APPOINTED A COMMANDER IN THE VIRGINIA NAVY--IN CHARGE OF THE
DEFENSES OF JAMES RIVER--TRANSFERRED TO THE CONFEDERATE
STATES NAVY--PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE _Patrick
Henry_--FITTING OUT UNDER DIFFICULTIES--FIRST PARTIALLY
ARMORED AMERICAN VESSEL. LIEUTENANT POWELL'S PLAN FOR
ARMORED GUNBOATS--OFFICERS OF THE _Patrick
Henry_--GUARDING JAMES RIVER--SCALING THE GUNS--"NAVAL
SKIRMISH"--A FLAG WHICH WAS NOT PRESENTED--BATTLE OF
HAMPTON ROADS. SINKING OF THE _Cumberland_; AN AMERICAN
_Vengeur_--BURNING OF THE _Congress_--COMBAT BETWEEN THE
_Virginia_ AND THE _Monitor_--FLAG-OFFICER TATNALL TAKES
COMMAND OF THE CONFEDERATE SQUADRON--SALLY INTO HAMPTON
ROADS--PLAN FOR CARRYING THE _Monitor_ BY
BOARDING--EVACUATION OF NORFOLK--TOWING UNFINISHED
GUNBOATS TO RICHMOND--FEDERAL SQUADRON ENTERS JAMES
RIVER--CREWS OF THE _Patrick Henry_, _Jamestown_ AND
_Virginia_ MAN THE NAVAL BATTERIES AT DREWRY'S
BLUFF--ACTION AT DREWRY'S BLUFF--THE _Galena_; A
WELL-FOUGHT VESSEL. REPULSE OF THE FEDERAL
SQUADRON--TUCKER ORDERED TO COMMAND THE IRON-CLAD
STEAMER _Chicora_ AT CHARLESTON--SUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON
THE BLOCKADING SQUADRON--TUCKER POSTED AND APPOINTED
FLAG-OFFICER OF THE CHARLESTON SQUADRON--COMMANDING
OFFICERS OF THE CHARLESTON SQUADRON--DUPONT'S ATTACK ON
CHARLESTON--CONFEDERATE TORPEDO-BOATS AT CHARLESTON;
DAMAGE DONE BY THEM--CHARLESTON NAVAL BATTALION SERVING
WITH THE ARMY--EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON--ONE BATTALION OF
THE CHARLESTON SQUADRON SERVES WITH THE ARMY AT
WILMINGTON--TUCKER, WITH THE CHARLESTON SQUADRON BRIGADE,
MARCHES THROUGH NORTH CAROLINA AND ARRIVES AT
RICHMOND--TUCKER ORDERED TO COMMAND AT DREWRY'S
BLUFF--CONFEDERACY AT ITS LAST GASP--EVACUATION OF
RICHMOND--TUCKER NOT INFORMED OF THE INTENTION TO
EVACUATE RICHMOND--SUCCEEDS IN JOINING HIS BRIGADE OF
SAILORS TO MAJOR-GEN. CUSTIS LEE'S DIVISION--ACTION AT
SAYLOR'S CREEK; DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE WHIPPED, THOUGHT
THE FIGHT HAD JUST BEGUN--SURRENDER--PRISONER OF
WAR--RELEASED ON PAROLE--EMPLOYED BY THE SOUTHERN EXPRESS
COMPANY
Tucker was appointed a Commander in the Virginia Navy, with rank from
the date of the commission in the United States Navy which he had
resigned. He was at first assigned by the Governor to the defense of
James river, but in a short time was ordered to assume command of the
steamer _Patrick Henry_.
When Virginia became one of the Confederate States, all the officers
of the Virginia Navy were transferred to the Confederate States Navy,
with the same rank they had held in the United States Navy. The
_Patrick Henry_ was also transferred by the State of Virginia to the
Confederate States. This vessel was a paddle-wheel steamer of about
1,400 tons burthen; she was called the _Yorktown_ before the war, and
was one of a line of steamers running between Richmond and New York;
she was reputed to be a fast boat, and deserved the reputation.
When Virginia seceded this vessel was in James river, and, together
with her sister steamer _Jamestown_, of the same line, was seized by
the authorities of the State, taken up to the Rockett's wharf, at
Richmond, and the command conferred, as has been said, upon Commander
Tucker; this assignment of duty being afterwards confirmed by the
Secretary of the Confederate States Navy. Naval Constructor Joseph
Pearse, with a number of mechanics from the Norfolk Navy Yard, who had
been brought to Richmond for the purpose, commenced the necessary
alterations, which had previously been determined upon, and in a short
time the passenger steamer _Yorktown_ was converted into the very
creditable man-of-war _Patrick Henry_, of 12 guns and one hundred and
fifty officers and men. Lieutenant William Llewellyn Powell, who soon
afterwards resigned from the Navy, entered the Army as Colonel of
Artillery, and died a Brigadier-General at Fort Morgan before its
fall, was her executive officer while she was being fitted out, and to
him, as well as to Constructor Joseph Pearse, much credit is due for
having made her as serviceable as she was for purposes of war. Her
spar-deck cabins were removed, and her deck strengthened so as to
enable it to bear a battery. Her boilers were slightly protected by
iron plates one inch in thickness. V-shaped iron shields on the
spar-deck, forward and aft of her engines, afforded some protection to
the machinery, but none to the walking beams, which rose far above the
hurricane-deck. It is probable that Lieutenant Powell suggested the
first American attempt to protect steamers with iron armor, unless the
Stevens floating-battery, which was so long building at Hoboken for
the United States, was such an attempt. It is known that Powell
forwarded, during the summer of 1861, plans to the Confederate Navy
Department for converting river craft and canal boats into iron-clad
gunboats.
The armament of the _Patrick Henry_ consisted of ten medium
32-pounders in broadside, one ten-inch shell gun pivoted forward, and
one eight-inch solid-shot gun pivoted aft. The eight-inch solid-shot
gun was the most effective gun on board, and did good service both at
the battle of Hampton Roads and the repulse of the Federal squadron at
Drewry's Bluff. The captain of this gun was an excellent seaman-gunner
named Smith, who was afterwards promoted to be a boatswain in the
C.S. Navy. A few weeks before the battle of Hampton Roads two of the
medium 32-pounders were exchanged for two six-inch guns, banded and
rifled, a gun much used in the Confederate Navy, and effective, though
far inferior to the six-inch rifled guns of the present day.
The _Patrick Henry_ was rigged as a brigantine, square yards to the
foremast and fore-and-aft sails alone to the mainmast. At Norfolk,
when she was about to be employed in running by the batteries of
Newport News at night, it was thought best to take both of her masts
out in order to make her less liable to be discovered by the enemy.
Signal poles, carrying no sails, were substituted in their place.
No list of the officers of the _Patrick Henry_ at the time she went
into commission can now be given, but the following is a list of those
on board at the battle of Hampton Roads, so far as can be ascertained:
Commander John Randolph Tucker, commander; Lieutenant James Henry
Rochelle, executive officer; Lieutenants William Sharp and Francis
Lyell Hoge; Surgeon John T. Mason; Paymaster Thomas Richmond Ware;
Passed Assistant Surgeon Frederick Garretson; Acting Master Lewis
Parrish; Chief Engineer Hugh Clark; Lieutenant of Marines Richard T.
Henderson; Midshipmen John Tyler Walker, Alexander McComb Mason, and
M.P. Goodwyn.
The vessel, being properly equipped, so far as the limited resources
at hand could be used, proceeded down James river and took a position
off Mulberry Island, on which point rested the right of the Army of
the Peninsula, under Magruder. The time passed wearily and drearily
enough whilst the _Patrick Henry_ lay at anchor off Mulberry Island.
The officers and crew very rarely went on shore, the steamer being
kept always with banked fires, prepared to repel an attack, which
might have been made at any moment, the Federal batteries at Newport
News and the vessels stationed there, the frigate _Savannah_, sloop
_Cumberland_, and steamer _Louisiana_, being about fourteen miles
distant.
To relieve the monotony of the irksome duty on which the _Patrick
Henry_ was employed, Tucker determined to take her down the river,
feel of the enemy, and warn him of what might be expected if boat
expeditions should attempt to ascend the river. On the afternoon of
Friday, September 13th, 1861, the _Patrick Henry_ weighed her anchor
at Mulberry Island, and steamed down James river towards Newport News.
Choosing her distance from that point, she opened fire upon the
Federal squadron, which was promptly returned, principally by the
_Savannah_, _Louisiana_, and a battery of light artillery, which had
been moved up the left bank of the river. After giving the crew a good
exercise at their guns, the _Patrick Henry_ was steamed back to her
anchorage off Mulberry Island.
About the last of November, Tucker received information that one or
two of the Federal gunboats came up the river every night and anchored
about a mile and a half above their squadron at Newport News. Hoping
to be able to surprise and capture these boats, the commander of the
_Patrick Henry_ got her underway at 4 o'clock A.M. on December 2d,
1861. The morning was dark and suitable for the enterprise, and all
lights on board the _Patrick Henry_ were either extinguished or
carefully concealed. No vessel of the enemy was met with in the river,
but at daylight four steamers were discovered, lying at anchor near
the frigate _Congress_ and sloop _Cumberland_, off the batteries of
Newport News. As the _Patrick Henry_ could not have returned unseen,
Tucker took a position about a mile distant from the batteries, and
opened on the Federal vessels with his port battery and pivot guns.
The fire was promptly returned, many of the shots from the rifled guns
passing over the _Patrick Henry_, and one, going through her
pilot-house and lodging in the starboard hammock-netting, did some
injury to the vessel, besides wounding slightly one of the pilots and
a seaman by the splinters it caused. The skirmish, if such a term can
be applied to a naval operation, lasted about two hours, during which
time the _Patrick Henry_ fired twenty-eight shells and thirteen solid
shots, but with what effect on the enemy is not known. From this best
kind of drill practice, the Confederate steamer returned to her
anchorage off Mulberry Island, continued her guard of the river, and
waited for some opportunity for more active employment.
In February, 1862, the ladies of Charles City, a county bordering on
James river, desired to present to the _Patrick Henry_ a flag which
they had made for her as an evidence of their appreciation of her
services in keeping boat expeditions and the enemy's small steamers
from ascending the river. But the presentation of this flag did not
take place; the C.S. steamers _Jamestown_, 2, and _Teaser_, v, had
reinforced the _Patrick Henry_, and such incessant preparations were
going on that no time could be spared for the ceremony. The occasion
of these preparations was the expectation of being soon engaged in the
attack which it was understood that the Confederate iron-clad
_Virginia_ was about to make on the Federal batteries and men-of-war
at Newport News. No care or preparation could make the _Patrick Henry_
as well fitted for war as a vessel of the same size built especially
for the military marine service; but the best that could be done to
make her efficient was done, and not without success, as the part the
vessel took in the closely following battle of Hampton Roads
conclusively demonstrates.
On the 7th of March, 1862, the James river squadron, consisting of the
_Patrick Henry_, 12, Commander J.R. Tucker; _Jamestown_, 2, Lieutenant
Commanding J.N. Barney, and _Teaser_, 1, Lieutenant Commanding W.A.
Webb, proceeded down the river, and anchored at nightfall off Day's
Neck Point, some six miles distant from Newport News. This movement
was effected in order to be near at hand when the _Virginia_ made her
expected attack on the Federal forces.
The 8th of March, 1862, was a bright, placid, beautiful day--more like
a May than a March day. About 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the
_Virginia_ came steaming out from behind Craney Island, attended by
the gunboats _Beaufort_ and _Raleigh_. As soon as the _Virginia_ was
seen, the James river squadron got underway under all the steam the
boilers would bear, and proceeded to join her in her attack on the
enemy. As Tucker's small squadron approached the Newport News
batteries he formed it in line ahead, the _Patrick Henry_, 12,
leading; next the _Jamestown_, 2, and lastly the _Teaser_, 1; this
order being maintained until the batteries were passed. The batteries
were run with less loss than was anticipated; the enemy probably
expected the Confederate vessels to pass in the usual channel, about
eight hundred yards from the guns of the Federal works, but by
Tucker's directions the _Patrick Henry_ was run by much nearer the
batteries, and the _Jamestown_ and _Teaser_ followed her closely.
Probably in consequence of this deviation from the middle of the
channel the Federal guns were not well aimed, and most of the shot
from the batteries passed over the Confederate vessels. As the James
river squadron ranged up abreast of the first battery, the vessels
delivered their fire, and the flash from their guns had scarcely
vanished when the Federal works were wrapped in smoke, and their
projectiles came hissing through the air. The _Patrick Henry_ was
struck several times during the passage; one shot passing through the
crew of No. 3 gun, wounding two men and killing one, a volunteer from
the army, who had come on board to serve only for the fight. His last
words as he fell were, "Never mind me, boys!"
Whilst the James river squadron was passing the batteries, the
_Virginia_ had rammed and sunk the _Cumberland_, a ship which was
fought most gallantly to the bitter end, going down with her colors
flying and her guns firing, like the celebrated French ship _Vengeur_.
Having run by the batteries with no material damage, the James river
squadron joined the _Virginia_ and afforded her valuable aid in the
battle she was waging. Whilst the forward guns of the _Patrick Henry_
were engaging one enemy, the after guns were firing at another, and
the situation of the Confederate wooden vessels at this time seemed
well nigh desperate. The Newport News batteries were on one side, on
the other the frigates _Minnesota_, _St. Lawrence_ and _Roanoke_ were
coming up from Old Point Comfort, and in front the beach was lined
with field batteries and sharpshooters. Fortunately for the wooden
vessels, both Confederate and Federal, the _Minnesota_, _St. Lawrence_
and _Roanoke_ grounded, and the smaller vessels which accompanied them
returned to Old Point Comfort. The _Minnesota_, though aground, was
near enough to take part in the action, and opened a heavy fire on
the Confederate squadron.
The frigate _Congress_, early in the action, had been run aground,
with a white flag flying. Tucker, as soon as he saw that the
_Congress_ had shown a white flag, gave orders that no shot should be
fired at her from the _Patrick Henry_, and he steadily refused to let
any gun be aimed at her, notwithstanding that the Confederate gunboats
_Raleigh_, _Teaser_ and _Beaufort_ had attempted to take possession of
the surrendered vessel, and had been driven off by a heavy artillery
and infantry fire from the Federal troops on the beach. After the
Confederate gunboats had been forced to retire from the _Congress_,
Flag-Officer Buchanan hailed the _Patrick Henry_ and directed
Commander Tucker to burn that frigate. The pilots of the _Patrick
Henry_ declared they could not take her alongside of the _Congress_ on
account of an intervening shoal, which determined Tucker to approach
as near as the shoal would permit and then send his boats to burn the
Federal frigate. The boats were prepared for the service, and the
boats' crews and officers held ready whilst the _Patrick Henry_
steamed in towards the _Congress_.
This movement of the _Patrick Henry_ placed her in the most imminent
peril; she was brought under the continuous and concentrated fire of
three points; on her port quarters were the batteries of Newport News,
on her port bow the field batteries and sharpshooters on the beach,
and on her starboard bow the _Minnesota_. It soon became evident that
no wooden vessel could long float under such a fire; several shots
struck the hull, and a piece of the walking-beam was shot away. As the
sponge of the after pivot gun was being inserted in the muzzle of the
piece, the handle was cut in two by a shot from the enemy; half in
prayer and half in despair at being unable to perform his duty, the
sponger exclaimed, "Oh, Lord! how is the gun to be sponged?" He was
much relieved when the quarter-gunner of his division handed him a
spare sponge. This state of things could not last long; a shot from a
rifled gun of one of the field batteries on the beach penetrated the
steam-chest, the engine-room and fire-room were filled with steam,
four of the firemen were scalded to death and several others severely
injured; the engineers and firemen were driven up on deck, and the
engines stopped working: the vessel was enveloped in a cloud of
escaped steam, and the enemy, seeing that some disaster to the boiler
had occurred, increased his fire. At the moment, until the chief
engineer made his report, no one on the spar-deck knew exactly what
had happened, the general impression being that the boilers had
exploded. It is an unmistakable evidence of the courage and discipline
of the crew that the fire from the _Patrick Henry_ did not slacken,
but went on as regularly as if nothing unusual had occurred. As the
vessel was drifting towards the enemy in her disabled condition, the
jib was hoisted to pay her head around, and the _Jamestown_,
Lieutenant Commanding Barney, gallantly and promptly came to her
assistance and towed her out of action.
The engineers soon got one boiler in working order. The other was so
badly damaged that they were unable to repair it for immediate use,
and with steam on one boiler alone the _Patrick Henry_ was again taken
into action. The closing in of night put an end to the conflict, as in
the dark it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe. The victory
remained without dispute with the Confederate squadron, and was
witnessed, as was the combat between the _Virginia_ and the _Monitor_
on the day following, by multitudes of spectators from Norfolk and the
neighboring camps of the Confederate troops, as well as by many on the
Federal side of the Roads.
It has been stated that the total Federal loss in this battle was
nearly four hundred. The numerical strength of the Confederate force
engaged was about six hundred, of which the total loss was about
sixty. The loss on board the _Patrick Henry_ being five killed and
nine wounded.
The part taken by the _Patrick Henry_ in this battle--it was a battle
and not a combat--seems to have been lost sight of in consequence of
the great power, as a new force in naval warfare, displayed by the
_Virginia_, but the Federal commanders bear witness to the efficient
service done by the Confederate wooden vessels. Lieutenant Commanding
Pendergrast, of the _Congress_, reported that "the _Patrick Henry_ and
_Thomas Jefferson_ (_Jamestown_), rebel steamers, approached us from
up the James river, firing with precision and doing us great damage,"
and Captain Van Brunt, of the _Minnesota_, reported that the _Patrick
Henry_ and _Jamestown_ "took their positions on my port bow and stern
and their fire did most damage in killing and wounding men, insomuch
as they fired with rifled guns."
The closing in of night having put an end to hostilities until
morning, the Confederate squadrons anchored under Sewell's Point, at
the mouth of the harbor of Norfolk. The crews were kept busy until a
late hour of the night, making such repairs and preparations as were
necessary for resuming operations in the morning. Soon after midnight
a column of fire ascended in the darkness, followed by a terrific
explosion--the Federal frigate _Congress_, which had been on fire all
the evening, had blown up, the fire having reached her magazine.
Flag Officer Buchanan, having been wounded in the action, was sent to
the Naval Hospital at Norfolk on the morning of the 9th, just prior to
the getting under way of the squadron. The command ought, in
conformity with military and naval usage, to have been formally
transferred to the next senior officer of the squadron, who was
Commander J.R. Tucker, of the _Patrick Henry_; but this obviously
proper course was not followed, and Flag Officer Buchanan's flag was
kept flying on board the _Virginia_, though he himself, in point of
fact, was not and could not be in command of that vessel, or the
Confederate squadron, since he was not within signal distance of
either, being laid up in bed at the Norfolk Naval Hospital. Tucker
did not assume command of the squadron, but simply continued to
command the _Patrick Henry_.
At the first peep of dawn, on the morning of the 9th of March, the
Confederate squadron was under way, having in view for its first
object the destruction of the _Minnesota_, that frigate being still
aground near Newport News. As the daylight increased, the _Minnesota_
was discovered in her old position, but no longer alone and
unsupported. Close alongside of her there lay such a craft as the eyes
of a seaman does not delight to look upon; no masts, no smokestack, no
guns--at least nothing of the sort could be seen about her. And yet
the thing had a grim, pugnacious look, as if there was tremendous
power of some sort inherent in her, and ready to be manifested
whenever the occasion required it. The _Monitor_ (for it was that
famous vessel) promptly steamed out to meet the _Virginia_, as the
latter vessel bore down on the _Minnesota_, and the celebrated combat
between these iron-clads was joined immediately. It was the first
action that had ever been fought between armored vessels, and as such
will ever be remembered and commented upon. The combat resulted in a
drawn fight as far as the _Virginia_ and _Monitor_ was concerned, but
it established the power of iron-clad steamers as engines of war, and
completely revolutionized the construction of the navies of the world.
That the combat between the _Virginia_ and the _Monitor_ was an
indecisive action is clear. The _Monitor_ received the most damage in
the fight, and was the first to retire from it into shoal water,
though the fight was afterwards renewed. On the other hand, the
_Virginia_ did not accomplish her object, which was the destruction of
the _Minnesota_, and she did not accomplish it in consequence of the
resistance offered by the _Monitor_. The two vessels held each other
in check, the _Virginia_ protecting Norfolk, and the _Monitor_ doing
the same for the Federal wooden fleet in Hampton Roads and the
Chesapeake waters. The injuries received by the _Virginia_ in ramming
the _Cumberland_, on the previous day, were probably greater than
those inflicted on her by the _Monitor_; in neither case were they
severe enough to disable or force her to withdraw from action.
On her return to Norfolk harbor, the _Virginia_ was accompanied by the
_Patrick Henry_ and the other vessels of the Confederate squadron. The
Confederate wooden steamers had taken no part in the action between
the _Virginia_ and the _Monitor_, except to fire an occasional shot at
the _Monitor_, as she passed, at very long range; no wooden vessel
could have floated a quarter of an hour in an engagement at close
quarters with either of the two iron-clads.
Flag Officer Tatnall having relieved Flag Officer Buchanan, who was
incapacitated from command on account of severe wounds received in the
first day's fight in Hampton Roads, and all the vessels of the
squadron having been refitted, on the 13th of April the squadron again
sallied out to attack the enemy. It was expected that the _Monitor_
would be eager to renew the combat with the _Virginia_, and it was
agreed upon that, in case the _Virginia_ failed to capture or destroy
the Federal iron-clad, an attempt should be made to carry the latter
by boarding. This duty was assigned to the gunboats _Beaufort_ and
_Raleigh_ and two other small steamers. One of these small steamers
was the tender of the Norfolk Navy Yard; she was manned for the
occasion by officers and men from the _Patrick Henry_, under the
command of the executive-officer of that vessel, and was christened by
the men _Patrick Henry, Junior_.
The Confederate squadron steamed about in Hampton Roads for two days,
but the _Monitor_ did not leave her anchorage at Fortress Monroe, her
passiveness being due, it seems, to orders from Washington not to
engage the _Virginia_ unless she attempted to pass Old Point Comfort.
General J. Bankhead Magruder, commanding the Confederate Army of the
Peninsula, was urgent in demanding the return of the James river
squadron, and consequently the _Patrick Henry_ and _Jamestown_ were
ordered to run by the Newport News batteries at night, and resume
their old duty in James river. The _Jamestown_ ran up the river on the
19th and the _Patrick Henry_ on the 20th of April; the _Beaufort_,
_Raleigh_ and _Teaser_ were also sent up the river; the headquarters
of this detached squadron, of which Tucker was the senior officer, was
at Mulberry Island, on which point rested the right flank of the
Confederate Army of the Peninsula.
Up to this time the _Patrick Henry_ was brigantine rigged, but to fit
her better for running by batteries without being discovered, both of
her masts were now taken out and short signal poles substituted for
them.
When the Confederate authorities determined upon the evacuation of
Norfolk, the James river squadron was employed to remove what public
property could be saved from the Navy Yard to Richmond. The hulls of
several uncompleted vessels were towed past the Federal batteries at
Newport News. The running past the batteries was always done at night,
moonless nights being chosen whenever it was practicable to select the
time of making the trip. So far as known, the vessels employed on this
service were never detected by the enemy; at least they were never
fired upon.
Soon after the evacuation of Norfolk, whilst the Confederate forces
were retiring from the Peninsula to the lines around Richmond, a
Federal squadron, consisting of the _Monitor_, _Galena_, _Naugatuck_,
_Aroostook_ and _Port Royal_, entered James river. The _Monitor_ alone
could with ease and without serious injury to herself have destroyed
in fight all the Confederate vessels in James river, and no course was
open to Tucker but to take his squadron up the river and make a stand
at the place below Richmond best adapted for defense. The place most
wisely selected was Drewry's Bluff, where the river had been
obstructed by rows of piles, and the piles defended by four army guns
mounted in a breastwork on the crest of the bluff, about two hundred
feet above the river. When the Confederate squadron arrived at
Drewry's Bluff, the defenses which had been constructed at the place
were not in a condition to have prevented the Federal squadron from
passing on to Richmond; but in the day which the Federal vessels
wasted in silencing the fire of the half-deserted Confederate
batteries on the lower river, the works at Drewry's Bluff were
materially strengthened. The _Jamestown_ and several smaller vessels
were sunk in the river channel, the two rifled guns of the _Jamestown_
having been previously landed and mounted in pits dug in the brow of
the bluff. The eight-inch solid-shot gun of the _Patrick Henry_ and
her two six-inch rifles were also landed, thus forming a formidable
naval battery countersunk on the brow of the hill, consisting of one
eight-inch solid-shot gun and four six-inch rifles. Besides the naval
battery, there were several army guns mounted in a breastwork and
served by a battalion of Artillery, under the command of Major A.
Drewry, who was the owner of the bluff, and from whom the place took
its name.
The naval guns were manned by the crews of the _Patrick Henry_,
_Jamestown_ and _Virginia_--the crew of the _Virginia_ arriving at the
bluff soon after she had been destroyed by Flag Officer Tatnall, to
prevent her from falling into the hands of the enemy. It is not always
possible for a sea captain to preserve the vessel he commands; but it
is always possible to act with firmness, skill and judgment under
trying and adverse circumstances, and this Flag Officer Tatnall seems
to have done. A court-martial, composed of officers of high
professional attainments and acknowledged personal merit, acquitted
him of all blame for the loss of the _Virginia_.
The following naval officers may be named as participating in the
engagement of Drewry's Bluff, though there were others whose names are
not at this time procurable: Of the _Patrick Henry_, Commander John
Randolph Tucker, Lieutenant James Henry Rochelle, Lieutenant Francis
Lyell Hoge, and others; of the _Jamestown_, Lieutenant Commanding J.
Nicholas Barney, Acting Master Samuel Barron, Jr., and others; of the
_Virginia_, Lieutenant Catesby Roger Jones, Lieutenant Hunter
Davidson, Lieutenant John Taylor Wood, Lieutenant Walter Raleigh Butt,
and others. Commander E. Farrand was the ranking and commanding
officer present, having been sent down from Richmond to command the
station.
It was on the 15th of May, 1862, that the Federal vessels _Galena_,
_Monitor_, _Naugatuck_, _Aroostook_, and _Port Royal_ made the
well-known attack on the Confederate batteries at Drewry's Bluff,
which was the only obstacle barring the way to Richmond, the capital
of the Confederate States.
The _Galena_ and _Monitor_ engaged the batteries at short distance,
the other three Federal vessels keeping just within long range of the
Confederate guns. The _Monitor_, after the action commenced, finding
that her position was too near the bluff to allow of her guns being
elevated sufficiently to throw their shot to the crest of the cliff,
retired to a more favorable position. The Confederates wasted but few
shot on her, knowing they would not pierce her armor.
The _Galena_ was managed and fought with great skill and daring.
Approaching to within about six hundred yards of the Confederate
batteries, she was deliberately moored, her battery sprung and a
well-directed fire opened upon the Confederate works. From half past
six o'clock in the morning until about eleven, when the action ceased,
she kept this position, receiving nearly the whole of the Confederate
fire. The most effective gun on the Bluff was the eight-inch solid
shot gun of the _Patrick Henry_. Knowing by previous experience the
power of the gun, Tucker gave it his personal supervision. At 11
o'clock A.M. a shot from this gun passed into one of the bow posts of
the _Galena_, and was followed by an immediate gushing forth of smoke,
showing that the vessel was on fire or had sustained some serious
damage, a conclusion confirmed by her moving off down the river,
accompanied by the other four vessels of the Federal squadron. It was
at Drewry's Bluff that Midshipman Carroll, of Maryland, was killed. He
was struck by a projectile whilst standing by Tucker's side, whose
aide he was.
For some days it was expected that another attack on the Confederate
position would be made, but no other effort to capture Richmond with
iron-clads was attempted. A half a dozen armored vessels, built
expressly for being forced through obstructions and by batteries,
could have passed Drewry's Bluff and captured Richmond, but the force
with which the attempt was actually made was neither well adapted for
the undertaking nor sufficiently strong for success.
The _Galena's_ loss was thirteen killed and eleven wounded, and one
officer and two men were wounded on board the other Federal vessels.
On the Confederate side the loss, including the battalion of
Artillery, as well as the force of sailors, was eleven killed and nine
wounded.
After the Federal repulse at Drewry's Bluff, the officers and crew of
the _Patrick Henry_, _Virginia_ and _Jamestown_ were permanently
attached to the naval batteries at that place, Tucker continuing to
command his men on shore.
In August, 1862, Tucker was ordered to command the iron-clad steamer
_Chicora_, which vessel had just been launched at Charleston. She was
a casemate iron-clad, with armor four inches in thickness, and carried
a battery of two nine-inch smooth-bore shell guns, and two six-inch
Brooks rifles, throwing a projectile weighing sixty pounds. Flag
Officer Duncan N. Ingraham commanded the Charleston squadron, and flew
his flag on board the _Palmetto State_, Lieutenant Commanding John
Rutledge. The _Palmetto State_ was an iron-clad, similar to the
_Chicora_ in build and armor, carrying a battery of one seven-inch
rifled gun forward, one six-inch rifled gun aft, and one eight-inch
shell gun on each broadside.
On the night of January 31st, 1863, the two Confederate iron-clads
made a successful attack on the Federal blockading squadron off
Charleston. Passing the bar of Charleston harbor at early dawn, the
Confederate iron-clads quickly drove the blockading vessels out to
sea, and the blockade was broken, at least for some hours. In his
official report of this action Flag Officer Ingraham says, "I cannot
speak in too high terms of the conduct of Commander Tucker and
Lieutenant Commanding Rutledge; the former handled his vessel in a
beautiful manner and did the enemy much damage. I refer you to his
official report."
The official report to which Flag Officer Ingraham refers the
Confederate Secretary of the Navy is as follows:
"CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER _Chicora_,
"January 31st, 1863.
"_Sir_--In obedience to your order, I got under way at 11.30
P.M. yesterday, and stood down the harbor in company with the
Confederate States steamer _Palmetto State_, bearing your
flag. We crossed the bar at 4.40 A.M., and commenced the
action at 5.20 A.M. by firing into a schooner-rigged
propeller, which we set on fire and have every reason to
believe sunk, as she was nowhere to be seen at daylight. We
then engaged a large sidewheel steamer, twice our length from
us on the port bow, firing three shots into her with telling
effect, when she made a run for it. This vessel was supposed
to be the _Quaker City_. We then engaged a schooner-rigged
propeller and a large sidewheel steamer, partially crippling
both, and setting the latter on fire, causing her to strike
her flag; at this time the latter vessel, supposed to be the
_Keystone State_, was completely at my mercy, I having taken
position astern, distant some two hundred yards. I at once
gave the order to cease firing upon her, and directed
Lieutenant Bier, First Lieutenant of the _Chicora_, to man a
boat and take charge of the prize, if possible to save her; if
that was not possible, to rescue her crew. While the boat was
in the act of being manned, I discovered that she was
endeavoring to make her escape by working her starboard wheel,
the other being disabled, her colors being down. I at once
started in pursuit and renewed the engagement. Owing to her
superior steaming qualities she soon widened the distance to
some two hundred yards. She then hoisted her flag and
commenced firing her rifled guns; her commander, by this
faithless act, placing himself beyond the pale of civilized
and honorable warfare.[1] We next engaged two schooners, one
brig, and one bark-rigged propeller, but not having the
requisite speed were unable to bring them to close quarters.
We pursued them six or seven miles seaward. During the latter
part of the combat, I was engaged at long range with a
bark-rigged steam sloop-of-war; but in spite of all our
efforts, was unable to bring her to close quarters, owing to
her superior steaming qualities. At 7.30 A.M., in obedience to
your orders, we stood in shore, leaving the partially crippled
and fleeing enemy about _seven miles clear of the bar_,
standing to the southward and eastward. At 8 A.M., in
obedience to signal, we anchored in four fathoms waters off
the Beach Channel."
"It gives me pleasure to testify to the good conduct and
efficiency of the officers and crew of the _Chicora_. I am
particularly indebted to the pilots, Messrs. Payne and Aldert,
for the skillful pilotage of the vessel."
"It gives me pleasure to report that I have no injuries or
casualties."
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"J.R. TUCKER, _Commander, C.S.N._
"_Flag Officer_ D.N. INGRAHAM, C.S.N.,
"_Commanding Station, Charleston, S.C._"
The result of this engagement was a complete demonstration of the
futility of any attempt on the part of wooden vessels to contend with
iron-clads. The Federal squadron consisted of the _Housatonic_,
_Meresdita_, _Keystone State_, _Quaker City_, _Augusta_, _Flag_,
_Memphis_, _Stettin_, _Ottawa_, and _Unadilla_, ten vessels, all of
them unarmored, and three, the _Housatonic_, _Ottawa_ and _Unadilla_,
built for war service, the other seven being merchant steamers
converted into men-of-war. The Confederate squadron consisted of only
two vessels, both iron-clads, the _Palmetto State_ and _Chicora_,
which received no damage whatever during the engagement, either to
their hulls, machinery, or crew, whilst several of the ten Federal
wooden vessels were seriously injured, though none of them were sunk,
their escape from capture or destruction being due to the swiftness of
their flight. Their loss was twenty-five killed and twenty-two
wounded.
The blockade of Charleston harbor was soon, indeed immediately,
re-established, and kept up by the armored frigate _New Ironsides_ and
a number of heavy "Monitors." There was, from the end of this battle
to the evacuation of Charleston by the Confederates, no time when
there would have been the least probability of the success of another
dash by the Confederate vessels in the harbor upon the Federal
squadron blockading.
In the month of February, 1863, Tucker was promoted to the rank of
Captain in the Provisional Navy of the Confederate States, and in
March following was appointed Flag Officer of the Confederate Forces
Afloat at Charleston, the _Chicora_ bearing his flag.
On the 7th of April, 1863, Admiral Dupont made his attack on
Charleston, with a squadron consisting of the armored frigate _New
Ironsides_ and eight "Monitors." Tucker, with his usual good judgment,
held the _Chicora_ and _Palmetto State_, aided by a number of rowboats
armed with torpedoes, ready to make a desperate and final assault upon
the Federal squadron if it should succeed in passing the Confederate
forts guarding the entrance to the harbor. Admiral Dupont's squadron
was repulsed by the forts, and the Confederate squadron was not
engaged.
The Confederate naval forces afloat at Charleston did not possess
either the strength or swiftness necessary for an attack on the
Federal blockading squadron with any reasonable prospect of success,
and Tucker therefore turned his attention to attacks by means of
torpedo-boats fitted out from his squadron. On the 5th of October,
1863, Lieutenant W.T. Glassell, with a small double-ender steam
torpedo-boat, made an attempt to sink the _New Ironsides_, lying off
Morris' Island. The _New Ironsides_ was not sunk, but she was
seriously damaged and was sent North for repairs. The torpedo-boat was
filled with water, and her commander, pilot, and engineer, all that
were on board of her, were thrown overboard by the shock of the
striking and exploding of the torpedo against the bottom of the
iron-clad. The torpedo-boat was finally taken back into Charleston
harbor by the pilot and engineer, but Lieutenant Glassell was made
prisoner after having been in the water about an hour. A torpedo-boat
commanded by Lieutenant Dixon of the Confederate Army, and manned by
six volunteers from Tucker's squadron and one from the army, attacked
and sunk, on the night of February 17th, 1864, the United States
steamer _Housatonic_ lying in the North Channel. The torpedo-boat with
all on board went to the bottom, but most of the crew of the
_Housatonic_ were saved by taking refuge in the rigging, which was not
submerged when the vessel rested on the bottom.
The boat attack on Fort Sumter, made by the Federals on September 8th,
1863, was easily repulsed, and the Charleston squadron materially
aided in the repulse.
A battalion of sailors from the recruits on board the receiving-ship
_Indian Chief_, under the command of Lieutenant Commanding William
Galliard Dozier, was detached by Tucker to co-operate with the army on
James' Island in August, 1864. This battalion rendered good service,
and upon its return to the squadron was kept organized and ready to
respond whenever a call for assistance was made upon the Navy by the
Army.
Early in 1864 some changes were made in the commanding officers of the
squadron; Commander Isaac Newton Brown was ordered to the
_Charleston_, Commander Thomas T. Hunter to the _Chicora_, and
Lieutenant Commanding James Henry Rochelle to the _Palmetto State_. No
other changes were made in the commands of the squadron while it
existed.
The three iron-clads under Tucker's command at Charleston were all
slow vessels, with imperfect engines, which required frequent
repairing; for that day, and considering the paucity of naval
resources in the South, they were fairly officered, manned and armed.
All of them were clad with armor four inches thick, and they were all
of the type of the _Virginia_, or _Merrimac_, as that vessel is
frequently but erroneously called. The commander of the vessels were
all formerly officers of the United States Navy, who were citizens of
the Southern States and had resigned their commissions in the Federal
service when their States seceded from the Union. The lieutenants and
other officers were appointed from civil life, but they were competent
to perform the duties required of them, and conducted themselves well
at all times and under all circumstances. The crews of each vessel
numbered from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty men,
some of them able-seamen, and most of them efficient and reliable men.
Each vessel carried a torpedo, fitted to the end of a spar some
fifteen or twenty feet long projecting from the bows in a line with
the keel, and so arranged that it could be carried either triced up
clear of the water or submerged five or six feet below the surface.
The squadron was in a good state of discipline and drill, and, so far
as the personnel was concerned, in a very efficient condition.
Every night one or two of the iron-clads anchored in the channel near
Fort Sumter for the purpose of resisting a night attack on that place
or a dash into the harbor by the Federal squadron.
Not long before the evacuation of Charleston an iron-clad named the
_Columbia_ was launched there. She had a thickness of six inches of
iron on her casemate, and was otherwise superior to the other three
iron-clads of the squadron. Unfortunately, she was run aground whilst
coming out of dock, and so much injured as not to be able to render
any service whatever.
Charleston was evacuated by the Confederate forces on the 18th of
February, 1865. Several days previous to the evacuation a detachment
from the squadron of about three hundred men, under the command of
Lieutenant Commanding James Henry Rochelle, consisting of the officers
and crews of the _Palmetto State_, _Columbia_, and the recruits from
the receiving-ship _Indian Chief_, were dispatched by rail to
Wilmington, which the detachment reached only a few days before it
was, in turn, abandoned by the Confederate Army. The Charleston naval
detachment was ordered to co-operate with the Army as a body of
infantry, and was assigned to duty with General Hoke's division, of
which it formed the extreme right, resting on Cape Fear river. The
position was exposed to an annoying fire from the Federal gunboats in
the river, to which no reply could be made, but from which some loss
was suffered. The evacuation of Wilmington took place on the 22d of
February, 1865, and the Charleston squadron's naval battalion marched
out with Hoke's division, to which it remained attached until
somewhere in the interior of North Carolina it reunited with Tucker's
command.
With the officers and crews of the _Charleston_ and _Chicora_, Tucker
left Charleston on the 18th of February, 1865, the day of the
evacuation of the city by the Confederate Army. As far as Florence in
South Carolina the Charleston naval brigade traveled by rail, but at
that point Tucker received a telegram informing him that the Federal
forces were about cutting the railway communication between Florence
and Wilmington. This was the last message that came over the wires,
and Tucker, knowing that the enemy had succeeded in seizing the
railroad, abandoned his intention of making for Wilmington, and
marched his command across the country to Fayetteville, where he
received orders from the Navy Department to bring his force to
Richmond. On the way from Fayetteville to Richmond the detached
Charleston naval battalion was reunited to the main body under
Tucker, and the whole brigade proceeded together to Richmond, and from
Richmond it was sent to garrison the Confederate batteries at Drewry's
Bluff, of which place Tucker was ordered to assume command, the naval
forces afloat in James river being under the command of Rear Admiral
Raphael Semmes.
When Tucker took command at Drewry's Bluff the Confederate cause was
at its last gasp. Richmond was evacuated by the Confederate Army and
Government on the night of the 2d of April, 1865. Strange to relate,
Tucker received no orders to retire with his command, and he held his
post steadily until, early on the morning of the 3d, the Confederate
iron-clads in James river were burnt by their own commanders. When he
knew the troops were marching out of Richmond and saw the Confederate
iron-clads burning in the river, Tucker thought it was not only
justifiable but necessary for him to act without orders, and he
retired with his command from Drewry's Bluff. General R.E. Lee told
Tucker, when they met, that of all the mistakes committed by the
Richmond authorities he regretted none more than the neglect to
apprise the naval force at Drewry's Bluff of the intended evacuation
of the city.
The naval brigade from Drewry's Bluff, under Flag Officer Tucker,
joined the rear guard of the Confederate Army, and was attached to
General Custis Lee's division of General Ewell's corps, with which it
marched until the battle of Saylor's Creek on the 16th of April, 1865.
The naval brigade held the right of the line at that battle, and
easily repulsed all the assaults made upon it. A flag of truce was
sent by the Federal General commanding at that point to inform Tucker
that the Confederate troops on his right and left had surrendered, and
that further resistance was useless and could only end in the
destruction of the sailors. Tucker, believing that the battle had only
commenced, refused to surrender, and held his position until reliable
information, which he could not doubt, reached him of the surrender of
General Ewell and his army corps. The naval brigade surrendered by
Tucker numbered some three hundred sailors, who, the opposing force
said, did not know when they were whipped. Tucker's sword, which he
rendered to General Keifer, was returned to him some years after the
war by that gentleman, then a prominent member of Congress.
Tucker was sent North and confined as a prisoner of war until the
entire cessation of hostilities, when he was released on parole. On
his return to Virginia he found that both the Confederate and State
Governments were things of the past, and that he would have to mend
his broken fortunes, if mend them he could, by engaging in the
business pursuits of civil life. He succeeded, not without difficulty,
in obtaining employment as an agent of the Southern Express Company,
and was stationed at Raleigh, North Carolina, to take charge of the
business matters of the Company in that city.
[Footnote 1: The _Keystone State_ did not surrender, rescue or no
rescue, and her escape ought probably to be regarded as a rescue.]