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

The moment Tecumseh's second shot
| was fired the fort replied with n 10O-poun-
der that struck the bay astern of Te-
cumseh, and threw a volume Of water ap-
parentiy as high as the Hartford's cross
trees. 1t was now demonstrated to both
sides that we We're close enough for deadly
execution, and the distance was rapidIy
diminishing, because we were moving for
ward at the rate of nine or 10 miles an
hour.
The guns Of the fort were soon all
| ablaze. In quick succession our adj
vancing ships opened their broadsides.
About this time. unfortunately, the
Brooklyn ran aground, and for ten or u
minutes caused what, to a landsman, was
Understandable confusion. The advancing
vessels and pairs had been ordered to keep
about 40 feet apart, and this sudden and
unexpected stop Of the Brooklyn caused
those following to bunch in the same
locality, with imminent danger Of serious
collisions. Our four monitors were imper.
vious to the enemy's shot, and slowly kept
on through the channel, working their bat
| teries with visible effect. III go
The Admiral concluded to leave the
Brooklyn to her fate; the Hartford was or
dered forward with all possible speed and
the other vessels We're instructed to follow.
No sooner had the Hartford passed the
Brooklyn than the latter freed herself
Aiom ucE peflIouS pOSltlOH ana 1IHHeuldtefS
swung into line behind the Hartford Our
monitors soon drew the fire of the sandbag
battery on shore. and also the fire of the
four vessels Of the Confederate feet, so
that by 7:30 the action had become gen.
eral OH both sides, and the constant roar Of
700 pieces OF heavy artillery made enough
noise. apparently, to fill all immensity
with its vibrations. The little breeze from
the northwest was an appreciated. Proyi-
al mid for oil of he, a..
were in the channel the rebel gunners were
buried out of sight, not only in their own
smoke, but also in ours, and their firing
although at short range, was necessarily ut
random When our. monitor Tecumseh
| reached point opposite the sandbag bat
| terry on the beach. she moved shoreward
| to give special attention to that battery
when she struck torpedo that lifted her
| bows from the water and she instantly
| went TO the bottom, carrying down with
her 100 men to rise no more
The rebel feet kept off to the northea 81.
and continued to pour destructive fire.
particularly into the Hartford and Brook
| Ign, apparently undecided as to which was
the flagship. Early in the struggle Admit
| raj Farraguf went up to the cross.trees of
the Hartf0rds mainmast, for the reason
that the atmospheric conditions caused the
| immense volumes of pOwdersmoke to roll
| eastward close to the water, SO that n CO.
foot elevation enabled him to have an I'M
obstructed view over the entire scene. 1t
| is said that an unsolicited Lieutenant
kindly and prtldently secured the Admirars
| body with rope to the mast, so as to pre-
vent possible fall to the deck in case Of
accident.
The leading vessels were getting. well
into the bay when the Tennessee turned
1 her Prov towards the Hartford and rap
idly advanced upon her bows, to demon
strate her bOasted qualities as ram Like
the old Merrimac. she had an iron pillow
about four feet under water and IL or Il
| feet long, which could be readily driven
| through the side of the strongest wooden
| ship. Farragut, from his elevated position,
saw the intended mischief Of the iron mon.
ster. and at once ordered Hartford's helm
| hard aport, which threw the Hartford suf-
| hciently to the left to permit the Ten
nessee' to drop astern on the starboard,
and as she passed the two fagships ex-
changed broadsides at very close range
Admiral Buchanan. the builder Of the
! Merrimac and the Tennessee, was on the
latter at this time. The Brooklyn, Rich.
mend, Laekawanna and Menongahela
were far enough in advance to observe this
movement and the Admirars signal, and
they likewise heaved apoft and thus got
out Of the way Of the dreaded ram.
l. Cro be continued.)