New-York tribune., 1912-02-11

Lincoln bv old Commodore Vanderbilt,
the ship bearing his name 70 the Cover
its execution Through the influence ol
was appointed third officer Of the Hi
THE four ships went down to Ham
gcthcr. When We arrived the Mcrn
back Of Lambcrts Point undergoing #
clash with the Monitor, and the Federal
fleet. which comprised nearly twenty
vessels, was lined up from Fort Mon
roe out To the RiprapS. covering
the landing Of General George b.
NlcClcllan'sarmvoi Of nine thousand men
at Yorktown. Rear Admiral Colds
borough was in command OF the fleet,
and his flagship was the Minnesota.
The plan of ramming the Mcrrimac
with one Of our four ships was carefully
prepared. Il was arranged that the
little Monitor. which could be- handled
very quickly. while her ironclad uvaI,
on account Of her much greater length
and deeper draft, was slow and cum
bcrsomc in her movements, was % at-
vance at the first favorable opportunity
and surround the Alcrrimac with %
cloud Of thick smoke. Under cover %.
this protecting curtain one ot the four
steamers was % rush forward az full
speed and smash into the NcrnwHo
amii-hip,. Either one ot Us would
have cut her IN two. \ week after our
arrival the Ncrumdc came ont and
stood three miles away where She hHa
room % maucuycr, and plenty Of water.
which she needed, as She drew twenty
three feet, silently challenging our
whole fleet
Commodore TattnaiI' 'siwpr -rIycdr-
nancr was repeated for TWO hours every
day for more than q week; but the
anyIousIv looked for signal 10 aivan..
wa, never hDis,cl on the Minnesota
All of ug on the Illinois were ambitious
10 win the honor that would come from
sinking the naval tar oi the tDntcirr-
aov. The Vanderbilt was "a faster ship
than ours: but We always kept % it'll,
IN front Of the line, ,y We should be first
away when the expected signal was
broken out The sides Of the Illinois
were slo5hci with oil until they shonr
ike "a bottle. and If We had ever Int
the Nlcrrimac We should have gone
clear through her without scratching
our paint.
But wc watched in vain for the lgnM
that would have given us chance Z"
make the Illinois famous. Admiral
Gold4bOrough was the most cautious
and conservative American have ever
known. There is no doubt that be-
had orders from Washington not To-
force a fight with the Nlcrrimlc; hu'
no man who docs not know when and
how 10 disobcy orders ought ever 10
attain flag rank in the United State
navy, especially in time Of war.
Finally, when the Conirdcratcs
evacuated Norfolk, the Mcrrmac wa
blown up of Crancy Point, early in the
morning Of May 10, 1862, as her draft
made it impossible TO take her up the
lanes River TO Richmond. Toprcycn'
the Fcdcrals from raising and repairing
her. she was literally blown 10 pieces,
the explosion producing "a shock that
MCClcllan's army thought was an
earthquake. was on the bridge at
the time. and my first impression was
that our boilers had let 60 and torn the
the Illinois. When | saw that We ",
guessed what had happened, and rcpor
Babcock that the Ncrrimac had been
was incrcdulous. "Tut-tut, Boy You
said. \ few hours later the despatch
my report. With the Mcrrimac mcnac
Illinois returned 10 New York and RET
Government service, along with her dis