obstructions at full speed, eager for the fray, closely followed by the
heavy Pensacola, and ship after ship in the order assigned; but lack of
space forbids a general description of the battle, and we propose to do
hardly more than to follow the fortunes of the Cayuga.

Lieutenant-Commanding Harrison had paid his executive the high
compliment of allowing him to pilot the vessel, and Perkins took
position in the eyes of her, on the topgallant forecastle, while
Lieutenant-Commanding Harrison and Captain Bailey stood aft, near the
wheel, and all the men except the helmsmen were made to lie flat on the
deck until the time came for them to serve the battery. Prone on the
deck at Perkins's feet, and with his head close down over the bow, was
the captain of the forecastle, to watch the channel and give timely
warning of anything barring the way that might escape the wider-ranging
eye of the intrepid young pilot; and as the Cayuga pressed on, receiving
the first shock of the outburst from the forts, what finer subject for
the painter, than that lithe young figure standing up in bold and
unflinching relief, at the extreme bow of the ship, peering ahead in the
morning starlight to pilot her safely on her way, amid the blinding
flame and screaming bolts, the hurtle of shot and crash of shell, the
explosion and deafening roar of a hundred shotted guns, as the vessel
steamed into the jaws of death, leading the fleet into one of the most
momentous and memorable conflicts in naval annals. Nor should cool and
phlegmatic Harrison nor grand old Bailey be overlooked, as the constant
flashes of the thick exploding shells revealed them standing, calm and
grim, at their posts, in readiness to direct the movements of vessel and
column, and engage the foe, ashore and afloat; nor the impatient
officers and crew, who eagerly waited the order to spring to their guns
and make reply to the withering fire pouring in upon them as yet
unavenged.