f weeks, perhaps
months, of valuable time. Besides, the sounds and inlets with which
that irregular coast is honeycombed were of great use to the
Confederates, who could construct at their leisure great rams like the
"Merrimac" or "Albemarle," and hurl them against the fleet with the
hope of breaking the blockade. Such opportunities were eagerly seized
by the Confederates whenever offered; and in many cases the defeating
of their purposes seems almost providential, so great was the seeming
disparity between the attacking ram and the forces which finally
repulsed it.

In reviewing the part of the navy in the civil war, we find that it
acted like a great iron band, ever drawing closer and closer about the
Confederacy, forcing the Southern armies from one point after another,
until at last the whole coast was in the hands of the Unionists, and
the Confederates were driven into the interior, there to be dealt with
by the Northern armies. One is reminded of that iron chamber in Poe's
story, which day by day grows smaller and smaller, until the wretched
prisoner within is forced into the pit yawning in the centre. So,
during the war, the Confederates lost Hatteras Inlet, Roanoke Island,
Hilton Head, Fernandina, Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston
comparatively early in the struggle. Wilmington, behind the almost
impregnable bastions of Fort Fisher, and Charleston, surrounded by a
cordon of defensive forts, remained the last strongholds of the
Confederacy on the Atlantic coast, until the final downfall of the
great uprising.

Shortly after the capture of the Hatteras Forts, the navy department
saw the need of a harbor and base of naval operations farther south.
Charleston, with its powerful defences, was deemed impregnable at that
time; and elaborate descriptions of the Southern coast were prepared,
setting forth the advantages and disadvantages of available Southern
ports. Fernandina, Brunswick, Port Royal, and Bull's Bay, were duly
considered; and, while the Navy Department was debating which point to
seize, Admiral Dupont was diligently fitting out an expedition to be
in readiness to attack any that should be determined upon. Up to the
last moment it was thought that Fernandina would be selected. But
finally, with the advice of Gen. Sherman, it was determined to make
the attempt to wrest Port Royal from the Confederates.

Port Royal is the general name given to a broad body of water formed
by the confluence of the Broad