There are,
it is admitted, some entrances into our interior which are of such
vast extent that it would be utterly impossible for any works, however
extensive or well posted, to command them. Of this class the Chesapeake
Bay, which is an arm of the sea, may be given as an example. But, in my
judgment, even this bay may be defended against any power with whom we
may be involved in war as a third party in the defense of our neutral
rights. By erecting strong works at the mouth of James River, on both
sides, near the capes, as we are now doing, and at Old Point Comfort and
the Rip Raps, and connecting those works together by chains whenever the
enemy's force appeared, placing in the rear some large ships and steam
batteries, the passage up the river would be rendered impracticable.
This guard would also tend to protect the whole country bordering on the
bay and rivers emptying into it, as the hazard would be too great for
the enemy, however strong his naval force, to ascend the bay and leave
such a naval force behind; since, in the event of a storm, whereby his
vessels might be separated, or of a calm, the ships and steam batteries
behind the works might rush forth and destroy them.
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