The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-12-25
NAVAL WAR RECORDS.
wosr rNTEREsrTNG Work Tobh
ny THEGoyERNMEfT'
paper. Relating 10 h Southern 80
Greatly Needed-How the so"'" ~"
o~Iutioniscd Naval Warfare.

make a substantial beglhhlns'
The value and importance OF the """
are beyond question. There were many
features I'm the operations OF the n@NieS
a, tho late war so unique and so impor-
tant as 70 astound and startie inc oiu
World.
II Is the only wal in which ironcPds'
rams. rihed ordnance and torpedoes gave
been employed. and in which a SPAN
blockade has been kept up. extenfing
over thousands Of miles OF coast.
In no war in modern times have nfVal
operations on so large a scale Deen PAR
rted on. It's detailed history IL not pnly
a matter Of professional necessity VI the
~ hut il should be a matter Of bride
20 every American. -, =
md o 1862. English and French officers
-t,,ess,ng the affair Of the Sth, When
tho old Merrimac, n creation OF a nHuon
vet rnborn. burnt, sunk, stranded ana
routed what were then considered the
epes+ var-ships in the world. Somf Of
those officers remarked TO me; we pave
not a war-ship in our navy; a w0Poen
shin Is no longer a war snip; that Fsnt
will rebuild and remodel the naVldS OF
the world"
Those remarks have been Ver1nep IN
sxerv respect. The British navy, which
mas cost hundreds OF millions OF dopars.
was as e0fectually destroyed on that
eventful Sth OF March as was the noble
old Cumberland. sunk 10 her topsan yards
nv the Merrimac's ram, a weapon pract-
callv unknown before. The 9th of March
but emphasized the value Importance
of iron-plated vessels, and illustrated TWO
prir cIples in the construction of war
ships which must last for all time, 4. e.,
the DETECTING and turreted armors. The
Monitor reached Hampton Roads on the
right Of the Sth, and she and the Mer-
rimac pounded each other at a Few
Yards distance, with the heaviest
guns then known from 3 A..
M. TIL / 2. NJ. when they re-
fired from the conflict, neither materially
damaged and each claiming TO nave got
ton a little the best of il. Either of
those vessels. with sufficient ammunition,
could have destroyed the English, French
and Spenish fleets combined, engaged in
the greatest naval battle OF the world
that of Trafalgar
All that Is known Of naval war to-day
dates from the war Of 1861, that great
combat Of American skill and valor. We
need all the information which can only
no found I'm the records of the navy In the
future construction of our ships, and we
need II for every branch of naval admin
istration.
Every years delay in procuring the
papers now in private hands adds to the
probability of their loss or destruction.
No book ever published by the Govern
ment a met with so great a demand
as that of the Army War Records.
There is every reason for placing the
record Of the navies in history, in a form
accessible and im~perishable. There can
be no fair history of the war with the
part taken by the navy left out. The
Army War Records have been compiled
at an expense compared with which
the appropriations for the Naval war
Records are utterly Insignificant; they are
undoubtedly of much greater magnitude,
vet the naval records are more difficult
70 obtain than those Of the army. The
departments were not 50 accessible TO the
officers OF the navy to deposit their cor
respondence and consequently the papers
on file are mainly such as were sent to
or from the Navy Department. The re-
cords Of the navy are very much scat
tered, more especially those upon the
Confederate side. Upon the fall OF Rich
mond their archives were scattered TO the
winds. and they can only be obtained
with any degree Of success by personal
application TO the officers themselves.
For the small amount appropriated for
the purpose, much success has been
achieved, yet much remains to be done,
and II Ii very important that sufficient
means should be provided for hunting up
without delay every official paper which
has not been found. Many do not realize
the important and arduous part borne by
the navy For long long years mid tropical
suns and %fevers. mid winters storms and
perils a blockade of more han nine thou
.opI VnfIgc fcaa aoocf and rfyarcl urao
maintained so effectively as to have 1t
recognized by all foreign countries, not
w~ithstanding the anxiety of some of the
most powerful of them to have the pro-
ducts of the South TO prevent actual star
walton and riots in their large manufac-
turing centres.
With its navy the North practically cut
the South off from all intercourse with
the outside world. Such arms and NUM-
lions as tempted the ~blockaders were
about equally divided between them and
the distressed Confederates.
The ruses resorted to on both sides of
the blockaded line, one to capture and
the other to escape. would alone furnish
a volume Of valuable instruction.
Another weapon developed by the late
war destined TO play a most important
part In future lava cor 1icts is the tor
pedo. Few persons realize that the Con-
federates destroyed more than fifty Uni
ted States war ships by the use of this
terrible weapon The destructiveness of
the torpedo is assured ana beyond COM
putation, its application almost infinite,
although In its infancy. Its improve
ments are about keeping pace with the
guns n ships. neither Of which would
probably be understood or even recog-
nized by an ante-bellum officer. IL is
not necessary TO dwell upon the services
or the navy during the war. IL was an
army afioat. whose destination no one
knew. II compelled the South to garrison
thousands of miles OF coast prepared to
meet an army at any point.
What would a history Of the war
amount 70 with the part taken by the
navy on the Western rivers-at New Or
ieans. Hatteras. Fort Fisher, Charleston.
Savannah. Mobile and Vicksburg-left
out?
Whether a different tale mad been told
Or Fort Donaldson and Island No. 10, of
Grants army at Pittsburg Landing?
Whether Mcclellan could have saved
MS army at Harrison's Landing, after the
seven days fight, but for the gun-boats
80 handy In the James river?
Who can tell whether Grant could have
maintained himself on both banks Of the
James but for the war ships with inyul-
nerable sides and immense guns which
formed his centre?
F~arragut. the greatest naval hero of
TINS OF OF any age. demonstrated thar
river uetenses without DISTINCTIONS
amount 10 nothing when attacked by
vessels under steam. The opening Of the
NiSsiSsippi by the navy was a death-bloy
TO the Confederacy, The work done Inv
farragut, Buchanan. Worden, Semmes
dupont Foote, Maihtt. Porter and the