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CHAPTER XXII.

VIRGINIA WATERS-(CONCLUDED).

LMOST from the day of the establishment of his position at Yorktown, in March, 1862, Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder, commanding the Confederate Army of the Peninsula, had endeavored to impress upon the Navy Department the wisdom of his views regarding the employment of the squadron in hostile operations in support of his movements; and even after the impossibility of sending the Virginia into the York River had been authoritatively pointed out to him, he called for the services of the Patrick Henry, Jamestown, and other gunboats to assist in preventing the army of McClellan from crossing Warwick River, which formed a portion of his line of defence. On April 16th, his dispatch to Secretary of War Randolph acknowledged the arrival of the Teaser, a small tug carrying one 32-pounder rifle, and commanded by Lieut. Hunter Davidson, in the Warwick; and on the 19th, Commodore Tatnall sent the Jamestown, Lieut. Barney, and the Raleigh, Lieut. Alexander. up the James River to protect Magruder's flank. These vessels, with the Patrick Henry, Capt. John R. Tucker, and the Beaufort, had been assembled at the mouth of the James River by April 21st, the squadron being under command of Capt. Tucker, and from that time until the evacuation of Yorktown and Norfolk it had no work to do, except that the Teaser was of service to Gen. Magruder on the Warwick River, and that Capt. Thomas Jefferson Page and Capt. Frederick Chatard were employed in the defensive works on shore. Magruder's report of May 3d to Adj. Gen. Cooper has this paragraph:

"That accomplished officer, Capt. T. J. Page, of the navy, successfully applied the resources of his genius and ripe experience to the defence of Gloucester Point. * * * My thanks are due to Capt. F. Chatard,' of the navy, for valuable services

1 Frederick Chatard, born in Baltimore, May 17th, 1807, entered the U. S. navy in November, 1824, and made his first cruise on the Mediterranean in the North Carolina, 74, bearing the broad pennant of Com. John Rodgers. He also

served on the Brazil, West Indies and Pacific stations, and participated in the Seminole war as lieut. of the sloop-of-war Vandalia, During the war with Mexico he was attached to the frigate Independence, Commodore Shubrick's flag-ship.

as inspector of batteries, and to Lieut. Col. Noland, late of the navy, the efficient commander of the batteries at Mulberry Island Point."

After the abandonment of Yorktown (May 3d), and that of Norfolk, the squadron moved up the James River. Two other gunboats, the Nansemond and Hampton, which had been built at the Norfolk navy-yard, were sent to Richmond in advance. "These vessels," Capt. W. H. Parker writes, "had saw-mill engines, and when they got under way there was such a wheezing and blowing that one would suppose all hands had been attacked with the asthma or heaves.' Two fine gunboats, nearly finished, were burned at the Norfolk yard because there was not time to put their engines into them; Parker had been assigned to the command of one and Lieut. John Rutledge to that of the other.

McClellan was at this time advancing up the peninsula, between the York and James rivers, and the Federal fleet at Fortress Monroe was made ready to support his "on to Richmond" movement by taking possession of the James, and destroying the Confederate squadron.

Occasional resistance was offered to the progress of Federal ships up the river by the Confederate batteries and squadron. On May 8th, they halted two hours at Fort Boykin, Isle of Wight Co., and shelled the works, which responded until the Confederate commander, Capt. John U. Shivers, was ordered to withdraw after spiking his guns and burning his quarters. They next attacked, on the same day, Fort Huger, at Hardy's Bluff, and after an engagement lasting from 11 A. M. to 2 P. M. passed on out of the range of its guns, having in vain endeavored to drive the defenders, who were commanded by Capt. J. M. Maury, C. S. N., out of the works. At Rock Wharf and Mother Line's Bluff, on May 9th, the Patrick Henry and Jamestown assisted the shore defences in their fire upon the Galena, Aroostook and Port Royal, and did not retire until the batteries had been silenced by the enemy. At Little Brandon, on the 12th, they were prepared to co-operate with the batteries, but the Federal gunboats ran past the latter and were too powerful for Tucker to think of fighting unaided. Near James' Island he

and in a merchant brig called the Brighton, which had been hired by the Commodore and armed, participated in the capture of Mazatlan, and blockaded Manzanilla. He was then variously employed as first lieut. of the frigate Columbia on the Pacific station, lieut. commanding of the sloop Lexington, and lieut. of the Columbus, 74. On receiving his promotion to commander, he was assigned to command the sloop-of-war Saratoga, and co-operated with Com. Paulding in the capture of Gen. Walker's fillibustering expedition in Nicaragua. When the civil war began he was in command of the receiving ship Pennsylvania. His sympathies turning strongly toward the South, he resigned his commission and tendered his services to the Confederacy.

He was sent to the Manassas fortifications to drill
the men in the use of their guns, and next took
command of the batteries on the Potomac at
Evansport, which blockaded Washington and
cut off supplies. Thence he was transferred to
service in the Drewry's Bluff batteries, and later
on to the command of Gen. J. B. Magruder on
the peninsula, where he acted as chief of heavy
artillery and constructor of batteries.
On page
507 of the "Official Reports of Battles," pub-
lished by order of the Confederate Congress,
appears the following from Gen. Magruder: "My
thanks are due to Capt. Chatard of the navy, for
valuable services as inspector of batteries." At
the close of the war Capt. Chatard removed to
St. Louis, where he still resides.

was joined by the remainder of his force. He had in effect decoyed the Federals a long distance up the river in a chase after him, during which they had neglected to pay judicious attention to the danger of leaving Confederate shore batteries in their rear occupied and in fighting shape. This appears confessed in the dispatch of May 14th, from Com. L. M. Goldsborough to Secretary Welles informing the latter that Rodgers had reported to him that "he was unable to resist the five gunboats of the enemy above him because the Galena would inevitably be grounded in passing the bar, and thus leave only the Aroostook and Port Royal to resist them." "Notwithstanding," Goldsborough added, "my orders to Lieut. Com. Jeffers to reduce all the enemy's works on the James River as he went along, spike their guns and blow up their magazines, and thus leave the river entirely open, so that supplies of any sort might be forwarded without difficulty, he has not carried them out; and I now am informed that two of their works on James River-one at Rock Wharf Landing and the other at Harden's or Mother Line's Bluff-both between here [Hampton Roads] and our vessels up the James River, must be taken before the river can be navigated by our supply vessels."

But the Federals did not need to do any more fighting at these points. They had only been held by the Confederates because their temporary retention was in accordance with the military plan of campaign on the peninsula being wrought out by Johnston and Lee, which involved the detention of the Federal fleet in the river for a brief period and an eventual sturdy stand against them at Drewry's Bluff, where was to be fought the most serious engagement that had taken place upon the river. A dispatch from Gen. Lee, March 22d, to Gen. Magruder, announced that obstructions were being placed in the James at that point, and on May 8th, Capt. Tucker was instructed to remove thither the heavy guns that had been placed in battery at Mulberry Point and Jamestown. On the 9th Gen. Lee reported: "In addition to the three guns originally at Drewry's Bluff several navy guns have been mounted, and every exertion is being made to render the obstructions effective and the battery commanding them as formidable as possible." Capt. Ebenezer Farrand, C. S. N., was placed in charge of the battery, and Lieut. T. J. Page, C. S. N., commanded another heavy battery at Chapin's Bluff, a few miles lower down and on the opposite bank of the river. On May 15th, Capt. S. S. Lee was ordered to relieve Capt. Farrand and arrived on the scene while the battle was being fought.'

Drewry's Bluff is an elevation of an average height of 200 feet on the right bank of the James River a little more than

1 Sydney Smith Lee was born in 1805, at Camden, N. J., while his father, a member of Congress from Virginia, was attending the sessions of that body, which were then being held in Philadelphia. His early inclinations showing a

strong tendency towards a naval career he was appointed midshipman in the U. S. navy when but a little more than fourteen years of age, in which his services were continuous and distin guished for over forty years. He commanded a

seven miles below Richmond. The rise from the stream is rather precipitous, and the river at that point is less than a mile wide, making it suitable for the placing of obstructions to bar the passage of an enemy. So obvious were the advantages of the locality for defence that the construction of a strong earthwork was determined upon as soon as it became evident that the aim of the Federals was directed toward Richmond, and the building of the fort was entrusted to Capt. A. L. Rives, an engineer officer of the Confederate army. When the naval force was summoned to aid in the defence of the position an additional battery was constructed, or the fort was extended, by counter-sinking the naval guns on the brow of the hill, and cribbing them with logs to prevent caving by the fire of the enemy. Bombproofs were thrown over these pits, and the guns were mounted on navy carriages with all the tackle used upon a man-of-war, and all the trees that might obstruct the range of fire were cut away. Nine guns were mounted in the defences, the heaviest of which was a ten-inch Columbiad, and the others were Brooke rifles, landed from Capt. Tucker's squadron. The steamers Jamestown, Curtis Peck and Northampton, and several sloops and schooners were sunk in the channel to strengthen the obstructions, which were stretched across the river above the fort and consisted of piles driven into the bottom and filled in with logs, stones and iron rubbish, leaving only a narrow and intricate passage close under the guns of Fort Drewry. 1

Capt. Tucker had superintended the construction of the naval battery, and had mounted upon it the guns landed from the Patrick Henry and Jamestown. It was manned by the officers and crews of the Patrick Henry, Jamestown and Virginia, included among whom, in addition to Capt. Tucker, were Lieuts. James Henry Rochelle and Francis Lyell Hoge, and Midshipman Carroll, of the Patrick Henry; Lieut. Com. Nicholas Barney and Acting Master Samuel Barron, Jr., of the Jamestown; Lieuts. Catesby Roger Jones, John Taylor Wood and Walter R. Butt, of the Virginia, and Lieut. Hunter Davidson. There were in addition about a score of men who

steam vessel of war in the conflict with Mexico and was prominently engaged at the siege of Vera Cruz, where his brother, the future Gen. Robert E. Lee, also won renown as an engineer and artillery officer. Capt Lee was commandant of the U. S. naval academy at Annapolis for three years and for the same space of time was in charge of the Philadelphia navy-yard. He commanded the flag-ship Mississippi in Com. M. C. Perry's expedition to Japan, and when the Japanese ambassadors came to this country Capt. Lee, Capt D. G. Farragut, and Lieut. D. D. Porter were appointed the Naval Board to receive and entertain them in the United States. The last duty he performed in the U. S. navy was as chief of the Bureau of Coast Survey at Washington. On the withdrawal of Virginia from the Federal Union he resigned his commission, sold all his possessions of every kind and offered his services to the Confederate government.

He was

ordered to the Norfolk navy-yard, and after its evacuation was placed in command of the fortifications at Drewry's Bluff, on the James River. His further duty to the Confederacy was discharged mainly as chief of the Bureau of Orders and Detail at Richmond. He died at Richland, Stafford Co., Va., July 22nd, 1869. He was the father of the eminent Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee, now the Governor of Virginia.

1 The fort took its name from being built upon the property of Capt. A. Drewry, C. S. A. To the Federals it was known as Fort Darling, and in their reports the engagement is styled the battle of Fort Darling. On some of the old maps of James River the location is called Darling's Bluff, but the site of the fort had passed into the possession of the Drewry family many years previous to the war.

had come through from the fleet on the Lower Mississippi after its dispersion by Farragut. These latter had been brought to Norfolk and thence up the James by Lieut. Robert B. Pegram and Master's Mate F. W. Dawson, who had met them while they were themselves approaching New Orleans to go on duty there, and had returned North.

After passing with so little difficulty the defences lower down the river, the Federals felt some confidence that they would make their way to Richmond without encountering any resistance that they could not overcome. The pressure that was being exerted upon Secretary Welles, to have the navy perform some startling exploits, had found voice in a public meeting at Boston on March 29th, in which his removal from office was demanded of President Lincoln, because of his incompetency; and it was a matter of common newspaper report that he had given his commanders of fleets and stations to understand that the news of some creditable achievements in Southern waters would be exceedingly welcome to the Administration and the North. Flag-officer Goldsborough, commanding the North Atlantic squadron, was more than willing to oblige Mr. Welles, and manifested a sublime faith in his ability to reach the Confederate capital while McClellan was wearily struggling in the marshes of the peninsula. On May 12th he wrote to Mr. Welles :

"The Monitor and Stevens (Naugatuck) have both gone up the James River, with orders from me to reduce all the works of the enemy as they go along, spike all their guns, blow up all their magazines, and then get up to Richmond, all with the least possible delay, and shell the city to a surrender. With the above works reduced, I can keep our vessels supplied with coal, ordnance stores, provisions, etc., without difficulty.”

On the other hand, there were evidences of a slight trepidation in Richmond, outside of official and military and naval circles, that the powerful Federal iron-clads and gunboats

1 Francis W. Dawson was a native of England, born in London, May 17th, 1840. He felt a deep interest in American politics, and when the news of the fall of Fort Sumter was received in London, he resolved to take passage for America and serve the Southern Confederacy. No opportunity offered until the steamship Nashville arrived at Southampton, when he presented to Lieut. Com. Pegram letters of introduction, and asked the privilege of returning to the South on his ship. He was so youthful that Pegram refused to encourage him to leave his own land for war in a distant and alien country; but Dawson was too much in earnest to accept such a dismissal. Taking advantage of Pegram's absence from the ship a few days before she was to sail on her return voyage, he assumed a seaman's garb and was enlisted by her lieutenant. During the homeward run he earned the favor of Lieut. Pegram and the other officers by his good conduct, and immediately after running the blockade at Beaufort, N. C., he was appointed master's mate in the C. S. navy upon the recommendation of his commander. He was first ordered to duty at Norfolk, and thence to New Orleans, but before he could reach that city it had fallen into the hands of Farragut and Butler. He was

then assigned to duty in the James River squadron, but after the battle at Drewry's Bluff resigned his naval commission and enlisted as a private in the Purcell artillery battery. At the battle of Mechanicsville, June 25th 1862, he was badly wounded, and for his bravery on the field was promoted to lieutenant. In August he was commissioned first lieutenant, and for nearly two years was assistant ordnance officer of Longstreet's corps. He was taken prisoner at the battle of South Mountain, in September, 1862. and exchanged in time to take part in the battle of Fredericksburg. In May 1864 he was promoted to be captain of artillery and made ordnance officer of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's division, in which capacity he served until the end of the war, receiving wounds at the battles of Harrisonburg and Five Forks. He entered journalism as a reporter of the Richmond Examiner in the autumn of 1865, aud a year later was assistant editor of the Charleston Mercury. In 1867, he and B. R. Riordan bought an interest in the Charleston News, and in 1873 purchased the Charleston Courier, and consolidated the two papers as the News and Courier, a journal which has won an enviable place in the newspaper world by its honesty, liberality and enterprise.

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