Said Captain Johnston, in the same vein: "If it had not been for that
d----d black hulk hanging on our stern we would have got along well
enough; she did us more damage than all the rest of the Federal fleet."

"The praise of Commander Perkins," wrote a son of Concord, himself an
active participant in the fight, "on the superb management of his
command, and the most admirable and efficient working of his ship, was
upon the lips of all."

Pages of similar commendation might be quoted, but what need multiply
testimony so direct and conclusive as to Perkins's gallantry and
achievement, questioned only in quarters where the discretion of silence
and suggestion of modesty had best been observed!

It only remains to add, in this connection, that so long as the
Tennessee continued to flaunt her flag in face of the fleet, so long the
work of that glorious day was of naught; that her capture, due in
greatest part to the efforts of the Chickasaw, completed the work and
ensured, without embarrassment, the continued operations against Fort
Morgan and other defences in the bay.

Perkins, not content with laurels already won, got under weigh after
dinner, and steamed up to Fort Powell, taking that work in rear. The
shots from the Chickasaw destroyed the water-tanks, and Captain Anderson
reported that, believing it to be impossible to drive the ironclad from
its position, and fearing that a shell from the Chickasaw would explode
the magazine, he decided to save his command and blow up the fort, which
was done that night at 10.30. In the afternoon, the Chickasaw had seized
a barge loaded with stores, from under the guns of Fort Powell, and
towed it to the fleet.