The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-16
oi ,ae Mobile MSais Bs.,e Bay '' shssa>a s;'' n

, vessel upon which the Confederates
 based any hopes, and there was more
 heroic figure than the figure of Dav.d Farragut.
 This unrecordad fact was presented 1 to us by Judge H. Austill of Mobile, who was inside Fort Morgan and help | ed man and train the guns on the Fed | eral fleet. As the revenue cutter was !! steaming over the waters outside the | fort, Judge AustilI was describing the great battle and showing the points | of interest
 By Her own Torpedo. Right out there. gentlemen, the i Federal vessel Tecumseh was blown
 up by a torpedo. The bones of her
 crew are resting now in the mud over
 which VIC are passing. Only Q small | portion, a very few members of her crew. escaped. l stood within the walls of Fort Morgan, and, looking through | a case-matc. saw her receive the shock | of the explosion. She was blown clear of the water. and in the air she quiv- | cred like a thing of life. Then, in bare second, it seemed. she disappeared | beneath the waters forever. And in going down, she carried with her all I her crew except a few who were in her upper works, and who leaped in the wa ter at the first shock.
 The Tecumseh was not sunk by a Confederate torpedo. The history that so records her destruction Is wrong. Her destruction came from her own
 torpedo. Of this I am certain. The reasons for this conviction l will explain to you. When the vessel
 went down two of the crew of her tur- ret (she was a monitor. you know), | escaped by leaping from the port holes. I h fNUr Nea1 t,,k@ N- side of the vessel nearest the fort and ] swan to the shallow water under the walls of the fort. The men within re- trained from firing upon them as they came, and they were taken in the fort through a case-mate. I talked with
 these two men within 8 few minutes
 after their arrival in the fort. They explained to me just how the destruc.
 tion of the Tecumseh came about The Tecumseh had been designated
 to destroy the little iron clad Tennes.
 see. She headed the column of vessels
 that were forcing their way into the
 bay and to her had been assigned the
 task of engaging the Tennessee, Al
 long spar had been fixed to her brow
 and at the end of this spar a torpedo
 was fastened. The spar and the tor
 pedo were made fast with wire guy
 ropes to the side of the vessel.
 The Tennessee was awaiting the at-
 tack near Fort Morgan. As the col
 umn of vessels steamed in the bay en- trance the Tecumseh -swerved out of line and headed for the Tennessee nt full speed, the torpedo on the long spar
 being held straight before her. It was the intention of the officers on board
 the Tecumseh to ram the Tennessee
 with the torpedo while going at full speed.
 But as the Tecumseh swerved in she drew the fire of the guns from Fort Morgan. One of these shots struck the
 spar and cut 1t cleanly in two. The torpedo held by the wire ropes swept
 back and exploded under the keel of the vessel
 Brave and Humane Act. T have reason to believe that these
 men spoke the truth. What I saw of
 the approach of the Tecumseh, of the tragedy of it's destruction confirms all
 that these two members of her crew told us.
 "As the Tecumseh went down I saw
 one of the most humane and one of the
 bravest things, I believe that ever char aeterized naval fight. Several mem- bers of her crew escaped by jumping from the vessel on the farthest side. The vessels following her stopped stock still for several minutes and picked up the survivors who were foundering in the water. There might have been a dozen of these men swimming around and to save them the entire fleet, it seemed. stopped right where it could be raked easily by the fire from Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan. The forts had the exact range of this entrance and as the Federals stopped there nearly every shot told. I should say
 that the Federal fleet lost thirty or thirty-five men while the few survi- vors were being picked up."
 The heroic act of that battle, the feature that stands out head and shoul- ders above all else. and than which no braver is recorded in naval history was the single handed attack made by the Tennessee on the entire Federal
 fleet of twenty-three vessels. After the fleet had passed the forts and come
 to anchor five miles inside the bay. the Tennessee. commanded by Admiral
 Franklin Buchanan. alone and unaided, attacked the entire Federal fleet. The Confederate soldiers who were within
 Fort Morgan and saw the attack, to this day speak of 1t with enthusiasm and with kindling eye. The Tennes- see numbered into the fight with her weak and crippled engines going less than six knots an hour. like wounded bull dog attacking pack of big mas tiffs. The men and officers cooped up in the little ironclad knew that there could be but one outcome to the ridic- | ulously uneven fight. but they set 1 themselves to the task of crippling the | enemy's fleet, be the cost what 1t might |
 Into the middle of the anchored fleet | the Tennessee steamed. and around and | around in a circle she went snappine biting and putting here. there and ey- erywhere. She would ram this vessol