Greensborough Patriot
June 5, 1862
Page1
From
the Richmond Inquirer, May 23rd, 1862
The Destruction of the Virginia—A Reply to Commodore Tatnall’s
Report
The
undersigned, Pilots on board the late noble steamer Virginia, were astonished
and amazed to see in the Richmond Enquirer of May 19th, the
afterthought communication of Josiah Tatnall, late
Flag officer commanding the steamer Virginia, and it was the first intimation
we had that we were to be made the “scapegoats for the sins” of those high in
authority. Humble as we are in station,
yet we are free, native born Virginians, and dare to hurl back in the teeth of
a Commodore his futile and contradictory missiles, and if we have the ability,
to pour hot shot into his exposed broadsides.
To do this, it is necessary to begin at the beginning of his letter to
Secretary Mallory. Near the commencement
he says: “I begin with your telegraphic dispatches to me of the 4th
and 5th instant, directing me to take such a position in the James
River as would entirely prevent the enemy’s ascending it.” Further on he says: “On the 6th
you (Secretary Mallory) telegraphed me to endeavor to afford protection to
Norfolk as well as the James river, which replaced me in my original
position.” Why did he not state that his
“original position” was for the Elizabeth river, a short distance below Craney Island, which position only protected Norfolk, when
by lying in the mouth of the James river, he protected Norfolk and at the same
time protected Richmond; because at all tides and at any time, night or day,
the ship could be gotten under way, and either intercept the Monitor, if she
attempted to got to Norfolk, (of which there was no danger, as she was afraid
as death of the Virginia) or get in her rear, and follow her up and capture
her. He says: “On the 7th
instant, Commodore Hollins reached Norfolk with
orders from you (Sec. Mallory) to consult with me, and such officers as I might
select, in regard to the best disposition to be made of the Virginia under the
then appearance of things.” But on the
next day, before the time appointed for conference, the enemy attacked Sewell’s
Point Battery, and he (the Commodore) left the Navy Yard to attack the Yankee
fleet, and in the meantime three of the enemy’s vessels had gone up James river,
bound for Richmond—one of them being the iron clad steamer Galena that lately
attacked Drury’s Bluff, below Richmond.
But it will be said that Commodore Tatnall had
to go to Norfolk with the Virginia to get water, provisions, etc. This we deny, because the Virginia might have
been kept in the mouth of the Elizabeth river, or in the mouth of the James
river, and water, provisions, coal, yea, all she required, could have been
carried down to her without the slightest difficulty or danger. So the awful blunder
of going up to Norfolk, where she could come out at high water, and permitting
the enemy to ascend the James river unmolested, cannot be justified or excused
by falsely accusing the pilots of deception.
The order from the Secretary of the Navy directed that the Virginia
should afford protection to the James river, as well as to Norfolk, and by
going up to Norfolk and leaving James river entirely open and exposed to the
enemy! And even when the Virginia was not
at the Navy Yard she lay in the Elizabeth river just below Craney
Island, instead of lying in the mouth of the James river, where she protected
both Richmond and Norfolk.
We
come now to the sections where Commodore Tatnall
says: “The pilots had assured me that they could take the ship, with a draught
of eighteen feet, to within forty miles of Richmond.” This we deny.
We said with favorable tides we could take the ship to Westover, about
three miles below Harrison’s Bar, which is about fifty-three miles from
Richmond. But let us see what was the
real object in lightening the ship. On
the return from Norfolk, where they learned that Gen. Huger had retreated, the
batteries been abandoned and the enemy was about to take possession of Norfolk,
he says: “It was about 7 o’clock in the evening, and this unexpected
information rendered prompt measures necessary for the safety of the
Virginia.” Now, if words are to convey
ideas, is it not plain that the lightening the ship was not for the purpose of
coming up James river to attack the iron clad Galena and two other formidable
gunboats, with the wooden sides, bow, stern and rudder of the Virginia entirely
exposed. At first the Commodore says the
Virginia was lightened for the safety of the ship; and yet in the same
communication, he says: “I determined to lighten the ship at once, and run up
the James River for the protection of Richmond.” Now, was there no panic here? Was there not wanting the spirit, the
coolness, and calm decision of our dear and beloved Buchanan? What if the Virginia, that noble specimen of
the genius of her construction—she that was mistress of at least of all
Virginia’s waters—required prompt measures for her safety! At her very approach the Yankee iron clad
gunboats, and the whole Yankee navy seemed to tremble, and she had only to make
her appearance and they ran in a moment.
But
let us lift the veil a little higher.
The Commodore said he “had retired to bed, and between one and two
o’clock the First Lieutenant reported to me that after the ship had been lifted
so as to render her unfit for action the pilots had declared their inability to
carry eighteen feet above Jamestown flats.”
Now here is an admission that she was unfit for action; and yet this
Commodore says he intended to take her up the James river to contend with the
“iron clad Galena and two gunboats” that had ascended James river while he was
protecting Richmond by lying at Norfolk.
Now
we desire to state a fact, and we defy contradiction: that after the Virginia
was lightened so as to render her “unfit for action,” having thrown over all
her ballast and much of her coal, she drew aft twenty feet six inches, and
twenty feet forward. This was
ascertained by chief pilot Parish’s going in a boat and ascertaining her exact
draft. And here we wish to state another
fact, exposing the ignorance of this commander of the draft of his ship—so
plainly that even he that “runs may read.”
When the Virginia was first floated from the Dry Dock at Gosport Navy yard, she drew eighteen feet four inches aft,
and seventeen feet forward, with fifty tons of coal, ten tanks of water
forward, and her boilers filled. She had
no guns on, no shell, no ballast, and has since had put upon her upwards of 200
more tons of iron. Thus she drew two
feet six inches more than we had ever said she could carry to within 40 miles
of Richmond, (even admitting what he says though we deny its correctness.) Now, is it not plain, that the fact of the
Virginia’s having had added to her weight more than 200 tons of iron besides
her guns shot, and shell, and stores since she first came out of the Dock, when
she drew 18 feet 4 inches, had escaped the memory of the Commodore, or he was
ignorant of what he ought to have known?
He says: “After the ship was rendered unfit for action, he was informed
by the First Lieutenant the pilots had declared their inability to carry 18
feet above the Jamestown Flats.” What
the pilots did say was that they desired, if possible, the ship should be
lightened to less than 18 feet, as the wind has been several days to the
westward, which makes the tide much lower.
But at the same time we said we were ready and willing to obey the
commands of the Commander. One of us
remarked we were not afraid, when a Lieut. Replied, “No, we know that; for you
have been tried and proven yourselves men of courage.” The fact is the ship could not be lightened
to draw 18 feet water unless the guns, ammunition, provisions, and nearly her
entire supply of fuel had been thrown overboard, which would have placed her at
the mercy of the enemy, and Commodore Tatnall ought
to have known it before he attempted to lighten her.
The
Commodore says we heard his address to the crew. But at the same time we were not consulted as
to the tides, wind, or depth of water that could be carried at that time. He says:
on demanding from the Chief Pilot, Mr. Parish, an explanation of the
palpable deception, he replied that 18 feet would be carried after the
prevalence of easterly winds and that the wind for the last two days had been
westerly.” This statement Pilot Parish
utterly denies and says no such demand of an explanation of “this palpable
deception” was made. No man charged him
with it. So far from it, not one word of
copsure or complaint was uttered during the whole
time. In fact, we all felt grateful for
the kind treatment we had received and the Commodore in particular acted
generously and kind. So much so that on
our way to Suffolk, he took one of us (Pilot Parish) in a cart with him and
gave him a good drink out of his tickler; and moreover when we arrived in
Richmond he endorsed all our bills for pay.
Now we did not desire this treatment.
If we had acted with palpable deception, why were we not charged with
this deception on board the ship at the time the first Lieutenant informed him,
the pilots said 18 feet water could not be carried over the Jamestown
Flats?
“It
will be asked (he says) what motives the pilots would have to deceive me. The only imaginable one is, that they wished
to avoid going into battle. Had the ship
not been lifted so as to render her unfit for action, a desperate contest must
have ensued with a force against us too great to justify much hope of success,
and as battle is not their occupation they adopted this deceitful course to
avoid it; for I had seen no reason to doubt their good faith to the
Confederacy.”
One
would suppose from the foregoing paragraph that the pilots ordered the Virginia
to be lightened, to prevent her going into action; for the Commodore says “if
she had not been lightened a desperate contest must have ensued against a force
too great to justify much hope of success.”
It was the Commodore that knew of the great force he had to contend
with, and he had the ship lightened. But
he says it was fear that prompted us to deceive, and that as battle is not our
occupation, we adopted this deceitful course to avoid it.
It
is true, our occupation sends us on the tempestuous ocean in sunshine and in
storm and we do not tread the decks of men of war Commodores; but we encounter
some danger, at least, in bringing in the weather-beaten mariner to a haven of
safety. We have never served our country
in times of peace on Dead Sam’s deck, but we were present with the
brave—Buchanan, Jones and other officers and crew when they sank the Cumberland
and destroyed the Congress.
We
have stood exposed to the enemy’s fire on the uncalled for destroyed Virginia
when minie balls and cannon balls fell thick as
hail. One of us (first Pilot Parish) was
on board the Harmony, commanded by the brave Capt. Fairfax, when he fought the
Savannah off Newport News. He was also
on board the Sea Bird, under the brave veteran Commodore Lynch, when he took
the Sherwood from the Express, and was under the fire of the enemy for two
hours. From the first day the Virginia
flung to the breeze the flag of our beloved Southern confederacy, we have acted
as her Pilots; and if we have shown cowardice or an unwillingness to obey
orders, or incompetency, let Buchanan, Jones and
others say so.
Now
a few words to the management of the ship:
On the memorable battle of the 8th and 9th of
March, when the wonder of the world (the Virginia) under command of Buchanan
and Jones, gallantly encountered the Cumberland, the congress, the Minnesota,
the Monitor, the St. Lawrence and several gunboats, a crowd of twenty thousand
persons, with many naval officers, united in one voice in saying that the
Virginia is “splendidly managed.” One of
us (Pilot Geo. Wright) piloted the French ship Gassenoia
from Norfolk, with the French Minister on board, and had the high gratification
of hearing from the lips of the French Commander, the compliment “that on the
battle of the 8th and 9th, the Virginia was handled in a
masterly and seamanlike manner.” “And,
sir,” he said, “I have a drawing I will show you of the battle, and the victory.” Pilot Wright remarked, “sir, it is very
correct.” Thus it will be seen that, so
far from fault being expressed, nothing but commendation was bestowed upon us
until we reached Richmond, when for the first time, we are charged with
deception. Commodore Tatnall
says: “I have seen no reason to distrust their good faith to the
Confederacy.” Sir, we did not require
your endorsement. We are known by men at
least fully your equals, and no man has ever dared to doubt our loyalty to our
State and to the South. If we had chosen
to be traitors, thousands and tens of thousands might have been at our command,
if we could have been bribed to pilot Union ships instead of Southern
ships. Though poor, the three of us men
of large families, dependent on us for subsistence, there is not Yankee gold
enough in all the land to induce us to betray the Southern Confederacy. No Virginia pilot has disobeyed the
proclamation of our Governor, prohibiting them from piloting Yankee men of war
or merchant vessels.
We
have nearly concluded this communication, and though a more thorough and
elaborated answer would have exposed the fallacy and inconsistency of Com. Tatnall’s communication, yet we hope enough has been said
to open the eyes of the authorities and the public.
Before
closing it is proper to notice the unjust and unmerited treatment manifested
towards Chief Pilot Parish. Since the
Virginia was launched, Pilot Parish has been with her in good and evil report. He received a commission as Master in the
Navy signed by President Davis, and has endeavored to do his duty to his State
and country. On his arrival in Richmond
he was ordered to the batteries of Drury’s Bluff. He immediately repaired to that post and
commenced with his powers to aid in blockading the James river, which had been
exposed to Yankee’s gunboats by the withdrawal of the Virginia from the defences [sic] of the James river.
While
thus engaged, Pilot Parish received from Secretary Mallory an order revoking
his commission and dismissing him from the service without affording him the
form of a trial, and without even a notice of charge. Pilot Parish would rather have fallen in defence [sic] of his country, leaving a good name to his
wife and children, than that to which he is unjustly entitled. But conscious that a full investigation of
the whole matter will fully exhonorate [sic] the
Pilot from all blame in relation to the destruction of the Virginia. Pilot Parish will content himself meanwhile
with the consciousness that he has done his duty; as have also the Pilots
associated with him on board the Virginia.”
In
conclusion we say, that in the destruction of the “Pride of the South,” the
Pilots on board had no part or lot; and no fault or blame can be attached to
us.
WM.
PARISH, Pilot
GEO.
WRIGHT, Pilot
WM.
T. C. CLARK, Pilot
H.
WILLIAMS, Pilot
[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]
