Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/54

44 to the report of Lieutenant Pendergrast she had been on fire from the beginning of the action ; and Medical Director Shippen, who from his station would be likely to know, says: 'We were on fire in the sick-bay, in the main hold, and under the wardroom near the after magazine. Some of these fires were extinguished; but the most dangerous one, that near the after magazine, was never extinguished, and was the cause of the explosion which during the following night blew the ship to pieces.'

"The results of this day's operations were the total destruction of the frigate Congress and the corvette Cumberland, and the partial crippling of the steam frigate Minnesota. The loss in killed and drowned on board the Cumberland, as reported by her commander, was 121; and the surgeon reported 14 wounded, which makes 135 casualties. I find it difficult to ascertain from Lieutenant Pendergrast 's report how many men the Congress lost in all. He gives the total number of killed and missing as 136. ... There is reason to fear that some wounded men were left on board to be consumed by the flames, who would have been taken off by the Beaufort and Raleigh, under the flag of truce, had they not been fired on by the troops on shore. The fire of these troops killed their own wounded men as they were being lowered over the side, and rendered it impossible for us to continue the work. The Minnesota lost 3 killed and 16 wounded, and there were some casualties reported among the other vessels. The loss in the Federal fleet in killed, drowned, wounded and missing must have amounted to nearly 400 men.

"On our side, the Merrimac lost 21 killed and wounded, the Patrick Henry 14, the Beaufort 8, the Raleigh had Lieutenant Tayloe and Midshipman Hutter killed how many men I do not know, nor have I any information as to the number of killed and wounded on the Teaser. The Jamestown had no casualties, though she was in the thickest of the fight. Our total loss, however, did not exceed