Captain Alden, commanding the USS Brooklyn, was to the Tecumseh's port side at the time began backing up to clear "a row of suspicious-looking buoys" directly under his bow. The entire line of wooden vessels was beginning to deteriorate in confusion under the guns of Fort Morgan.
Rear Admiral Farragut, lashed to the rigging of his flagship, the USS Hartford to better observe the action to avoid the billowing smoke observed this and acted promptly and resolutely, characteristic of a great leader who in war must constantly meet emergencies fraught with danger.
The only course open to him was the boldest-- through the torpedo field. "Damn the torpedoes," he ordered; "full speed ahead." (Flag Lieutenant John C. Watson later recalled that Farragut's exact words were: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead, Drayton! Hard starboard; ring four bells! Eight bells! Sixteen bells!") I'm not sure what the bells referred to.
The Hartford swept past the Brooklyn into the rows of torpedoes; the fleet followed. The torpedoes were heard bumping against the hulls, but none exploded. Farragut's fleet steamed into Mobile Bay.
Farragut was certainly fortunate that Watson had done such a good job disabling the torpedoes in the days preceding the action. Either that, or most of the torpedoes (mines) were defective. Had they started going off, a great victory would have ended up an inglorious disaster.
And, That Was Pretty Much That. But Now It is Up to the Tennessee. --Old B-R'er
No comments:
Post a Comment