APRIL 2-4TH, 1865: Secretary of the Navy Mallory ordered the destruction of the Confederate James River squadron and directed its officers and men to join General Lee's troops then in the process of evacuating Richmond and retreating westward toward Danville.
As Mallory left Richmond with Davis and his cabinet late at night on the 2nd, the train passed over the James River. Later, as a prisoner of war at Fort Lafayette, the Secretary reflected his thoughts at the time: "The James River squadron, with its ironclads, which had lain like chained bulldogs under the command of Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes to prevent the ascent of the enemy's ships, would, in the classic flash of the times, 'go up' before morning...; and the naval operations of the Confederacy east of the Mississippi would cease."
--Old B-Runner
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