The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-02-11

piety, and seemed to me to be little out
4 of place where he was
The next day brought no sign of battle
till shortly after dinner, when the Admiral
signaled for all Captains to report aboard
the flagship, which caused belief that the
invitation meant interesting business for
the early future. The Captains left the
| flagship about the same time. and Capt.
/ LeROy returned to the Ossipee about 5
O'Clock p. IN. Immediately he had all
hands piped to the quarterback, and gave
instructions for all to retire early to sleep
to be piped to breakfast little after 3
o'clock in the morning so that breakfast
/ would be over and the fires all ont of the
.coppers by 4 o'clock, when the IS vessels
designated for the attack were to move
i into position.
The Captain admonished all to aequit
| themselves with GOODNESS and courage on
the morrow. and to fully appreciate the
solemn fact that all now present could not
be BiPed to the quarterback tomorrow
evening. ..Such dreadful Conflicts" he
said, 1T seems must be, and | know that
you viii maintain the exalted standing of
j American sailors" The Captain com
mended all to the. Father Of Mercies and
/ concluded by repeating the Lords Prayer,
| in which all were invited to join.
/ The scene was novel, solemn and deeply
/ impressive. The sky was overcast with
+
Mobile Point and Dauphin Island were
mere ribbons on the northern horizon, the
world of waters all around, to the sky
line. were wildly disturbed; the vast ex-
tpanse itself was a suggestion of eternity,
and the elouded sun was sinking low in the
west. The uncovered heads of the crew
revealed bank OF intelligent, handsome,
heroic. young faces, and the thoughts of
each were evidently playing back and
forth more than lightning wings be-
tween our good ship and the far-off New
England hills, cOmmuning with loved ones
at home especially with sweetheart and
mother. with sister and brother. But the
hurried confusion of strange thoughts and
conflicting emotions excited by passing and
i prospective events were succeeded hy
Thoughts and feelings of subimity, and all
apparently appreciated the fact that to-
morrow would furnish one of the great
tevents of history; that the eyes Of the en-
tire world were upon us; that the Stars and
Stripes were over rs, and that to be a
true American citizen was greater than to
be king.
/ At 3 O'Clock ON the morning of Aug. 5
FALL hands were piped to breakfast, the
all distinguished in the coppers--the cook
ing apprenticeship the decks were
cleared for action. The IA wooden ships
that were to engage the enemy had all
been stripped for that purpose. The top.
masts. yard-arms and superfiuous rigging
had all been taken down. We had been
advised that all vessels would weigh an
Choir and be i'm line by O'Clock, and Far
ragut Ind intended TO be i'm the channel in
front Of Fort Morgan before daylight, and
before the garrison of Fort Morgan knew
OF our presence. But the morning was
foggy, so that vessel could only be dis
tiDguislred at short distance and the sig
Inn A.a - L. L..
. ns ut all. Six o'clock arrived and found
our battle line just completed, ready to adj
vance.
r Before this time Capt. Leroy told Mr..
HurlbHt and myself that during our pro-
gress into the Bay there would be nothing
; in our line to do, and that he would permit
us to go below the water line with the
Surgeons. or we might remain with him on
the peOp-deck > rich was ut the extreme
, stern Of the yeset. on a level with the
! top of tn bi4ssar sss and overlooking the
entire ag t.aek. Fve We're profoundly
grateful ~ is,se Cages for his kindness,
. saA fa'a'its.sS 70 reSssin on deck with
bipl s. sse MUCH ~ he event as pos
hs ~ exgeesssess desire to lend a
tf& 1fsBa sseEsyer opportunity pre-
ttYtsfs 8seFeYg3a the Captain kindly sup-
III s.encer repeating rifles We
aes .Sltssaaiy fortunate in being assigned
81 tie + ,ffsee, for none of our Signal men
slfsB. si.out the feet was given the opportu.
fsi8ies for taking observations that were
accorded to Hurlbut and myself. We were
! enabled to see as much of it as did the
: Admiral In addition to our natural, un
| obstrueted vision, Hurlbut carried 4 field
Z telescope and l carried marine glass.
. 'Teeumseh," our newest and most pow
e erful monitor, was placed first in line. Thi,
: monitor had single turret, and had JUS
= been completed by Ericsson especially {.
a fight the Tennessee. Next came the single
: turret monitor Manhattan. Each OF thes,
I carried two 15-inch guns. Next came, il
4 the order named, the double-turret moni
x tors Winnebago and Chickasaw, eael
It armed with four 11-inch guns; then cam
e the wooden men-o'war in the follow
8 ing order: Brooklyn, followed b,
= the flagship Hartford. the Richmond
l. Lackawanna. Monongahela, Ossipee an,
c Oneida. Each Of the wooden vessels ha,
{, heavy anchor chains hung in double fold
i over that portion Of their starboard side
IT adjacent to the engines. Our starboar
q sides were exposed to all the batteries o
i the enemy on our way into the Bar. Fac
le one of the wooden vessels named had an
Is other man-o'.war dashed to the port cleft
70 side, SO that In case either should becom
4 disabled the other might tow II to safety
y The Octarora was 50 lsshed to the Brool