rs. Knowing that it was to be a night action, the
gun-decks had been whitewashed; so that even by the dim, uncertain
light of the battle lanterns, the gunners could see plainly all
objects about them. Hammocks and nettings were stretched above the
decks to catch flying splinters from the spars overhead. Late at night
the admiral in his longboat was pulled from ship to ship to view the
preparations made, and see that each captain fully understood his
orders.

It was two o'clock on the morning of the 24th of April, when the
Confederates on the parapets of their forts might have heard the
shrill notes of fifes, the steady tramp of men, the sharp clicking of
capstans, and the grating of chain cables passing through the
hawse-holes on the ships below. Indeed, it is probable that these
sounds were heard at the forts, and were understood, for the
Confederates were on the alert when the ships came steaming up the
river.

They formed in a stately line of battle, headed by the "Cayuga." As
they came up the stream, the gunners in the forts could see the
mastheads over the low willow thickets that bordered the banks of the
stream. The line of obstructions was reached and passed, and then the
whole furious fire of both forts fell upon the advancing ships.
Gallantly they kept on their way, firing thunderous broadsides from
each side. And, while the ships were under the direct fire of the
forts, the enemy's fleet came dashing down the river to dispute the
way. This was more to the taste of Farragut and his boys in blue. They
were tired of fighting stone walls. In the van of the Confederate
squadron was the ram "Manassas," that had created such a panic among
the blockading squadron a month before. She plunged desperately into
the fight. The great frigate "Brooklyn" was a prominent vessel in the
Union line, and at her the ram dashed. The bold hearts on the grand
old frigate did not seek to avoid the conflict, and the two vessels
rushed together. The ram struck the "Brooklyn" a glancing blow; and
the shot from her one gun was returned by a hail of cannon-balls from
the frigate's tremendous broadside, many of which broke through the
iron plating. Nothing daunted, the ram backed off and rushed at the
frigate again. This time she struck full on the frigate's side. The
shock was terrible. Men on the gun-deck of the ram were hurled to the
deck, with the blood streaming from their nostrils. The frigate keeled
over farther and farther, until