The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-05-17
THE CONFEDERATE NAVY
By w. F. CLAYTON,
Late Passed Midshpman Confederate States Navy.
Bx w. =. CLAYTON,

army, and In that belief they brought
with the army to Manassas several
thousand pairs Of handouts. to adorn
the wrists of the leaders of the mob.
But while the North was unprepared,
1t had abundant resourceS-ships, guEs,
shops and the like--and soon made up
It's deficiency, while tho South, with
no resources, had to struggle on in the
face of circumstances that would have
appalled, any other people. A few
struggling steamers caught in South-
ern ports, belonging to Northern
owners. were captured. and made the
basis OF the Confederate States navy;
the capture of the Norfolk navy yard,
gave US some thousand cannon, and
u few half-burned and sunken ships,
was SO under the influence of heat and
among them the steam frigate Merri-
mac, the only vessel we were able to
utilize; some small arms and u fair
! lot of powder, shot and shell, with
other ship stores. gave to the Con-
federacy the largest quantity OF war
material that it possessed prior to the
first battle: the Pensacola navy yard
yielded nohing of Importance, and
these were the only navy yards in the
South. Now, as 1t Is my purpose TO
introduce into this narrative some Of
the escapades of my shipmates, that
the tedium of unvarrished fact. may
not dull the. readers appreciation, I
think 1t not out of place. especially
| for the benefit Of the younger gem
GRAFTON, to give a short comparison OF
the navy OF the past and the navy Of
/, the present. The reader has perhaps
pursued with interest the voyage of
| the United States fleet around the
Horn" and UP to California. and no
doubt many have looked with pride at
the war levianthians. at anchor in
some of our ports. and In ecstacy they
have exclaimed. What magnificent
| ships! Reader those are not ships
They are simply floating forts or
| fighting machines. The ship Of the
navy has gone forever. and with them
/ the romance of "a life on the ocean
4 wave" Mnryatt's "Midshipman Easy
is like some OF animal creation-ex-
tinct-and the midshipman of to-day is
a full-fledged officer, bound by all of
1 the rules of decorum expected from an
admiral. II these rules, or any of
| them, he transgresses. court-martial
/ Is the result. This Is the new navy in
the old navy. The MILDLY who had
not walked a chalk line was called up
by the first officer and given father
ly lecture and sent to the masthead
or foretopsail yard to spend six or
eight hours and rurlnate over the bad
luck Of having been caught. No
4 thought OF remorse or repentance ever
entered his breast, and with schemes
for more secrecy in the future he sits
out his punishment and counts the
7 minutes when the officer of the deck
will hail the foretopsail yard and or
Z der him down.
The word midshipman means be-
tween the officer and the man, the
connecting link. the first round in the
ladder OF promotion, and as conse-
quence there is familiarity between
the sailor and the midshipman that
would be subservient to discipline in
an officer of higher rank. The mid
shipman learns from the sailor much
of seamanship, how to knot and splice
and the one looks, after the interest
OF the other, both afloat and ashore
!: To illustrate, when ordered to the
Patrick Henry, In James River. n brig
antine-rigged steamer (the United
!. States being but hulk without mast
and spars), 1t came my watch on the
. Eforecastle; lieutenant being. officer OF
the deck, that officer came forward on
the hurricane deck, and scanned the
rigging on the foremost. the sails be-