119 HISTORY OF THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT O.V.V.I.
wound and the injuries to the Queen of the West are the sum total of the casualties on the national side.
It is impossible to ascertain with any certainty the loss of the enemy in killed, wounded and missing, though it must have been quite heavy. Their guns were nearly all exposed to the bows and sterns of their boats, and after the opposing forces came into close quarters our sharpshooters picked off their gunners as fast as they showed themselves. It is thought that from twenty-five to fifty perished when the General Lovell went down.
IMPORTANCE OF OUR VICTORY.
The victory just won not only gives us Memphis, but the Mississippi river. Our upper and lower fleets will soon join each other, for if Flag-Officer Farragut cannot teach the braggart Mississippians how to surrender, I am sure Flag-Officer Davis can. Commodore Hollins is said to be below us with four boats, but he cannot escape, except by burning his fleet and taking to the woods. The old gascon will never tell in another Southern bar-room how he "peppered" us again. This victory about finished up the war in the South-west. It cuts what your contemporary, the Commercial, would probably call the "umbilical cord" of the bogus Confederacy, and effectually separates the East from the West. How the rebel leaders are to survive the blow is past my comprehension. The attempt to establish a slave oligarchy in this free land has proved a most wretched abortion.
In addition to being one of the most decisive and important victories of the war, the battle of Memphis is also the most brilliant. Indeed, it is quite safe to say that it is the most brilliant engagement on record. It lasted precisely an hour and three minutes, the rebels having fired the first shot at 5:40, and the Nationals the last at 6:43. How little the victory cost us, and how dearly the rebels paid for the defeat! How nobly does our gallant navy maintain its well earned reputation! What heavy blows has it dealt the rebellion from Hatteras to Memphis! All honor to our brave tars!
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