Dewey and Other Naval Commanders | Page 6

close that it was impossible to dodge her, and the ironclad struck the
steamer on the port side, close to the mizzenmast, firing a gun at the
same time. Fortunately the blow was a glancing one, though it opened a
rent seven feet long and four inches deep in the steamer, which, being
caught by the swift current on her starboard bow, was swept across to
the Fort Jackson side of the river, so close indeed that her gunners and
those in the fort exchanged curses and imprecations.
[Illustration: SHELLING FORTS PHILIP AND JACKSON.]
The passage of the forts by the Union vessels forms one of the most
thrilling pictures in the history of the Civil War. The Hartford, like all
the vessels, was subjected to a terrible fire, was assailed by the

Confederate ironclads, and more than once was in imminent danger of
being sent to the bottom. Following with the second division, Captain
Farragut did not reply to the fire of the forts for a quarter of an hour. He
hurled a broadside into St. Philip and was pushing through the dense
smoke when a fire-raft, with a tug pushing her along, plunged out of
the gloom toward the _Hartford's_ port quarter. She swerved to elude
this peril and ran aground close to St. Philip, which, recognizing her
three ensigns and flag officer's flag, opened a savage fire, but luckily
most of the shot passed too high.
There was no getting out of the way of the fire-raft, which, being
jammed against the flagship, sent the flames through the portholes and
up the oiled masts. The perfect discipline of the crew enabled them to
extinguish the fire before it could do much damage, and the Hartford
succeeded in backing into deep water and kept pounding Fort St. Philip
so long as she was in range.
Without attempting to describe the battle in detail, we will give our
attention to the Mississippi. Within an hour and a quarter of the time
the leading vessel passed the forts, all had reached a safe point above,
where they engaged in a furious fight with the Confederate flotilla, the
smaller members of which were soon disabled or sunk.
[Illustration: THE "HARTFORD"--FARRAGUT'S FLAGSHIP.]
Meanwhile the ironclad Manassas had been prowling at the heels of the
Union squadron, but being discovered by the Mississippi, the steamer
opened on her with so destructive a fire that the ram ran ashore and the
crew scrambled over the bows and escaped. The Mississippi continued
pounding her until she was completely wrecked. The loss of the Union
fleet was thirty-seven killed and one hundred and forty-seven wounded,
while the Confederate land forces had twelve killed and forty wounded.
The Confederate flotilla must have lost as many men as the Unionists.
Having safely passed all obstructions, Captain Farragut steamed up to
the river to New Orleans, and the city surrendered April 25, formal
possession being taken on May 1.
It will be admitted that Lieutenant Dewey had received his "baptism of

fire."
It is the testimony of every one who saw him during the turmoil of
battle that he conducted himself with the coolness and courage of a
veteran. At no time during the passage of the forts and the desperate
fighting with the Confederate flotilla above did he display the first
evidence of nervousness or lack of self-possession.
[Illustration: IRONCLADS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.]
The next engagement in which Lieutenant Dewey took part was the
attempt by Farragut to pass the battery of nineteen guns, mounted on
the hundred-foot high bluff of Port Hudson, on a bend of the
Mississippi, below Vicksburg. The position was the most difficult
conceivable to carry from the river, because of the plunging shots from
the enormous guns on the bluff above.
Captain Farragut had no thought of reducing these batteries, which
would have been impossible with a fleet double the strength of his, but
he wished to get his vessels past in order to blockade the river above
the bend. The attempt was made on the night of March 14, 1863, with
the Hartford in the lead, and followed by the Richmond, Monongahela
and Mississippi, with the smaller boats. The first three boats had as
consorts the Albatross, Kineo and Genessee. Captain Mahan, in "The
Gulf and Inland Waters," gives the following vivid description of this
historical incident:
"As they drew near the batteries, the lowest of which the Hartford had
already passed, the enemy threw up rockets and opened their fire.
Prudence, and the fact of the best water being on the starboard hand,
led the ships to hug the east shore of the river, passing so close under
the Confederate guns that the speech of the gunners and troops could be
distinguished. Along the shore, at the foot of the bluffs, powerful
reflecting