Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/292

 286 Southern Historical Society Papers.

claim, as they certainly deserve, the eminent distinction of having been the first to discover and employ armored ships of war in battle, certainly ships of this style.

They startled naval constructors and officers in the civilized world by the rapidity, audacity and novelty of their original methods, and will be known through all ages for their wonderful achievements. Maury, Buchanan, Brooke, Jones, and their assistants, are the central figures, around whom revolve to the present day the changes from the old to the new in naval warfare. And Ericsson of the North is the originator of another type. Together, they form a group of which any country may well felicitate itself.

It would require a volume to recite in detail the wonderfully in- genious inventions of Confederate officers in different waters and regions of the South to meet and overcome difficulties and obstacles that obstructed their professional paths, to recount the daring and novel expedients resorted to by them to carry on the unequal con- test, and to illustrate their unexampled ability in the face of over- powering opposition.

The historian who comes after us will do justice to their brilliant achievements, and rank them with the most conspicuous naval heroes of any age.

Coming now to the military operations of the Confederate armies, I shall avail myself of a letter lately received from Professor William LeRoy Broun, President of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, who held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of Ordnance under the Con- federate States Government, and give it in full as a part of this ad- dress. It is a most interesting contribution to the subject I have chosen, and well worthy of preservation. It is as follows :

AUBURN, ALABAMA, October 2, 1888.

Hon. M. C. BUTLER, United States Senate :

Dear Sir, In reply to your letter asking for any information in my possession in regard to the difficulties the Southern people had to overcome during the war in providing themselves with arms, I take pleasure in submitting the following, which may, in some de- gree, illustrate your subject, and shall be gratified if any of the facts will serve your purpose.

Early in 1863 I was taken from the artillery service and appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the Ordnance Department, and assigned to duty as commandant of the Richmond arsenal. Prior to that, I was