Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-13
RHEUMATISM

|Eu3uAIMHU!
appointment as mldshipman. He secure'
his commission as lieutenant on Januar'
10. 1925. after serving on the frigate
| United States and Constitution; was pro
noted to be commander on September
lSft. and in April. 1912, was ordered L
the command of the steam frigate Mis-
sissippi, and afterward TO the Vincennes
I'm 1915 he organized the Naval Acade-
| my, at Annapolis, and was made its SUI
/ perintendent At the outbreak of the
| Mexican war he was detached from the
| Naval Academy at his own request. and
ordered to the command Of the sloop-of-
| war Germantown, and took part In the
| bombardment Of the Castle of San Juan
| dUlloe, in the capture OF Vera Cruz and
| Of the city of Tobasco.
| In 1852 we find him in command OF
the steam frigate Susquehanna, the flag
| ship Of Commodore Perry, on the expedi-
| ton TO Japan. In September 1855, he
was promoted to the rank of captain,
the highest grade at that time in the
navy, the title Commodore being given
| by courtesy TO captain in command of
| a squadron In May. 1859, he was ordered
yard, and was relieved from duty there
three days after the 18th of April, 1861.
He retired to his Maryland home, and
In the next month resigned from the
United States service. In September,
1861, he was commissioned a captain in
the Confederate navy, and began that
career which has made his name i'm
mortal.
AT the suggestion Of Lieutenant G.. NJ.
Brooke, the old frigate Merrimac, which
had been burned and sunk when the
Federal troops evacuated Norfolk was
noated and rebuilt as an ironclad. and
the name Virginia was given TO the re-
modelled vessel.
Sailors had been hard TO get as we
were not a nautical people, but they
were obtained at last by dilgent search
through the armies. The officers under
the command of Captain Franklin Blu
chanan were men equal to the duty as
signed them.
SINKING OF THE CUMBERLAND.
1T is the morning Of the 7th of March,
1862. The hour is noon and the day bright
with sunshine. The sentinel at Fortress
Monroe, looking toward Norfolk, notices
a huge volume OF smoke, like a great
monster, rolling and writing in it's mo-
IL
dark object is soon TO move along, slight
ly above the water line, with sloping
sides OF iron and guns hidden in inclosed
embrasures. What audacity was this
going out, without a trial trip, with the
condemned engines of an old frigate, 10
attack the best ships of the enemy's
fleetl But slowly and quietly, with the
calmness of certainty and the conscious
ness Of concealed destructive power, the
Virginia steers straight TO the frigate
Cumberland, of thirty guns, lying off
Newport News and flying the enemy's
flag. The captain goes on deck alone and
demands the Cumberland's surrender.
The answer is Never! Then comes a
blow, the frigates side is ripped open,
her after-pivot gun breaks loose and mad
ly plunges 10 right and left and back and
front crunching wounded, crushing the
strong and adding to the destruction. The
water rushes into the huge gap in her
side, but her brave crew fight on. As one
deck is flooded they mount to next and
man the batteries. Then the ship gives
lurch to starboard, her guns fire into the
air, there is a great roar Of water, and
the salt wave engulfs them all, their flag
still flying.
ATTACK ON THE CONGRESS.
"But the Virginia is not satisfied, and
slowly she is turned to the frigate Con-
gress, of fifty guns, lying near. 1t took
the Virginia from thirty to forty minutes
to wind, or turn around. The Congress
turns TO avoid the blow, is partly sue
cessful, and opens her broadside on the
attacking enemy Lieutenant John Tay-
lor Woods answers with his stern pivot
gun, raking her fore and aft and sweep
ing away whole rows Of men at their
station. Every gun crew Of the Congress
is broken up and her magazine is threat
ened. Some one crying for ammunition
goes to seek It. and finds the carrying
party in long line, dead.
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER.
"Who is it fighting this section of the |
government ship where the destruction |
is so heavy? 1t is the brother Of the |
of the attacking vessel. Some |
one asks the latter If he knows that his |
brother is on the Congress. His answer |
is: Yes, and IL is my duty TO attack him |
as well as any other Such is the heroic |
mould of the man who commands the Vir- |
ginia He stands exposed on the deck |
and himself fires rife after rifle that is |
passed up to him.
1.-THE officer in command Of the Con- |
gress is killed. His successor, finding re-
sistance hopeless, hoists n flag of truce |
and surrenders his sword. Taking adj
Of the cessation OF the Virginiq's |
fire, the batteries at Newport News, |
which should have helped the Congress |
IN her stress, opened on friend and foe |
alike Two officers Of the Virginia were |
killed while assisting the Federal wound |
ed aboard the Congress and while the |
Tag OF truce Is flying above them.
open FIRE AGAIN"
Captain Buchanan, anxious to save |
of the men he would befriend. |
His first words when taken below were, |
open fire again Then from every |
available gun the storm burst on the III |
fated Congress. Some OF ner crew |
leaped into the sea 20 swim ashore, others
trust TO pieces Of wreck, while many re-
solve 10 die with their ship. Then comes
4 scene beautiful beyond comparison.
grand and awful. above he conception |
Of poets brain or limner's pencil. The
Congress takes fire, From bowsprit and
netting the bright flames dart
n fantastic tongues and leap up the
nasts TO the trucks. every rope line of
Ire, every sail a sheet OF flame, every
mast a mammoth link. cracking, spark
ing, glarlng through the afternoon. and
he long night, till hulk and sail and
ihroud are consumed. and the gallant
Iessel is no more.
ut was now ; o'clock. The Minnesota.
| frigate, which had started TO the res