98. Sinking the Albemarle
By JOHN RUSSELL SOLEY (1864)
THE night was dark and stormy, with now and then a heavy fall
of rain. Most of the officers stood or
[_]
The Albemarle, a dangerous ironclad, lay off Plymouth, in the Roanoke River. Lieutenant Cushing
of the Union navy volunteered to destroy her.
sat in the forward part of the launch. The engineers and
firemen were at their post by the engine, and the rest were
stationed in the bow, near the wheel, and in the stern. The last
were to clear the tiller ropes, in case they should foul.
Running cautiously under the trees on the right bank, the
launch proceeded on her way up the enemy's river. It was
Cushing's intention, if he could get ashore unobserved, to land
below the ram' board her from the wharf, and bring her down
the river. To carry out this plan, it was necessary that the
attack should be a surprise; but, failing in this, he was prepared
to attack with the torpedo. In either case he meant to give the
enemy as little warning as he could.
Creeping along silently and stealthily, the launch approached
the landing just below the wharf. just then a dog barked, and a
sentry, aroused, discovered the boat and hailed her. Receiving
no answer, he hailed again and fired. Up to this moment not a
word had been uttered. But in an instant the situation was
changed. The time for surprises was past; and Cushing, giving
up without a second thought his cherished project, at once
threw off all concealment, and in a loud voice called out,
"Ahead, fast!"In the same breath he ordered the cutter to cast
loose, capture the Southfield's pickets, and go down the
river. Pushing on two hundred yards further, he saw for the
first time the dim outlines of the Albemarle, on the port bow,
and close aboard. The light of the fire showed a line of logs in
the water, within which, at a distance of thirty feet, lay the
vessel. The launch was too near the logs to rise over them at
the sharp angle her course was then making, and Cushing saw
that he must sheer off and turn before
he could strike them fairly and with sufficient head-way.
The alarm on board the Albemarle had now become general;
rattles were sprung; the bell was rung violently; and a shower
of rifle bullets was poured in upon the launch. Swan received a
slight wound, and Cushing had three bullets in his clothing,
but no one was disabled. Passing close to the enemy, the
launch took a wide sweep out to the middle of the river; then
turning, it headed at full speed for the ram. As he approached,
Cushing with the rollicking bravado and audacity that marked
all his doings, shouted at the top of his voice, "Leave the ram!
We are going to blow you up! "with more exclamations of the
same kind, in which the others joined. To Cushing, who went
into action with the zest of a school-boy at football, and the
nerve and well-balanced judgment of a veteran, the whole
affair was half sport, even while the bullets were flying around
him, and while be could hear the snapping of the primers, as
the guns of the ram were brought to bear. Luckily they missed
fire, As he came near, Cushing ordered the howitzer to be
trained and fired; and he directed every movement himself,
which was promptly carried out by those in the bow. He says
of—this incident in his report: "The enemy's fire was very
severe, but a dose of canister, at short range, served to
moderate their zeal and disturb their aim."
In a moment the launch struck the boom of logs, abreast of the
ram's quarter port, and pressed over them. As it approached
the side of the ram, the torpedo-spar was lowered; and going
ahead slowly until the torpedo was well under the Albemarle's
bottom, Cushing detached it with a vigorous pull.
Waiting till he could feel the torpedo rising slowly and
touching the vessel, he pulled the trigger line and exploded it.
At the same second, as it seemed to those in the boat, the
Albemarle's gun was fired, while the launch was within a
dozen feet of the muzzle. To Cushing it seemed that the shot
went crashing through his boat, though in fact she was not
touched. A column of water, thrown up by the explosion of the
torpedo, fell in the launch, which was entangled in the logs,
and could not be extricated.
When Cushing saw that he could not bring the boat off, after
refusing to surrender, he ordered the crew to save themselves,
and taking off his coat and shoes, jumped into the river. Others
followed his example; but all returned except three,—Woodman,
and two of the crew, Higgins and Horton. Horton made his
escape, but the other two were drowned.
Cushing swam to the middle of the stream. Half a mile below he
met Woodman in the water, completely exhausted. Cushing
helped him to go on for a little distance, but he was by this
time too weak to get his companion ashore. Reaching the bank
with difficulty, he waited till daylight, when he crawled out of
the water and stole into the swamp not far from the fort. On
his, way he fell in with a negro, whom he sent to gain
information as to the result of the night's work. As soon as he
learned that the Albemarle was sunk, he moved on until he
came to a creek, where he captured a skiff, and in this he made
his way the next night to a picket-boat at the mouth of the
river. The rest of the party, unable either to resist or escape,
surrendered.
