Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-01

ing a little excitement. Several of the
men began making their accounts and
clothing over to their chums, while others
could. be seen writing a last letter to
friends at home. l wrote one, giving the
details as near as I could of what was
coming Off how my accounts stood and
how to get them. along with a long fare
well if anything happened to me. / seal
ed the epistle and put it in my clothes
bag, but lived to destroy it.
There was one peculiar incident hap
pened on board the Ossipee. young
man that had been sent from another
ship in exchange for one of our men
was seen to pass and repass the gum
ner and myself several times We were
sitting forward talking about home and
friends and our chances. Finally he
stopped and said he did not believe he
could go through the fight, and if he was
sure he could reach shore, which was
! seven mi es away, he would swim it. The
! gunner told him to compose himself;
/ that his chances were better on board
the ship, for a shark would have him
before he got fifty yards away. He
! raced the deck the whole night. l took
particular notice of him the next day
and found that after his first fright was
over he stodd to his work manfully.
Morning came at last and at o'clock
all hands We're called. ihe gunbOar
| Itasca came alongside and we made her
| fast to our ship after running our guns
| in on the left side. We then piped all
4 hands to breakfast. By. this time the
entire fleet was showing signs of prepar-
alton for the coming fight. The plan
Of attack was to be as follows. The mon
itors Tecumseh Manhattan, Winnebago
and Chickasaw We're to go ahead and
! engage Fort Morgan, keeping up a
steady fire, While the fourteen wooden
| ships were passing in pairs in the fol-
| lowing order: The Brooklyn, with the
| OctOrora at her SIDE the flagship Hart
! ford, with Admiral Farragut on board
| and the Massa chusetts beside her; the
Richmond and the Port Royal; Lacka-
wanna and Seminole; Monongahela and
kenne5ec; Ossipee and the gunboat
! Itasca; the Oneida and Galena. The
gunooats were all ashed to the port side
! from the fort. At daylight the signal
| for all the vessels to get under way was
| given from the Hartford. The drums
! beat to quarters and the men took their
| stations for action. The decks had been
! sanded to keep the men from slipping
|
CT water had been placed between the
guns for the use Of the men. while near
the 1OO-pound rifed pivot gun, of which
| l had charge, a bucket of grease had
been placed to grease each shot or shell
! fired, as the friction of these guns is
much greater than that of any other.
| CAS- soon as we We're under way the
captains of all the guns We're ordered -
| 0jSnpnSarV
a glass of whisky was given each one.
! On returning to our stations / asked for
and was granted permission to go below
and change my clothing, so as to be in
swimming regalia in case the old ship
went down. Then l took my station
again. On leaving the berth deck l no.
| ticed young man named Lewis Lord
sitting on the hatch crying. His head
! was between his hands and he appeared
| to be greatly detected. ! asked him the
| trouble and he said he had been in sew
! eral fights before while in the rebel
army but had never felt as he did then.
He llew it was going to be his last
! fight. ! tried to cheer him as best l
could and then assembled to the deck.
Poor fellow! He was among the first
Of those killed, and never spoke after
being struck, q s the back OF his head and
.
had been captured while in the rebe.
army, but had taken the oath of allie
glance to the Union and Joined our
army. only to be killed by his old COM
radeS.
On reaching the deck I looked over
| towards Fort Morgan and saw one OF
! our monitors under way and heading
! for the fort. Just then signal went
up from the flagship and a roll of bunt-
ing that hung al the masthead of each
! ship was loosened, exposing the Stars
and Stripes. 1t was beautiful sight
from our ship, she being next to the last
in line, and the head of the fleet had
lust taken a course little to the right
following the channel towards the fort
The steam launch Loyal passed the
fort without harm. Fort Morgan
opened fire with one gun at the Mon
itor, out it was almost Immediately
answered and the battle of Mobile Bay
had commenced. AS the fleet of wooden
ships came within range it opened fire
with it's broadsides and soon the fort and
head of the line of ships was hidden from
our view by smoke except for an in
slant when light breeze lifted the
fumes and carried it towards the fort.
The water was covered with empty shell
boxes and pieces of timber, which plain
ly told US of the business we had on
hand. The fleet kept it's course regard
less of the heavy fire being poured into
1t from the fort and a water battery of
ten-inch Columbiads so clase that one
could see the color of a mans hair. The
roar Of guns on both sides was terrible.
Our turn soon came to walk in and take
our medicine, as the head of the line had
passed and the fort was giving it's atten-
ton to the rear end of the fleet. I was
acting as captain of the 100pound rifle
PIVOT gun on this occasion and was soon
so busily engaged that I could not see
much save what was transpiring on the
deck of my own vessel. I think the most