USS Brooklyn

“ Power spoke in every line and mass that met the eye, and beauty of a kind seldom seen gave its impress of delight. Down the harbor, the fleet of steamers was gathering in its hundreds, every craft from great Hudson River and Sound steamers and private yachts to squadron upon squadron of tugs. All were flag-draped and all were laden with joy-bound participants. The Brooklyn shore down to Fort Hamilton at the Narrows, and the heights and shore of Staten Island from Fort Wadsworth curving around the harbor were black with human beings. ”

“ In this region also are finely appointed shipyards and dry docks, the Anglo-American docks, opened in 1866, being the largest in the United States. The chamber of Dock No. 1 is 510 feet in length, and that of Dock No. 2,610 feet. Most of the large iron ships that are docked at the port of New York are hauled up here. On the old Williamsburgh water front are the vast sugar-refineries, the greatest group of the kind in the world, and representing Brooklyn's greatest manufacturing interest. ”

“ The Brooklyn was also detained by getting entangled with a raft, and running over one of the hulks which held up the chain, during which time she was raked by Fort Jackson, and suffered somewhat from the fire of St. Philip.
Just as she was clear, and headed up stream, she was butted by the Manassas, which had not headway enough to damage her much, and slid off again into the darkness. Then the Brooklyn was attacked by a large steamer, but she gave her her port broadside, at fifty yards, and set her on fire. ”

“ Brooklyn, a large town on Long Island, separated from the city of New York by the narrow channel of East river. It is properly a suburb of that city, and is a place of great business. It is regularly built, and contains many fine houses, the residence of merchants from the city. The United States navy yard is in the east quarter, upon a bay called the Wallabout. Near this town a bloody and disastrous battle was fought with the British in 1776. The town stands on an eminence, and commands fine views of the city and bay. A constant intercourse is kept up with New York by steamboats. ”

“ The Brooklyn's guns.
Our ruthless cannon o'er the flood
Roar and draw nigh;
Spain's ensign stained with gold and blood,
Falls from on high.
The world she gave the World has passed—
Gone, with her power—
Dead, 'neath the Brooklyn's thunder-blast,
In one great hour.
The bannered Brooklyn! gallant crew,
And gallant Schley!
[637] Proud is the flag his sailors flew
Along the sky.
Proud is his country: for each star
Our Union wears,
The fighting Brooklyn shows a scar—
So much he dares.
God save us war upon the seas ”

“ New York City's exclusive claims to the ferry rights are almost as old as Brooklyn itself. Brooklyn was settled in 1636, and in less than twenty years, and while there was but a handful of people on this side of the river, the ferry from Peck Slip to Nassau Island, at a point corresponding to the present foot of Fulton Street, had become a public question. In the natural course of things, New York had first started the ferry. ”

“ On either side of her, in imposing array, lay the great battle-ships Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas, and Oregon, the last of which had recently hurried to the scene of conflict from San Francisco, making a record voyage of 13,000 miles by way of Cape Horn. Besides these there was the Brooklyn, swiftest of American cruisers, together with half a dozen more--cruisers, gunboats, yachts, and torpedo-boats--all in war-paint, all ready for instant action, and all flying the banner of stars and stripes. At the wonderful sight Ridge's heart glowed with patriotism and a new courage. ”

“ Beecher announced the program from the pulpit and through the press. Nearly all the prominent clergymen and citizens of Brooklyn applied for tickets. It became necessary to refuse a large number, as the steamer could not accommodate more than one hundred and eighty people. On the 10th of [Pg 145] April, 1865, we left the foot of Wall Street in, one of the Fulton Ferry boats, which had been kindly offered to take the party to the Oceanus, lying at the foot of Robinson Street, New York. A more patriotic party never left the city of Brooklyn. ”

“ Up-stream a little way ferry-boats were shuttling back and forth to Brooklyn. Occasionally a big steamer passed by. Long strings of canal-boats, towed by tugs, forged slowly along. Innumerable lighters, convoyed by other puffing tugs, buffeted the waves. Floats, bearing laden freight-cars, went clumsily past. Occasional motor-boats scooted noisily by, and even a lone oarsman in a rowboat was visible, working his way against the current.
Out on the pier went Willie. Fascinated, he gazed about him. How the stirring life before him stimulated and thrilled him. ”

“ On the left stretches far away the low-lying shore of New Jersey; on the right, Brooklyn can be seen, rising upwards, a broken line of roofs and steeples. Further away, joining “the city of churches” to Manhattan, hangs in mid-air that marvel of science, the triple carriage, foot, and rail road known as the Brooklyn bridge. Around the “Yosemite,” as she ploughs along towards her quay, throng many busy steamers, outstripping, in the race for port, fleets of sailing vessels that are beating up the broad reaches of the river before the autumn wind. ”

“ For one thing, the river is very broad; for another, the tall-masted ships ply up and down so frequently that it would never do to build anything which would obstruct their passage; and to overcome these difficulties would mean the expenditure of a vast sum of money. But the folk who earned their daily bread in New York and lived in Brooklyn grew thoroughly tired of spending chilly hours in foggy weather on the river-side piers, waiting for the ferry-boat to come and take them across, and at last they began an agitation which resulted in the Brooklyn Bridge. ”

“ Had Howe with his fleet besieged the city, and landed the military forces, their success would have been complete, as the Americans were not prepared to resist the invasion. Such a policy would have resulted disastrously to the patriotic cause. As we have already stated, the battle of Brooklyn was never looked upon by British authorities as at all creditable. Whatever glory gathers round the engagement centres in the exhibition of military skill displayed by Washington in the management of the masterly retreat of the American army from Long Island, and its safe arrival in the city of New York. ”

“ Every move required the utmost caution and secrecy. As boats were needed to transport the troops, and the collecting together of them might excite the suspicion of the British, it was reported that the Americans intended to attack the enemy in the rear, and to accomplish this end had determined to transport troops to the line of Queens County at Hell Gate. This plan was adopted to deceive the enemy. In pursuance of the resolution of the council, orders were issued to move every available boat to Brooklyn, and have them in readiness for embarkation at midnight. ”

“ British troops at Brooklyn would command New York. American troops at Brooklyn presented the young nation in the attitude of guarding the outer doorway of its freshly-asserted independence. It put the British to the defensive, and compelled them to risk the landing of a large army, after a protracted ocean voyage, before they could gain a footing and measure strength with the colonists. ”

“ Early in the spring of 1868 we removed to Brooklyn Heights near the Ferry, much nearer my husband's office in Liberty Street. New York had not then stretched an arm across East River and taken into its bosom Brooklyn—already the third city in the Union. The two cities, now one in name, were practically one in interest as early as 1867. A great multitude of the dwellers of Brooklyn crossed the ferry every morning on their way to their daily work in New York. Brooklyn was a huge, overgrown village; a city of churches, a city of homes, and of children innumerable. ”

“ And a tunnel directly across from the south terminus of Manhattan was completed in 1907. Ferries ply at frequent intervals between numerous points on its west water-front and points in Manhattan; there is also ferry connexion with Jersey City. Brooklyn is served directly by the Long Island railway; by about fifty regular coast-wise and trans-Atlantic steamship lines; and by elevated or surface car lines on a large number of its streets. Subway lines, begun in 1904, connect Brooklyn with the subway system of Manhattan. ”

“ As soon as possible the directors chose Colonel Roebling to succeed his father, and the great undertaking proceeded.
The mechanical difficulties of the work were enormous. The history of the labors, by which one difficulty after another was overcome, is one of the most absorbing in the annals of engineering enterprise. Huge wooden caissons were sunken on the diving-bell principle to a depth sufficient to assure firm foundations for the piers, which were built over them. The Brooklyn caisson was launched on March 19, 1870; the New York caisson, in September, 1871. ”

“ This steamer, originally the Havana, had been fitted out by the Confederate authorities, and although the mouth of the Mississippi was closely blockaded by the United States steamer Brooklyn, with two other ships, Semmes watched an opportunity when the Brooklyn was chasing a decoy vessel off shore, and dashing out, by her superior speed escaped our fleet. ”

“ Quickly the "Sumter" got under way, and with all steam up made for the channel over the bar. She was still six miles from the bar when the "Brooklyn" caught sight of her, and abandoning her first chase strove desperately to head her off. It was a time of intense excitement. Each vessel was about equally distant from the bar for which (p. 716) each was steaming at the highest possible speed. For the "Sumter," it was escape or die. It was too late to fly up the river to the sheltering guns of Fort St. Philip. Should the "Brooklyn" get within range, the "Sumter" was doomed. ”

“ If, therefore, the layman feels some annoyance at such a controversy over naval red tape, he may have the consolation of knowing that all concerned, admirals and captains, did the right and sensible thing at the time. If there be an exception, it was the curious maneuver of Schley, the commander of the Brooklyn, who turned a complete circle away from the enemy after the battle had begun. This action of his was certainly not due to a desire to escape, for the Brooklyn quickly turned again into the fight. ”

“ Admiral Sampson with the "New York" was far away, and Commodore Schley with the "Brooklyn" commanded the fleet. The odds were not so greatly in favor of the Americans, for the Spaniards had four armored cruisers and two torpedo-boat destroyers, while the Americans had five battle-ships, one armored cruiser and a yacht. The superiority of the Spaniards in rapid-fire guns was very great.
The "Brooklyn," thinly clad with armor, dashed first into the fray and was soon engaged with four armored vessels, each her superior; the "Iowa," "Texas" and "Oregon" rushed to her aid. ”

“ Wind and tide favored them, and Harry was an excellent sailor, so that in a comparatively short time they had left the waters of the Hudson behind them, had rounded Fort George, the Battery of to-day, and were headed up the East River, with New York on the one side, and the then scattered town of Brooklyn on the other. Skilfully tacking in long slants from shore to shore, the wharves and shipping were soon exchanged for the sloping banks of Manhattan Island on the left, and of Long Island on the right, and then suddenly the dismasted hulk of the old “Jersey” loomed up before them. ”

“ The American loss was one man killed and three wounded, all from the Brooklyn, a result little short of a miracle from the fact that the Brooklyn was hit thirty-six times, and nearly all the ships were struck more than once. ”

“ At the southern end of this strait, near the point of its junction with New York Bay, is the narrowest part of its course, and it is here that it is crossed by the magnificent suspension bridge, known indifferently as the East River Bridge, or Brooklyn Bridge, which provides land communication between New York, with its population of two millions, and Brooklyn, the fourth city of the States in point of size, with inhabitants numbering about one million. Brooklyn is largely a residential place for persons whose daily business is in New York. ”

“ Its general growth was marked not only by the increase in population, but by the increase in the number of commercial institutions, churches, and schools. A second bank was chartered. A "night boat" began running on the ferry. There was an effort to establish a theatre; and a building for [78] this purpose, subsequently abandoned, was erected, in 1828, on Fulton Street, between Nassau and Concord. The Brooklyn "Evening Star" began daily publication, and continued to be a daily paper for six months, when insufficient patronage made it necessary to suspend daily issue. ”

“ Brooklyn Bridge is today and for a long time will be the main entrance to Brooklyn. The district between the bridge and Borough Hall has become depressed and unsightly, mainly because the retail shopping business left it, and Brooklyn, unlike independent cities, had no wholesale mercantile business to take its place. No city can hope to improve and brighten itself and still neglect its front door. The Clark Street subway will have a station near lower Fulton Street. ”