But, no doubt, the plan will be pooh-poohed down
by the War Department; though it could scarcely be more disastrous than
the one on which we began the war, when a young army was struck with
paralysis through the age of its commander.
The waters around Fortress Monroe were thronged with a gallant array of
ships of war and transports, wearing the Union flag,--"Old Glory," as I
hear it called in these days. A little withdrawn from our national fleet
lay two French frigates, and, in another direction, an English sloop,
under that banner which always makes itself visible, like a red portent
in the air, wherever there is strife. In pursuance of our official duty
(which had no ascertainable limits), we went on board the flag-ship, and
were shown over every part of her, and down into her depths, inspecting
her gallant crew, her powerful armament, her mighty engines, and her
furnaces, where the fires are always kept burning, as well at midnight as
at noon, so that it would require only five minutes to put the vessel
under full steam. This vigilance has been felt necessary ever since the
Merrimack made that terrible dash from Norfolk. Splendid as she is,
however, and provided with all but the very latest improvements in naval
armament, the Minnesota belongs to a class of vessels that will be built
no more, nor ever fight another battle,--being as much a thing of the
past as any of the ships of Queen Elizabeth's time, which grappled with
the galleons of the Spanish Armada.
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