The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1889-11-19

river. They were the Miami AMI Southtield
dashed together and directed by Fleet Com
mander G. W. Flusser The fastenlngs OF
chains were arranged 50 that the ram could
be caught between the two. The commander
OF the Albemarie. however, shecr.l his vessel
to avoid the trap and then suddenly turned
oHt and plunged the iron Prov into the side OF
the Southli-ll, ripping her sides 50 that She
went to the bottom at once.
Many of the officers and crow went down
in the Wreck, >onr were captured aul other,
were saved by the Miami Tho Miami
opened AZ once ~ith 100 pound Shot and
eleven inch shell, but the pre- icctilcs made nc
impression on the heavy arnor Of The ram
Commander tlus,cr, on tie Mimi fired one
Of the guns personally. The third shot, an
eleven illch shell, rebounlel from the ram,
exploded, AMI killed the conuanler and
wounded several men. The Miami was now
nearly GROUNDED, and on swinging into tho
middle current found the ram had become
disentangled from the Southfqla and was
making for hcr consort. and the acting com
mander withdrew from tie combat and
steamed bac,, into AlDcmarle sound.
The result Of the Albe.Aarle's victory was
that Gen llohe stormcd the Union works on
making prisoners Of Gen. Vessels and his
garrison.
The Al5emarle at once became a sea mon
ster equal i'll the eyes Of friend and foe to the
terrible Merrnac Yet the predictions dur
ing her construction had been that she would
prove a failure. Nearly year before this
combat the unfortunate Commander Flusser
had written to the admiral Of the North AT,
la 10 a1tn,, 1.
battery which lie had heard Of as being under
construction up the Roanoke. on the plan of
the Merrimac. lie closed the report as fol-
lows: We are driving piles in the river and
preparing to receive them. do not doubt
we shall whip them if they venture down. ="
Admiral Lee expressed the opinion to the
secretary OF the navy that the sound necdro
ironclad defenders, but that they could moi
be Heated over the bar at IIatteras Inlet. A
land expedition was now recommended to de.
stroy the ram, but after passing through sew
eral headquarters the suggestion was pigeon
holed, with the Endorsement that the general
i'll Immediate command never attached any
Importance to il. 4"
While these Investigations and surgestiom
were gong on to no purpose the Contcderates
were adding daily TO the power of the bat
terry and bringing her toward completion.
The yard where this new terror was takino
shape consisted of q cornfeld near the water.
just above the overflow tides The con-
structor was Gilbert Elliott. an engineer OF
Elizabeth City, and Capt j. w. Cooke, of
the Confederate navy, was assigned to the
command.
Cooke was an old naval officer, a native of
Virginia, and had taken part in the naval
battles IN these waters when Burnside cap
tured the region, losing his vessel the Ellis.
i'll the contest. In tho construction of rew
ship in the pine barrens of North Carolina,
he found full scope for his energy
The region where the keel was laid afforded
nothing but pine, and to secure timbers.
portable saw mills were run about the coun.
try to pick out suitable trees The vessel was
l52 feet long and As wide at tho extreme.
Her depth was feet and her draught, when
ironed and armed about feet. Her armor
was two courses Of iron, Z inches wide and 2
inches thick, laid on l6 inches of wooden back
ing. The iron for the armor was rolled at
the Tredegar works in Richmond, but the
crude material was hard to get, and Cooks
made use of all the old pieces that could be
gathered. AT the yard, old smith FORCES
from farms roundabout were brought into