By J.
T. Headley
Comprising the early life and
public services of the prominent naval commanders who, with Grant and Sherman
and their generals, brought to a triumphant close the great rebellion of
1861-1865. (First edition 1867)
(Return to table of contents of this book)
CHAPTER
XXVIII
COMMODORE
MELANCTHON SMITH
HIS
BIRTH AND ANCESTRY—ENTERS THE NAVY—HIS EARLY SERVICES—COMMANDS IN
FLORIDA—SENT TO THE GULF BLOCKADING SQUADRON IN 1861—DRIVES THE ENEMY FROM
SHIP ISLAND—COMMANDS THE STEAMER MISSISSIPPI IN THE PASSAGE OF THE FORTS BELOW
NEW ORLEANS—CAPTURES THE RAM MANASSAS—LOSES HIS VESSEL IN PASSING PORT
HUDSON—HIS GALLANT CONDUCT—TAKES PART IN THE SIEGE OF THE PLACE—ON
COURTMARTIAL DUTY—ORDERED NORTH—ON PICKET DUTY IN THE JAMES RIVER—COMMANDS
IN THE NORTH CAROLINA SOUNDS—BATTLE WITH THE RAM ALBEMARLE—CAPTURES THE
BOMBSHELL—DIVISIONAL COMMANDER ON JAMES RIVER—TAKES PART IN THE TWO ATTACKS
ON FORT FISHER—SUBSEQUENT SERVICES—PRESENT POSITION.
Melancthon Smith was born in
New York City, May 24th, 1810. His father, Fauquier Smith, was from Long Island,
and his mother, Cornelia Jones, daughter of Dr. Gardiner Jones, from New York
City. His father served as colonel in the war of 1812, and commanded a fort at
the battle of Plattsburg. Sidney Smith, Captain in the United States Navy, and
his uncle, was in the naval battle that took place on Lake Champlain, at the
same time, under McDonough. His grandfather, Hon. Melancthon Smith, was one of
the most prominent political debaters of the day, and in 17’71, was the first
Sheriff of Dutchess County. In 1788, he represented this county in the
convention which met at Poughkeepsie, to take into consideration the
constitution of the United States, which had been prepared the year before in
Philadelphia. He was one of the most prominent debaters in that convention, and
chief antagonist of Alexander Hamilton.
The subject of the present
sketch, having received an academic education, entered the navy March 1st, 1826.
His first service was on board
the frigate Brandywine, from which he
was transferred to the sloop-of-war Vincennes. In 1830, he was sent to the naval
school of New York; but the next year ordered to the frigate Potomac,
in which he served but little over a month, when he was ordered to the Navy Yard
of Brooklyn. In 1832 he received his warrant as passed midshipman, and joined
the sloop-of-war St. Louis; but in the
following winter was detached from her and sent to the Navy Yard at Pensacola.
The following year, however, he was ordered to the schooner Porpoise, and then to the sloop Vandalia,
in which he served till 1837. The next year he was, for a short time, on duty in
the Navy Yard at New York, from which he was transferred, in 1836, to the
sloop-of-war Natchez, in which he
served as sailing master. The same year he received his warrant as master in the
navy, and the following year was promoted to lieutenant, in which capacity he
served in the sloop Vandalia, till
1838. In 1839, he was attached to the steamer Poinsett, and a part of the time commanded a fort, and a
twenty-oared barge on the Miami River, Florida.
The next year he was stationed
in the Navy Yard at New York; but from 1841 to 1843, served on board the Fairfield
and Preble, when he was ordered to the
store-ship Erie. He remained here a
year, and during the following year was, part of the time, on the Vandalia
and Colonel Harney, and a part of the time executive officer of the Pensacola
Navy Yard. From 1848 to 1855 he served, first on the frigate Constitution,
and then on the Potomac, as executive
officer. Being promoted to commander in 1855, he was detached from the latter
vessel, and two years after ordered on special duty as light-house inspector;
which position he held until just before the breaking out of the rebellion. In
May, 1861, he was ordered to the Gulf Blockading Squadron, and in the following
September moved against Ship Island with the steamer Massachusetts, when the rebels fired the barracks, destroyed the
lighthouse lantern, and escaped to the mainland. He had an engagement also with
some Confederate steamers, but his first serious action was in the passage of
the forts below New Orleans. He commanded the steamer Mississippi in this terrific encounter, and received ten shots,
eight going clean through the vessel, wounding six of her crew. Seeing the ram Manassas,
he signalled for permission to attack her. Farragut granting it, he boldly made
for her. The ram advancing to the contest, struck the steamer, inflicting a
severe damage below the water line. The monster in return received a terrific
broadside from the heavy guns of the Mississippi,
which carried away her smoke-stack, and crashed through her mailed sides with
such awful power, that the crew ran her ashore and fled in affright. Smith
immediately boarded her, but finding his machinery so disabled that he could not
take her in tow, and a steamer on fire drifting down on him, he recalled his
boats after setting her on fire. He then riddled her with shot, when she swung
loose from the bank, and drifting below the forts, blew up with a tremendous
explosion. He afterwards passed up the river, and engaged, with other vessels,
the batteries above.
His next important engagement,
was in the terrible passage of Port Hudson, in which he lost his ship. A full
account of this, together with a description of his gallant bearing on the
occasion, are given in the sketch of Farragut. Nothing could test his great
qualities as a commander, more than the trying position in which he found
himself here, when his vessel grounded in twenty-three feet of water, right
under the concentrated fire of the hostile batteries. When, after the most
desperate efforts, it became evident that she could not be made to float again,
and the rebel shells were bursting in and around her, the cool manner in which,
with lighted cigar, he, removed his crew to the boats, and then set fire to her,
showed that no danger or adversity could shake his steady nerves. He felt
keenly, however, the loss of his noble vessel. A man loves the good steed which
has once carried him right gallantly and safely through a deadly struggle; but a
sailor has a still warmer affection for his ship, whose heavy broadsides have
spoken at his command, and which has borne his flag triumphantly through a great
combat. No wonder then his heart was filled with sadness, when he saw his noble
vessel perish before his eyes. The manner of her death, too, appealed strongly
to his sympathies. When relieved from the weight of her crew, she again floated,
and swinging slowly down stream, brought her other broadside to bear. Her guns,
heated by the raging flames, soon began to go off, as if still remembering her
old commander, and thundered away in stern response to the rebel batteries. A
pyramid of flame, she towered grandly through the gloom, and drifting with the
current, moved majestically past him. He watched her blazing form lighting up
the bosom of the stream, the banks, and the murky heavens, till Prophet’s
Island shut her from view. A few minutes more he could trace her course by the
illumination made by her burning hull, and then came a deafening explosion that
shook the shores, followed by utter darkness, that told him that his noble ship
was sleeping beneath the waters of the mighty river whose name she bore.
He was afterwards given the
command of the Monongahela, and joined
in the attack on Port Hudson, from the 1st to the 20th of June. In January, he
was on a court of inquiry, to investigate the "Galveston matter,"
relating to the failure to capture the Harriet Lane. He was afterwards transferred east, to the North
Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Here, in the Onondaga,
he was on picket duty for some time, and cooperated with General Butler in the
movement of troops at Dutch Gap and Deep Bottom. But the ram Albemarle in the
Sounds of North Carolina seriously threatening the existence of our squadron
there, Lee sent him down to look after her. The ram, having previously sunk the Southfield,
now came out again to renew her attack, when Smith, with his little squadron,
boldly advanced to meet her.
The following is his account
of the engagement:
The ram Albemarle, steamer Cotton-Plant,
with troops, and the armed steamer Bombshell,
laden with provisions and coal, came out of Roanoke River to-day at two
o’clock, P. M., and, after being tolled ten miles down the sound by the picket
force left to guard the entrance of the river, the Mattabesett, Wyalusing, Sassacus,
and Whitehead, got under way and stood up to engage them; the smaller
boats falling into position in accordance with the enclosed programme.
The engagement commenced at
4.40, by the ram firing the first gun, which destroyed the Mattabesett’s
launch and wounded several men. The second shot cut away some of the standing
and running rigging. At 4.45, the Bombshell surrendered to the Mattabesett, and
was ordered to fall in our wake; at 4.50, fired a broadside into the ram at a
distance of one hundred and fifty yards; at 5.50, the Sassacus delivered her fire in passing and then rammed his stern,
pouring in a broadside at the same time. The Sassacus was seen soon afterwards enveloped with steam, when she
hauled off, evidently disabled. The colors of the ram at this moment came down,
and it was some time before it was ascertained whether he had surrendered, or
they had been shot away. During the contact, it was, of course, impossible for
the other vessels to fire; but when the Sassacus
became disengaged, and resumed her firing, the engagement became general; the
smaller vessels firing so rapid]y, that it was dangerous for the larger ones to
approach; and they appeared also to be ignorant of all signals, as they answered
without obeying them. The engagement continued until about 7:30, when, it
becoming dark, the Commodore Hull
and Ceres were then sent ahead to keep the ram in sight, and to remain
on picket duty off the mouth of the Roanoke River, if he succeeded in entering
it; the Mattabesett, Wyalusing,
Miami, and Whitehead,
coming to anchor in the sound, two miles and a half below. Eight torpedoes had
been furnished by the army, and an attempt was made last night to place them in
the mouth of the river; the entrance being watched, it was found impracticable.
Another effort was made to-day at two o’clock, P. M., when the ram was
discovered two miles above, on his way out. During the engagement, a seine was
laid out across the ram’s bow, in obedience to orders, to try and foul his
propeller, but he passed over it without injury. A torpedo was rigged out from
the bow of the Miami, and she was
ordered to go ahead and attempt to explode it, but, from some cause yet
unexplained, it was not done. She ran up, however, sheered off, and delivered
her broadside, and continued to fire at him rapidly. The injuries sustained by
the ram are thought to be considerable, but his motive-power is evidently
uninjured. His boats were knocked off from the decks, and his stack riddled, and
it is also believed that one of his guns was disabled. The ram is certainly very
formidable. He is fast for that class of vessel, making from six to seven knots,
turns quickly, and is armed with heavy guns, as is proved by the 100-pounder
Brooks projectile that entered and lodged in the Mattabesett,
and 100-pounder Whitworth shot received by the Wyalusing, while the shot fired at him were seen to strike fire upon
the casemates and hull, flying upwards and falling into the water without having
had any perceptible effect upon the vessel. I had tried the effect of ramming
(as suggested by the Department) in the case of the Sassacus,
and was deterred from repeating the experiment by the injury she had sustained,
and a signal from the Wyalusing that
she was sinking, which, if the latter had been correct, (and I was not informed
to the contrary until after the vessels came to anchor), would have left too
small a force of efficient vessels to keep the control of the sound, which I now
hold, and shall be able to maintain against any rebel force that they will be
able to organize at this point, when present damages are repaired. I am
convinced that side-wheel steamers cannot be laid alongside of the Albemarle, without totally disabling their wheels, which is the
reason for not adopting the suggestion contained in your order to me of the 23d
instant. It is reported that the rebel barges with troops were at the mouth of
the Croatan River, ready to come out, and a steamer was, seen in that direction;
but in regard to the first I have no positive information.
Lieutenant Commander Roe, of
the Sassacus, also struck the ram, and gives the following account of the
collision:
As the Mattabesett had passed around the stern of the ram, and was heading
down the sound again, the ram had turned partially round with a port-helm, and
now lay broadside to me. As the Sassacus
had been drawn off some little distance by her operations and capture of the
Bombshell, she had a good distance to get headway; and, seeing the favorable
moment before me, I ordered full steam and open throttle, and laid the ship fair
for the broadside of the ram to run her down. The Sassacus struck her fairly just abaft her starboard beam in the
position of the rear of the house or casemate, with a speed of nine to ten
knots, making twenty-two revolutions with thirty pounds of steam. As I struck,
she sent a 100-pounder rifle shot through and through, from starboard bow to
port-side, on the berth deck.
The collision was pretty
heavy, and the ram careened a good deal-so much so that the water washed over
her deck forward and aft the casemate. At one time I thought she was going down;
I kept the engine going, pushing, as I hoped, deeper and deeper into her, and
also hoping it might be possible for some one of the boats to get up on the
opposite side of me, and perhaps enable us to sink her, or at least to get well
on to her on all sides; I retained this position full ten minutes, throwing
grenades down her deck-hatch, and trying in vain to get powder into her
smoke-stack, and receiving volleys of musketry, when the stern of the ram began
to go round, and her broadside port bearing on our starboard bow, when the ram
fired and sent a 100-pounder Brooks rifle shot through the starboard side on the
berth-deck, passing through the empty bunkers into the starboard boiler, clean
through it fore and aft, and’ finally lodging in the wardroom. In a moment the
steam filled every portion of the ship, from the hurricane-deck to the
fire-rooms, killing some, stifling some, and rendering all movement for a time
impossible. When the steam cleared away so I could look around me, I saw my
antagonist was away from me, and steaming off. In the meantime the engine was
going, as no one could do anything below, some sixteen men being scalded. I then
put the helm hard a-port, headed up the sound, and around to the land, in order
to clear the field for the other boats. Soon as the steam cleared up, and the
effect of the explosion was over, the officers and men immediately went to the
guns, and kept them going upon the enemy until we drifted out of range. I tried
to ricochet several 9-inch shot, so that she might be struck on her bottom by
the upward bound of the shot, but I had the mortification to see every shot
strike the water inside of her, and rise on the opposite side of her. While
alongside of her, and almost simultaneous with the fatal shot of the enemy,
Acting-Ensign Mayer sent a 100-pounder solid shot at her port, which broke into
fragments, one of which rebounded and fell on our deck, as did also some
fragments of grenades. While thus together, I fired three separate shots into
one of her ports; we clearly observed the muzzles of two of her guns broken very
badly. After the separation of the two vessels, the Sassacus
was finally headed down the sound, and continued to move very slowly, working on
a vacuum, and finally stopped, when I dropped anchor. In the meantime the Mattabesett and Wyalusing
gallantly went in, and the fight was nobly maintained by those vessels.
The other vessels joined in
the engagement, but their shot seemed to have but little effect on the ram.
Smith lost eight in killed and wounded, while Roe, on the Sassacus, had some twenty scalded by the escaping steam.
Smith, in a subsequent report,
states that Lieutenant Roe was mistaken as to the speed he was going when he
struck the ram; also, that he overrated the injury he had done her, especially
her guns.
In July, 1864, he returned to
the James River, and was made divisional officer, with the Onondaga as his flagship. In October, he was transferred to the
frigate Wabash, in which vessel he
participated in both of the attacks on Fort Fisher. In the last one he had
eleven killed and wounded, besides those lost in the storming party furnished by
his vessel. In 1865, he was detached from the Wabash, and during a part of the year was engaged on court-martial
duty. In July, of this year, he was appointed Executive Officer of the Navy
Department at Washington, and the same month promoted to Commodore. In
September, 1866, he was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Equipment and
Recruiting in the Navy Department, which position, we believe, he at present
holds.