Selected Correspondance of Abraham Lincoln 1863 Opinion On Harbor Defense
by Abraham Lincoln
April 4, 1863.
On this general subject I respectfully refer Mr.________ to the
Secretaries of War and Navy for conference and consultation. I have
a single idea of my own about harbor defense. It is a steam ram,
built so as to sacrifice nearly all capacity for carrying to those of
speed and strength, so as to be able to split any vessel having
hollow enough in her to carry supplies for a voyage of any distance.
Such ram, of course, could not herself carry supplies for a voyage of
considerable distance, and her business would be to guard a
particular harbor as a bulldog guards his master's door.
