At this time the gunboats _Miami_, Capt. C. W. Flusser, and the _Southfield_, Captain French, were stationed at the west end of Albemarle Sound, rather in the mouth of Roanoke River, near Plymouth. Flusser, as early as June 8, 1863, sent to Rear-admiral S. P. Lee, then commanding the station, a very accurate description of the new ironclad. An expedition was sent up the river to destroy her on the ways, but it could not pass--at least it did not pass--the Confederate forts. Then an appeal was made to Gen. John G. Foster, commanding the Federal troops, to send a cavalry regiment to burn the ship, but “General Foster expressed his unconcern about the rebel ram.” Sorrowful to relate, the vigilant Flusser, and not the self-satisfied Foster, suffered the penalty of this unconcern. The _Albemarle_ was “122 feet over all, had forty-five feet beam and drew eight feet of water. The casemate, built of massive pine timbers, covered with four-inch planking, was sixty feet long, and was covered with two layers of two-inch iron. The vessel was propelled by twin screws, operated by engines of 200 horse power each. She was armed with an Armstrong 100-pounder in the bow and one in the stern, while the casemate was so pierced that they could be used as broadside or quarter guns.” She was not ready for action, however, until April, 1864. On the 17th of that month the Confederate General Hoke advanced on Plymouth. Captain Cooke, of the _Albemarle_, had promised to coöperate in order to deprive the Union soldiers of the help of the Union gun-boats. The _Albemarle_ was not quite ready, but she left her moorings with the mechanics still at work screwing on her armor plates. While the foreman shouted orders to the mechanics, naval officers alongside were drilling the crew at great guns; and John N. Maffitt tells an amusing story of how the orders were mingled: “Drive in spike No. 10! Serve vent and sponge! On nut below and screw up! Load with cartridge!” And the fact that all this was done is especially interesting when we remember that the men equal to such an occasion were the kind to win, and they did win in their first onslaught. The Union forces had driven piles to keep her up the river, but, aided by high water, the _Albemarle_ passed them with no delay whatever, and just before midnight, on April 19th, the Union gunboats found her upon them. The _Miami_ and the _Southfield_ had been yoked together with long booms and chains in such fashion that the _Albemarle_ was expected to strike in between them and there get caught at such short range that their nine-inch Dahlgren projectiles would easily penetrate her armor. But instead of going between them, the _Albemarle_ crossed the _Miami’s_ bow and rammed and sunk the _Southfield_. Flusser bravely worked his guns, but one shell that he himself fired against the _Albemarle’s_ side broke into pieces, which, rebounding back, killed him where he stood. Then the _Miami_ fled and Plymouth surrendered.