"Now I Am In The Humor, I Will Have It Out!"
— Civil War Trail, Battle for Mobile Bay —
As the
Hartford and
Brooklyn steamed into the lower bay, the
Tennessee tried to ram both in succession but was too slow and had to let them pass. Admiral Buchanan then exchanged broadsides with the rest of Admiral Farragut's ships as they ran into the Bay.
At the same time, the Rebel gunboats
Selma, Gaines, and
Morgan, retreating up the Bay before the advancing ships, imposed a galling fire upon the enemy for fifteen minutes.
When the Federals won space to maneuver, the course of the battle changed. The
Metacomet, cut loose from the
Hartford, chased the
Selma up the Bay. The
Gaines, badly damaged, hauled off, followed by the
Morgan. The
Selma resisted the
Metacomet valiantly but soon had to surrender to the Union gunboat. The
Gaines, attempting to shelter under the guns of Fort Morgan, sank before she could reach safety. Only the
Morgan escaped.
When Lieutenant Murphy of the
Selma went aboard the
Metacomet to surrender, he offered her commander, J. E. Jouett, his sword. Jouett, an old friend, took the sword hurriedly and exclaimed, "Pat, don't make a fool of yourself. I have had a bottle on ice for the last half hour!" Jouett, who had been planning this for days, treated his friend to a sumptuous breakfast of oysters, crabs, and beefsteaks.
Buchanan drew off and returned to Fort Morgan, having done much harm to the Federals but taking little damage himself. Advised not to renew the struggle, Buchanan said, "No I will be killed or taken prisoner, and now I am in the humor, I will have it out at once." As Buchanan approached the Union anchorage, Farragut, aware that he must capture or destroy the monster ram or lose the Bay, scrambled his fleet against the
Tennessee and again jumped into the rigging. The
Monongahela, Lackawanna, and
Hartford rammed the Rebel ironclad and fired broadsides at her in vain but did much damage to themselves. The
Lackawanna "tore to atoms her solid oak bow for six feet as if it had been paper" and took a shell that exploded on her berthing deck, wiping out the powder division and catching the magazine afire. But before the
Tennessee struck the
Hartford, she was beset by the
Manhattan.
[Splinters were pieces of wood or iron knocked loose from ships and sent flying by shot and shell. They were often quite large and were always deadly.]
"?A hideous-looking monster came creeping up on our port side, whose slowly revolving turret revealed the cavernous depth of a mammoth gun. ?Stand clear of the port side!' I shouted. A moment after, a thundering report shook us all, while a blast of dense, sumptuous smoke covered our portholes, and 440 pounds of iron, impelled by 60 pounds of powder, admitted daylight through our side where, before it struck us, there had been over two feet of solid wood, covered with five inches of solid iron."
Lieutenant A. D. Wharton, aboard the
Tennessee
After hitting the
Hartford, the ram turned to the south and took fire from the
Brooklyn and the
Lackawanna. By now the monitors
Chickasaw and
Winnebago came up and began banging away at the Confederate ship. The
Chickasaw, firing solid and steel shot from only fifty yards away, hit the
Tennessee's stern casement eleven times in thirty minutes. Iron splinters went flying through the ship, killing and wounding several men, including Buchanan, whose leg was broken. Four of ten of the
Tennessee's gun port shutters were jammed, her smoke stack was knocked down, and her rudder chains were cut. Surrounded by no fewer than seven ships and unable to steer, fire or even move, the
Tennessee's Captain, Commander James D. Johnston, with Buchanan's permission, surrendered his ship at 10:00 a.m.
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