IN HAMPTON ROADS.
To make entirely clear the position of the _Minnesota_ at this point,
some words of explanation are necessary here. The American Civil War
was raging hotly, with the advantage if anything on the side of the
Southern Confederacy. In the spring of the year 1861, the Federal
forces had hurriedly abandoned their great naval establishment at
Norfolk in the State of Virginia, why or wherefore it would be hard to
say; for they had completed an effective blockade of Hampton Roads, and
might have held their ground against all the forces likely to attack
them.
But some sudden panic seizing them, they fled across Chesapeake Bay to
Fortress Monroe, leaving vast quantities of cannons and other munitions
of war to fall into the hands of their opponents. They sought to
consign the navy-yard, together with a number of ships they could not
take away, to the flames, but the destruction was far from complete;
and the Southern soldiers appeared upon the scene in time to rescue
much precious material from the fire--among their spoils being twelve
hundred guns, that were afterwards distributed through their
fortifications from the Potomac to the Mississippi, where they did sore
damage to their former owners.
Among the war-ships burned and sunk at the navy-yard upon its
abandonment was the fine frigate _Merrimac_, of over three thousand
tons, and carrying forty guns. On coming into possession of the
establishment, the Confederates raised this vessel and rebuilt her, but
not on the same plan as before. Instead of being a handsome
three-masted ship, with swelling sails, heavy rigging, and black and
white checked sides, she became an extraordinary-looking ironclad, the
like of which the world had never seen before, and which was destined
to effect a complete revolution in the navies of the nations.
Vague rumours concerning this wonderful construction had found their
way northward, and it was in response to the call for a strengthening
of the blockading fleet in Chesapeake Bay that the _Minnesota_ had been
despatched in hot haste from Boston, and was ploughing her way towards
Old Point Comfort, that now showed upon the port bow. At Fortress
Monroe, which crowned the Point, she would receive her orders; and the
thought of what these might be sent a thrill to the heart of every man
and boy on board, from the captain down to the youngest powder-monkey.
The sun had already sunk behind the western hills before the frigate
reached the Point; and the navigation of Hampton Roads being somewhat
difficult, her captain decided to anchor for the night and take on a
pilot in the morning. In the meantime, he himself, accompanied by two
of his chief officers, went off in a launch to Fortress Monroe, to be
informed of the situation and to receive instructions.
As Terry saw the launch shoot away from the vessel's side, there came
over him a wild impulse to spring on board her, that he too might be
taken ashore. He had already begged the boatswain to let him go, and
had been contemptuously rebuffed; but this, instead of quieting him,
only intensified his desire to get off the ship before there should be
any fighting. He now saw what seemed to him his only chance, and
without pausing to consider the folly of his enterprise, darted past
the sailors at the gangway-ladder, bounded down the steps, and as the
boat swung clear, gathering all his strength into one supreme effort,
he sprang out towards her.
For a mere boy it was a grand attempt, but it failed nevertheless.
Just as he leaped, the boatswain shouted, "Give way now;" and, driven
by twelve brawny oarsmen, the launch shot forward so swiftly that
Terry's spring fell short, and he himself vanished in the swirling
water!
But only for a moment. Almost before the spectators realized what had
happened, his head appeared above the surface, and with skilful strokes
he made for the gangway, where a sailor was awaiting him with a
grinning face and a helping hand.
"Well, you are a daisy, and no mistake," he exclaimed, in an
unmistakable tone of admiration, as he drew the dripping boy up to the
platform. "What on earth possessed you to do that?"
Terry gave a despairing glance at the departing boat, now fifty yards
away, whose occupants had taken no more notice of his plunge than if it
had been the jumping of a pollack, before replying. Then he said with
a bitter sigh, as he blew the brine out of his mouth,--
"I wanted to go ashore in her. The bosun wouldn't let me aboard, bad
cess to him, so I thought I'd jump for it."
By this time a number of the sailors had gathered round, while several
officers were looking over the bulwarks, and Terry's explanation was
received with a murmur of astonishment. Standing in the awe they did
of the captain of the ship, the idea of this slip of an Irish lad
having the audacity to thrust himself on the launch not merely
uninvited, but after having been flatly refused, was nothing short of
astounding. They had not taken much interest in the boy before, but
now they regarded him as quite a novel type, his proceeding had been so
utterly out of the ordinary.
"Come up on deck, my boy, and get some dry clothes on you," called put
one of the officers. "That was certainly a dashing attempt of yours,
even if it didn't come off as you hoped."
Thus commanded, Terry ascended the gangway again, feeling sorely
crestfallen, yet as determined as ever to seize the next opportunity
that presented itself of getting away from the frigate. When given a
sailor's suit that fitted him fairly enough, he at first refused to put
it on; but Captain Afleck insisted, and so he yielded, on condition
that he might resume his own garments as soon as they were dried.
Thanks to his being in uniform, he was allotted a hammock that night,
and forgot his disappointment in the most comfortable sleep he had
enjoyed since going on board the vessel, from which he was roused the
next morning by an unusual bustle on deck, which foretold the nearness
of some important enterprise.
When he came on deck, he found the _Minnesota_ already well under way,
making up Hampton Roads towards Newport News in company with two other
frigates, the _Roanoke_ and the _St. Lawrence_. There was intense
excitement on board, and every one whose duty permitted him to be on
deck seemed to be watching eagerly for something to appear out of the
Elizabeth River to the southward. Presently an officer who stood on
the main-truck with a powerful glass called out,--
"I see her! She's coming down past Craney Island Flats."
All eyes were at once strained in the direction indicated; but it was
some time yet before there came into general view, just off Sewell's
Point, so strange a craft that it was at once agreed it could be none
other than the much-dreaded naval novelty of which such disturbing
stories had been in circulation.
So far as Terry could make out, this mysterious marine marvel was like
a queer-looking house afloat on a raft. There were no masts; a short,
thick funnel explained how she was propelled. The roof of the house
was flat, surrounded by a light iron railing, and boasting two slight
poles, from which floated Confederate flags. The side walls sloped in
at a decided angle, and the two ends were rounded off into a
semicircular shape, the whole being heavily plated with iron.
From a single row of port-holes the muzzles of ten powerful rifled guns
projected, the entire effect being warlike in the extreme; for the
thing was evidently a fighting-machine, and nothing else, whose power
for harm had yet to be gauged by actual experience.
At first the new-comer's course was pointed straight in the direction
of the _Minnesota_, and there was not a man on board so indifferent to
danger that he did not feel a keen thrill of apprehension as this
strange and menacing antagonist came slowly onward.
The crew at once beat to quarters, and every preparation was made for a
desperate defence; but to the undeniable relief of all, the engagement
did not then take place, as the Confederate ironclad, after clearing
Sewell's Point, turned due west, and headed for Newport News, where the
wooden frigates _Congress_, of fifty guns, and _Cumberland_, of thirty
guns, were swinging lazily by their anchors. Their boats were hanging
to the lower booms, and rows of washed clothing flapped in the rigging,
showing plainly that those on board were quite unconscious of their
danger and expecting no attack.
It was not until the _Merrimac_ had approached within three-quarters of
a mile of the two frigates that the boats were dropped astern, the
booms got alongside, and fire opened upon the intruder with the heavy
pivot-guns. In this cannonade the batteries on Newport News also
joined lustily, and the ironclad was the target of many well-aimed
cannon.
But although the solid shot were smiting her black sides and the shells
bursting upon her exposed deck, she kept steadily on, in sullen,
appalling silence, until within close range of the frigates. Then her
forward pivot gun, a heavy seven-inch rifled piece, was fired right
into the stern of the _Cumberland_, and at almost the same instant the
_Congress_ received the starboard broadside, with dreadful damage in
both cases.
Terry had never before seen cannon used for any other purpose than the
firing of harmless salutes on the Queen's birthday and similar
occasions; and although the _Minnesota_ was still some distance from
the combat, and taking no part therein, still the almost continuous
roar of the cannon, the shrieking of the shells, and the jets of spray
springing up from the water where the balls ricochetted madly across
the waves, made him realize how utterly different were his surroundings
now.
His first impulse was to seek the lowest recesses of the hold, and
there cower out of reach of cannon-ball and bullet until the firing had
ceased. But curiosity got the better of this at the start, and
presently there came to its aid that love of battle which is in all
manly natures, and he determined to stay on deck and see the fight at
any risk.
In his heart he hoped for the success of the Confederate ironclad, ugly
and clumsy as she seemed. But he had by this time learned to repress
his Southern sympathies, and he strove hard to seem a disinterested
spectator.
Captain Afleck was so carried away by the extraordinary and splendid
spectacle before him that he forgot all his own troubles, and watched
the progress of the conflict with as keen an interest as if in some way
his own fate depended upon the issue.
"I tell you what it is, Terry," said he exultantly: "this is a great
bit of luck for us. Won't we have a fine story to tell when we get
back to Halifax?"
"That we will, captain," responded Terry--"providin' we do get back.
But I'm thinkin' there's some chance of our gettin' smashed ourselves
by one of these murderin' cannon-balls that go skippin' about so
lively. Just look at that, will you, captain?"
The _Congress_ had returned the broadside of the ironclad, and although
the range was close, only half the iron missiles had hit the mark, the
others playing a game of hop-skip-and-jump across the water, and
sending up the spray in snow-white spurts.
"It's fine, Terry, isn't it?" said the captain. Then with a quick
change of tone he exclaimed, as he grasped the boy's arm in his
excitement, "But look there, Terry; what can that queer black thing be
up to now? Does she think she can run that fine big frigate down, like
this ship did us in Boston Harbour?"
The tone of incredulous surprise was as marked in Captain Afleck's
voice as if the ironclad had seemed to be making preparations to fly;
yet he had only too correctly guessed the meaning of her next movement.
Indeed, before he finished speaking, it was manifest to all; for after
exchanging broadsides with the _Congress_, the _Merrimac_, paying no
heed to the land batteries that were vainly peppering her iron sides
with harmless balls, made straight for the _Cumberland_ at the top of
her speed, and struck her almost at right angles under the fore-rigging
on the starboard side, the heavy iron prow crashing through the wooden
sides as though they had been pasteboard, and making a great gaping
hole wide enough to admit a horse and cart.
A simultaneous shout of amazement, anger, and dismay went up from the
crowded deck of the _Minnesota_ at this startling and horrifying
manoeuvre, and in breathless suspense all watched the stricken ship as
her assailant withdrew a space and headed up the river, apparently
content with her terrific onslaught.
For a few minutes the _Cumberland_ showed no signs of disablement, her
guns continuing to be fired with a regularity that spoke volumes for
the splendid fortitude of her officers and men.
"She's not done for yet," cried one of the _Minnesota's_ lieutenants
exultingly. "That rebel brute will have to try again."
He had hardly spoken when the _Cumberland_ listed badly over to port
and began to fill. Down sank the gallant ship, driving her crew to the
spar-deck, where they dauntlessly continued to work the pivot-gun,
until, with a wild swaying of her tall masts and a sickening shudder of
her shattered frame, she plunged beneath the waves, carrying her brave
defenders down to an honourable death, yet leaving the Union colours
still floating defiantly from her topmast, which projected high above
the swirling water.
For the first moment after her disappearance there was an appalling
silence on board the _Minnesota_, and then there broke forth a wild
storm of groans, cheers, and curses, as the feelings of her crew found
expression. They had witnessed a catastrophe without a parallel in the
history of naval warfare. Never before had the tremendous power for
harm of the ironclad ram been displayed, and by that one blow the
_Merrimac_ had put out of date the navies of the world as then
constructed.
Of course Terry neither knew nor cared anything about this; but he
could not help being profoundly impressed by the magnitude of the
disaster, and his warm Irish heart went out in sympathy towards the
gallant men who had stood by their ship to the last moment. In his
admiration of their bravery he quite forgot his preference for their
victorious opponents.
"O captain," he exclaimed, in a tone of deepest concern, plucking at
his companion's arm, "will you look at the poor creatures? Sure
they're doing their best to swim ashore, and it's a long way for them
too."
His sharp eyes had discovered little bits of black bobbing on the
waves, which he took to be the heads of men swimming hard for the beach
at Newport News, and the lieutenant's glass confirmed the accuracy of
his vision.
"Wouldn't I like to be giving them a hand!" he continued, jumping up
and down in the heat of his excitement. He felt so thoroughly at home
in the water, that he would not have hesitated a moment at any time to
go to the rescue of a full-grown man, and he would have thoroughly
enjoyed now going to the relief of the struggling sailors.
But the men of the _Minnesota_ had other work on hand than giving aid
to their imperilled countrymen. For aught they knew the ironclad would
next be trying her terrible ram on them, and they had need to prepare
for her onset.
Having disposed of the ill-fated _Cumberland_, the _Merrimac_ now gave
her whole attention to the _Congress_, whose commander, realizing the
impossibility of resisting the assault of the ram, had, with notable
presence of mind, slipped his cables and run his ship aground upon the
shallows, where the deep-draught ironclad could not follow her except
with cannon-balls.
Although the _Congress_ had four times as many guns as the _Merrimac_,
and was well supported besides by the land batteries on Newport News,
it was an unequal contest; for while the projectiles showered upon the
ironclad glanced harmlessly off her cannon-proof walls, her powerful
rifled guns raked the _Congress_ from end to end with terrible effect.
There could be only one termination to such a struggle. Gallantly as
the Northern sailors served their guns, their commander presently was
killed, and her decks were strewn with dead and dying. At the end of
an hour her colours came down, and white flags appeared at the gaff and
mainmast in token of surrender.
Meanwhile the _Merrimac_ had been joined by a number of smaller vessels
that had come down the James River after running in gallant style the
gauntlet of the Federal batteries which lined the northern bank. They
were only gunboats carrying ten guns at the most, and could not take
any prominent part in the battle, but they now proved useful in
completing the work of the ironclad.
Two of them steamed alongside the shattered _Congress_, to make
prisoners of the crew and set fire to the ship. But they were unable
to accomplish either of these duties owing to the heavy fire kept up by
the land batteries, and had to beat a retreat; whereupon the _Merrimac_
sent hot shot into the frigate, that soon had her blazing fore and aft,
while her crew escaped on shore either by swimming or in small boats.
All this was watched with keen anxiety on board the _Minnesota_, and
the question her men asked themselves was,--
"Will the _Merrimac_ be content with the damage she has already done,
or will our ship share the same fate as the other two?"
They were not left long in uncertainty. Swinging slowly around, the
huge ironclad, after pausing a few minutes as though to take breath,
came down the channel heading straight for the _Minnesota_. Her day's
work was evidently not yet done. She must have another victim before
returning to her moorings.