of
the assistance they might have rendered the ships, if disabled, they
were a great disadvantage," he wrote. The exception, however, is
weighty; and, taken in connection with his subsequent use of the same
order at Mobile, it may be presumed the sentence quoted was written
under the momentary recollection of some inconvenience attending this
passage. Certainly, with single-screw vessels, as were all his fleet, it
was an inestimable advantage, in intricate navigation or in close
quarters, to have the help of a second screw working in opposition to
the first, to throw the ship round at a critical instant. In the supreme
moment of his military life, at Mobile, he had reason to appreciate this
advantage, which he there, as here, most intelligently used.

Thus analyzed, there is found no ground for adverse criticism in the
tactical dispositions made by Farragut on this memorable occasion. The
strong points of his force were utilized and properly combined for
mutual support, and for the covering of the weaker elements, which
received all the protection possible to give them. Minor matters of
detail were well thought out, such as the assignment to the more
powerful ship of the weaker gunboat, and the position in which the small
vessels were to be secured alongside. The motto that "the best
protection against the enemy's fire is a well-directed fire by our own
guns" was in itself an epitome of the art of war; and in pursuance of it
the fires of the mortar schooners and of the Essex were carefully
combined by the admiral with that of the squadron. Commander Caldwell,
of the Essex, an exceedingly cool and intelligent officer, reported that
"the effect of the mortar fire (two hundred bombs being thrown in one
hundred and fifty minutes, from eleven to half-past one) seemed to be to
paralyze the efforts of the enemy at the lower batteries; and we
observed that their fire was quite feeble compared to that of the upper
batteries." Nor had the admiral fallen into the mistake of many general
officers, in trusting too lightly to the comprehension of his orders by
his subordinates. Appreciating at once the high importance of the object
he sought to compass, and the very serious difficulties arising from the
enemy's position at Port Hudson and the character of the navigation, he
had personally inspected the ships of his command the day before the
action, and satisfied himself that the proper arrangements had been made
for battle. His gene