Chapter 5

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.]