"The _Richmond_ soon joined in it; the _Brooklyn_ got entangled with some of the hulks that bore up the chain, and so lagged behind. She had just succeeded in freeing herself from them, when the Confederate ram _Manassas_ came furiously down upon her, and when within about ten feet, fired a heavy bolt at her from its trap-door, aiming for her smoke stack; but fortunately the shot lodged in some sand-bags that protected her steam-drum. "The next moment the ram butted into the _Brooklyn's_ starboard gangway; but she was so effectually protected by chain armor that the _Manassas_ glanced off and disappeared in the darkness. "All this time a raking fire from the fort had been pouring upon the _Brooklyn_, and just as she escaped from the _Manassas_ a large Confederate steamer attacked her. She pushed slowly on in the darkness, after giving the steamer a broadside that set it on fire and speedily destroyed it, and suddenly found herself abreast of Fort St. Philip. "She was very close to it, and speedily brought all her guns to bear upon it in a tremendous broadside. "In his report Captain Craven said, 'I had the satisfaction of completely silencing that work before I left it, my men in the tops witnessing, in the flashes of the shrapnel, the enemy running like sheep for more comfortable quarters.' "While the _Brooklyn_ was going through all this, Farragut was having what he called 'a rough time of it.' While he was battling with the forts, a huge fire-raft, pushed by the _Manassas_, came suddenly upon him all ablaze, and in trying to avoid it the _Hartford_ got aground, and the incendiary came crashing alongside of her. "In telling of it Farragut said, 'In a moment the ship was one blaze all along the port side, half way up the main and mizzen tops. But thanks to the good organization of the fire department, by Lieutenant Thornton, the flames were extinguished, and at the same time we backed off and got clear of the raft. All this time we were pouring shells into the forts and they into us; now and then a rebel steamer would get under our fire and receive our salutation of a broadside.' The fleet had not fairly passed the forts when the Confederate ram and gun-boats hastened to take part in the battle.