Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24

by the War Department.
To the general -eaCer these naval records
are likely to possess all the charm and
fascination of the most engrcssing fiction,
ana at the same time the permanent value
and bcaent Of absolutely accurate history,
written by the actcr RS themselves in the
overshad0winS drama of the war. The
qualities that make Cooper's sea tales and
Capt Marryatt's marine romances so I'M
faiiingly popular with successive genera
tions-thcir thrilling descriptions, their vivid
word pictures, their master touches OF life
color and action-will al be dupiica oe1 in
these volumes, and with the truth and
graphic realism of fact. The beauty and
mystery Of ships will perv1de the whole
work; the secret of the sea, the subtle
spirit of the ocean deeps, intangible vet
palpable to every sensitive intelligence, will
be constantly suggested in it; and inleed
in some portions of it the reader viii al
most be able to scent the smell of the
brine, to hear the whir of the wind, and
even to feel the booming conclusion of the
guns in the stirring Murine conflicts de-
scr.bed. The fact, too, that these records
explain and narrate the naval operations
of The only frst-class war in modern times
since the introduction of steam, of the only
wa in which such operations have ever
been conducted on a great scale and of
the only war of any magnitude in which
rams, monitors, torpedoes ironclads and
steam blockades have been employed and
commerce-destroying steam cruisers used
with such telling effect, will serve to give
them an all-important practical value for
the American navy and consequently for
the people, and for the government itself.
All that is known of naval warfare today
ia ties from the war of 1861, and the infor-
nation contained in those records is reed
full for building our ships for training our
officers and seamen, and for the efficient
administration of our new navy
Materials for the first two volumes are
now ready, and upon favorable action 10y
Congress the manuscript will at once be
sent to the public printer. These volumes
start out like the opening of an epic poem.
n medals res" with the free-hanied oper-
atoms of the cruisers-the exploits of the
Union flying squadron in the West Indies
on the one side. and on the other of the
English-buit confederate privateers, which
preyed SO dissstrousy>upon northern COM
merce. The nara lives here are mainly the
reports and official journals written by the
commanders of the vessels engaged. and
include the autograph diaries of Can't.
queror the gallant old "Kearsarge." was
wrecked on Roncador reef only a fortnight
ago. of Capt. MafiItt of the Florida ard
Capt Waddell of the Shenandoah" con-
federates, and of Admirals Wilkes and
Lardner of the Union navy Most of these
diaries have never yet seen the light ard
will be published now for the first time
They are pronounced to be surprisingly fine
examples of literature in the way of rum
nlng history, and some of them, notably
Capt. Semmes' and Capt. Waddelrs diaries,
are OF absorbing interest So real and life
IKE are some OF these narratives, so redo
lent of the very breath and essence of war
ana cruising, that the naval officers Who
edlted them and the few others VINO have
been Permitted to look at them declare they
frequently sat up whole nights 1T a time
reading them, altogether unconscious of tho
Meeting hours, so enthralled We're they by
the singular witchery of the stories
Foiiowing these in due order will come
further volumes, dealing with the oner,-
lions on the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic
coast, the operations on the Potomac sud
Rappahannock rivers, those of the North
ana south Atlantic and gulf blockade
sqoadrons and the operations on The VEST
ern rivers. In the accounts of the momen-
tous duel between the Merrirnac ana the
Monitor, OF the capture of New Orleans.
OF the assault on Mobile and the storm;ng
of Fort Fisher together with the ,yiorinns
combat between the Alabama and the
kearsarge, the narratives rise to the ton-
most height of thrilling power. The Young
American reader, as we'll as the old whether
a citizen of the north or of the south will
IN spite of himself, feel his blood fairly
Jingle with pride and enthusiasm as h.,
Persues mere the glorious achievements of
Farragut. of Porter, Dupont, Golisborou.h-
Mervine, Mexican. Foote and Jouett of he
~. S. NJ" and likewise those of Ruchan-
nan, Semmes. Waddell, Barron, Brooke
&C. s. ~" VI 'AS
Although somewhat similar in character
TO the army records. the forthcoming naval
records will not constitute nearly so large
ana formidable work. and will be char
acterized by a degree of unity and coher-
ence that the other cannot and does not
have. The whole work will not extend To
more than twenty volumes, all told, If that
pleted. will comprehend at least 100 brobdig-
nag volumes. Besides, the size of the
volumes will be considerably less
IT is proposed to limit the edition to TO-
OoD copies. According to the scheme of
publication now contemplated the entire
history will be comprised in three series.
arranged in unique fashion. The first Sc
ries Will embrace all the naval operations
during the war; narrated chronologically.
whether on the open seas or in Goa ST and
inland waters of the United States by ves-
sells grouped in squadrons and f1otillas and
vessels acting singly in different parts OF
the world. The Union reports of every event
Will precede the confederate reports The
second series will go back and cover the
condition OF the Union navy in 1851 before
the commencement of hostlities its in
crease during the progress of struggle the
construction and outfit of the confederate
navy, including privateers, and the annual
and special reports thereon by the Union
and confederate secretaries of the navy and
subordinate chiefs of bureaus, together with
a statistical compilation of data respecting
the history. attributes and physical life OF
every vessel, Union and confederate, and
In addition the returns of all naval and
military property captured on both sides
and an returns relating to naval prison.
ers. The third and last series will gather
up and include all orders, correspondence
and returns of both Union and confederate
authorities not covered in the other two
series.
The preparation Of the naval records is
being carried on under the direction of the
Secretary of the Navy by the office of ma
val war records, of which Lieut. Commander
Richard Rush, U. s. N, is superintendent.
assisted by Lieut.. Lucien Young. Il. S. NJ
and Mr.. r. II. Woods, a graduate of the
Naval Academy. By authority of Con-
gress the collection and classification of
n aterial was begun eight years ago, and
vast amount of valuable matter has
been secured under the superntend encies
of Mr.. James r. Solely, ex-assistant Sec
rotary of the Navy. and Lieut.. Commander
F. NJ Wise. L. S. N, who was the immedi-
ate predecessor of the present superntend-
ent The assembling of this material is
still i'm progress. and under the supervision
of Lieut.. Commander Rush it is being rap
idly put IN shape for publication. While
of Of ba mt