FEBRUARY 12TH, 1865: Captain T.J. Page, CSS Stonewall, wrote Commander Bulloch from Ferrol, France, of the arrival of the USS Niagara, Commodore T.T. Craven, at Corunna, the preceding day. "I wish with all my heart we were ready to go out," Page said.
"We must encounter her, and I would only wish that she may not be accompanied by two or more others.
He, however, wasn't too worried about a possible engagement with the Niagara which was a screw-driven frigate mounting twelve 11-inch Dahlgren guns.
Later, he wrote about his ship, saying "the Stonewall is a very formidable vessel, about 175 feet long, brig-rigged, completely clothed in iron plates of 5 inches in thickness. Under her topgallant forecastle is her casemated Armstrong 300-pounder rifled gun.
"In a turret abaft her mainmast are two 120-pounder rifled guns, and she has two smaller guns mounted in broadside. If as fast as reputed to be, in smooth water she ought to be more than a match for three ships such as the Niagara.
The Niagara Should Also Be "Behooved." --Old B-R'er
No comments:
Post a Comment