es during the war fully sustained the high
esteem in which she was held by the officers of the navy. Admirals Foote
and Davis pronounced her the "best iron-clad in the world."

By dint of such skill and energy as we have described, Mr. Eads, in the
brief period of one hundred days, built and had ready for service a
powerful iron-clad fleet of eight steamers, carrying one hundred and
seven heavy guns, and having an aggregate capacity of five thousand
tons. Such a work was one of the greatest in magnitude ever performed,
and, as may be supposed, required a heavy capital to carry it to
perfection. Mr. Eads soon exhausted his own means, and but for the
assistance of friends, whose confidence in his integrity and capacity
induced them to advance him large sums, would have been compelled to
abandon the undertaking; for the Government, upon various pretexts,
delayed for months the stipulated payments, and by its criminal
negligence came near bringing the iron-clad fleet, so necessary to its
success, to an untimely end. It was prompt enough, however, to
commission the vessels as soon as they were ready. At the time they
rendered such good service in the conquest of Forts Henry and Donelson,
and compelled the fall of Island No. 10, they were still unpaid for, and
the private property of Mr. Eads.

In the spring of 1862, Mr. Eads, in accordance with the desire of the
Navy Department, submitted plans for light-draught armored vessels for
service on the western rivers. He proposed an ingenious revolving turret
to be used on these vessels, the performance of which he agreed to
guarantee to the satisfaction of the Department; but the Government
decided to use the Ericsson turret, which the recent encounter between
the Monitor and Merrimac had proved to be a success. Mr. Eads was
allowed, however, to modify the Ericsson turret considerably, in order
to avoid making the draft of his steamers greater than was desired. He
built the "Osage" and "Neosho," and when these vessels were launched,
with all their weight on board, it was found that they were really
lighter than the contract called for, a circumstance which permitted the
thickness of their armor to be afterward increased half an inch without
injuring their draught or speed.

In May, 1862, at the request of the Navy Department, Mr. Eads submitted
plans for four iron-clads, iron hull propellers, to carry two turrets
each of eight inches thickness, four eleven inch guns, and
three