. The naval history of the Civil War . n,Lieut. -Com-mander RichardL. Law andthe schoonerHenry mortarvessels w h i c hhad been leftat New Orleanswere after-wards employedat the siegeof Port Hudson with good effect. On October 6th. Commander Renshaw re-ported to Rear-Admiral Farragut that withthe above named vessels he had captured thecity of Galveston after a feeble resistance,and now held it ready for a garrison. Thiswas an important capture as it closed upeffectually one of the favorite resorts ofblockade runners. It was at once garrisonedby the Army, and Renshaws vessels tookposit
. The naval history of the Civil War . n,Lieut. -Com-mander RichardL. Law andthe schoonerHenry mortarvessels w h i c hhad been leftat New Orleanswere after-wards employedat the siegeof Port Hudson with good effect. On October 6th. Commander Renshaw re-ported to Rear-Admiral Farragut that withthe above named vessels he had captured thecity of Galveston after a feeble resistance,and now held it ready for a garrison. Thiswas an important capture as it closed upeffectually one of the favorite resorts ofblockade runners. It was at once garrisonedby the Army, and Renshaws vessels tookpositions in the several entrances of theharbor to prevent the exit or entrance of theenemy. We did not hold this place long. OnJanuary 1st, 1863, General Magruder at-tacked our vessels with three steamers,fitted with cotton-bale defences, andmanned by sharpshooters. At a. m.,these steamers were discovered comingdown the bay towards our fleet. The Har-riet Lane was above the city and she wasfirst attacked. At 4 a. m., two of the ene-. 270 THE NAVAL HISTORY mys steamers ran alongside of her andswept her decks with a fire from hundredsof rifles. Commander Wainwright waskilled while gallantly leading his men;Lieutenant-Commander Lea, the Executive,fell mortally wounded, the next officer wasseverely wounded and half the people ondeck shot down. It was a case of completeslaughter, and in ten minutes the HarrietLane was in the enemys possession. Theother Union vessels opened their batterieshut were not able to do much execution whilethe enemys steamers were alongside theHarriet the same time that he attacked the would be allowed to take any one vessel,put his people on board of her, and leavethe harbor. This proposition was indig-nantly rejected by the Union commander,who seeing that his steamer was immove-able, resolved to destroy her and transferhis crew to the Army steamer Saxon, atthe same time giving orders to Lieutenant-Commander Richard L. Law to go outsideof the harb
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectunitedstatesnavy
