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26 “With a few Blows crushed out all hope” May–June 1863 William a. Webb knew as much about fighting monitors as anyone in the confederacy . as captain of the Teaser he’d been present at the dawn of armored combat, watching ringside as the Monitor and Virginia slugged it out. During Tattnall’s tenure in hampton roads he’d trained a team to board and capture the yankee. he studied her weaknesses1 and awaited an opportunity to exploit them. Webb watched Tattnall challenge the Monitor again and again, and saw the union ironclad decline to fight. he watched the guns at Drewry’s Bluff pummel the Monitor and a new ironclad, the Galena, and send them back down James river in defeat. he knew that fort Mcallister had shrugged off the Montauk’s attacks and stood triumphant while that new, improved monitor steamed off in frustration. By 1863 he’d seen plenty of evidence that ericsson’s marvels were not so tough. his brief tour as the Atlanta’s executive officer ended when he was selected by secretary Mallory to develop another assault team at charleston. so he’d been ringside again for the next heavyweight bout—the monitors versus the batteries . and he’d seen the monitors take a beating. in the slugfest off sumter, the Weehawken’s deck armor was shattered, the Nahant’s helmsman killed, and the ironclad Keokuk, shredded by ninety shot, limped off and sank.2 These monitors looked highly overrated, and Webb was sure he could whip them with the Atlanta. Mallory liked Webb’s attitude. The man was a warrior. he wanted to make things happen, while senior officers kept finding reasons they couldn’t. Webb was a bit of a windbag and full of himself, but he was no dreamer. he’d grown up in the navy. his father, Thomas T. Webb, was commandant of Gosport navy yard for years. his brother-in-law was charleston flag officer John r. Tucker. Webb 218 / chapter 26 was a realist with a wealth of experience. if he said he could take the Atlanta to victory, Mallory had no reason to doubt him. at savannah, Webb surveyed his new command. it consisted of the ironclads Atlanta and Georgia, the little Maury gunboat Isondiga, the steamers Oconee (exSavannah ) and Resolute, and the tender Firefly. The Sampson was the station receiving ship, the ironclad Savannah still fitting out. Gone was the Talomico, sunk up the river at Blanket Point.3 as promised, Webb began preparing for the offensive. he told Mallory that he’d move on the next spring tide, in just nine days, taking the Atlanta out through Wassaw sound and attacking the enemy wherever he found him. as he readied the Atlanta he also took on the day-to-day management of the squadron. although his arrogance and bombast grated on those who had so loved richard Page’s gentlemanly reserve, experience and training had prepared him well for squadron command, and his efficiency was admirable. The Georgia’s crew, army conscripts who had transferred to the navy, were leaving en masse when their enlistments expired in July. Webb alerted Mallory, asking for assistance in keeping the Mud Tub’s crew in service. from this small crisis he turned to the daily minutiae of the squadron, telling the Resolute’s captain4 to keep the steamer full of wood for the gunboats and eighty to one hundred tons of coal for the ironclads, “and always be ready to move at a moment’s notice.” he sent the Oconee to the city to have her smokestack repaired, took aboard a new 7-inch gun for the Atlanta,5 and inquired into the condition of the Savannah. When could she be ready for combat? The Savannah’s boilers were not ready, and mechanics were still working on her engines and steam fittings. But Paul Jones said she should be ready for her crew in two weeks. Webb sent Midshipman William Goode6 to Macon and atlanta to recruit more conscripts, and he sent the department a list of officers she’d need— another lieutenant, a master, one passed midshipman, and two additional engineers . he must have been stunned when, instead of getting new officers to staff the Savannah, the Atlanta was stripped of most of her officers. The ship had just lost lieutenants samuel averett to europe and Thomas arnold to charleston. now lieutenants henry claiborne and smith lee Jr., Master h. B. littlepage, and Passed Midshipman William...

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