caused the attempted ramming to fail.
The Rebel gunboats, however, were hit-
ting their enemies with a terribly accurate,
methodical, and sustained barrage. From
the Morganthe sloop Oneidareceived a
shell in her starboard boiler, engulfing the
engine room in scalding steam, cutting
down the entire watch: eight men dead and
30 wounded. Topside, fragments tore off
the captain’s arm, decapitated a marine,
and critically wounded the men at the 9-
inch gun. Another shot tore into the 8-inch
gun, killing its captain and sponger; a third
cut the wheel ropes and set fire to the deck
above the forward magazine. Disabled, she
had to be towed from the action. The
Selmarepeatedly pummeled the Hartford,
whose decks, according to a marine on
board, looked like a slaughter pen.
Indeed, it was in this phase of the bat-
tle that the Hartfordand Metacometlost
more men and were most seriously dam-
aged. But according to Captain Drayton,not a man faltered. “There might perhaps
have been a little excuse,” he said, “when
it is considered that a great part of four
gun crews were at different times swept
away ... in every case the killed and
wounded were quietly removed, the
injuries at the guns made good, and in a
few moments except for traces of blood
nothing could lead me to suppose that
anything out of the ordinary had hap-
pened.”
It was Hampton Roads all over again—
where the small Confederate ships, pro-
tected by the Virginia,had inflicted severe
blows on the Federal ships—or so it
seemed. While the Tennessee, protected by
her armor, exchanged shot and shell with
the wooden ships, causing them heavy
damage, she again tried in vain to ram the
Brooklyn, and also the Richmondand the
Lackawanna. But she was too slow, and
the blows were avoided. “The ram
received from us three full broadsides of
nine-inch solid shot, each broadside beingeleven guns,” said Captain Thornton Jenk-
ins of the Richmond. “They were well-
aimed and all struck.” When he examined
the ram the next day, all he found were
some scratches.
Meanwhile, the ironclad turned about,
but her circle brought her under Fort Mor-
gan, and in this fashion the Confederate
gunboats were temporarily isolated. As suc-
cessive pairs of the fleet crossed the mine-
field, and out of range of Fort Morgan, the
light gunboats cast off their lashings and
were sent in pursuit of their tormentors. In
addition, the Gainesand Morgan, off Far-
ragut’s starboard bow, received a withering
fire from Hartford’s cannon.
With guns barking, Metacomet, Lt.
Cmdr. James Jouett commanding, cast off
from the flagship and dashed for the
Selma, the Port Royaljoining the chase to
make the contest completely uneven. The
Rebel gunboat attempted a prudent retreat
up the bay, but was overhauled, punctured
with shot and, hopelessly outclassed inThe Tecumsehgoing down.U.S. Naval Historical CenterCWQ-EW16 Mobile Bay_Layout 1 10/22/15 1:09 PM Page 65