"NH, N, VA., March 11, 1862.
"Many thanks, my dear Brooke, for your very kind letter, which reached me by to day's mail.
"You richly deserve the gratitude and thanks of the Confederacy for the plan of the now celebrated Virginia, and I only wish that you could have been with us to have witnessed the successful operations of this new engine of naval warfare, fostered by your care and watched over by your inventive mind.
"It was a great victory, though the odds were nearly seven to one against us in guns and in numbers. But the IRON and the HEAVY GUNS did the work, handled by such men as glorious old Buchanan, and with such officers and men as we had. The crash into the Cumberland was terrible in its effect, though hardly felt by us, and in thirty minutes after the first gun was fired by us she was at the bottom, with the top-sail yards just clear of the water.
"The Congress gave us her guns as we passed, but though the shot fell like hailstones on our roof, we passed on, and settled the Cumberland in short style. By this time our dear old beauty was in shoal water with her head up stream, and "twas fully twenty minutes before we could turn her to fire well and rapidly on the Congress--meanwhile receiving the fire of the battery on the Point, though I cannot vouch for this exactly, for in such a row 'twas hard to say where in thunder all the licks came from.
"Very soon the Congress ran ashore--purposely, I supposed, to save herself from such a fate as the Cumberland--and we had not given her many shots before she hauled down the Stars and Stripes and soon afterwards hoisted the white flag at her peak.
"Parker and Alexander, in the Beaufort and Raleigh, were ordered to go to her, send her men on shore, bring the officers on board, and burn the ship; but on going alongside, Pendergrast (Austin) surrendered the ship to Parker, and told him that he had too many wounded to burn the ship. Billy told him to have the wounded removed at once; and while the Raleigh and Beaufort were at this humane work the Yankees on shore opened fire on them, killing some of their own men, among them a lieutenant.
"Parker and Alexander then left her with some twenty or thirty prisoners, the fire from shore being too hot; and as Alexander backed out in the Raleigh he was fired at from the ports of the Congress, though she had surrendered to us. A dastardly, cowardly act! Buchanan not getting Parker's report, and the frigate not being burnt, he accepted my volunteered services to burn her; and, taking eight men and our only remaining boat, I pulled for her, with Webb in the gallant little Teazer steaming up soon afterwards to cover me. In the meantime the Patrick Henry, Jamestown, and Teazer had come splendidly into action just about the time or a little before the Congress struck, and when I left the old beauty they were doing grand work with their guns on the Minnesota and shore batteries.
"I did not think the Yankees on shore would fire at me on my errand to the
Congress, but when in about two hundred and fifty yards of her they opened on me from the shore with muskets and artillery; and the way the balls danced around my little boat and crew was lively beyond all measure. Soon two of my men were knocked over, and, while cheering them on I got a clip through the side which keeled me up for a second or two; but I was soon on board the
Teazer, Webb having very bravely come to my protection. Old Buch., seeing what the scoundrels were doing, made our recall, and deliberately backing the
Virginia up stream poured gun after gun,
hot shot and incendiary shells into her stern and quarter, setting her on fire; but while doing this he was knocked over by a minnie ball through his left thigh, and the medicos laid us together in the cabin, while brave, cool, determined old Jones fought the action out in his quiet way, giving them thunder all the time.
"As you supposed, the
Minnesota and
Roanoke came to the assistance of the two sailing frigates, but the former got aground and the latter
ran--actually turned tail, and, as the sailors say, 'pulled foot' for Old Point. The
St. Lawrence got a dose and cleared out, leaving the
Minnesota alone in her sad plight, hard and fast aground, with some tugs trying to lighten her, and taking the fire from our squadron, to which she replied as well as she could, generally from her forward pivot gun. She being aground, and night coming on, of course Jones could not carry on the fight, and after a hard night of it the Commodore and I were landed early on Sunday morning at Seawell's Point, and Jones took the ship into action that day, fighting her like a bold seaman, as he is. He must tell you of his tussle with the
Eric, a very devil of an iron battery, for he has just come in and said he had a letter from you. God bless old Buchanan for a true-hearted patriot and bold, dashing sailor, as brave as brave can be; but he exposed himself entirely too much, and was struck by a musket or minnie ball while on the
upper deck, I believe, for I was under the doctor's hands then, and could not be with him at the time. I am writing in bed, and by 'fits and starts,' so excuse all inaccuracies and want of details, of which I will tell you when we meet.
"Mrs. Minor is with me, and I am decidedly more comfortable, though my wound is a severe but not dangerous one. The ball struck a rib and glanced, coming out over the heart. It knocked me down for a second or so, but I got up and cheered my men, some of whom were panic-stricken by the shower of balls, though they rallied when I got them to the Teazer.
"Send the signal book! When I can be moved the doctors will send me to Richmond, where a 'spell' of a few weeks will put me on my pins again. Make my kind regards to Mrs. Brooke; and with the hope that you are in better health,
"I am ever your friend,
"R. D. M[size=-1]INOR[/size].
"Remember me to Volcke, to McCorkle, and Upshur. The Commodore had the signal 'Sink before Surrender' arranged before the action. Tell this to Mallory, for I hardly think that old Buch. will ever do so.
"N. B.--There will doubtless be an attempt made to transfer the great credit of planning the Virginia to other hands than your own. So look out for them, for to you it belongs, and the Secretary should say so in communicating his report of the victory to Congress.
"By no means must any captain or commodore or even flag-officer be put over Jones. In old Buch.'s sickness from his wound Jones must command the ship."
Bringing the