The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-10

full Federal land forces. out also by a
fleet Of iron-clads. It was neces-
sary. therefore. in order to accom-
plish their purpose. for the Confeo-
crates to make a combined attack oy
land and by water. At the time the
Confederate authorities were having
constructed on the Roanoke river.
about thirty miles below the town OF
Weldon. the famous iron-ciad Al
bemarle." "No vessel" says her
builder, Adjutant Gilbert Elliott, was
over constructed under more adverse
circumstances. The shipyard was es-
tablished in a corn field, where the
ground had already been marked out
and planted for the coming crop, out
the owner of the land, w. r. Smith,
Esq. was in hearty sympathy with
the enterprise. and aided me then
and after wards. in a thousand ways,
to accomplish the end l had in view.
It was next to impossible to obtain
machinery suitable for the work IN
hand. Here and there, scattered
about the surrounding country, a
portable saw mill, blacksmith's forge,
or other apparatus was found, how
ever and the citizens Of the neigh
borhood on both sides of the river
were not slow to render me assist
ance, but co-operated. cordially, IN
the completion Of the trOn-clad, and
at the end Of about one year from
the laying of the keel, during which
innumerable difficulties were over
come by constant application, deter
mined effort, and incessant labor.
day and night. success crowned the
efforts of those engaged in the I'M
The Confederate au-
thOrities had detailed Captain James
w. Cooke, Of the Confederate Navy.
q native Of North Carolina, to super
wise the construction Of the vessel
and to take command of her when
she went into commission. When it
was decided to make an attack upon
Plymouth. the authorities ordered
Captain Cooke to cooperate with
General HOke's land forces. His
vessel was still unfinished, but this
fact did not daunt her gallant COM
mander. How, in the face of insup-
erable difficulties, he fastened to
obey his orders, swept the Roanoke
clear Of Federal gunboats, and ena-
BILE the land forces to storm the
defences of Plymouth. is graphically
told in the following interesting let
ter from that other gallant Confed-
crate Naval commander (also a
North Ca~rolinian), Captain J. n.
Mattitt. to Hon. George Davis.
Sound, August II, 1774.
10 the Honorable George DAVIS,
Wilmington, n. c.
My dear Sir: My apparent dilato-
riness in responding to yours Of the
18th inst, resulted from my being
under the necessity Of vamping up
packed away correspondence with
naval friends. / hoped to find some
letters from Capt. w. T. Muse. but
unfortunately the package that con-
tanned a Der from that old and
valued friend proved mon est
All hat / can do is to enclose the
autograph OF Captain Cooke and
my own. I made two long cruises
with both Muse and Cooke; they
were excellent officers and gentlemen
OF the highest order Of merit. I con
ton Of Captain James w. Cooke to
be preemfnent. 1t commenced with
his gallant combat against the Fed
eral fee off Roanoke Island-his
subsequent desperate defence of the
steamer Ellis, off Elizabeth City,
when assaulted by an overwhelming
force-fghting to the extreme point
Of martial daring, in spite of wounds
and hopeless resistance. When Ply
mouth was on the point Of being as
sailed by General Hoke, Cookies yes
sci. the iron-clad Albemarle, was not
completed. Fully approaching the
great Importance of the vessels
presence. he fastened his inexperi-
enced crew on board, turned the
battery deck into a machine shop,
with portable FORCES. ETC., and started
down the river from Halifax, work
Ing day and night On the passage
with q perseverance and energy that
was truly marvellous.
Under a thousand difficulties the
guns were exercised and crew disci.
the indomitable Cooke
we'll knew that Plymouth could no.
be captured. unless the fedora
gunboats were driven away.
Before the Albe,narle was com
pletely fron-clad. the spires OF PLY
mouth hove in sight, the laundering