Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-08-03
200
ADMIRAL FOOTE.

ADMIRAL FOOTE.
in Battle-A Hot Mo-
ment in she Pilot HOuse-Heminis-
cences OF Great Days and Heroic
Men Well Told by an Eye Witness.
The st. Louis Globe Democrat has the
following regarding man whose glorious
leeds and heroism shed lustre upon Con-
1ecticut's escutcheon, and whose memory
8 specially dear in this, his native state.
md in this city where he so long resided:
As remember Observation-Disclosures
Admiral-Foote in the early days of the |
fotills, he was man of nearly
sixty, below the medium stature, with gray |
hair and whiskers, and pair of piercing,
but kindly, blue eyes. he was always, on |
Or off duty, arrayed in the fine naval uni
form of his rank, and was quite an inter- |
ssting figure on the badly paved streets of |
Cairo, where first met him. He was |
man of intensely religious nature and
character, and quite fanatic on |
the subject of temperance. One Sunday |
night in Cairo he dropped into church,
and finding the pulpit still vacant, ascended
1t in uniform and was in-the midst OF q |
strong practical sermon when the pastor |
arrived, and was only too glad to let him
proceed. had been sent to Cairo by the
Cincinnati Gazette to act as correspondent
from that quarter. The gunboats had just
returned from the bloodless victory of
Fort Henry, and were fitting out for what
afterwards proved to be, for them, the
very disastrous defeat of Fort Donelson.
The commodore happened to be suffering
Just then from a rheumatic hand, and his
infrmity became my opportunity; for,
through friend L offered my services as a
volunteer private secretary, which were
promptly accepted, and thus obtained a
berth on the flagship of the squadron, the
St. Louis.
The fleet consisted of four iconclads-the
st. Louis. the Louisville, the Pittsburg,
and the Carondolet-and two wooden yes
sells, the Tyler and the Connestoga. The
latter, though we'll handled, were not of
much service in the engagement. In the
action each of the ironelsds worked her
two bow guns to their full capacity. I
have forgotten their calibre, but they were
the largest of the time, and the eight in
concert made fearful racket. The gun
boats were of very slow motion. They
were propelled by large paddle wheel To-
Gated smidships, which seemed to have all
IL COulu w sUuotlmoS W 6Vc1u LILO CuI4o4e
of the Mississippi, and afterward of
the Cumberland, in bend upon
the right bank of which. as we
ascended, Fort Donelson was located.
The ironclads were built of very heavy
oak, plated with wrought iron an inch and
a half to two inches thick, and supposed
to be proof against the heaviest artillery.
The condition of the ships and their
crews after the battle showed that the lat
ter supposition was incorrect. The pilot
house was on the upper deck, we'll for
ward. 1t was conical in shape, and would
hold four men standing up and two or
three more reclining on cots in the angles
formed by contact with the deck. It was
entered by a ladder from bslow, reaching
from the gun deck. 1t was built Of oak
and iron, and was intended to have more
resisting power than any other part of the
ship; but those who occupied 1t during
the engagement discovered that this was a
mistake.
called at the commodore's cabin late on
the night of the 18th to ask if my services
as an amanuensis were needed. "No," the
commodore said, with much cheerfulness;
"everything ia ready now. Before 60 to
| bed will pray for victory, which I think
we shall win, or for the next best thing tC
l victory, which is grace to bear defeat"
4 1ItOl U4AAS W Old Ill 1CdAlu Oh Gu0 lAoA L.
ing of February ID, and the commodore
signslled the ships to move in the orde,
previously agreed upon and to prepare fol
action. The St. Louis, being the flagship
led the procession. She carried the com
modore's pennant, and this, together with
the fact that she was in front, of course
made her the principal target for thu
batteries of the fort. 1 accompanied the
commodore from his cabin to the pilo
house. where we both remained until after
the battle was over. AS we passed along
the gun deck the commodore, pointing tx
one of the few among the crew who hat
seen sea service, said to me: "That ole
man was with me in the China seas; he i
| typical salt and is full of sailor super
| stitions. I know he don't like this thin
of going into action on Friday" Sur
enough; 1 saw the old man in the hospits
that night, nursing wounded leg, and b
insisted that it was all because it was Fri
day. When we reached the pilot hous
the commodore said it was one of hi
"sick-headsche days." and immediatel
threw himself on cot which filed one o
the angles of the small apartment, direct
ing me at the same time to stand at one O.
the little iron windows and report to hin
how we were progressing.
had good field glass, which breugh
| to focus on the fort. Very soon thor
was puff of white smoke from one of tn
batteries, and I cried out, "Here sh
comes" She did come, too, in the shsp
| of cannon ball, which Missed and whizze
| past us in an instant. The pilots began t
swear, as the first shot was swiftly follow
ed by the second, the third, and the fourth
Then there was slight pause, as if fo
better aim, for with renewal of firm
the balls began to strike the ship ap
to pound against the pilot house. I'll
pilots swore louder than ever.
thought a thousand damns, but uttere
none. The commodore raised himse
from his cot in remonstrsnce. "Tut. tu
tut, men, don't swear; it does n
good" said he. Subsequently he rebuke
us all for "ducking" in foolish efforts
| get out of the way Of approaching canno
balls. "You can't escape by ducking; 20
are more apt to get hit while doing that,
said he, adding that he had seen men Gu
in two in the China war by ducklng, VIII
would not have been hurt standing up. 81
then asked me whether the firing from GU
ships was damaging the fort. I told htr
it was doing very well; that the men in tn
fort were hustling around pretty lively
| and that our shots were throwing up tn
| mud around the fort in big lots, but
could not tell whether any of the Confed
crate guns had been dismounted.
All this time the st. Louis had beel
moving toward the fort at full speed
"We are getting awfuliy close, commc
dore; through this glass can almost pu
my hand on the fellows at the guns in tn
fort" 'That's right" said the commo
dore in voice without the slightest emo
| ton. "Put on little more steam, Nj
Pilot, and get as close as you caa." A
between the fort and the feet 1t was now
mighty hot fight. Shots were striking til
vessel and the pilot house st the rate G
several a minute. When they struck q
squarely on the armored bow, betwee
the two great gun ports the vessel reele
and trembled from stem to stern; it wa
I like q man struck on the forehea
| | with a heavy fist. From within tn
| building themselves in the srmor with
thump and thud, as though knocking fo
| admission and determined soon to gain Il
The commodore, still lying on the cot, ur
able to see what was going on ahead, 6
| the two little windows were occupied, on
by the pilot on.duty and the other by my
self as the commodore's lookout. kept ash
ing for more steam, and was only half sa
isfied when told from below that the shi
could not carry another pound of steal
without danger of an explosion. "Gt
right under the fort; that's the way
fight" said the commodore, with his han
on his forehead, still nursing his headach'
but now standing up instead of, as hereto
fore, reclining on his cot.
We were now within 900 yards of th
fort and the air was full Of the iron ha