n that the first broadsides are half the battle, and the
freshest attack of the enemy should be met by the most vigorous
resistance on his own part; but it is open to doubt whether one of these
powerful vessels would not have been better placed in the rear. Upon a
resolute enemy, the effect of each ship is simply to drive him to cover
while she passes, to resume his activity when relieved from the pressure
of her fire. The case is not strictly similar to the advance of a column
of troops upon a fortified position, where the head does the most of the
fighting, and the rear mainly contributes inertia to the movement of the
mass. It is at least open to argument that a fire progressively
diminishing from van to rear is not, for the passage of permanent works,
a disposition as good as a weight of battery somewhat more equally
distributed, with, however, a decided preponderance in the van. The last
of the ships in this column received a shot in the boiler, which
entirely disabled her--an accident that may have been purely fortuitous,
and to which any one of her predecessors was in a degree liable, but
also possibly due to the greater activity of the enemy when no longer
scourged by the more powerful batteries which preceded. She was saved
from the more serious results of this disaster, and the squadron spared
the necessity of rallying to her support, by the other admirable
precautions dictated by Farragut's forethought.

Subjected thus to analysis, there seems much to praise and very little
to criticise in the tactical dispositions made by the admiral on this
momentous occasion. But the tactical dispositions, though most
important, are not the only considerations; it is the part of the
commander-in-chief to take advantage of any other circumstances that may
make in his favor. Until the forts were passed the character of the
bottom left Farragut no choice as to the direction of his attack. There
was but one road to take, and the only other question was the order in
which to arrange his ships. But there were two conditions not entirely
within his control, yet sure to occur in time, which he considered too
advantageous to be overlooked. He wanted a flood tide, which would help
a crippled vessel past the works; and also a west wind, which would blow
the smoke from the scene of battle and upon Fort Morgan, thereby giving
to the pilots, upon whom so much depended, and to the gunners of the
ships, the advantage of clearer sight. The