746
THE LOSS OF THE “MONITOR."
the Monitor would be saved, or at least that thecaptain would not leave his ship until there wasno hope of saving her. I was sent below again tosee how the water stood in the ward-room. I wentforward to the cabin and found the water justabove the soles of my shoes, which indicated thatthere must be more than a foot in the vessel. I re-ported this to the captain, and all hands were setto bailing,— bailing out the ocean as it seemed,—but the object was to employ the men, as therenow seemed to be danger of excitement amongthem. I kept employed most of the time, takingthe buckets from them through the hatchway on topof the turret. They seldom would have more thana pint of water in them, however, the remainderhaving been spilled in passing from one man toanother [see foot-note, p. 742].
The weather was clear, but the sea did not ceaserolling in the least, and the Rhode Island , with thetwo lines wound up in her wheel, was tossing atthe mercy of the sea, and came drifting againstour sides. A boat that had been lowered wascaught between the vessels and crushed and lost.Some of our seamen bravely leaped down on deckto guard our sides, and lines were thrown to themfrom the deck of the Rhode Island , which now layher whole length against us, floating off astern,but not a man would be the first to leave his ship,although the captain gave orders to do so. I wasagain sent to examine the water in the ward-room,which I found to be more than two feet above thedeck; and I think I was the last person who sawEngineer G. H. Lewis as he lay seasick in his bunk,apparently watching the water as it grew deeperand deeper, and aware what his fate must be. Hecalled me as I passed his door, and asked if thepumps were working. I replied that they were.“ Is there any hope ? ” he asked ; and feeling a lit-tle moved at the scene, and knowing certainlywhat must be his end, and the darkness that staredat us all, I replied, “As long as there is life thereis hope.” “Hope and hang on when you arewrecked ” is an old saying among sailors. I leftthe ward-room, and learned that the water hadgained so as to choke up the main pump. As Iwas crossing the berth-deck I saw our ensign,Mr. Frederickson, hand a watch to Master’s MateWilliams, saying, “ Here, this is yours; I maybe lost ”— which, in fact, was his fate. The watchand chain were both of unusual value. Williams
abandon their ship, they would burn a red light as a sig-nal. About 10 o’clock the signal was given. When thesteamer stopped to allow the hawsers to be cast off,the Monitor forged ahead under the impetus of herheadway, and came so close up under the steamer’sstern, that there was great danger of her running intoand cutting the steamer down. When the engines ofthe Rhode Island were started to go ahead to get outof the way, it was discovered that the hawser had gotafoul of the paddle-wheel, and when they were put inmotion, instead of getting clear of her, the rope woundup on the wheel and drew the vessels together. Thiswas an extremely dangerous position, for they were be-ing pitched and tossed about so much by the heavy seasthat if the iron-clad had once struck the steamer theymust both have gone down together. However, a fire-man went into the wheel at the risk of his life, and withan axe cut the hawser away so that the steamer was
received them into his hand, then with a hesitat-ing glance at the time-piece said, “ This thing maybe the means of sinking me,” and threw it upon thedeck. There were three or four cabin-boys paleand prostrate with seasickness, and the cabin-cook,an old African negro, under great excitement, wasscolding them most profanely.
As I ascended the turret-ladder the sea brokeover the ship, and came pouring down the hatch-way with so much force that it took me off myfeet; and at the same time the steam broke fromthe boiler-room, as the water had reached thefires, and for an instant I seemed to realize thatwo had gone down. Our fires were out, and Iheard the water blowing out of the boilers. I re-ported my observations to the captain, and at thesame time saw a boat alongside. The captainagain gave orders for the men to leave the ship,and fifteen, all of whom were seamen and menwhom I had placed my confidence upon, were theones who crowded the first boat to leave the ship.I was disgusted at witnessing the scramble, and,not feeling in the least alarmed about myself, re-solved that I, an “old haymaker,” as landsmenare called, would stick to the ship as long as myofficers. I saw three of these men swept from thedeck and carried leeward on the swift current.
Bailing was now resumed. I occupied the turretall alone, and passed buckets from the lowerhatchway to the man on the top of the turret. Itook off my coat—one that I had received fromhome only a few days before (I could not feel thatour noble little ship was yet lost) — and, rolling itup with my boots, drew the tompion from one ofthe guns, placed them inside, and replaced thetompion. A black cat was sitting on the breechof one of the guns, howling one of those hoarseand solemn tunes which no one can appreciatewho is not filled with the superstitions which Ihad been taught by the sailors, who are alwaysafraid to kill a cat. I would almost as soon havetouched a ghost, but I caught her, and, placing herin another gun, replaced the wad and tompion ;but I could still hear that distressing howl. As Iraised my last bucket to the upper hatchway noone was there to take it. I scrambled up the lad-der and found that we below had been deserted. Ishouted to those on the berth-deck, “Come up; theofficers have left the ship, and a boat is alongside.”
As I reached the top of the turret I saw a boat
enabled to get away at a safe distance.— From a letter tothe Editors from H. E. Smith, then of the Rhode Island .
■fe The boat lowered was not lost, as I well know,since T was in command of her. The gunwale on thestarboard side was crushed by the Rhode Island as shetossed helplessly about with two lines wound up in herwheel, but the boat kept above water, and brought offsixteen men, among them Surgeon Weeks. The men didnot leap down upon the deck to guard the side, whichwould have been sheer folly, but remained in the turret,and were with difficulty urged to come on deck and betaken off. The stern of the Monitor lay under the RhodeIsland ’s quarter—at no time were the vessels parallel.The Monitor should not have been lost. She was goingagainst a head-sea. Had she turned back before darkshe would have had no difficulty, as all the officers of theRhode Island thought.—A. O. Taylor, Acting Ensignof the Rhode Island .