. Field, fort and fleet ... one, and it was decided to destroy her. The Merrimac was run ashore on Craney Island, her crew landed,and then Oliver, the gunner, set fire to her and laid a powder-trainto her magazine. All her guns and ammunition were left aboard,and as the crew had a long march before them most of them leftall baggage behind. Eveiw gun was loaded and in battery whenOliver left, and the heavy doors of the magazine were thrown wideopen. The crew had been on the march an hour when the explosiontook place. Just in the gray of morning there came a terriblerumbling of the earth, follow
. Field, fort and fleet ... one, and it was decided to destroy her. The Merrimac was run ashore on Craney Island, her crew landed,and then Oliver, the gunner, set fire to her and laid a powder-trainto her magazine. All her guns and ammunition were left aboard,and as the crew had a long march before them most of them leftall baggage behind. Eveiw gun was loaded and in battery whenOliver left, and the heavy doors of the magazine were thrown wideopen. The crew had been on the march an hour when the explosiontook place. Just in the gray of morning there came a terriblerumbling of the earth, followed by a shock which made them stag-ger. A column of smoke and flame shot up over the tree tops intothe clouds, and from this fire-spout came the boom of cannon dis-charged in mid-air, while shell shrieked and hissed in every direc-tion. A monster solid shot from one of the big guns whirled overfour miles of space and fell with an awful crash among the pinesahead of the little band, and they had seen the last of jliil
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Keywords: ., bookauthorquadm184, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookyear1885
