ckram armor of the stage, the Manassas, by her uncanny appearance and
by the persistent trumpeting of the enemy, had obtained a very
formidable reputation with the United States officers, who could get no
reliable information about her.

The remainder of the force were river steamboats, whose machinery was
protected with cotton, and their stems shod with one-inch iron, clamped
in place by straps of the same material extending a few feet aft. Thus
strengthened, it was hoped that with the sharpness of their bows and the
swiftness of the current they could, notwithstanding the exceeding
lightness of their structure, penetrate the hulls of the United States
ships. Resolutely and vigorously handled, there can be little doubt that
they might have sunk one or two of their assailants; but there is no
probability that they could under all the circumstances have done more.
The obscurity of the night, the swiftness of the stream, and the number
of actors in the confusing drama being played between the two banks of
the Mississippi, would have introduced into the always delicate fencing
of the ram extraordinary difficulties, with which the inexperience of
their commanders was in no degree qualified to deal. The generally
steady approach, bows on, of the United States ships, presented the
smallest target to their thrust and gave to the threatened vessel the
utmost facilities for avoiding the collision or converting it into a
glancing blow; while, as for rounding-to, to ram squarely on the beam of
a ship stemming the current, the assailant, even if he displayed the
remarkable nicety of judgment required, was not likely to find the
necessary room.

These difficulties received illustration by the career of the Manassas
that night. Her commander, Lieutenant Warley, was a former officer of
the United States Navy, and he handled her with judgment and the utmost
daring. Rushing nearly bows on upon the Pensacola, the thrust was wholly
avoided by the quick moving of the latter's helm, which Warley
characterized as beautiful; while the attempt made immediately afterward
upon the Mississippi resulted in a merely glancing blow, which took a
deep and long shaving out of the enemy's quarter, but did no serious
damage. Not till a much later period of the action did the Manassas find
an opportunity to charge squarely upon the beam of the Brooklyn. She did
so across the current, striking therefore only with her own speed of six
knots. But little sho