320 Norto Carorina Troops, 1861~’65

the boat s
sounded no louder than pebbles throw i
empty barrel. At Boyle’s Mill, lo ] ie
other fort upon whicl oe me
a ‘ ich was mounted a very heavy gun. Thi
s also s 7 passed, anc : ;
shear sa = passed, and we then discovered two st ie
oming up the river. TI nd he
g ar. 1ey proved to b Lama
. _ they | d to be the Miami
ithfield. The Miami carried 6 9-inch ouns esa
a guns, 1 100-pounder
, and 1 24-pounder S. B. howi :
boat Southfield 5 9-inch, 1 100 i
= e e ’ J-pounder ay é
ae ee pounder Parrott und 1 12-
The two ships we
Sg ON yee were lashed together with long spars, and
, « Q ava] ry 2 : :
— ains festooned between them. The plan of © t 1
usser, who com nes
: et who commanded, was to run his vessels so ps a
apse a 2: u s as to get
pects marle between the two, which would have placed he
‘ 9 oTes dias + 7
ic Lote ers at disadvantage, if not altogether at his mere
> Pilot . 2k i ‘
seh ot John Luck, acting under orders from Ca kite
Jooke, rs " A ; : :
aren an the ram close to the southern shore; and Sins
Vv a y ry y ° hd Z i
oe urning toward the middle of the stream, and goi
vith the cur i
oo 1€ cet er throttles, in obedience to his bell ts
de open, he dashed the prow of
: prow of the Albemarle i i
of the Southfield i : Rie ie
eld, making an opening
2 ng large e rh
atone = g pening ge enough to carr
es . bottom in much less time than it takes to tell A
0 > Fr . iv :
yt — of her crew went down with her. Of the of
$ al ’ ; . vehi
: : =< of the Southfield, seven of the former, inelud-
g 6 ing Volunteer Lieutenant C. A. French hes co,
mander rty-tw We af
a “6 : nie two of her men werg rescued by the Miami
e other Union vessels; th i ,
; the remainder w i
tured or drowned. ——
The in-
he rset ar on the forward deck of the Albemarle be-
came entangled in the fr inki pie
2 rame of the sinking v
ipa gcit s g vessel, and her
. as 3 ied down to such a depth that water poured into
r port- s in er
port-holes in great volume, and she would soon have

THe Ram “ALBEMARLE.” 321

of Flusser, an attempt was made to
ally resisted by as many of
k, who were sup-

withstanding the death
board the ram, which was heroic
ould be crowded on the top dec

assed up by their comrades below.
ery fast side-wheeler, succeeded
Je without receiving a blow from her
Plymouth, into Albemarle Sound.
cessfully carried out his part of
attacked the fortifications the
not, however, without heavy

leaving 500 dead and wounded

the crew as ¢
plied with loaded muskets p

The Miami, a powerful and v
in eluding the Albemar
ram, and retired below

Captain Cooke having suc
the programme, General Hoke

next morning and carried them ;

loss, Ransom’s Brigade alone
on the field, in their most heroic charge upon the breastworks
astern front of the town. General Wessells,
made a gallant resistance,
effort would have been
ack the Albemarle held
ig poured

protecting the e
commanding the Federal forces,

and surrendered only when further
During the att

ding to contract, and all day lor

shot and shell into the resisting forts with her two guns.

On 5 May, 1864, Captain Cooke left the Roanoke river
with the Albemarle and two tenders, the Bombshel 1 and Cot-
ton Plant, and entered the Sound with the intention of recov-
ering, if possible, the control of the two Sounds, and ulti-

mately of Hatteras Inlet. He proceeded about sixteen miles
on an east-northeasterly course, when the Federal squadron,

consisting of seven well-armed gun-boats, the Mattabesett,

Sassacus, Wyalusing, Whitehead, Miami, Commodore Hull,
mmand of Captain Melancthon

and Ceres, all under the cor

Smith, hove in sight, and at 2 o’clock that afternoon approach-
ed in double line of battle, the Mattabesett being in advance.
They proceeded to surround the Albemarle, and hurled at her
their heaviest shot, at distances averaging less than one hun-
dred yards. The Union fleet, as we now know, had 32 guns

worse than useless.
the river front, accor

The Albemarle responded

shared the fate of g as

IO — So net the latter vessel : ; a
leased the ram, thus allowing tier to eae pbs ines ~ es igen oe . sng hot away, her smoke-
The Aion; right dase. sss sie i asin evert keel. ey “i mee = : : : ra ews earl
guns, and so close were the Vonncls hae: : th igor sci) me uke ae a SS A sion = é sal scc ag eightoen inches
ten-second fuse, fired by Captain Pieilien au py lee a as, ae ft bia’ terrible fixe
Albemarle rebounded and exploded, killing the daless oe continued, without intermission, until about 5 p. ee when
the commander of the double-ender Sassacus selected his op-

who pulled the laniard, tearing him almost to pieces. Not-
21