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without the aid of the camels, she was quite preparedfor action. But unfortunately it was now near mid-night, and by the time the camels had been sentadrift, the tide had fallen so much that she wasfound to be hard and fast aground. Here was aninsurmountable and most unlooked-for end to thelong-cherished hope of taking the enemy by sur-prise, dispersing the blockading fleet, and captur-ing Fort Pickens, at the entrance of PensacolaBay. Such was the work Buchanan had mappedout for the ram, and but for the fact that herpresence in the bay was soon revealed by daylight,this attempt would certainly have been made.
When the tide rose sufficiently to float the ship,she was moved down to an anchorage near FortMorgan, where she remained nearly three months,engaged in exercising the crew at their guns.Having realized from the first that the running ofthe steering gear was very defective, I addressed aletter to the admiral soon after reaching ouranchorage, suggesting certain necessary altera-tions therein, and he sent the naval constructordown from the city to make plans for the purpose ;but before they could be perfected we were com-pelled to take the consequences of the defect,which proved to be disastrous.
On the evening of the 4th of August, 1804, itwas plainly to be seen that the blockading fleet,which had recently been augmented by the arrivalof the heavier wooden vessels and the monitors,was making preparations to attempt the passageof Forts Morgan and Gaines, situated on eitherside of the entrance to the bay, and to attack theConfederate squadron. Similar preparations weremade by our vessels, which had been anchored justwithin the bay for nearly three months, in daily ex-pectation of the impending encounter. During the
night a blockade-runner entered the bay and wasboarded by the executive officer of the Tennessee .
At about 0 o’clock on the morning of the 5th, thefleet was discovered to be under way toward the bay,the monitors on the right and the wooden vesselslashed together two and two, each of the heaviershipshaving a gun-boat lashed alongside. All thelight spars had been sent down, leaving only thelower and top masts standing, while the boats hadbeen hauled upon the beach at Sand Island justwithin the bar, on the morning previous.
All hands were immediately called on board theConfederate vessels, and after hurriedly takingcoffee, the crow were set to work to slip the cableand buoy tho anchor. This being done, they wereassembled at their quarters for action, as the dis-tance from the bar to the entrance of the bay isonly about three miles, and the Federal vesselswere already within range of the guns of FortMorgan and were receiving its fire without damage.
As tho leading monitor, the Tcemnscli, reachedthe center of the channel between the forts, theTennessee steamed out to meet her, but the speedof both vessels was so slow that tho steam-sloopsadvanced beyond them, and the Tennessee was di-rected toward the leading ship, with the hope ofreaching her in time to run into her broadsideand sink her; but by slightly changing her course,and with her superior speed, tho ship easily avoidedthe intended ramming, and seemed to fly up thebay. This was tho adtn iral’s flag-ship Hartford, andwhile she passed ahead of the ram, tho Urooliijn,loading the other vessels of the fleet, passed asternand followed the admiral. I learned after the fightthat her commander had obtained the admiral’spermission to take tho lead, but an event occurredjust after the Tennessee had moved down to the
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