The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-13
KE0KUKAGAINSTSUMTER
HOW CAPT. RHIND LAID HIS
SBIP Up TO THE FORT.

and Secretary Welles Received the
News Of the UBsucc sssfll Attack.
From the Ee1O YORK Times.
There is living in this city to-day, in the
full enjoyment Of health and vigor, one Of
the best fighting captains the navy Of the
United States possessed during the last war.
The officer in question Is Alexander e.
Rhind. now a rear admiral in the navy, on
the retired list. but best known to the navy
as the man who placed his vessel nearer to
the fire Of Fort Sumter than any other
union captain in the course OF the war. IL
was Rhind who carried the powder ship
Louisiana in under the ramparts Of Fort
Fisher and who, from Cape Fear TO the
| Savannah river, won alike the admiration
/ and respect Of the confederate forces for his
consummate display Of bravery and con-
tlnued gallantry Few officers have been more
honored by their government than Rhind.
and the records of repeated thanks Of the
navy department attest most forcibly to the
value placed upon his services to the cause
OF the union.
! Rear Admiral Rhind was found yaster-
| day by a New York Tines reporter enjoy
| ing his morning edition of this paper. As
one whose life has been so prominently
marked by the stirring scenes Of the war
| 1t took little Inducement to obtain from the
| admiral an account Of that day when for
/ thirty minutes he held the Keokuk within
| distance OF $50 yards OF Fort Sumter, and
| took the concentrated fire of the bat cries of
Sumter, Moultrie, Battery Bee, Battery
! Wagner and the entire chain Of defenses
along the upper end of Sullivan Island. The
admiral best describes the affair in his own
words. He said:
II was ordered during the early part Of
the war 60 superintend the construction of
| the Keokuk, and when the vessel was finally
launched and commissioned was placed in
command and took her down the coast. |
reported 20 Flag Officer Dupont, and just
| before the attack on Charleston all the
| monitors rendezvoused in the North Edisto
| river. knew the coast of the Carolinas
| thoroughly, having surveyed them prior to
the war, and because Of this knowledge l
| was directed to buoy out a channel for the
passage of the feet into Charleston harbor.
Before that memorable attack on Fort
| Sumter in April, 1868, Flag Officer Dupont
sent several of the monitors to open fire on
| Fort McAllister, the object being to de-
| termine the efficiency Of the monitor type
of craft under fort fire. That experience,
which was short one, did not by any
means highten our confidence IN the turret
vessels. From the very first we observed
not equal to broadside fire. The Keokuk,
which commanded, carried two turrets
| mounting one ll-inch Dahlgren gun in
/ each turret. The monitors OF the Passaic
class carried one turret provided with two
| l5-inch Dahlgren guns. The Keokuks
| armor protection was little better than no
armor at all; in fact, l believe it was worse
than none.
ION the day Of the first attack on Fort
| Sumter we all formed in the lower bay just
| inside the bar. The formation was that of
| single column in line ahead, each vessel
taking up a position according to the
seniority Of her captain. being the junior
| commander, this placed the Keokuk at the
tail of the line. Percival Drayton, who
commanded the Passaio, was the senior
captain and he would naturally have taken
tho lead but for John Rodgers, who COM
| manded the Weehawken. Now, Rodgers
had gotten up raft device, a COMPOUNDED
| old affair with which he proposed to push
out of theywaY aud destroy every torpedo
In our path. Dupont asked the opinion Of
| all his captains regarding the practicability
of using this device. All of us, save Rodgers,
condemned it, but as Dupont was anxious to
give Rodgers every opportunity he yielded
to his opportunities and allowed him to lead
the column.
THE time selected for moving against
Fort Sumter had been judiciously chosen.
/ .
| position Of attack of the fort at slack high
water. This would enable all vessels dis
abled IN the fight TO float clear Of the fort
on the return Of the ebb.
"When Dupont signaled the feet that
| April day TO get under way, imagine our
impatience when we learned that the Wee
hawken was fouled by the raft grapnels
! having got entangled about the anchor
chain. We lost one hour and a half by that
wait. and finally, when we did get under
way. it WAS at snail's pace that we crawled
up the harbor. A monitor is a slow vessel
at her best, but when she Is further handi-
capped as was the Weehawken on that oc-
! casion by 40-foot raft carried on her bow,
she does little else than crawl. There was
no earthly reason why we should not have
gone right by Fort Sumter that day,
though when come TO think of ii in these
later days do not see that much would
have been gained. Dupont was too humane
/ a man to have bombarded the city, and our
ammunition supply would not have per-
mitted OF our remaining inside for more
than twenty-four hours. 1t would have
been a second running Of the gauntlet to
have gotten out.
"Stll Rodgers old raft held us all back
that day, and when the van did reach the
firing position 1t took only about five
| minutes work to demonstrate the worth
lessness Of monitors against tieldWorks. The
t6rrlnc flro which ~beICned LOrC1 from all
points of Suliivan's Island, the plunging
shots from Sumter, coupled with the shells
| from the Broke rifles, rained down on the
! fleet. The head of the column was thrown
into confusion by the Weehawken becom-
ing unmauagesble. Drayton tried to push
ahead, but in a few minutes his turret was
hopelessly jammed. The Weehawken and
| Passatc produced disorder ahead by falling
back, and it was then that Dupont sigualed
TO disregard the flagship.
81 was waiting for just some such signal
l saw the mess and confusion at the head Of
the column, and, turning to Forrest, my
first lieutenant, l said:
"'Give her four bells, Forrest, and sing
out to the engine room to give her all the
steam she will take.
From the tail Of the line the Keokuk
forged to the head aud l kept heading
straight for Sumter until within $50 yards
of the fort. The nearest vessel to me was
| the Nantucket. 1t seems from confederate
reports that the contederates had gotten the
idea that the Keokuk was the most formid-
able vessel of the feet. Be that as it may
l do know that when reached the head OF
the line found Moultrie, Sumter, Bee and
Battery Wagner all concentrating on my
ship Every shot that struck the turrets
bounded right through from one side to the
other. The vessel trembled and quivered.
The roar was deafening. On all sides
could see only vast living sheets of flame.
II had ordered, when forging ahead the