Knowing
thoroughly all the improvements made and making in the war-steamers of
England and France, and feeling the liability of their interference in
our affairs, he could not appreciate the wisdom of building new
vessels according to old ideas. The blockade of the Potomac by Rebel
batteries, in the very face of our navy, seemed to him an indignity
which need not be endured, if the inventive genius of the North could
have fair play.
An impregnable iron gun-boat was, in his judgment, the thing that was
needed; and he determined that the plan of such a vessel should be his
contribution towards the success of the war. The subject was not a
new one to him. He had given it much consideration, and his plan, in
all its essential features, had been matured long before. Proposals
for iron-clad vessels having been invited by the Navy Department,
Ericsson promptly submitted his plans and specifications. Knowing the
opposition that novelties always encounter, he had no great expectation
that his proposal would be accepted. "I have done my part," said he; "I
have offered my plan. It is for the Government to say whether I shall
be allowed to carry it out." He felt confident, however, that, if the
plan should be brought to the notice of the President, his practical
wisdom and sound common sense could not fail to decide in its favor.
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