The National tribune., 1910-10-06
AN EXTRAORDINARY NAVAL CAREER.
German Boy From Texas Rises FROM Ordinary Seaman to
Rear-Admird q
By Rear-AdmIral O. w saRENsotr
paper read before the Loyal Les}at sai frnnesco)

| vessels aaOss to-day. She is stationed
at Boston as q receiving ship for re-
cruits. In the SOS l was twice for a
term Of shore duty her executive and
part of the time her commanding otft-
Ger. MY first ship in the Navy L served
on board as an ordinary seaman.
On Biocade Duty.
| In May, 1861. the aWabash was or
dercd to biockading duty off Charleston.
s. Q, and in the following August we,
| in>cOmpdEy with several other warships,
| hem harded and captured the fortihca-
! tion5 erected at Hatteras Inlet, y. q,
the first important naval engagement or
the civil war 1t was my first time I'm
der fire. and I frankly admit when I
heard the shells whistling over the ship
and some of them hitting her 1 wished
myself back in Texas under the lee of
my mothers barn
(, In October, 1861, Flag Officer Du-
| pont-for we had no Admirais at that
time-hcisted his bread-pennant on the
! Wabash, and on the 9TH of November
we were the leading ship in the battle
of Port Royal, 8. G., and the capture of
! that place. From that date until Oeto-
her, 1862, I volunteered for all of the
many expeditions sent from the ship.
Very often in the armed boats of the
/ Wabash we were assis ting the army in
the various expeditions and engage
ments i'll the rivers and coast waters OF
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
| Exciting Shore Expeditions.
I Sometimes we in the armed lanches
were months away from the ship. I
| thoroly enjoyed it, and was in many,
what ! consider now. very foolhardy
undertakings and engagements against
! the enemy. My name was officially mem
/ TONED to the crew of the Wabash for
I n
ture of Fort Pulaski. Savannah River,
Ga, and In the capture of the Confed-
/ crate steamer Darlington, near Fernan-
dina, Fla. I was promoted to a petty
! officer. | begged off from this honor.
knowing fltlI we'll the Jealousy it would
create among my sffpmates. many who
were double and even treble my age and
| had been in the naval service from boy
hood
In October. 1862, combined expedi-
| ton of the Army and Navy, under the
command OF Gems. Ormsby. Mitchell
and Braunan, attempted to destroy the
railroad between Charleston and Sayan-
nah Many Iight-draft gunboats and
| the four rowing lanches of the Wabash,
each armed with a 12-pound howftZer.
co-operated with the army. We landed
our howitzers. and participated in the
engagement of Ccssa whatchie. Richard
sonville and the final and disastrous
] DdtlIt VI rOCOtdIBO, u, wucEc Itic
! four howitzers covered the retreat of
| our army. At, this latter fight I was
twice severely wounded-in my right
side and having my left forearm shat
tered by bullet.
With much loss and many difficulties
our forces reached the shelter of the
! gunboats' fire / was sent to the naval
! hospital at New York. was recommend
! ed for a medal of honor for refusing to
leave the gun when wounded, and also
! for an appointment as Masters Mate.
The latter 1 declined The position in
! those days was neither an officer nor
an enlisted man. While at the hospital
1 began to study navigation" being
anxious to rise in my profession.
In January, 1863, I was discharged
from the hospital and the naval service.
Thru the influence of my uncle, who
was a Brigade Surgeon in the army, 1
was offered a Second Lieutenancy in a
newly-enlisted New York infantry regi-
| nent- / declined the honor. The army
paid large bounties at that time. the
Navy none. I re-enlisted In the Navy
in February, 1863, for the ironclad mon
itor Catsldll, and was appointed petty
! officer. Our vessel and other monitors
were engaged in the unsuccessful attack
| on the defenseS of Charleston, s. c.,
April Z, 1863, when the ironclad Keo-
kuk was sunk under fire from Fort
Sumter. The Catskill was hit over 80
times that day. June II I WAS present
at Wassaw Sound. Ga, when the moni-
tor Weehawken captured. after firing
but four shots. the Confederate ironcIad
ram Atlanta, the second Merrimac." as
she was fondly called In the South II
was one of the neatest, shortest. most
decisive engagements L ever witnessed.
Attacking Charleston Harbor.
In July, 1863. the army. protected by
= <.f froy al dc tod NH0r
ris Island. S. c., and by slow approaches
later in the Summer captured the eeIe-
ibrated batteries Forts Wagner and
Gregg. and the steady siege of Charles
ton began. Aug. II Admiral Dahlgren
who had succeeded Admiral Dupont
made a determined attack to enter
Charleston Harbor. He was repulsed
with heavy loss. steered the CatskiIl
into action. The so-called pilot house
of these early ironclads was round
stationary tower. five feet in diameter
and six feet high, placed on top of the
gun turret, and was protected with sew
Ien-inch iron plates, pierced with mar
row peepholes to see thru. The top OF
the tower was covered with one and
three-g quarter inch concave iron plates.
On that hot August morning there
were in that small, sitting tower the
Captain, his Aid, the Paymaster. the
Pilot and l at the wheel Within 500
lYaTuS Fort ouIntcT d CndnCe DtunS-
ing shot from the parapet crushed the
plates of the top of the tower, instantly
killing the Captain, Commander George
w. Rodgers, and the Paymaster, wound
ing the Pilot, a Masters Mate, and
lstunning me. Up to this date had seen
many violent deaths, but never such
bloody shambles in such a small place
| With a broken wheel 1 steered the ship
out of action, removed the bodies from
the tower, and after we had made tenn
porary repairs we returned to the en-
gagement.
Again I-was offered by the Admiral
the appointment of Masters Mate. In
declining I stated that felt competent
to pass the examination for Ensign. My
letter smas approved by the Admiral.
The Navy Department replied that ]
was ESQ youngs the minimum age for
voliintfsr Ensiggs being "a years" AT
this sSnne period the Department en-
rolled Hundreds of merchant marine Of
ficers as Lieutenants, Masters and En-
signs, ALI who were totally ignorant re-
gardingE gunnery naval routine or who
had seen no active service but who
were aii of and many over the required
/ Years afterwards, in a conversation
withrNr. Gide0ns Welles. our naval War
Secretary, he fernarked that he remem-
bered my case very well, and was under
the impression the commission of En-
sign h4a been sent to me after the Cat
skin affair. a.
Night Attadk on Fort Sumter.