The National tribune., 1904-04-07
THE CONGRESS AND THE MERRlMAc.
story Of the Fight foid s. The Drummer boy
ofthe Congress, Who Was the Commanders
Messenger During the 1ngasemsnt.

| ofthe Congrsss, Who Was the Commanders
Messenger During the Engagement.
EDITOR NATIONAL Tribune: was or
dered from Philadelphia In February.
1892, to join the Z. s. frisafc Congress.
While we lay 94 Newport News, at the
much talk of the rebel ram. Merrimac.
coming down to attack and sink the Fed
4 eral fleet.
The Paymaster of our ship was the
brother of the commander of the Merri-
mac, Mr.. Buchanan, and between the time
| / joined the Congress and the day Of the
fight there were three or four letters re-
ceived from the commander of the Mer-
rimac by his brother, our Paymaster,
stating what he was going to do to us
/ with his vessel when he came down on US,
and that the Paymaster bad better advise
our commander to surrender. Our Pay
master read the letters to the ships crew,
but never answered them. During the en-
gagement with the Merrimac he lost his
| mind and had to be cared for until the
| fight was over, and he was afterward sent
| to the asylum.
| The day, March 9, 1862, was fair, and a
slight wind was. from the northwest.
| About 11:3O, to the best of my knowledge,
| / was called to beat the general quarters,
which was done Immediately, and l took
| my place as messenger boy of the Exec
| utive Officer. who was in command and
| fought the ship. His name was Joseph Il.
Smith. After all the divisions reported
| ready for action the Merrimac came
bearing down on our starboard side. The
| ram came alongside Of us, about 20 feet,
and stopped still. While lying here the
! U. S. ship Cumberland, lying about two
squares from our stern, fired her bow gun
| at the ram under our starbOard stern. AT
| this time everything was still for three or
four minutes. Our commander stated to
| the crew that he wanted every man TO
| do his duty, and he wanted every one TO
| stick to their guns; that before he would
| give up he would blow the ship up with
| all hands.
| l will state here to show the difference
between the two Smiths-Capt. Smith,
who had resigned and was waiting for a
chance to go to Richmond, and Lieut.. Jo-
seph b. Smith, who was Executive Off
| Ger, and in command and fought the ship
| AS Lieut.. Smith, in command, stood be-
| tween the spar and gundeck, on the lad
der at this time, everything was still be-
tween the two ships, when orders were
| given by Lieut.. Smith to fire from both
decks at the same time. 1t was terrible
| shock, and Immediately the Merricmac re-
turned broadside into us, dismounting
| three of our guns on the gundeck, killing
nearly every one of the guns crew, and
Commander j. Is. Smith was killed by a
shell while standing between decks, and
l was wounded by A flying piece Of gun
carriage while standing near him.
The Merrimac started off direct for the
Cumberland and rammed her port bow,
sinking her in a few minutes. At this
time shots were exchanged from both
ships, and we gave three cheers from our
ship. thinking that the Merrimac was
sinking with the Cumberland. We fired
every gun we could get to bear on the
ram at this time and the ram, breaking
from the Cumberland, backed off. to the
flats, disabled for long time. At once
1 we slipped our cable and made sail. and
with the assistance of the tugb0at Z0Iaye
we ran ashore bows on.
When Capt. Smith saw that Lieut..
Smith was killed he hoistcd the white flag
this they ordered the white flag hauled
down and the Stars and Stripes hoisted
again: and some time after that it was re-
peated and the white flag was hauled
| down by one of the crew, and the Stars
and Stripes were raised once more; and
for this reason we were shown no quarter.
At this time two rebel gunboats, the
Patrick Henry and the Jamestown, came
down James River, and opened fire on us.
and we were set on fire by a red hot shot
| from one of those vessels before we ran
ashore. The fire arose in the steerage,
1 and / was ordered to beat the fire quar-
ters, which l did. The fire spread so
rapidly that We had to food the magazine.
The Merrimac came off the fats at this
time and lay off from us, then the rebel
gunboat Teaser came alongside of us and
asked if we had surrendered. The reply
| was yelled by the crew: mo" In the
meantime she captured nine Of our men,
some of them wounded. The firing COM
menced between us and the Teaser, and
| fire was opened on her by the infantry on
shore, and she then returned to the Mer
i 4 wa ORC af
The Merrimac came up to our stern. and
Commander Buchanan. OF the Merri-
mac, hailing us, asked to know il we had
surrendered, when one of our marine
guard shot and wounded him. She opened
fire OH us. all the rest Of their
| time. The Merrimac backed off. leaving
us, as the fire was rapidly spreading
Word was passed to leave the ship, as the
magazine would explode shortly and the
fire had cut us off from saving our
wounded. who were left on the berthdeck
at the dispensary.
While we Uhe crew were in the wa
| ter, swimming for shore, shell and shot
! were flying. in all directions. and darkness
was fast falling. AS our officers were all
| killed the crew had to look out for them
selves, and we could not do any more.
The clouds in the heavens were lighted by
the flames from the burning ship, and we
| could hear the Mortified cries from our
wounded, who, surrounded by fire, were
left to perish. Shortly after the magazine
| exploded and all was silent.
As l was messenger for the command
ing officer during the engagement, had n
chance to see what was going on. AL
though l was wounded l stood by my pest
until some Of the guns were loaded and
were fired by the heat Of the burning
ships. Before we quit her l was standing
/ by one of the loaded guns and asked nv
shipmates to help ME and we trained and
fired the piece. and it took effect; and that
| was the last shot fired by the Congress-
JOHN LAWRENCE, G15 Fifth Street, Ports
mouth, Va; drummer boy of the Congress.
The National Tribune is prepared to fur
| nish to attorneys and others blank forms Of
| application under the recent order of the
i Cnnlai SO inuer of PaaaSionS Drico G5