Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/137

 The Confederate Steamship ^^ Patrick Henry." 131

side; on the other, the frigates Mi7inesoia, St. Lawrence and Roan- oke were coming up from Old Point Comfort, and, in front, the beach was hned with field batteries and sharpshooters. Fortunately for th€ Confederate wooden vessels, the Minnesota, St. Lawrence and Roanoke grounded, and the smaller vessels which accompanied them, warned by the fate of the Cumberland, returned to Old Point. The Minnesota, though aground, was near enough to take part in the action, and opened a heavy fire on the Confederate squadron.

About this time Flag-Officer Buchanan hailed the Patrick Henry, and directed Commander Tucker to burn the Congress, which ves- sel had run ashore, hauled down her ensign, and hoisted a white flag. The gunboats, Raleigh, Beanfort and Teaser, had attempted to burn her, but had been driven off by a heavy artillery and infantry fire from the Federal troops on the beach. The pilots of the Patrick Henry declared that that vessel could not get alongside the Congress in consequence of an intervening shoal. This determined Com- mander Tucker' to approach the Co7igress as near as the shoal would permit, and then to send his boats and burn her; the boats were pre- pared for the service, and the boat's crews and officers to command them held readv, whilst the vessel was steaming in to the Congress. This movement of the Patrick Heyiry placed her in the most immi- nent peril; she was brought under the continuous and concentrated fire of three points; on her port-quarter were the batteries of New- port News, on her port-bow were the fielcf batteries and sharp- shooters on the beach, and on her starboard-bow the Minnesota. It soon became evident that no wooden vessel could long float under such a fire ; several shots struck the hull ; a piece was shot out of the walking beam ; as the sponge of the after pivot gun was being in- serted in the piece the handle was cut in two by a shot — half in prayer and half in despair at being unable to perform his duty, the sponger exclaimed, "Oh, Lord! how is the gun to be sponged?" and he was much relieved when the quarter gunner of his division handed him a spare sponge. This state of things could not last long ; a rifle shot from the field batteries penetrated the steam chest, the engine room and fire room were filled with steam, five or six of the firemen were scalded to death, the engineers were driven up on deck, and the engines stopped working. The vessel was enveloped in a cloud of escaped steam, and the enemy, seeing that some dis- aster to the engines or boilers had occurred, increased his fire. At the moment, no one knew what had happened, the general impres- sion being that the boiler had exploded ; and it is an unmistakable evi-