In the fight with the batteries at Port Hudson, March 14, 1863, Farragut,
in the "Hartford" lashed to the "Albatross," got by, but the fine old
consort of the "Hartford," the "Mississippi," went down--her gunners
fighting to the last. Farragut, in anguish, could see her enveloped in
flames lighting up the river. She had grounded under the very guns of a
battery, and not until actually driven off by the flames did her men
leave her. When the "Mississippi" grounded, the shock threw her
lieutenant-commander into the river, and in confusion he swam toward the
shore; then, turning about, he swam back to his ship. Captain Smith thus
writes in his report: "I consider that I should be neglecting a most
important duty should I omit to mention the coolness of my executive
officer, Mr. Dewey, and the steady, fearless, and gallant manner in which
the officers and men of the 'Mississippi' defended her, and the orderly
and quiet manner in which she was abandoned after being thirty-five
minutes aground under the fire of the enemy's batteries. There was no
confusion in embarking the crew, and the only noise was from the enemy's
cannon." Lieutenant-Commander George Dewey, here mentioned at the age of
26, was to exemplify in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, the lessons he was
learning from Farragut.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG.
_Painted by C. D. Graves._
_Copyright, 1901, by Perrien-Keydel Co.,
Detroit, Mich., U. S. A._]