The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-05-02

| The southern fotilla consisted of river
steamers fitted out with guns and rams.
1t lay in double line Of battle along the
wharves Of the city, and when the I'm
Ion vessels, gunboats in front, steamed
| down the river opened fire. In rear Of
the Union gunboats, some miles up the
river, in fact, but fastening to the
! scene, were the rams Queen of the West,
Monarch and Switzerland. These terri
! BILE engines of war had been fitted out
at short notice by Charles Ellet, clever
and inventive engineer. They were Or
binary river steamers like the Confeder-
ate rams, but not SO effectively remod-
eled for war. To afford some protection
to the boilers bulwarks two feet thick
were placed around them, and solid tim
Der bulwarks 10 to 16 inches thick fas-
tened from side to side strengthened
somewhat tho hulls An Ellet COM
manded on the decks of the first two
Colonel Charles, the Queen of the West,
and his brother, Alfred W., the Mon
arch.
Civilians by training, they had to win
their spurs fighting the terrible rams
which long ruled the Mississippi for the
Confederacy. Ellet's rams carried no
guns. A dozen sharpshooters were the
sole fighting force on board Neither
were they armed with ramming beaks.
Great weig ht, strong motive and st1ik-
ing power, celebrity and audacity in at
tack were what the designer had aimed
to secure. On approaching Memphis
that morning in all haste, just as dawn
broke, cannon shot was heard down
the river. Colonel Ellet called from the
deck of the Queen to his brother on the
Monarch: cts gun from the enemy.
Round out and follow me. Now is our
| time
The Union gunbOats maneuvered in
front of the Confederate ships without
| pushing the attack, until the rams hove
in sight. Then they opened line to make
room for the Queen and Monarch,
which held the lead in this order. Pass
ing the gunboats at full speed, the
Queen disappeared in the wall of smoke
that lay between the opposing fleets and
made straight for the center ram of the
Confederate line, the General Lowell.
The Lowell, which was the flagship and
under steam, moved out beautifully to
accept the bold challenge. The antag-
onists rushed together, bows on. The
people on board the other ships and the
citizen spectators crowding the bluffs
held their breath, expecting head end
collision that would send both rams to
the bottom instantly. But the Lowell
suddenly turned her port to shore. On
went the veteran Ellet with the Queen,
crashing into the southern ship with
full force. The bow Of the Union ram
cut the timbers Of the Lowell in two, so
that she instantly filled with water and
sank before she steamed dozen lengths.
At the moment of collision a pistol ball
fired from the deck of the Lowell struck
Colonel Ellet in the knee, giving him a
wound that FRUSTRATED him and caused
his death two weeks later.
Lying prone on deck, the wounded
commander ordered the Queen to be
turned on the nearest enemy, but she
was Immediately rammed on both sides
at once by two Of the enemy's ships,
the Beauregard and Sumter, losing one
paddle wheel in the encounter. Mean
while the Monarch came to the spot.
Seeing new antagonist, the Beauregard
turned and made for her, while the
Price rushed in to plant a blow on the
opposite side. But the second Ellet was
worthy his namesake and leader Skill
fully steering the Monarch, he let the
lmpetuous Confederates ram each other.
The Beauregard crashed into the Price,
taking off a wheel and sending her to
shore in the wake of the disabled Queen
and with precisely the same injury.
Before the Beauregard could turn, the
Monarch rammed her and she'll from
the gunboat Benton at the same mo-
ment pierced the boiler Of the unlucky
ship. Noting that his enemy was in a
sinking condition, Ellet towed her to
shoal water and took off her crew. Thus
ended the fight Of the rams.
In the staff Of tho ram fleet at Mem
phls was boy 10 years Of age doing
duty as medical cadet. He was Charles
Rivers Ellet, son of the commander
When he heard Of his fathers wound,
he hurried to his side but the old hero
|
ing the bog flag, he told him to row
quickly to the Memphis wharves and
nail the stars and stripes to the tallest
spire in the city. The order was carried
out in the face of savage threats from
the mobs CT the streets, who hustled and
5eered the brave fellow, and finally pelt-
ed him with stones. This was the first
deed Of real war performed by the youth
full novice, but it was not to be his
greatest, neither his last Promoted to
command the Lancaster, new addition
to the fleet, he sailed, in company with
his uncle and the Monarch, down tho
river to see what was going on at Vicks-
burg.
Fa1ragut's feet from New Orleans
lay below the batteries of this Gibral-
tar of the Confederaoy. The Ellets man.