Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-05

sink the rebel II The necessity is very pressing
w.n start boat and mechanics and materials
her as We'll as they can on the way down the river and
time c S' be a6wa "a tI o they reSe
done here They will be only of hand contriyances NJ
few brave pilots ard engineers to man them / think
we can make them do the work. Yours.
! CHARLES ELLET. JR.
COL. ELLET's RAMS
The foregoing indicates, at once, the haste
that impelled him in his responsible undertake
/ ing and the confidence he felt in his long con-
siGeTeG plan. even though it were applied to
''only off-hand contrivances. at best-mere SUBJ
stitutes for rams" for, be it remembered that
While the government cheerfulIy had fully
! AIDED Capt. Ericsson in building the Monitor
! ana other kindred batteries. Col Elet was not
given the opportunity to construct a fleet of
rams nor even single ram. according to his
! matured methods. Nevertheless as shown by
| the foregoing communication to Gen. Halleck.
When the confederates had usurped and util-
/ lied the plans he had so long fruitlessly advo-
Gated, using them to the destruction of the
governments vessels. Col. Ellet came forward
promptly and. i'll an almost inconceivably short
time, under the most urgent pressure, con-
verted unsuitable and incompetent vessels
composed of the toughest materials into tenn
porary and imperfect rams. with which. COM
handing them in person, he undertook to
assall and destroy the thoroughly constructed
armed rams and iron-clad gunboats of the
enemy! Between the 28th of March and the
ensuing 2Sth of May he purchased. altered,
strengthened and protected eight boats to CON
stltute his projected fleet. He had manned
them each with handful of volunteers and
furnished them with necessary supplies. He
had transferred them with great difficulty over
the bars at the mouth of the Ohio and reported
III person to Commodore Charles II. Davis his
readiness to cooperate with him in his move
ments upon the Mississippi. the gunboat fleet
commodore heinz loh
Fort Pillow. Such were the preparations lead
Ing to the naval battle in front of Memphis
wherein Col. Ellet's rough rams, commanded
by himself. achieved an unprecedented victory
over fOrmldably-equipped enemy, capturing
the city; but, i'll the moment of triumph for
both the fleet which he led and for the scien-
tlhc principles of which he had been so long
an advocate. he received at his post the wound
that ended his brilliant career. Prior to this
hght-May 10, 1S62-the confederate rams had
come up the river from below Fort Pillow and
attacking two United States gunboats-the
Cincinnati and the Mound City-had chased
them into shallow water, rammed and sunk
them
AN INDEPENDENT COMMANDER.
IL was this incident and the consequent dis
patches from the Secretary of War that had
hurried Col. Ellet and his rams to the scene
even before his meaSer preparations were COM
pleted. Be 1t remarked just here that he was
In the singular position of holding an independ-
ent command in connection with the operations
upon Memphis. he having declined to engage
III the dangerous enterprise upon any other
conditions. He commanded, therefore. upon
his own responsibility, according to his own
Judgment free from the control of any officer
however exalted. The naval officers, in fact
Jeered at the little rams, disclaming all connec-
ton with them. Brown paper boats" and The
mosquito fleet were the terms the officers
usually applied to theN. but nevertheless, thew
achieved victory over apparently great odds
and lnaugurated revolution in the accepted
methods of naval strife. Col Ellet claimed
and demonstrated i'll the battle of Memphis
that the efficiency of the ram as an engine of
warfare was not dependent upon guns nor
liable to be seriously impaired by the most
effective artillery. His main dependence was
IN the strength of his PROV and the rapidlty of
movement, whether in attack or i'll defense.
Stating i'll nutshell the significance of the
Memphis fight. Gen. Alfred W. Ellet who par
ticipated with his brother in the remarkable
affair, writes:
In the battle Of Memphis, two frail, hat-bottomed
wooden rams. without single gun board slipped
between two contendn2 fleets clad in arluor and using
closed with the enemy and sunk outright three Of
those heavily -arluored vessels"
The annals of naval warfare hardly furnish
parallel to this brilliant even. and yet the hero
OF the battle Is seldom remembered in connec-
tlOn with the victory that was won and which
served to illuminate a vital problem in naval
science. 1t is in view of these facts that the
name of Chas. Ellet jr.. deserves to be men,
toned under the inspirations of national graft
tude. The fame of the great Ericsson is pres
clous indeed, and cannot be dimmed by enlarg-
ing the list of those with whom he is properly
associated. The pages of American history are
broad enough for each and all of them and the
republic is rich and liberal enough to immortal
lze their deeds in the silent eloquence of "a
monument as durable as the hills
GEO RARFR