apis to
this strange incident.

"The men in the Richard's tops were throwing hand-grenades upon
our decks, and at last one fellow worked himself out to the end of
the main-yard with a bucket filled with these missiles, lighted
them one by one, and threw them fairly down our main hatchway.
Here, as our ill luck ordered, was a row of our eighteen-gun
cartridges, which the powder-boys had left there as they went for
more,--our fire, I suppose, having slackened there:--cartridges
were then just coming into use in the navy. One of these grenades
lighted the row, and the flash passed--bang--bang--bang--back to
me. Oh, it was awful! Some twenty of our men were fairly blown to
pieces. There were other men who were stripped naked, with nothing
on but the collars of their shirts and their wristbands. Farther
aft there was not so much powder, perhaps, and the men were
scorched or burned more than they were wounded. I do not know how
I escaped, but I do know that there was hardly a man forward of my
guns who did escape,--some hurt,--and the groaning and shrieking
were terrible. I will not ask you to imagine all this,--in the
utter darkness of smoke and night below-decks, almost every
lantern blown out or smashed. But I assure you I can remember it.
There were agonies there which I have never trusted my tongue to
tell. Yet I see, in my journal, in a boy's mock-man way, this is
passed by, as almost nothing. I did not think so or feel so, I can
tell you.

"It was after this that the effort was made to board. I know I had
filled some buckets of water from our lee ports, and had got some
of the worst hurt of my men below, and was trying to understand
what Brooks, who was jammed, but not burned, thought we could do,
to see if we could not at least clear things enough to fight one
gun, when boarders were called, and he left me. Cornish, who had
really been captain of the other gun, was badly hurt, and had gone
below. Then came the effort to board, which, as I say, failed; and
that was really our last effort. About half-past ten, Captain
Pearson struck. He was not able to bring a gun to bear on the
Alliance, had she closed with us; his ship had been on fire a
dozen times, and the explosion had wholly disabled our main
battery, which had been, until this came, our chief strength. But
so u