U. S. S. MONTICELLO,
Off the Rappahannock River, June 24, 1861 — 8 p.m.
SIR: Agreeably to your orders of this date I armed and equipped the launch with eighteen men and took the gig in tow.
We pulled toward the shore until the water became too shallow to allow the launch to proceed any farther, when, leaving the howitzer’s crew with four other men in the launch, I took the balance with Dr. Smith and Mr. Phillips, the pilot, in the gig and pulled on shore. Dr. Smith and the pilot went first and were cordially shaking hands with the owner of the house as I and my men, armed with revolvers and Sharps rifles, came up. I heard a man on the stoop say that there was a company of well-drilled volunteers in the vicinity, and on my turning about I saw a company of armed and uniformed men stealing along the shore as if to cut off our retreat. I immediately ordered a retreat to the boat and fired off our carbines, many of which missed fire and then shoved off, having waded to the launch. As the retreating tide had left the gig high and dry on the beach, I had to leave it there. Dr. Smith, surgeon, and August Peterson, quartermaster, were wounded while wading to the launch. I immediately commenced firing the howitzer and did considerable execution and had fired a number of times when I was called back to the ship by your hail. Many of the shots struck the oars and launch, penetrating the side. The men acted nobly while under this galling fire, we being not more than 70 yards from the shore, and they deserve great credit.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. A. BROWN,
Master’s Mate, U. S. S. Monticello.
D. L. BRAINE, U. S. Navy,
Lieutenant, in Charge U. S. S. Monticello.
Sources
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I, Vol. 5. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1897.
Spirit of '61 