Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-30

Ice in the war Of 1912. At the close of the
| war our forces had captured nearly $500
| vessels of all classes, mounting nearly 10000
| guns. record far beyond the English
achievements' In most of the actions the
! American superiority of force actually en-
| gagged was roughly 10 to s. but the
American execution was as 10 to 2, fighting
| with a power which in recent conflicts with
most of the powers in and out of Christen-
| dom had in 200 instances been beaten only
five times.
"Fellow-citizens here In this solemn pres
| ence and with hearts touched by the beau
| tiful memorial services to the heroic dead
sleeping in peace we reverently thank God
| that the national and private scars of the
war of 1872 have been long since healed,
and that the scars of our other wars are
| fast being obliterated by the revivifying
| touch of deeper national sympathies and OF
the generous recognition of old foes as kins-
men and allies in the noble purposes of the
future. OF these purposes, consummating
| the vision and aspiring prayers of the dy-
| ing Arthur of the Round Table, We may
| say with him:
And so the whole round earth is every
way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of
God "
| Achievements in the Civil War.
! Senator Thurston was introduced and
spoke of the navy in the civil war.
The war for the Cnion," said he, which
| ragged from 1861 to 1865. made us in the
| true sense a nation. From the close OF that
| war we have been a consolidated state
| clothed with the attributes of national
power and poss 1ssing a genuine character
| of civilization. BY that war we acquired
| the consciousness of strength IL was an
American battle. The navy used in that
| battle embodied truly American ideas. The
| ships were American, the cannon used were
| American-in fact, the navy of TINS period
| was the outgrowth of distinctive American
| thought. The long, swift steamboat, the
! magnificent clipper ship, the heavy frigate,
| the frigate-like corvette, the armored snip,
| the monitor and our big guns were original
creations, the fruits of Yankee thinking ana
| the opponents of American character.
| AT the beginning of the war for the
Union Europe thought her navies trresfst-
| ble. Within few months after this war
| broke out Yankee invention produced ships
| and ornaments which rendered useless the
great navies of the world.
This fact. not the ingenious arguments
of Seward, prevented foreign interference,
| and enabled us to seal up the coast line
| from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, and
| thus to force the states in secession TO rely
almost wholly upon their own resources.
"Schaffer, the historian of the confederate
navy, refers to this effectual blockade IN MS
| well-wrttcn work and says:
THE blockade from the Chesapeake bay
| to the mouth of the Rio Grande smut the
confederacy out from the world, deprived IL
of supplies, weakened its military and naval
strength and compelled exhaustion by COM
polling the consumption of everything
grown or raised in the country.
Monitor and Mcrrimac.
The battle between the Monitor and the
Merrimac was the pivotal point. Ihls pat
tie decided as between American and Euro
pean thought. The Merrimac was con-
structed upon the European plan of IRON
clads, except the sloping sides, and the
Monitor was purely an American inVen-
ton So 1t was a test of ideas, and TINS
test was to decide whether Europe or
America should control this western con-
tinent From this point of view the first
battle of the iron monsters in Hampton
Roads becomes pregnant with new inter-
est and enlarged Importance
In my opinion this battle settled the
fate of the rebellion. The war might be
prolonged, thousands of lives might be sac
rificed and billions of treasure expended,
yet from that hour the doom of the rebel
lion was sealed. The Monitor was the mon
arch of the waters. The question of for
eign interference was settled, and all else
was only question Of time
Compare the operations of Eng. and and
France at Sebastapol with the results of
the first year of the civil war, Remember
that those great nations had two of the
best and most formidable navies OF the
world at their command from the very
first, and that Lincoln and his coworkers
had almost literally nothing.
summary of Results.
Then it will appear how great the
achievements of the Union arms during the
first year of the civil war, which delivered
the Potomac from the enemy's control,
captured the Hatteras forts, the inner for
tifications of Albemarle and Pamlico, the
southern forts, except those at Wilmington
and Charleston, were recaptured. Mobile
and Charleston were sealed up. The navy
yard at Norfolk was again in our posses
sion. The power of the confederate navy
had been broken by the defeat of the Merri-
mac and the destruction of the confederate
fleet at Memphis. New Orleans was ours,
the Mississippi virtually opened the Cum
berlaud and Mississippi once more covered
and guarded by the flag of the Union, and
by means of these communications, estab-
lished by the navy, the army was advanced
into the heart of Tennessee: and be 1t said,
without mockery, that when all this was
accomplished at the end of the first year OF
the war, Mcclellan was engaged with his
magnificent army in besieging 1000 men
at Yorktown.
1T would be impossible in a twenty-min
ute address to even refer to the battles
fought by the navy during the years from
1851 to 1865. For this reason 1 have en-
deavored to group the results OF Its sue
cesses during the first year of the war, as
illustrative of its history during the entire
struggle. The navy never suffered any re-
verses. 1t established the blockade from
the Chesapeake to the Rio Grande and
maintained it; it opened the Mississippi and
Cumberland and Tennessee and kept them
open wherever 1t went it bore the banner
of triumph.
Recent outburstS of enthusiasm over the
brilliant performances of our navy must
not be allowed to overshadow equally bril-
! liant achievements of more remote wars in
which the dash and courage and genius of
American sailors challenged the admiration
of the world and thrilled the hearts of our
peop,e. The deeds of Preble and Hull and
BainbridSe and Porter and Stewart and De-
catur and Perry and McDonough OF the
old navy, and of Farragut and Porter and
Dahlgren and Winslow and Gushing and
Dupont and a host of others of the war
of 1861 to 1865. must not be lost sight of in
the deiirium of praise showered upon the
heroes of a later war
Americas Latest Triumph.
DR.. Bristol completed the naval history
of the nation, speaking of the war of 1898
DR.. Bristol declared in opening that there
was much to be said, and that much had al
ready been said of the marvellous achieve
ments of the American navy in the war