News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-11-20
THE RAM ARKANAS ON THE
YAzOO AND MISSISSIPPI.
=. Merrimac Virgin

it), Albemarle and
Arkansas gave the Union navy some lively
work, each in its own way. The Arkansas,
like the Albemarle, was a surprise to
its own people as well as to its enemies
Six weeks before she took to the wave
she was an empty hull, anchored in the
channel of the YaZoo river, four miles from
dry land. Her guns and engines were lying
loose on deck, the iron for ar1nor was sunk
in the mud and water of the overflow, and
the bands and bolts had yet to be forged
out of metal scattered oversiXty miles of ter
ritory, wherever it could be gathered, and
the timber for her gun carriages was still
standing thick with foliage. In this situa-
ton Capt. Isaac n. Brown found her, and
with authority to complete her, regardless
of expense, set to work with unframed me-
chanics and next to no machinery. Brown
had served in the old navy, good school
for strong men.
He stopped at nothing, and though
working under every disadvantage, with a
powerful Union fleet within six hours
steaming, and hostile guns constantly
sounding in the ears of his improvised
force of helpers, he was ready with the
falling of the waters to weigh anchor. The
armor had not been put over her stern, and
for appearance sake boiler iron was tackled
on to cover up the wood. She looked, says
her commander, 'as if a small seagoing
vessel had been cut down to the waters
edge, leaving a box for guns amidships." +"
She carried ten guns-siX in broadside and
two fore and aft-with crew of one hun.
dred seamcn and sixty riflemen from the
army of Missouri The under officers were
all from the old navy, and Brown declares
that his only trouble with them was to
keep from running the Arkansas into the
Union fleet bofore she was ready for bat
tie. When within sixty miles of the Miss
issippi Brown sent word to the Confeder-
ate commander at Vicksburg, Gen. Earl
Van Dorm, that he was ready for opera
tions Van Dorm ordered him to steam out
of the Yazoo and attack the upper Union
fleet and come to Vicksburg.
There were thirty-seven Union vessels in
sight of that place, he said, and ''plenty
more up the river" 1t was to be expected
that the formidable Union fleets of Farra-
gut, Davis and Ellet would not rest in
their moorings to await the Arkansas, and
she sailed down the Yazoo, all hands alert
for the enemy. On the first day the as
founding discovery was made that owing
to n leakage in steam al! the powder on
board had been rendered unfit for use a
landing was made and the powder was
spread out on tarpaulins, shaken, turned
and dried under the fierce July sun, and
the next day the ram steamed on toward
the mouth of the Yazoo. Another night
and morning run brought the vessel to
Old river, an abandoned channel of the
Mississippi, 50 broad as to form lake. Its
length from where the Yazoo enters to the
opening into the Mississippi is about ten
miles. Midway of this body of water were
mi x-accn1c ctaa the
course. 1t seems that deserters from some
Confederate force in the Yazoo had reached
one of Farragut's vessels and announced
the coming of the ram. Although the In
formation was secuted as impossible, owing
to the sparse resources of the Confederates
in that region, the ironclad Carondelet
the ram Queen of the West and the gun
boat Tyler were sent up to meet anything OF
those waters. Brown hailed their appear
ance with q speech to his men. "Gentle
men," said he. ''in seeking combat, as we
now do, we must win or perish. Should
fall, whoever succeeds to the command
will do so with the resolution to go through
the enemy'S fleet or 60 to the bottom
Should they carry us by boarding, the Ar
kansas must be blown up; on no account
must she fall into the hands of the enemy.
Go to your guns!'
That speech meant business, and the OIL
GERS took off their coats, while the mer
stripped to the waists and bound wet hand
kerchiefs on their heads. The rifiemen
fixed bayonets and stood ready for board,
ers. Brown ordered his pilot to stand fol
the Carondelet, the central vessel OF the
three, but before he could ram her she put
about, first firing her bow guns at short
range. The Tyler and Queen of the Wesi
also put about, and poured shot from then
stern guns into tie plucky ram. Then came