numbered fourteen, and the number of guns carried by the fleet was one
hundred and fifty-five, throwing, by added facility of pivot and turret,
ninety-two hundred and eight pounds of metal in broadside, from which
thirteen hundred and twenty must be deducted through the early loss of
the Tecumseh and the disabled gun of the Manhattan.

The enemy's defences consisted of Fort Morgan, commanding the channel
at Mobile Point, mounting seventy guns; Fort Gaines, on the eastern
point of Dauphin Island, some three miles northwest of Fort Morgan,
armed with thirty guns, and Fort Powell, about four miles from Gaines
northwest, at Grant's Pass, with four guns.

Across the channel, which runs close to Morgan, several lines of
torpedoes were planted, and just beyond them to the northward of the
fort, in line abreast waiting their opportunity, was the rebel squadron,
comprising the Tennessee, flagship of Admiral Buchanan, and the gunboats
Morgan, Gaines, and Selma, carrying in the aggregate twenty-two
guns--eight rifles and fourteen smooth-bores. The Tennessee, the most
powerful ship that ever flew the Confederate flag, was two hundred and
nine feet in length, and forty-eight feet in width, with a heavy iron
spur projecting from the bow some two feet under water. Her sides
"tumbled home" at an angle of forty-five degrees and were clad in armor
of five and six inches thickness, over a structure of oak and pine of
twenty-five inches. Her guns, six heavy Brooke's rifles, were arranged,
by port and pivot, for an effective all-round fire, and her speed was
six knots.

[Illustration: THE TENNESSEE.]

All was ready for the attack on the evening of the fourth of August, and