Woman's enterprise., 1921-11-18

WeStWere JOlneu Dv tne queen of I
we were joined by the Queen of
the West, under command of Mai. T.
NJ. Brent; the Webb, commanded bv
Capt. Pierce, accompanied by the
Grand Era, a light river packet, as
tender and supply boat. Col. Brand
remained in command of the Dr.. Beatty
and the boarding party. With this it,
tie mosquito fleet we continued up the
river in search of the Indianola. whose
black smoke we could occasionally SEQ
against the blue sky far ahead of us
hut we were unable to determine if she
"ad turned back to meet US.
About 4 o'cloce. n tie evening of
FEB. "a, in roundin ga bend in the river,
we came suddenly upon the Indianola
She was prepared and waiting for u.s.
and turned loose every gun she could
bring to bear in cur direction, but not
a shot touched us. She had a large
barge lashed to either side, which af-
forwards proved to be filled with
some kind of combustible material
Our boats dropped back while the In
dianola continued on up the river. As
we had not had an opportunity to for
mulate our plans, it was decided to
leave the men on the boats and the
officers go on shore for consultation
and plan for the attack that night
Major Brent explained what he knew
about the 1ndianola. "She was con-
sidered the most formidable ironclad}
boat Of the Western fleet. She was|
thoroughly plated with three-inch
iron; about her deck she had two iron
turrets, one forward inclosing two|
eleven-inch guns and one back of the
with two nine-inch guns.
besides her other guns below. Her en-
tire deck was plated with iron. and
usually covered with about half an
nch OF grease to facilitate boarding
parties in slipping into the river when
hey touched her deck. In addition to
his she had four pipes above deck forI
hrowing hot water to warm up board
ng parties. She carried a full crew
supplied with army rifles and was
commanded by Capt Brown of the ,
United States Navy"
A SECRET BALLOT. "
With this information before us, he t
uggested that we take secret BAL '
ot whether we should go on, overtake}
nd, under cover Of darkness, fight t
nd capture her. When the ballots =
'ere counted they were unanimous in v
avor OF going on and capturing her; O
OF one voted against it. It was de- g
lded that the Webb, which was the t
lost powerful ram, should take the p
LAD, remaining as close to the right a
and bank as possible. The DR.. Beatty q
bout 200 yards in the rear of the
lebb, near midstream, with the Queen
the West in advance of the Beatty, 4
ose to the left-hand bank. All
ghts extinguished Of course, in the
'rkness we were not expected to ad-
IRE strictly to this plan, but to fol- I
W it as nearly as we could.
The night was inky dark and the
YER was almost at flood stage. At
e first gun, all three boats were to
sh for the 1ndianola under full head
steam, the Grand Era was to re-
ain safe distance in the rear to =
nder aid to our crippled boats. y
THE ATTACK.
About IL o'clock the Webb discover
that she was in the act of passing r
e 1ndianola, which was close to the +
posite bank. She turned loose her
oadside guns, and turning, headed
the 1ndianola under full head of
am, striking her about midship. In
'ntly every gun of our fleet was in
lion. The Queen of the West was
'hlng in, and rammed her with full %
'ce near the wheelhouse. The Webb. /
'er backing off, was coming back
ain, striking her with full force =
It back Of the wheelhouse. The DR.. u
atty, under full steam, was rushing /
with the boarding parties to get
ngside. Col. Brand had given the
nmand to "stand by to board!' and
Try man was ready. We were soon
ngside, but the graphing hooks did !
hold and we were bounded off. a
ring this time the Webb and the
cen of the West, with their rams.
re getting in their work as rapidlyI
they could be handled. Again the
aty was alongside. Then Comman.