North Carolina on the evening of April 17, and anchored above Plymouth the following night. Shortly after midnight on April 19, Albemarle weighed anchor and stood down to engage. Meanwhile, anticipating an attack by the ram, Lieutenant Commander Flusser lashed Miami and Southfield together for mutual protection and concentration of firepower. As Albemarle appeared, he gallantly headed the two light wooden ships directly at the southern ram, firing as they approached. Albemarle struck Southfield a devastating blow with her ram. It was reported that she "tore a hole clear through to the boiler" and Albemarle'''s captain stated that his ship plunged 10 feet into the side of the wooden gunboat. Though backing immediately after the impact, Albemarle could not at once wrench herself free from the sinking Southfield, and thus could not reply effectively to the fire poured into her by Miami. At last her prow was freed as Southfield sank, and Albemarle forced Flusser's ship to withdraw under a heavy cannonade. Small steamer and tinclad moved downriver also. The shot of the Union ships had been ineffective against the heavily plated, sloping sides of the ram. Early in the engagement, Lieutenant Commander Flusser had been killed. Brigadier General Henry Walton Wessels, commanding Union troops at Plymouth, noted: "In the death of this accomplished sailor the Navy has lost one of its brightest ornaments...."Albemarle now controlled the water approaches to Plymouth and rendered invaluable support to Confederate States Army moves ashore, giving the South a taste of the priceless advantage Union armies enjoyed in all theaters throughout the war. On April 20, Plymouth fell to the southern attack. On May 5, Miami and other Union ships engaged Albemarle again at the Battle of Albemarle Sound. The battle was inconclusive; the Albemarle and USS Sassacus were both damaged, and the CSS Bombshell (the former USS Bombshell) was captured. Albemarle's threat to Union naval supremacy in North Carolina waters was ended October 27 when Lieutenant William B. Cushing exploded a spar torpedo under the ironclad's overhanging armor, tearing a hole in her wooden hull. The drive on Richmond Shifting to the James River to support General Ulysses S. Grant's drive on Richmond, Virginia, Miami engaged Confederate batteries at Wilcox's Landing, Virginia. Proceeding toward heavy firing, Miami had discovered batteries at Wilcox's Landing firing on Union transports. She immediately open a brisk cannonade, and after an hour the Confederates withdrew. Next day, Miami,