The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-03
i"cAMEI.s" UNDER WATER

admit OF her passage OTeT Dog River Bar
six miles below the City of Mobile, con.
sequentlv it was necessary 10 devise
some method Of lifting her over. AS
she approached completion the construc.
ton Of "camels" was begun. These were
water.tight boxes, 80 shaped as to fit
under the side of the vessel. They were
four in number, and they were three
weeks in building. They were intended
70 be sunk under the ships bottom by
letting water into them. Once in posi-
tion the water was to be pumped out,
when the "camels" would rise and lift
the vessel.
They were nearly ready to be launched
when one night they were set on fire,
doubtless by Union sympathizers, and
reduced to ashes. Nothing remained
but to begin the building Of new ones,
and this was done at once, with q Gordon
of sentries around the spot. In due
course Of time the new "camels" were
completed, and by means of them the
Tennessee was lifted over Dog River Bar
and proceeded to the lower bay, whence
she was destined never to return.
The sideWheel steamer alluded to
above was named the Nashville. She
was constructed with q substantial IRON
clad shield forward OF the mheelhouses,
and as ram she might have done some
damage to Farragut's feet had she been
ready in time. She was taking on board
her Armament Of riaed cannon the very
morning that the enemys vessels passed
Fort Morgan.
4 NECESSARY CHANGE OF PROGRAMME.
1t had been Buchanan's intention to
go out in the Tennessee and endeavor to
raise the blockade of Mobile. About the
lst of August he had determined to
make the attempt on the following
morning, and the little squadron was
ordered to be in readiness for the under
taking. But when at dawn we looked
out seward we saw that the blockading
fleet had been heavily reinforced during
the night, and the plan Of attacking them
was abandoned as 40 longer feasible.
This reinforcement of the enemy was
preparatory to Farragut's much vaunted
exploit of running past the guns of Fort
Morgan.
A FEW WORDS CONCERNING FARAGUT
may not be out of place here. The quail
tiles that 60 to make up brilliant naval
commander of Farragut's calibre-and,
may add, Of Bucbannan's, for they
were products of the same school and
closely resembied one another-aTe much
| the same that are needed in calvary
oilicer-the qualities of Rupert, Mu.
rat, Jeb Stuart.
Farragut possessed these qualities in n
| pre.eminent degree, but the claim put
forth by our Northern friends, that his
| exploits mark him as the greatest naval
| commander that ever lived is prcposter.
GUS. In saying 30 am governed wholly
by what he did, not by what he might
have done; for, although had on more
| than one occasion before the war listened
to his conversation, do not pretend TO
a special knowledge OF the latent posi-.
bilities that were in him. He had at his
command new factor in naval warfare
steam power and, while he made good
use of it in running past land batteries,
| that was no mUre than dozens of others,
Federals and Confederates, did during
the war, and he was not the pioneer in
such undertakings.
! STEAMERS RUNNING FAST LAND BAT
TERIEs
During the siege of Sebastopol Rus
| sian dispatch steamer was in the habit
of making almost daily trips past the
Allied batteries.
The Confederate States steamers Pat
rick Henry, jamestown and Teazer ran
by the Federal batteries at Newport
News, and, clthough one of them receiv-
ed-a shot through her steam dome, she
managed still to keep on.
Federal gunboats never hesitated to
! run by our batteries on the Mississippi
and its tribntaries-eveD transports
laden with troops passing with impunity
| siich fOTsifcation5 10 wsTo at ,Hickskn-Ss.
Similar exploits we're performed
sl=.o=t aas'y = .c=::e::=
ing or leaving our ports.
| Perhaps the most noted of these Was
that by Capt. John N. Mafitt, in. the
! Confederate States steamer .Fle-ida.
Half of his crew being stricken down at
sea with yellow fever, he determined to
get within reach of medical aid, and
| steered straight for Mobile, the nearest
Confederate port. In broad daylight the
Florida was sighted by the blockading
feet steering directly for the entrance 10
| Mobile Bay. MsfIitt had sent below Ell
| of his crew except the few that were
| needed to handle the ship. In vain the
Federal vessels emptied their broadsides
in the effort to stop the daring Confeder-
ate. Several pTojectiies !, struck her,
among them an IL inch. shell, which
| lOItuuatety 0tu hot NSGptOu6, DuD Bu9
kept straight on, and anchored In aue
time under the guns of Fort Morgan. i3
TO plump with q cannon ball chip
passing rapidly, and perhaps mile
away, ia like shooting bird on the wing
with pistol. The bird, too, is apt to
fall if hit once, but the ship might be
struck q hundred times over and still
k,ep on.
1t cannot, therefore, be conceded that
naval commander whose reputation
rests wholly cn his SUCCESS ir running
past shore batteries. whether in single
steamer or attended by many, has any
claim to place by the side Of Nelson.
The latter won his victories by combine-
tions like those made by Napoleon on
land. He beat the enemy In detail-
doubling on one end of his line and
leaving the other either. to look idly on
or run. AUD he always knew when and
j now 10 make such combinations. -5.
Doubtless history will right all such
matters in the course of timo. Ss.5
A "MocK MONITOR" WITH A MORAL.
!. Apropos of this subject is an account,
10 q late number tof the Philadelphia
Times, of Incidents at;the siege of Vicks.
burg; in which the writer tells of prac-
ticai joke pefpetrated by Admiral Por-
ter. He ordered g "mock monitor" to
bs Constructed out Of "an old coal barge
decked over, with a Iot OF empty pork
barrels set, up to eimplate ,turrets and
s,nokestacks, mud furnaces 10 generate