ould have ploughed its way half
through the 'Hartford;' and, as we sank, we should have carried it to
the bottom, unable to extricate itself. But the Rebel admiral was not
desirous of so much glory; and, just as the two vessels were meeting,
the course of the 'Tennessee' was slightly changed, enough to strike
us only a glancing blow on the port-bow, which left us uninjured,
while the two vessels grated past each other. He tried to sink us with
a broadside as he went by; but only one of his guns went off, the
primers in all the others failing. That gun sent a shell that entered
the berth-deck of the 'Hartford,' and killed five men."

But by this time the unequal conflict was becoming too much even for a
man of Buchanan's courage. The armor of the ram was penetrated in
several places, and at last came a shot that almost fatally wounded
her commander. With the controlling mind that guided her course gone,
the ram was useless; and in a moment a white flag fluttered from the
shattered stump of her flagstaff. And so closed the naval battle that
effectually ended Confederate rule on the Gulf coast, and earned for
Farragut his proudest laurels.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE FALL OF FORT FISHER. -- THE NAVY ENDS ITS WORK.

In noticing the work of the blockading-fleet, we have spoken of the
fine harbor of Wilmington, and the powerful works that defended its
entrance. This Confederate stronghold was known as Fort Fisher, and
had been for a long time a cause of anxiety and worry to the Northern
authorities. The war had gone past Fort Fisher. To the north and to
the south of it, the country was under the sway of the Federal
authorities; but there in North Carolina stood the formidable bastions
over which floated, in defiance of the laws of the Union, the stars
and bars of the rapidly dying Confederacy. With its connected
batteries, Fort Fisher mounted seventy-five guns, and was stronger
than the celebrated Malakoff at Sebastopol.

To reduce this stronghold, a joint naval and military expedition was
fitted out; and Gen. Butler was placed in command of the land forces,
while Admiral Porter, torn from his beloved Western rivers, was given
command of the fleet. Butler introduced a novel feature at the very
opening of the siege. He procured an old steamer, and had her packed
full of gunpowder. On a dark night this craft was towed close to the
walls of the fort and set afire, in the hopes that she might, in
blowing up, tear the wo