624

THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE NAUIES.

tration, in a situation of peculiar difficulty. Although Mr. Welles had at onetime been connected with the Navy Department, having been the civil chiefof the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing from 1846 to 1849, he was in nosense a naval expert, and he was obliged to rely upon others for expert adviceand assistance in his office. There was no one, however, at his office to givesuch advice and assistance, except the five chiefs of bureau, who were con-cerned only with the business of supplying materials, and who had reallynothing to do with the general direction of the fleet,— meaning thereby theworking force of ships, officers, and men actually employed in naval opera-tions. To meet this difficulty, the Secretary wisely called Captain GfustavusY. Fox to the post of chief professional adviser. Captain Fox had formerlybeen an officer of the navy, and had borne a high reputation for professionalskill. His connection with manufacturing enterprises during the few yearspreceding the war had emancipated him from the slavery of routine and hadgiven him a knowledge of affairs which naval officers in general could noteasily acquire. He had shown great intelligence and zeal in the second relief-expedition to Fort Sumter, where he acted in a semi-private capacity, andMr. Welles decided to take him into the department. The duties for whichhe was wanted, and which he ultimately performed with such success, werethose which are commonly assigned to an officer known as the chief of staff,namely, the disposition and direction of the fleet, and the conduct of navaloperations. It is hardly necessary to add that without his previous expe-rience as a naval officer he could not have performed these duties for a day.A temporary place was made for him on May 9th, 1861, as chief clerk. WhenCongress met in July, it created the office of Assistant Secretary, to whichFox was appointed on August 1st, and which he retained until after the closeof the war. He was succeeded in the chief clerkship by William Faxon.

The South entered upon the war without any naval preparation, and withvery limited resources by which its deficiencies could be promptly supplied.Indeed, it would hardly be possible to imagine a great maritime countrymore destitute of the means for carrying on a naval war than the Confeder-ate States in 1861. No naval vessels, properly speaking, came into theirpossession, except the Fulton , an old side-wheeler built in 1837, and at thistime laid up at Pensacola, and the sunken and half-destroyed hulks at Nor-folk , of which only one, the Merrimac, could be made available for service.The seizures of other United States vessels included six revenue-cutters, theDuane at Norfolk, the William Aiken at Charleston, the Lewis Cass at Mobile,the Robert McClelland and the Washington at New Orleans, and the HenryDodge at Galveston three coast-survey vessels, the schooners Petrel andTwilight, and the steam-tender Firefly; and six or eight light-house tenders.As all of these were small, and most of them were sailing vessels, theywere of little value.

Several coasting or river steamers belonging to private owners, which werelying in Southern waters when the war broke out, were taken or pur-

| The James C. Dobbin was also seized at Savannah, hut was soon afterward released.— J. R. S.