Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 7.djvu/234

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��Captain George Hamilton Perkins, U.S.N.

��[April,

��Pinola and Itasca, had succeeded in forcing a channel through the obstruc- tions, a piece of duty that had required the most robust and dauntless courage, and in which Caldwell — a son of Massachusetts — shone pre - eminent by the coolness of his methods and thoroughness of his work. And now, on the night of the twenty-third, after a last examination by Caldwell in a twelve-oared boat, all was pronounced clear, and the fleet was to weigh at two o'clock in the morning.

The fleet was formed in three divi- sions, the first comprising the Hartford, flagship, the Brooklyn, and Richmond ; the second composed of eight vessels with the divisional flag of Captain Bailey on board the Cayuga ; and the third of six vessels, with Fleet-Captain Bell's flag flying from the Sciota ; but was ordered to pass through the obstructions in one column or single line ahead, the Cayuga leading. Farragut had intended to lead himself, but at Bailey's urgent request yielded that honor to him.

The letters of Lieutenant Perkins, ever glowing with ardor for the good cause, were, at this time, full of patriotic fervor and aspiration, and when he said : '^ I hope the Cayuga will go down before she ever gives up, and ' I guess ' she will," he certainly meant it ! And the supreme moment had now come for him to inform this hope by valorous deeds, and all unfalteringly did he walk in the blazing light of heroism that none but the brave may dare to tread.

The signal to weigh was promptly made at two o'clock, a.m., but work at night is always behind, and it was half-past three o'clock before the little Cayuga, leading the line, pressed gallantly through the obstructions at full speed, eager for the fray, closely followed by the heavy Pensacola, and

��ship after ship in the order assigned ; but lack of space forbids a general description of the battle, and we propose to do hardly more than to follow the fortunes of the Cayuga.

Lieutenant - Commanding Harrison had paid his executive the high com- pliment of allowing him to pilot the vessel, and Perkins took position in the eyes of her, on the topgallant fore- castle, while Lieutenant - Commanding Harrison and Captain Bailey stood aft, near the wheel, and all the men except the helmsmen were made to lie flat on the deck until the time came for them to serve the battery. Prone on the deck at Perkins's feet, and with his head close down over the bow, was the captain of the forecastle, to watch the channel and give timely warning of anything barring the way that might escape the wider-ranging eye of the intrepid young pilot ; and as the Cayuga pressed on, receiving the first shock of the outburst from the forts, what finer subject for the painter, than that lithe young figure standing up in bold and unflinching rehef, at the ex- treme bow of the ship, peering ahead in the morning starlight to pilot her safely on her way, amid the blinding flame and screaming bolts, the hurtle of shot and crash of shell, the explosion and deafening roar of a hundred shot- ted guns, as the vessel steamed into the jaws of death, leading the fleet into one of the most momentous and memorable conflicts in naval annals. Nor should cool and phlegmatic Harri- son nor grand old Bailey be overlooked, as the constant flashes of the thick exploding shells revealed them stand- ing, calm and grim, at their posts, in readiness to direct the movements of vessel and column, and engage the foe, ashore and afloat ; nor the impatient

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