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fessional directness,and the valuable re-sults attained costthe Government onlya small expenditurefor coal and ammu-nition. Flag-OfficerStringham foughtthis action with ad-mirable skill, worthyof a great command-er. Instead of an-choring his ships, hekept them movingduring the wholeengagement and,as he came withinrange of the enemy’sworks, delivered hisfire, generally withsurprising accuracy,while the gunners inthe forts were com-pelled to make anon - the - wing shotwith pieces of heavyordnance, and inmost instances theirshot fell short. jOn the 29th of Au-gust articles of fullcapitulation weresigned interchange-ably by officers representing both forces, and General Butler and Flag-Officer Stringham sailed away with the prisoners, leaving the Pawnee ,Captain S. C. Rowan, the Monticello, Lieutenant D. L. Braine, and the tugFanny , Lieutenant Pierce Crosby, as the sea forces; and detachments of the9th and 20th New York Volunteers and Union Coast Guard to garrison thecaptured forts, of which I was left in command. Just before the squadronsailed, General Butler sent word on shore that the three schooners left bythe enemy inside the inlet were loaded with provisions that could be used
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| Boynton, in his “ History of the Navy,” says :
“ So far as known tliis was the first trial in our navyof this movement, and the honor of introducing it be-longs to Commodore Stringham. The little that wasknown of the real character of the Hatteras expedi-tion prevented the public from paying any attentionto the commodore’s strategy, but when it was repeated
soon after by Commodore DuPont in a more brilliantaffair, its merit was duly recognized.”
While DuPont rose to the highest point in publicestimation, Stringham was relegated to an obscureofficial background and never after had a sea-service command.—R. C. H.