File:Abraham Lincoln and the battles of the Civil War (1886) (14576401137).jpg

Identifier: abrahamlincolnba01newy (find matches)
Title: Abraham Lincoln and the battles of the Civil War
Year: 1886 (1880s)
Authors:
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Generals Generals
Publisher: (New York, N.Y.) : (The Century Co.)
Contributing Library: Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Digitizing Sponsor: The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

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extinguished by a partyheaded by my first lieutenant. sibility of taking her up the river at all. Thisextraordinary conduct of the pilots renderedsome other plan immediately necessary. Moral:All officers, as far as possible, should learn todo their own piloting. The ship had been so lifted as to be unfitfor action ; two feet of her hull below theshield was exposed. She could not be sunkagain by letting in water without putting outthe furnace fires and flooding the magazines.Never was a commander forced by circum-stances over which he had no control into amore painful position than was CommodoreTatnall. But coolly and calmly he decided,and gave orders to destroy the ship; deter-mining if he could not save his vessel, at allevents not to sacrifice three hundred braveand faithful men. That he acted wisely, thefight at Drurys Bluff, which was the salvationof Richmond, soon after proved. She was runashore near Craney Island and the crew landedwith their small-arms and two days provisions.
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THE FIRST FIGHT OF IRON-CLADS. 753 Having only two boats, it took three hours todisembark. Lieutenant Catesby Jones andmyself were the last to leave. Setting her onfire fore and aft, she was soon in a blaze, andby the light of our burning ship we pulled forthe shore, landing at daybreak. We marched 22miles to Suffolk and took the cars for Richmond. The news of the destruction of the Viri^iiiiacaused a most profound feeling of disappoint-ment and indignation throughout the South,particularly as so much was expected of theship after our first success. On CommodoreTatnall the most unsparing and cruel asper-sions were cast. He promptly demanded acourt of inquiry, and, not satisfied with this, acourt-martial, whose unanimous finding afterconsidering the facts and circumstances was : Being thus situated, the only alternative, inthe opinion of the court, was to abandon andburn the ship then and there; which, in thejudgment of the court, was deliberately andwisely done by order of the accused

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