired to leeward, our fire was reserved. Two minutes had not more than elapsed before she again opened on us with the two guns o the port side. This drew our fire again, and the Kearsarge was immediately steamed ahead and lay across her bows for raking.

The white flag was still flying, and our fire was again reserved. Shortly after this her boats were seen to be lowering, and an officer in one of them came alongside and informed us the ship had surren dered and was fast sinking. In twenty minutes from this time the Alabama went down, her mainmast, which had received a shot, breaking near the head as she sunk, and her bow rising high out of the water although it is stated she discharged three hundred as her stern rapidly settled. The fire of the Alabama, and seventy or more shell and shot, was not of ser ous damage to the Kearsarge. Some thirteen or four een of these had taken effect in and about the hull, and sixteen or seventeen about the waste and rigging.

to receive the officers and crew of the Alabams, The boats of the Kearsarge were at once sent but so rapidly did she go down that it was im

possible to save them all without assistance. Capt. Winslow accordingly requested the Deer hound, which had meanwhile come alongside. to assist in the rescue of his prisoners. The crew of the privateer were by this time strug gling for their lives in the water, and many of the wounded men went down. In the confusion