The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-07-13

two shots, and was the first to attempt
| inc dangerous crossing of the line of tor
Rcdoes. The monitor had singled out the
| tennessee, and was bearing down upol
her She was within hundred yards
| the Confederate ram, when sudden ex
| plos:on was heard, and the Tecumseh
having struck torpedo, plunged hcat;
foremost, with her colorS still flyinc. t,
The bottom of the channel.
Ihc critical moment Of the fight hat
| now come. The wooden vessels bac
| upon one another, and became entangle,
IN what seemed to be inextricable confu
sion: The line of battle was doubled ur
| in the most dangerous part of the pas
sage; the ships were at the mercy of the
guns of the fort and the enemy's vessels.
The brilliant daring of Farragut in
| this crucial test, his prompt decision and
bold action, were tho qualities that won
May day when Dewey entered the har
Dor Of Manila.
| Seeing that the Brooklyn wavere1
after the terrible disaster of the Tecum
sch, the admiral signaled: whats the
trouble? The answer came: ''Torpe-
does ahead" Then followed Farragnt's
tory: O. the torpedocs! Go ahead
Four bells full speed]!'
The admirars flagship, the Hartford
now took the lead. On she went, full
speed, straight for the line of torpedoes
Complete silence fell upon the crew as
the flagship passed the fatal line. \
scraping sound was heard against tn
copper bottom of the vessel. but no en-
plcsion followed, and as the warsh;p
cleared the submarine defenses with fly,
ing colors, the victory was practically
won. After a short delay the other yes.
sells followed their admiral across the
line and up into the bay.
During all this time the Union ships
had been exposed to CALLING fire from
the forts and the gunboats, answering
with their own formidable broadsides
and moving in a very storm of shot
! which inflicted heavy losses and grea
damage.
Fort Morgan and the line of torpcdoes
had been brayely passed, the Confcder
to flight, and the various vessels of Far
raguts feet were brought to anchor
around the flagship in the upper part OF
| the bay. At this stage of the conflict
Admiral Buchanan made his great error
Inst, ad of remaining under the protect
ing batteries of Fort Morgan, he brought
the Tennessee up the bay, inviting 6
hs, but II. aRd parpossiess
Farragut's men had been leisurely eat
ing their breakfast and clearing thu
| ucChS liz ueDilS VI Tie Udttle, "a
pecting several hours of quiet, when the
warming cry, The ram is comingv' ra,
through the ranks. Instantly the order
was given ATTACK the ram a,
full speed" and the great ramming strug
gle began.
Again and again the big wooden vessels
charged, bows on. and struck the enemy's
ironclad. Blow followed blow, and still
the Tennessee stood impregnablc. The
shot of the brOadsides glanced harmlessly
from her armored sides.
After while the monitors joined il
the contest, and the continuous hammer
ing was kept up while shot after shot
shook the great frame of the Tennessee
At last the rudder chains were sh01
away. the smokestack was broken. the
ship became helpless. and Admiral Blu
chanan was wounded in the leg. Th.
command was taken by Capt. Johnston
who for twenty minutes longer held ou
against the fearful pounding, and then
damaged and disabled, the Tennessee raj
up the white flag and surrendered.
Thus was the great fight ended. ant
Farragut left master of the bav. Deed
If gallantry and heroism. which aroused
the admiration of the entire land, bright
ened these scenes of horror: and the yea
and skill of the officers. the discipline Of
the crews, and the splendid marksman
ship Of the gunners brought out the high
est concentrations from Farragut.
On both sides the courage of the mel
was only equaled by the remarkable dar
ing of the two admirals: but with BIZ
chanan this amounted to recklessness
] with Farragut it was genius.