No events of the present war will be longer remembered, or will hold a
more prominent place in History, than those which took place on the
eighth and ninth of March in Hampton Roads, when the Rebel steamer
Merrimack attacked the Federal fleet. We all know what havoc she made
in her first day's work. When the story of her triumphs flashed over
the wires, it fell like a thunderbolt upon all loyal hearts.
The Cumberland, manned by as gallant a crew as ever fought under the
Stars and Stripes, had gone down helplessly before her. The Congress,
half-manned, but bravely defended, had been captured and burnt.
Sailing frigates, such as were deemed formidable in the days of Hull
and Decatur, and which some of our old sea-dogs still believed to be
the main stay of the navy, were found to be worse than useless against
this strange antagonist. Our finest steam-frigates, though
accidentally prevented from getting fairly into action, seemed likely,
however skilfully handled, to have proved almost as inefficient; for
all our batteries and broadsides had produced no effect on this
iron-clad monster. She had gone back to her lair uninjured. What was to
prevent her from coming out again to break the blockade, bombard our
seaports, sink and destroy everything that came in her way?
But we had only seen the first act of the drama. The curtain was to
rise again, and a new character was to appear on the stage. The
champion of the Union, in complete armor, was about to enter the lists.
When the Merrimack steamed out defiantly on Sunday morning, the Monitor
was there to meet her. Then, for the first time in naval warfare, two
iron-clad vessels were pitted against each other. The Merrimack was
driven back disabled. We breathed freely again at this
_dénouement_, and congratulated ourselves that the nation had
been saved from enormous damage and disgrace. We did not foresee that
the great Rebel monster, despairing of a successful encounter with her
antagonist, was to end her career by suicide. We thought only of the
vast injury which she might have done, and might yet be capable of
doing, to the Union cause, but from which we had so providentially
escaped. It was indeed a narrow escape. Nothing but the opportune
arrival of the Monitor saved us; and for this impregnable vessel we
are indebted to the genius of Ericsson.
This distinguished engineer and inventor, although a foreigner by
birth, has long been a citizen of the United States. His first work in
this country--by which, as in the present instance, he added honor and
efficiency to the American navy--was the steam-frigate Princeton, a
vessel which in her day was almost as great a novelty as the Monitor is
now. The improvements in steam machinery and propulsion and in the arts
of naval warfare, which he introduced in her, formed the subject of a
lecture delivered before the Boston Lyceum by John O. Sargent, in 1844,
from which source we derive some interesting particulars concerning
Ericsson's early history.
John Ericsson was born in 1803, in the Province of Vermeland, among the
iron mountains of Sweden. His father was a mining proprietor, so that
the youth had ample opportunities to watch the operation of the
various engines and machinery connected with the mines. These had been
erected by mechanicians of the highest scientific attainments, and
presented a fine study to a mind of mechanical tendencies. Under such
influences, his innate mechanical talent was early developed. At the
age of ten years, he had constructed with his own hands, and after his
own plans, a miniature sawmill, and had made numerous drawings of
complicated mechanical contrivances, with instruments of his own
invention and manufacture.
In 1814 he attracted the attention of the celebrated Count Platen, who
had heard of his boyish efforts, and desired an interview with him.
After carefully examining various plans and drawings which the youth
exhibited, the Count handed them back to him, simply observing, in an
impressive manner, "Continue as you have commenced, and you will one
day produce something extraordinary."
Count Platen was the intimate personal friend of Bernadotte, the King
of Sweden, and was regarded by him with a feeling little short of
veneration. It was Count Platen who undertook and carried through, in
opposition to the views of the Swedish nobility, and of nearly the
whole nation, that gigantic work, the Grand Ship Canal of Sweden, which
connects the North Sea with the Baltic. He died Viceroy of Norway, and
left behind him the reputation of one of the greatest men of the
century. The few words of kind encouragement which he spoke, on the
occasion to which we have referred, sank deeply into the mind of the
young mechanician, and confirmed him in the career on which he had
entered.
Immediately after this interview young Ericsson was made a cadet in the
corps of engineers, and, after six months' tuition, at the age of
twelve years, was appointed _niveleur_ on the Grand Ship Canal
under Count Platen. In this capacity, in the year 1816, he was required
to set out the work for more than six hundred men. The canal was
constructed by soldiers. He was at that time not tall enough to look
through the levelling-instrument; and in using it, he was obliged to
mount upon a stool, carried by his attendants for that purpose. As the
discipline in the Swedish army required that the soldier should always
uncover the head in speaking to his superior, gray-headed men came, cap
in hand, to receive their instructions from this mere child.
While thus employed in the summer months, he was constantly occupied
during the winter with his pencil and pen; and there are many
important works on the canal constructed after drawings made by
Ericsson at this early age. During his leisure hours, he measured up
and made working-drawings of every implement and piece of machinery
connected with this great enterprise; so that at the age of fifteen he
was in possession of accurate plans of the whole work, drawn by his own
hand.
His associations with military men on the canal had given him an
inclination for military life; and at the age of seventeen he entered
the Swedish army as an ensign, without the knowledge of his friend and
patron, Count Platen. This step excited the indignation of the Count,
who tried to prevail upon him to change his resolution; but finding all
his arguments useless, he terminated an angry interview by bidding
the young ensign "go to the Devil." The affectionate regard which he
entertained for the Count, and gratitude for the interest taken by him
in his education, caused the circumstances of this interview to make a
deep impression upon Ericsson, but were not sufficient to shake his
determination.
Soon after the young ensign had entered upon his regimental duties, an
affair occurred which threatened to obscure his hitherto bright
prospects. His Colonel, Baron Koskull, had been disgraced by the King,
about the time that he had recommended Ericsson for promotion. This
circumstance induced the King to reject the recommendation. The Colonel
was exceedingly annoyed by this rejection; and having in his possession
a military map made by the expectant ensign, he took it to his Royal
Highness the Crown Prince Oscar, and besought him to intercede for the
young man with the King. The Prince received the map very kindly,
expressing great admiration of its beautiful finish and execution, and
presented himself in person with it to the King, who yielded to the
joint persuasion of the Prince and the map, and promoted the young
ensign to the lieutenancy for which he had been recommended.
About the time of this promotion, the Government had ordered the
northern part of Sweden to be accurately surveyed. It being the desire
of the King that officers of the army should be employed in this
service, Ericsson, whose regiment was stationed in the northern
highlands, proceeded to Stockholm, for the purpose of submitting
himself to the severe examination then a prerequisite to the
appointment of Government surveyor.
The mathematical education which he had received under Count Platen now
proved very serviceable. He passed the examination with great
distinction, and in the course of it, to the surprise of the examiners,
showed that he could repeat Euclid _verbatim_,--not by the
exercise of the memory, which in Ericsson is not remarkably retentive,
but from his perfect mastery of geometrical science. There is no doubt
that it is this thorough knowledge of geometry to which he is indebted
for his clear conceptions on all mechanical subjects.
Having returned to the highlands, he entered on his new vocation with
great assiduity; and, supported by an unusually strong constitution, he
mapped a larger extent of territory than any other of the numerous
surveyors employed on the work. There are yet in the archives of Sweden
detailed maps of upwards of fifty square miles made by his hand.
Neither the great labors attending these surveys, nor his military
duties, could give sufficient employment to the energies of the young
officer. In connection with a German engineer, Major Pentz, he now
began the arduous task of compiling a work on Canals, to be illustrated
by sixty-four large plates, representing the various buildings,
machines, and instruments connected with the construction of such
works. The part assigned to him in this enterprise was nothing less
than that of making all the drawings, as well as of engraving the
numerous plates; and as all the plates were to be executed in the style
of what is called machine-engraving, he undertook to construct a
machine for the purpose, which he successfully accomplished. This work
he prosecuted with so much industry, in the midst of his other various
labors, that, within the first year of its commencement, he had
executed eighteen large plates, which were pronounced by judges of
machine-engraving to be of superior merit.
While thus variously occupied, being on a visit to the house of his
Colonel, Ericsson on one occasion showed his host, by a very simple
experiment, how readily mechanical power may be produced, independently
of steam, by condensing flame. His friend was much struck by the beauty
and simplicity of the experiment, and prevailed upon Ericsson to give
more attention to a principle which he considered highly important. The
young officer accordingly made sonic experiments on an enlarged scale,
and succeeded in the production of a motive power equal to that of a
steam-engine of ten-horse power. So satisfactory was the result, from
the compact form of the machine employed, as well as the comparatively
small consumption of fuel, that he conceived the idea of at once
bringing it out in England, the great field for all mechanical
inventions.
Ericsson accordingly obtained, leave from the King to visit England,
where he arrived on the eighteenth of May, 1826. He there proceeded to
construct a working engine on the principle above mentioned, but soon
discovered that his _flame-engine_, when worked by the combustion
of mineral coals, was a different thing from the experimental model he
had tried in the highlands of Sweden, with fuel composed of the
splinters of fine pine wood. Not only did he fail to produce an
extended and vivid flame, but the intense heat so seriously affected
all the working parts of the machine as soon to cause its destruction.
These experiments, it may well be supposed, were attended with no
trifling expenditure; and, to meet these demands upon him, our young
adventurer was compelled to draw on his mechanical resources.
Invention now followed invention in rapid succession, until the records
of the Patent-Office in London were enriched with the drawings of the
remarkable steam-boiler on the principle of _artificial draught_;
to which principle we are mainly indebted for the benefits conferred on
civilization by the present rapid communication by railways. In
bringing this important invention before the public, Ericsson thought
it advisable to join some old and established mechanical house in
London; and accordingly he associated himself with John Braithwaite, a
name favorably known in the mechanical annals of England. This
invention was hardly developed, when an opportunity was presented for
testing it in practice.
The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, before erecting
the stationary engines by which they had intended to draw their
passenger and freight carriages, determined to appeal to the mechanical
talent of the country, in the hope of securing some preferable form of
motor. A prize was accordingly offered, in the autumn of 1829, for the
best locomotive engine, to be tested on the portion of the railway then
completed. Ericsson was not aware that any such prize had been offered,
until within seven weeks of the day fixed for the trial. He was not
deterred by the shortness of the time, but, applying all his energies
to the task, planned an engine, executed the working-drawings, and had
the whole machine constructed within the seven weeks.
The day of trial arrived. Three engines entered the lists for the
prize,--namely, the Rocket, by George Stephenson; the Sanspareil, by
Timothy Hackworth; and the Novelty, by Ericsson. Both sides of the
railway, for more than a mile in length, were lined with thousands of
spectators. There was no room for jockeying in such a race, for
inanimate matter was to be put in motion, and that moves only in
accordance with immutable laws. The signal was given for the start.
Instead of the application of whip and spur, the gentle touch of the
steam-valve gave life and motion to the novel machine.
Up to that period, the greatest speed at which man had been carried
along the ground was that of the race-horse; and no one of the
multitude present on this occasion expected to see that speed
surpassed. It was the general belief that the maximum attainable by the
locomotive engine would not much exceed ten miles. To the surprise and
admiration of the crowd, however, the Novelty steam-carriage, the
_fastest_ engine started, guided by its inventor Ericsson,
assisted by John Braithwaite, darted along the track at the rate of
upwards of fifty miles an hour!
The breathless silence of the multitude was now broken by thunders of
hurras, that drowned the hiss of the escaping steam and the rolling of
the engine-wheels. To reduce the surprise and delight excited on this
occasion to the universal standard, and as an illustration of the
extent to which the value of property is sometimes enhanced by the
success of a mechanical invention, it may be stated, that, when the
Novelty had run her two miles and returned, the shares of the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway had risen _ten per cent_.
But how easily may the just expectations of an inventor be
disappointed! Although the principle of _artificial draught_--the
principle which gave to the Novelty such decided superiority in
speed--is yet retained in all locomotive engines, the mode of producing
this draught in our present engines is far different from that
introduced by Ericsson, and was discovered by the merest accident; and
so soon was this discovery made, after the successful display of the
Novelty engine, that Ericsson had no time to derive the least advantage
from its introduction. To him, however, belongs the credit of having
disproved the correctness of the once established theory, that it was
absolutely necessary that a certain _extensive_ amount of
_surface_ should be exposed to the fire, to generate a given
quantity of steam.
The remarkable lightness and compactness of the new boiler invented by
Ericsson led to the employment of steam in many instances in which it
had been previously inapplicable. Among these may be mentioned the
steam fire-engine constructed by him in conjunction with Mr.
Braithwaite, about the same time with the Novelty, and which excited so
much interest in London at the time the Argyle Rooms were on fire. A
similar engine of greater power was subsequently constructed by
Ericsson and Braithwaite for the King of Prussia, which was mainly
instrumental in saving several valuable buildings at a great fire in
Berlin. For this invention Ericsson received, in 1842, the large gold
medal offered by the Mechanics' Institute of New York for the best plan
of a steam fire-engine.
In the year 1833 Ericsson brought before the scientific world in London
his invention of the Caloric-Engine, which had been a favorite subject
of speculation and reflection with him for many years. From the
earliest period of his mechanical labors, he had been in the habit of
regarding heat as an agent, _which, whilst it exerts mechanical
force, undergoes no change._ The steam in the cylinder of a
steam-engine, after having lifted the weight of the piston, contains
just as much heat as it did before leaving the boiler,--minus only the
loss by radiation. Yet in the low-pressure engine we turn the steam,
after having performed its office, into a condensing-apparatus, where
the heat is in a manner annihilated; and in the high-pressure engine we
throw it away into the atmosphere.
The acting medium employed in the Caloric-Engine is atmospheric air;
and the leading peculiarity of the machine, as originally designed by
Ericsson, is, that by means of an apparatus styled the Regenerator the
heat contained in the air which escapes from the working cylinder is
taken up by the air which enters it at each stroke of the piston and
used over and over again.
The machine constructed by Ericsson in London was a working engine of
five-horse power, the performance of which was witnessed by many
gentlemen of scientific pretensions in that metropolis. Among others,
the popular author, Sir Richard Phillips, examined it; and in his
"Dictionary of the Arts of Life and of Civilization," he thus notices
the result of this experiment:--"The author has, with inexpressible
delight, seen the first model machine of five-horse power at work. With
a handful of fuel, applied to the very sensible medium of atmospheric
air, and a most ingenious disposition of its differential powers, he
beheld a resulting action in narrow compass, capable of extension to as
great forces as ever can be wielded or used by man." Dr. Andrew Ure
went so far as to say that the invention would "throw the name of his
great countryman, James Watt, into the shade." Professor Faraday gave
it an earnest approval. But, with these and some other eminent
exceptions, the scientific men of the day condemned the principle on
which the invention was based as unsound and untenable.
The interest which the subject excited did not escape the British
Government. Before many days had elapsed, the Secretary of the Home
Department, accompanied by Mr. Brunel, the constructor of the Thames
Tunnel, made his appearance in the engine-room where the new motive
power was in operation. Mr. Brunel, who was at that time somewhat
advanced in years, conceived at the outset an erroneous notion of the
nature of the new power, which he would not suffer to be corrected by
explanations. A discussion sprang up between him and the inventor,
which was followed by a long correspondence. The result was, that an
unfavorable impression of the invention was communicated to the British
Government.
The invention fared little better at the hands of Professor Faraday,
from whose efficient advocacy the most favorable results might have
been anticipated. This gentleman had announced that he would deliver a
lecture on the subject in London, in the spacious theatre of the Royal
Institution. The novelty of the invention, combined with the
reputation of the lecturer, had attracted a very large audience,
including many individuals of eminent scientific attainments. Just
half an hour, however, before he was expected to enlighten this
distinguished assembly, the celebrated lecturer discovered that he had
mistaken the expansive principle which is the very life of the
machine. Although he had spent many hours in studying the
Caloric-Engine in actual operation, and in testing its absolute force
by repeated experiments, Professor Faraday was compelled to inform his
hearers, at the very outset, that he did not know why the engine worked
at all. He was obliged to confine himself, therefore, to the
explanation of the Regenerator, and the process by which the heat is
continually returned to the cylinder, and re-employed in the
production of force. To this part of the invention he rendered ample
justice, and explained it in that felicitous style to which he is
indebted for the reputation he deservedly enjoys, as the most agreeable
and successful lecturer in England.
Other causes than the misconception of a Brunel and a Faraday operated
to retard the practical success of this beautiful invention. The high
temperature which it was necessary to keep up in the circulating medium
of the engine, and the consequent oxidation, soon destroyed the
pistons, valves, and other working parts. These difficulties the
inventor endeavored to remedy, in an engine, which he subsequently
constructed, of much larger powers, but without success. His failure in
this respect, however, did not deter him from prosecuting his
invention. He continued his experiments from time to time, as
opportunity permitted, confident that he was gradually, but surely,
approaching the realization of his great scheme.
Meanwhile he applied himself with his accustomed energy to the
practical working out of another favorite idea. The principle of the
Ericsson propeller was first suggested to the inventor by a study of
the means employed to propel the inhabitants of the air and deep. He
satisfied himself that all such propulsion in Nature is produced by
oblique action; though, in common with all practical men, he at first
supposed that it was inseparably attended by a loss of power. But when
he reflected that this was the principle invariably adopted by the
Great Mechanician of the Universe, in enabling the birds, insects, and
fishes to move through their respective elements, he knew that he must
be in error. This he was soon able to demonstrate, and he became
convinced, by a strict application of the laws which govern matter and
motion, that no loss of power whatever attends the oblique action of
the propelling surfaces applied to Nature's locomotives. After
having satisfied himself on the theory of the subject, the first step
of the inventor was the construction of a small model, which he tried
in the circular basin of a bath in London. To his great delight, so
perfectly was his theory borne out in practice, that this model, though
less than two feet long, performed its voyage about the basin at the
rate of three English miles an hour.
The next step in the invention was the construction of a boat forty
feet long, eight feet beam, and three feet draught of water, with two
propellers, each of five feet three inches in diameter. So successful
was this experiment, that, when steam was turned on the first time, the
boat at once moved at a speed of upwards of ten miles an hour, without
a single alteration being requisite in her machinery. Not only did she
attain this considerable speed, but her power to tow larger vessels was
found to be so great that schooners of one hundred and forty tons'
burden were propelled by her at the rate of seven miles an hour; and
the American packet-ship Toronto was towed in the river Thames by this
miniature steamer at the rate of more than five English miles an hour.
This feat excited no little interest among the boatmen of the Thames,
who were astonished at the sight of this novel craft moving against
wind and tide without any visible agency of propulsion, and, ascribing
to it some supernatural origin, united in giving it the name of the
_Flying Devil_. But the engineers of London Hoarded the
experiment with silent neglect; and the subject, when laid before the
Lords of the British Admiralty, failed to attract any favorable notice
from that august body.
Perceiving its peculiar and admirable fitness for ships of war,
Ericsson was confident that their Lordships would at once order the
construction of a war-steamer on the new principle. He invited them,
therefore, to take an excursion in tow of his experimental boat.
Accordingly, the gorgeous and gilt Admiralty Barge was ordered up to
Somerset House, and the little steamer was lashed along-side. The barge
contained Sir Charles Adam, Senior Lord of the Admiralty,--Sir William
Simonds, Chief Constructor of the British Navy,--Sir Edward Parry, the
celebrated Arctic navigator,--Captain Beaufort, the Chief of the
Topographical Department of the British Admiralty,--and others of
scientific and naval distinction.
In the anticipation of a severe scrutiny from so distinguished a
personage as the Chief Constructor of the British Navy, the inventor
had carefully prepared plans of his new mode of propulsion, which were
spread on the damask cloth of the magnificent barge. To his utter
astonishment, as we may well imagine, this scientific gentleman did not
appear to take the slightest interest in his explanations. On the
contrary, with those expressive shrugs of the shoulder and shakes of
the head which convey so much to the bystander without absolutely
committing the actor,--with an occasional sly, mysterious, undertone
remark to his colleagues,--he indicated very plainly, that, though his
humanity would not permit him to give a worthy man cause for so much
unhappiness, yet that "he could, an if he would," demonstrate by a
single word the utter futility of the whole invention.
Meanwhile the little steamer, with her precious charge, proceeded at a
steady progress of ten miles an hour, through the arches of the lofty
Southwark and London bridges, towards Limehouse, and the steam-engine
manufactory of the Messrs. Seaward. Their Lordships having landed, and
inspected the huge piles of ill-shaped cast-iron, misdenominated marine
engines, intended for some of His Majesty's steamers, with a look at
their favorite propelling--apparatus, the Morgan paddle-wheel, they
reembarked, and were safely returned to Somerset House by the
disregarded, noiseless, and unseen propeller of the new steamer.
On parting, Sir Charles Adam, with a sympathizing air, shook the
inventor cordially by the hand, and thanked him for the trouble he had
been at in showing him and his friends this _interesting_
experiment, adding that he feared he had put himself to too great an
expense and trouble on the occasion. Notwithstanding this somewhat
ominous _finale_ of the day's excursion, Ericsson felt confident
that their Lordships could not fail to perceive the great importance of
the invention. To his surprise, however, a few days afterwards, a
friend put into his hands a letter written by Captain Beaufort, at the
suggestion, probably, of the Lords of the Admiralty, in which that
gentleman, who had himself witnessed the experiment, expressed regret
to state that their Lordships had certainly been very much disappointed
at its result. The reason for the disappointment was altogether
inexplicable to the inventor; for the speed attained at this trial far
exceeded anything that had ever been accomplished by any paddle-wheel
steamer on so small a scale.
An accident soon relieved his astonishment, and explained the
mysterious givings-out of Sir William Simonds on the day of the
excursion. The subject having been started at a dinner-table where a
friend of Ericsson's was present, Sir William ingeniously and
ingenuously remarked, that, "even if the propeller had the power of
propelling a vessel, it would be found altogether useless in practice,
_because_, the power being applied in the _stern_, it would
be _absolutely impossible_ to make the vessel steer." It may not
be obvious to every one how our naval philosopher derived his
conclusion from his premises; but his hearers doubtless readily
acquiesced in the oracular proposition, and were much amused at the
idea of undertaking to steer a vessel when the power was applied in her
stern.
But we may well excuse the Lords of the British Admiralty for
exhibiting no interest in the invention, when we reflect that the
engineering corps of the empire were arrayed in opposition to
it,--alleging that it was constructed upon erroneous principles, and
full of practical defects, and regarding its failure as too certain to
authorize any speculations even as to its success. The plan was
specially submitted to many distinguished engineers, and was publicly
discussed in the scientific journals; and there was no one but the
inventor who refused to acquiesce in the truth of the numerous
demonstrations proving the vast loss of mechanical power which must
attend this proposed substitute for the old-fashioned paddle-wheel.
While opposed by such a powerful array of English scientific wisdom,
the inventor had the satisfaction of submitting his plan to a citizen
of the New World, Mr. Francis B. Ogden,--for many years Consul of the
United States at Liverpool,--who was able to understand its philosophy
and appreciate its importance. Though not an engineer by profession,
Mr. Ogden was distinguished for his eminent attainments in mechanical
science, and is entitled to the honor of having first applied the
important principle of the expansive power of steam, and of having
originated the idea of employing right-angular cranks in marine
engines. His practical experience and long study of the subject--for he
was the first to stem the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi, and the
first to navigate the ocean by the power of steam alone--enabled him at
once to perceive the truth of the inventor's demonstrations. And not
only did he admit their truth, but he also joined Ericsson in
constructing the experimental boat to which we have alluded, and
which the inventor launched into the Thames with the name of the
"Francis B. Ogden," as a token of respect to his Transatlantic friend.
Other circumstances soon occurred which consoled the inventor for his
disappointment in the rejection of the propeller by the British
Admiralty. The subject had been brought to the notice of an officer of
the United States navy. Captain Robert F. Stockton, who was at that
time on a visit to London, and who was induced to accompany him in one
of his experimental excursions on the Thames. Captain Stockton is
entitled to the credit of being the first naval officer who heard,
understood, and dared to act upon the suggestions of Ericsson, as to
the application of the propeller to ships of war. At the first glance,
he saw the important bearings of the invention; and his acute judgment
enabled him at once to predict that it was destined to work a
revolution in naval warfare. After making a single trip in the
experimental steamboat, from London Bridge to Greenwich, he ordered
the inventor to build for him forthwith two iron boats for the United
States, with steam-machinery and propeller on the plan of this rejected
invention. "I do not want," said Stockton, "the opinions of your
scientific men; what I have seen this day satisfies me." He at once
brought the subject before the Government of the United States, and
caused numerous plans and models to be made, at his own expense,
explaining the peculiar fitness of the invention for ships of war. So
completely persuaded was he of its great importance in this aspect,
and so determined that his views should be carried out, that he boldly
assured the inventor that the Government of the United States would
test the propeller on a large scale; and so confident was Ericsson
that the perseverance and energy of Captain Stockton would sooner or
later accomplish what he promised, that he at once abandoned his
professional engagements in England, and came to the United States,
where he fixed his residence in the city of New York. This was in the
year 1839.
Circumstances delayed, for some two years, the execution of their plan.
With the change of the Federal Administration, Stockton was first able
to obtain a favorable hearing; and having at length received the
necessary authority, the Princeton was built under his superintendence,
from the designs of Ericsson. She was completed and ready for sea
early in 1844, when she was pronounced by Stockton "the cheapest,
fastest, and most certain ship of war in the world."
In this vessel, in addition to the propeller, Ericsson introduced his
semicylindrical steam-engine, a beautiful invention, so compact that
it occupied only one-eighth of the bulk of the British marine engine
of corresponding power, and was placed more than four feet below the
water-line. The boilers were also below the water-line, having a
peculiar heating-apparatus attached which effected a great saving of
fuel, and with their furnaces and flues so constructed as to burn
anthracite as well as bituminous coal. Instead of the ordinary tall
smoke-pipe,--an insuperable objection to a steamer as a ship of
war,--he constructed a smoke-pipe upon the principle of the telescope,
which could be elevated or depressed at pleasure; and in order to
provide a draught independent of the height of the smoke-pipe, he
placed centrifugal blowers in the bottom of the vessel, which were
worked by separate small engines,--an arrangement originally applied
by him to marine engines in the steam-packet Corsair in 1831. Thus the
steam-machinery of the Princeton fulfilled the most important
requisites for a war-steamer, combining lightness, compactness,
simplicity, and efficiency, and being placed wholly out of reach of the
enemy's fire.
The armament of the ship also exhibited many peculiarities. "By the
application of the various arts to the purposes of war on board of the
Princeton," says Captain Stockton, in his report to the Navy
Department, "it is believed that the art of gunnery for sea-service
has, for the first time, been reduced to something like mathematical
certainty. The distance to which the guns can throw their shot at every
necessary angle of elevation has been ascertained by a series of
careful experiments. The distance from the ship to any object is
readily ascertained with an instrument on board, contrived for that
purpose, by an observation which it requires but an instant to make,
and by inspection without calculation. By self-acting locks, the guns
can be fired accurately at the necessary elevation,--no matter what
the motion of the ship may be." The instruments here referred to,
namely, the Distance-Instrument and the Self-Acting Gun-Lock, and also
the wrought-iron gun-carriage, by means of which Captain Stockton's
enormous guns were readily handled and directed, all were the
productions of Ericsson's fertile mechanical genius.
A committee of the American Institute, by whom this remarkable vessel
was examined, thus concluded their report:--"Your Committee take leave
to present the Princeton as every way worthy the highest honors of the
Institute. She is a sublime conception, most successfully
realized,--an effort of genius skilfully executed,--a grand
_unique_ combination, honorable to the country, as creditable to
all engaged upon her. Nothing in the history of mechanics surpasses the
inventive genius of Captain Ericsson, unless it be the moral daring of
Captain Stockton, in the adoption of so many novelties at one time." We
may add that in the Princeton was exhibited the first successful
application of screw-propulsion to a ship of war, and that she was the
first steamship ever built with the machinery below the water-line and
out of the reach of shot.
Ericsson spent the best part of two years in his labors upon the
Princeton. Besides furnishing the general plan of the ship and
supplying her in every department with his patented improvements, he
prepared, with his own hand, the working-drawings for every part of
the steam-machinery, propelling-apparatus, and steering-apparatus in
detail, and superintended their whole construction and arrangement,
giving careful and exact instructions as to the most minute
particulars. In so doing, he was compelled to make frequent journeys
from New York to Sandy Hook and Philadelphia, involving no small amount
of trouble and expense. For the use of his patent rights in the engine
and propeller, he had, at the suggestion of Captain Stockton, refrained
from charging the usual fees, consenting to accept, as full
satisfaction, whatever the Government, after testing the inventions,
should see fit to pay. He never imagined, however, that his laborious
services as engineer were to go unrequited, or that his numerous
inventions and improvements, unconnected with the engine and propeller,
were to be furnished gratuitously. Yet, when, after the Princeton, as
we have seen, had been pronounced on all hands a splendid success,
Ericsson presented his bill to the Navy Department,--not for the
patent-fees in question, but for the bare repayment of his
expenditures, and compensation for his time and labor in the service
of the United States,--he was informed that his claim could not be
allowed; it could not be recognized as a "legal claim." It was not
denied that the services alleged had been rendered,--that the work for
which compensation was asked had been done by Ericsson, and well
done,--nor that the United States were in the enjoyment of the unpaid
results of his labor and invention. A claim based upon such
considerations might, it would seem, have been brought within the
definition of a legal claim. But if not admissible under the strict
rules of the Navy Department, it was certainly an equitable demand
against the United States; and Ericsson could not believe that the
representatives of the great American people would stand upon
technicalities. He accordingly made a direct appeal to them in a
Memorial to Congress.
We may as well here give the further history of this claim. It met with
the usual delays and obstructions that private claims, having nothing
but their intrinsic merits to support them, are compelled to
encounter. It called forth the usual amount of legislative
pettifogging. Session after session passed away, and still it hung
between the two Houses of Congress, until the very time which had
elapsed since it was first presented began to be brought up as an
argument against it. At length, when Congress established the Court of
Claims, a prospect opened of bringing it to a fair hearing and a
final decision. It was submitted to that tribunal six years ago. The
Court decided in its favor,--the three judges (Gilchrist, Scarborough,
and Blackford) being unanimous in their judgment. A bill directing its
payment was reported to the Senate,--and there it is still. Although
favorably reported upon by two committees at different sessions, and
once passed by the Senate, without a vote recorded against it, it has
never yet got through both Houses of Congress. For furnishing this
Government with the magnificent war-steamer which was pronounced by
Captain Stockton "the cheapest, fastest, and most certain ship of war
in the world," Ericsson has never been paid a dollar. It remains to be
seen whether the present Congress will permit this stain upon the
national good faith to continue. If it does, its "votes of thanks" are
little better than a mockery.
The efficiency and utility of the propeller having been established
beyond a doubt, it went at once into extensive use. But the inventor
was again disappointed in his just expectation of reaping an adequate
pecuniary benefit from his exertions. Upon the strength of some
attempts at screw-propulsion,--made and abandoned by various
experimenters,--which had never resulted, and probably never would
have resulted, in any practical application, rival machines, which
conflicted with Ericsson's patent, soon made their appearance. A long
litigation followed, during which all attempts to collect patent-fees
were necessarily suspended; and the result was, that the invention was
virtually abandoned to the public. But no one can take from Ericsson
the honor of having first introduced the screw-propeller into actual
use, and demonstrated its value,--an honor which is now freely
accorded to him by the highest scientific authorities at home and
abroad.
Although the first five years of his American experience had been less
profitable, in a pecuniary sense, than he had anticipated, he
continued to reside in the city of New York, where he found an ample
field for the exercise of his great powers in the line of his
profession. He planned the war-steamer Pomone, the first screw-vessel
introduced into the French navy. He planned revenue-cutters for the
United States Government, taking care always to have his contracts so
distinctly made that no question could again arise as to his "legal
claim." He invented a useful apparatus for supplying the boilers of
sea-going steamers with fresh water. He invented various modifications
of the steam-engine.
In the American division of the London Industrial Exhibition of all
Nations in 1851, he exhibited the Distance-Instrument, for measuring
distances at sea,--the Hydrostatic Gauge, for measuring the volume of
fluids under pressure,--the Reciprocating Fluid-Metre, for measuring
the quantity of water which passes through pipes during definite
periods,--the Alarm-Barometer,--the Pyrometer, intended as a standard
measure of temperature, from the freezing-point of water up to the
melting-point of iron,--a Rotary Fluid-Metre, the principle of which
is the measurement of fluids by the velocity with which they pass
through apertures of different dimensions,--and a Sea-Lead, contrived
for taking soundings at sea without rounding the vessel to the wind,
and independently of the length of the lead-line. For these inventions
he received the prize-medal of the Exhibition.
But while thus continually occupied with new enterprises and objects,
he did not lose sight of his great idea, the Caloric-Engine. All his
spare hours and spare funds were devoted to experiments with the view
of overcoming the practical difficulties which stood in the way of its
success. Towards the end of the year 1851 he seemed to be on the point
of realizing his hopes, having constructed a large stationary engine,
which was applied with great success, at the Phoenix Foundry in New
York, to the actual work of pumping water. Soon after, through the
liberality of Mr. John B. Kitching, a well-known merchant of New
York, he was enabled to test the invention on a magnificent scale. A
ship of two thousand tons, propelled by the power of caloric-engines,
was planned and constructed by him in the short space of seven months,
and in honor of the inventor received the name of the "Ericsson."
Every one will remember the interest which this caloric-ship excited
throughout the country. She made a trip from New York to Alexandria on
the Potomac, in very rough weather, in the latter part of February,
1853. On this trip the engines were in operation for seventy-three
hours without being stopped for a moment, and without requiring the
slightest adjustment, the consumption of fuel being only five tons in
twenty-four hours. At Alexandria she was visited by the President and
President elect, the heads of the departments, a large number of naval
officers, and many members of both Houses of Congress, and
subsequently by the foreign ministers in a body, and by the Legislature
of Virginia, then in session. Ericsson was invited by a committee of
the Legislature to visit Richmond, as the guest of the State. The
Secretary of the Navy recommended, in a special communication to
Congress, the passage of a resolution authorizing him to contract for
the construction of a frigate of two thousand tons to be equipped with
caloric-engines, and to appropriate for this purpose five hundred
thousand dollars. This recommendation failed in consequence of the
pressure of business at the close of the session.
But notwithstanding the surprise and admiration which this achievement
excited in the scientific world, the speed attained was not sufficient
to meet the practical exigencies of commerce; and the repetition of
the engines on this large scale could not be undertaken at the charge
of individuals. Ericsson accordingly wisely devoted himself to
perfecting the Calorie-Engine on a small scale, and in 1859 he
produced it in a form which has since proved a complete success. It is
no longer a subject of experiment, but exists as a perfect, practical
machine. More than five hundred of these engines, with cylinders
varying from a diameter of six inches to one of forty inches, are now
in successful operation. It is applied to purposes of pumping,
printing, hoisting, grinding, sawing, turning light machinery, working
telegraphic instruments and sewing-machines, and propelling boats. No
less than forty daily papers (among which we may mention the "National
Intelligencer") are printed by means of this engine. In Cuba it is
used for grinding sugar-cane, on Southern plantations for ginning
cotton; and there is an endless variety of domestic, agricultural, and
mechanical uses to which it may be advantageously applied.
The extent of power attainable by this machine, consistently with its
application to practical uses, is not yet precisely defined. Within
the limit thus far given to it, its power is certain, uniform, and
entirely sufficient. It is not attended with the numerous perils that
make the steam-engine so uncomfortable a servant, but is absolutely
free from danger. It requires no engineering supervision. It consumes a
very small amount of fuel (about one-third of the amount required by
the steam-engine) and requires no water. These peculiarities not only
make it a very desirable substitute for the steam-engine, but render
it available for many purposes to which the steam-engine would never
be applied.
In addition to his regular professional avocations, Ericsson was
industriously occupied in devising new applications of the
Calorie-Engine, when the attempted secession of the Southern States
plunged the country into the existing war and struck a blow at all the
arts of peace. Ills whole heart and mind were given at once to the
support of the Union. Liberal in all his ideas, he is warmly attached
to republican institutions, and has a hearty abhorrence of intolerance
and oppression in all their forms. His early military education and
his long study of the appliances of naval warfare increased the
interest with which he watched the progress of events. The abandonment
of the Norfolk navy-yard to the Rebels struck him as a disgrace that
might have been avoided. He foresaw the danger of a formidable
antagonist from that quarter in the steamship which we had so
obligingly furnished them. The building of gun-boats with
steam-machinery _above_ the water-line--where the first shot from
an enemy might render it useless--seemed to him, in view of what he
had done and was ready to do again, a very unnecessary error. Knowing
thoroughly all the improvements made and making in the war-steamers of
England and France, and feeling the liability of their interference in
our affairs, he could not appreciate the wisdom of building new
vessels according to old ideas. The blockade of the Potomac by Rebel
batteries, in the very face of our navy, seemed to him an indignity
which need not be endured, if the inventive genius of the North could
have fair play.
An impregnable iron gun-boat was, in his judgment, the thing that was
needed; and he determined that the plan of such a vessel should be his
contribution towards the success of the war. The subject was not a
new one to him. He had given it much consideration, and his plan, in
all its essential features, had been matured long before. Proposals
for iron-clad vessels having been invited by the Navy Department,
Ericsson promptly submitted his plans and specifications. Knowing the
opposition that novelties always encounter, he had no great expectation
that his proposal would be accepted. "I have done my part," said he; "I
have offered my plan. It is for the Government to say whether I shall
be allowed to carry it out." He felt confident, however, that, if the
plan should be brought to the notice of the President, his practical
wisdom and sound common sense could not fail to decide in its favor.
Fortunately for the country, Ericsson's offer was accepted by the Navy
Department. He immediately devoted all his energies to the execution of
his task, and the result was the construction of the vessel to which he
himself gave the name of the "Monitor." What she is and what she has
accomplished, we need not here repeat. Whatever may be her future
history, we may safely say, in the words of the New York Chamber of
Commerce, that "the floating-battery Monitor deserves to be, and will
be, forever remembered with gratitude and admiration."
We rejoice to believe that the merits and services of Ericsson are now
fully appreciated by the people of the United States. The thanks of the
nation have been tendered to him by a resolution of Congress. The
Boston Board of Trade and the New York Chamber of Commerce have passed
resolutions expressive of their gratitude. The latter body expressed
also their desire that the Government of the United States should make
to Captain Ericsson "such suitable return for his services as will
evince the gratitude of a great nation." Upon hearing this suggestion,
Ericsson, with characteristic modesty, remarked,--"All the remuneration
I desire for the Monitor I get out of the construction of it. It is
all-sufficient." Nevertheless we think the suggestion well worthy of
consideration. In the same spirit of manly independence, he
discountenanced the movement set on foot among the merchants of New
York for the subscription of a sum of money to be presented to him. He
asks nothing but fair remuneration for services rendered,--and that, it
is to be hoped, the people will take care that he shall receive.
Ericsson is now zealously at work in constructing six new iron
gun-boats on the plan of the Monitor. If that remarkable structure can
be surpassed, he is the man to accomplish it. His ambition is to render
the United States impregnable against the navies of the world. "Give me
only the requisite means," he writes, "and in a very short time we can
say to those powers now bent on destroying republican institutions,
'_Leave the Gulf with your frail craft, or perish_!' I have all my
life asserted that mechanical science will put an end to the power of
England over the seas. The ocean is Nature's highway between the
nations. It should be free; and surely Nature's laws, when properly
applied, will make it so."
His reputation as an engineer is worldwide. In 1852 he was made a
Knight of the Order of Vasa by King Oscar of Sweden. The following
extract from a poem "To John Ericsson" we translate from "Svenska
Tidningen," the Government journal of Stockholm. It is eloquently
expressive of the pride and admiration with which he is regarded in his
native country.
"World-wide his fame, so gracefully adorning
His native Sweden with enduring radiance!
Not a king's crown could give renown so noble:
For his is Thought's great triumph, and the sceptre
He wields is over elements his subjects!"
Although now in his sixtieth year, Ericsson has the appearance of a man
of forty. He is in the very maturity of a vigorous manhood, and retains
all the fire and enthusiasm of youth. He has a frame of iron, cast in a
large and symmetrical mould. His head and face are indicative of
intellectual power and a strong will. His presence impresses one, at
the first glance, as that of an extraordinary man. His bearing is
dignified and courteous, with a touch perhaps of military
_brusquerie_ in his mode of address. He has a keen sense of humor,
a kindly and generous disposition, and a genial and companionable
nature. He is a "good hater" and a firm friend. Like all men of strong
character and outspoken opinions, he has some enemies; but his chosen
friends he "grapples to his heart with hooks of steel."
He is not a mere mechanician, but has great knowledge of men and of
affairs, and an ample fund of information on all subjects. His
conversation is engaging and instructive; and when he seeks to enlist
coöperation in his mechanical enterprises, few men can withstand the
force of his arguments and the power of his personal magnetism.
Although his earnings have sometimes been large, his heavy expenditures
in costly experiments have prevented him from acquiring wealth. Money
is with him simply a means of working out new ideas for the benefit of
mankind; and in this way he does not scruple to spend to the utmost
limit of his resources. He lives freely and generously, but is strictly
temperate and systematic in all his habits.
The amount of labor which he is capable of undergoing is astonishing.
While engaged in carrying out his inventions, it is a common thing for
him to pass sixteen hours a day at his table, in the execution of
detailed mechanical drawings, which he throws off with a facility and
in a style that have probably never been surpassed. He does not seem to
need such recreation as other men pine after. He never cares to run
down to the seashore, or take a drive into the country, or spend a week
at Saratoga or at Newport. Give him his drawing-table, his plans, his
models, the noise of machinery, the clatter of the foundry, and he is
always contented. Week in and week out, summer and winter, he works on
and on,--and the harder he works, the more satisfied he seems to be. He
is as untiring as one of his own engines, which never stop so long as
the fire burns. Endowed with such a constitution, it is to be hoped
that new triumphs and many years of honor and usefulness are yet before
him.
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