Saturday, March 10, 2012

1862 March 10 Lynchburg, Va.

Monday 10 To my surprize[sic] found it raining
hard last on waking. William left us at 8 am
to join his company in Richmond. He is a true
soldier, but he suffered much in parting with
his family. They will stay with us for awhile.
he looks five years older than he did when
he entered the army. He has won reputation
and seen hard service--Had large correspondence
in Bank--wrote also to Lewis--Letter from
Charles. He had not at the date heard of
the death of his child. He was at Leesburg
& Junction We have at length trustworthy
accounts of the exploits of the Merrimac, or
Virginia--She went out of Elizabeth River
Saturday about 12 m. ran up and got be-
tween the Cumberland frigate and the
Congress frigate--both first class vessels &
the crack sailing vessels of the federal navy
She greatly damaged the Cumberland, by two
or three shots and then ran into her, and sunk
her. the Congress then tried to escape by running
ashore. After being fired upon and damaged
she struck and her crew were made prisoners
Next day the Minnesota steam frigate of
the first class came to the rescue, but got
aground. She was riddled by the balls
of the Merrimac and subsequently blown
up by the enemy to keep her from falling
into our hands--a steam tug sent to her
assistance was blown up by a shell from
the Merrimac. The St. Laurence, and the
powerful frigate (sailing) tried to get up
but grounded fortunately for her. This was
not all. The famous Errickson[sic] battery,
of which we have heard so much, it seems
had just arrived at Fortress Monroe. She
went up & had a fight with the Merrimak[sic],
who made a dash at her & punched a
hole in her side which caused a rapid
flight. The Merrimak[sic] returned from her
brilliant cruise of some thirty hours, to the
navy yard, unhurt. Capt. Buchanan and
Lt. Ro. Minor slightly wounded. the Patrick
Henry & James Town and their gun boats were
assisting in the fight. Our total loss on
the whole of the vessels was 9 killed and 12
wounded--among the killed was Mid. Wm
Hutter, son of Sextus Hutter of Poplar For-
rest, Bedford, a fine youth. The crew of the
Cumberland met their fate gallantly
and went down with their vessel. The
annals of naval warfare show nothing supe-
rior to this. Could the Merrimak[sic] have gotten
near enough to the St. Laurence she too would
have been capture or sunk. Three of Three
of the finest vessels of the federal navy
with a steam tug destroyed--Their [?]
revolving battery dreadfully damaged--four
or five hundred men killed or drowned- &
all with no loss on our side, were the results
of the first aggressive movement. I hope it
may be followed up. It will produce quite
a consternation in the North. Nothing could
have been more unexpected--They had been
led to believe the Merrimac a failure
I heard with great pleasure that the
train had been replaced on the Charlottes
ville road.

MSS 4763

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