Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/61

Rh fire and blown up by her commander. The officers and crew landed on Craney island and proceeded to Drewry's bluff, some eight miles below Richmond. Flag-Officer Tattnall applied for a court-martial. It is sufficient to say he was acquitted, the opinion of the court being that "the only alternative was to abandon and burn the ship [the Merrimac] there and then."

The other vessels of the squadron had been previously dispatched to Richmond. Capt. John R. Tucker, in command, hearing that the enemy's ships were ascending the river, immediately commenced preparations to defend the city. The Jamestown and some other vessels were sunk in the channel. The guns of the Patrick Henry and Jamestown were with incredible labor carried up and mounted on Drewry's bluff; and manned by crews of those vessels. On the 15th of May the iron-clads Galena, Monitor and Naugatuck, with the gunboats Port Royal and Aroostook, the whole under the command of the indomitable Commodore John Rodgers, U S. N., attacked the battery. The enemy's squadron was driven off with considerable loss, the Galena being seriously damaged. Commander Ebenezer Farrand, C. S. N., commanded the combined forces on the bluff. The officers and crew of the Merrimac had arrived two days before, and manned some of the guns. But the credit of this defense, which saved the city of Richmond, belongs fairly to Capt. John R. Tucker, Commander J. N. Barney, the officers _and crews of the Patrick Henry. and Jamestown, and to Major Drewry and his brave soldiers. Palmam qui meruit ferat. Lieut. John, Taylor Wood in command of a company of sharpshooter manned the banks of the river near Chapin’s bluff; and considerably annoyed the enemy, as did Capt. John D. Simms with a company of marines.

The battle between the Merrimac and Monitor has been much discussed, and both sides have claimed the victory. The honors of the day may be technically awarded the