With newfound energy, Cushing continued to make his way toward the Union flotilla. He stole a small skiff and paddled downriver, and after a few hours he was picked up by a Federal vessel. While the fleet celebrated the news of the Albemarle's destruction, the exhausted Cushing rested. The dreaded ironclad that had been forged in a North Carolina cornfield and had terrorized an entire Union fleet had come to an end.

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Once he had restored himself, Cushing turned with special relish to the writing of his report on the mission. He began: 'I have the honor to report that the rebel ironclad Albemarle is at the bottom of the Roanoke River.' When Federal naval forces recaptured Plymouth days later, the Albemarle, which lay in shallow water with her casemate peeking above the surface, was raised and condemned as a prize of war. From the Union viewpoint, the captured ship was a fitting tribute to one determined man's victory over an ironclad giant.

This article was written by Michael Morgan and originally published in Civil War Times Magazine.

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