On the 4th Admiral Davis invited Admiral Farragut to go down with him in the Benton and “try the batteries,” as he worded it. As this was an excursion entirely after Farragut’s own taste, he at once accepted, and the two admirals steamed down the river on the trial trip.
The Benton carried a very heavy armament, but she was slow, and, being built on two hulls, did not handle well in a strong current. Arrived in good position, the ship opened fire on the upper shore battery, and the rebels were quite ready to respond.
They had lately received a new Whitworth gun, which they had just got in position, and they brought this into play on the Benton. By a sorry chance a shell from it entered one of the Benton’s bow ports and burst, killing and disabling several men.
This was getting exciting, and Farragut, after striving for a long time to control himself, burst out: “D—n it, Davis, I must go on deck! I feel as though I were shut up here in an iron pot, and I can’t stand it!”
And on deck he went, only compromising at last, through the entreaties of his friend, by entering the conning turret. This was the same instinct that sent him aloft in the Mobile fight. He wanted to see what was going on, and such a thing as fear of personal exposure never entered his mind.
CHAPTER V
CHASING A BLOCKADE RUNNER
In November, 1862, while we were lying off Baton Rouge in the Richmond, I was officially notified from Washington of my promotion to the grade of acting lieutenant. A week later I was ordered by Admiral Farragut to the command of the W. G. Anderson, then at the Pensacola Navy Yard.
The Anderson, a beautiful clipper bark built in Boston for the Cape of Good Hope trade, had been lately purchased by the government. She had been fitted out as a cruiser, her decks strengthened to carry an armament of six 32-pounders, two 24-pounder howitzers, and a 30-pounder Parrott rifle gun on the forecastle, and she had a full complement of fifteen officers and one hundred and forty men.
My orders were to proceed to the coast of Texas to join the fleet on the blockade, with my station at Aransas Bay. This was welcome news, as there was a great deal of blockade running in that quarter, which offered us a fine prospect for excitement and prize money. Our preparations were quickly completed, and a week after I had taken command we weighed anchor, saluted the flag officer’s pennant, and sailed for our station.