Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1867-08-31
BUCHANAN AND THE TENNESSEE.

The grandestnaYaI combat which Times
recording finger has placed upon tht
pages of history, has just ended. The
Tennessee, that ark of a nations hope, at
ter a struggle made desperate by ls III
equality, q struggle, which though dl8as
trous to the cause, threw a lustre around
the Southern flag, that neither malice
nor envy can ever dim-her commander
wounded, her rudder chains shot away
battered and helpless, lay upon the wat
er, the target for hundreds Of guns, The
heat within her iron shield had become
almost unbearable, yet still an occasional
report from her guns, and the crashing
Of a steel bolt through the wooden sides
of the Hartford, told Of the stubborn
spirit that animated her gallant crew.
Further resistance being useless, the
Admiral, whose lee bad been shattered,
consented to surrender lis only ship to a
force SO overwhelming, that any man,
other than the hero Of Hampton Roads,
the dauntiess, the glorious Buchanan,
would have shrunk back aghast from the
very contemplation Of opposing it in &C
ton.
With the Tennessee died the last hope
Of the Confederate navy. So mnch time,
thought, and money had been layished
on her construction, she had become
a part of SO many fond hopes and antici-
pations. not a lady in Mobile but knew
every plank ii her deck, every plate of
her armor, the very guns Of the battery
that they regarded as the palladium Of
their safety, bore their names ; and to
know that she had been utterly over
wbelmed and captured, was the most
cruel blow that fortune ever inflicted,
with the single exception Of Lees sur
render and aside from the surrender Of
Lee, do not recall any incident of the
war more sadly touching, or more caIcu-
lated to fill our hearts With the proud
consciousness that ever in defeat the
South was noble still, than the capitula-
ton Of the Tennessee.
Farragut and Buchanan Each at
the head Of their opposing navies, both
Admirals, friends in peace, but enemies
in war The one with a fleet composed
of the finest iron and wooden ships il the
world, and more powerful than any whose
thunders have ever caused the great deep
to tremble, the other with a single iron
gunboat or ram, (the three small wooden
gunboats scarcely deserve mentioD) man.
ned by stout hearts, who may guess the
feelings that surged through Buchanan's
breast, when, despite a perseverance in
fIa aH,c+rrat.ar &c -, o.I- ~
mounted all obstacles, despite a display
of skill and courage that wrung applause
from not only bis enemies, but the world,
he consented to surrender-to surrender
to Farragut. Let me be not understood
as wishing to detract one iota from the
g~allantry of the latter. Adler eulogists
than | have chronicled bis fame, and to-
day royalty itself bends to bis proves
add success. He knew his opponent and
wisely prepared for a struggle with a
giant.
Our individual destinies do not hang
upon siighter threads than do those Of
nations but it is all idle now to specu.
late upon what would have been the re-
suit, had the rudder chains of the Ten
nessee been placed beneath her iron sheath
ing. instead Of being exposed on her
deck.
The battle was over, and Mobile only
saved by the torpedoes and distractions.
which presented an impossible barrier toll
the Federal gunboats that Immediately
made their appearance ia front Of the city.
On the opposite side Of the river, below
Aigiers, among a group of turreted
monsters, who assisted in her capture.
the Tennessee lies as quietly as though
had Observation-Disclosures and en-.
clreled by scores of ships, each one OF
which should have been a match for her
ridden through a storm of shot and
such as no other vessel ever sns.
The name of Buchanan will be
handed down to posterity, inseparably
connected with the noble ships he fought,
and every generous and true heart will
thrill with enthusiastic admiration when
The story of his victory and defeat is
told.-P. NJ. B. in N. 0. Pjcayune,
A gentleman one day arrived at a small
inn, and addressing a lugubrious
waiter, inquired if he could have a chick.
and asparagus.
The serving man shook his head.
"Can have a duck, then p