The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-13 00:00:00

THE IRON RAM ARKANSAS.

The special correspondent of the New York Tri-
bune, writing from the Mississippi flotilla off Vicks-
burg, July the 15th, gives the following description
of the attack on the Federal gunboats by the
Arkansas, the new iron-cased ram, built by the
Confederates. He says :
" The famous hostile gunboat Arkansas has been
discovered at last, and her powers have been severely
put to the test. She came when least looked for,
and has proved herself what she has been said to be
—the Merrimac of the Mississippi. She has braved
our entire fleet, and run the gauntlet of 15 of our
best vessels in broad light of open day, casting the
glove of defiance down, and braving them in their
chosen position. The boastings of the enemy in re-
gard to the strength and efficacy of the Arkansas
have been, for once, not without reason. Their
promises about her have been verified. She
is, indeed, formidable, and, so far as we
actually know, invulnerable. We cannot bat
yield praise to the Arkansas for her distinguished
bravery, nor fail to feel mortified at the extra-
ordinary result. Certainly, it is not gratifying to
our national pride to think that a small vessel with
12 guns moved slowly, quietly, and unconcernedly
by fifteen national vessels, carrying over 200 guns,
and escaped with impunity.
" Yesterday," the 14th, it was determined that
another reconnaissance should be made up the
Yazoo as far as Liverpool Landing, for the purpose
of really ascertaining the situation in that vicinity,
and the intention was to leave at noon: The proper
preparations were not made, however, and the ex-
pedition was deferred until to-day. This morning,
at 5 o'clock, the iron-clad gunboat Carondelet, Capt.
Henry Welke, the wooden gunboat Tyler, Capt.
William Gwin, and the steam ram Queen of the
West, Capt. Joseph Ford, left the fleet for the
Yazoo. They had not proceeded more than seven
miles up the Old River, into which the Yazoo
empties, before they discovered a strange and myste-
rious looking craft descending the stream rather
slowly. She was light-brown in colour, not more
than half as large as Davis's gunboats, and had a
single chimney. The glasses on board the three
vessels were directed toward the stranger, and it
was speedily concluded that she must be the much-
talked of Arkansas, the marine monster, which the
rebels had declared would sweep the Union flotilla
from the Mississippi. In another moment a heavy
report was heard from the enigmatical gunboat, and
a huge round shot went howling over the deck of
the Tyler. Another and another followed, and the
craft increased her speed perceptibly, the Tyler,
meanwhile, turning to give her a broadside. Before
the Union vessel was in position the enemy was
upon her, and discharged three guns at her in rapid
succession, The Tyler fired her broadside, but the ,
shot seemed even at that distance to have no effect
on the ram, while the latter had pierced her oppo-
nent at several places. The stranger was iron-clad,
and very strong. There was no longer any doubt
that she was the Arkansas. Nor was further evi-
dence wanting to show how vastly she was the
superior of the wooden vessel, which soon turned
her bow down stream and steamed towards the
Mississippi as rapidly as possible. Strange to say,
the Arkansas, in spite of her strength and weight,
is quite fast—nearly as much so as the.r,ryler—and
kept very close behind her, firing at regular inter-
vals ; while the Nationalist returned the hostile
favours with her stern guns. Almost every shot of
the enemy did damage ; though most of them in-
jured the boat only. One round shot entered above
the stern-post, and killed and wounded eight or ten
men, carrying away the heads of four sailors who
were standing in a line and working the piece.
There was every prospect the Tyler would bo sunk
or blown into the air ; yet her brave officers and
crew, though they regarded their condition as des
perate, still kept up a responsive fire. The enemy's
shot crushed and splintered her timbers, and few of
the loyal hearts on board expected to escape_ The
Tyler put on all steam, and still she could gain
little upon her pursuer, which followed with the
cruelty of a Fury and the directness of a Fate. By
the time the brave Unionists reached the mouth of
Old
River eight of her men had been killed and 17
wounded. Some of the reports give the number as
11
killed and 21 wounded, though I think the for-
mer
trey correct. At present, however, no
information
kivioi:u,enTdd,heaedne.dalroohn
can be obtai:etd an entirely trustworthy character
the Tyler are the The only officers that suffered on
deb titian,
engineer, Gobel, who was
ildelet
b,ltstian, principal pilot, mortally
mouth, bas not
while the unboat
ascended Old River,
but had remained at the
and ram went up the stream,
g
as she was iron-
' clad, her brave commander and ere
dw etermir ed,
lif possible, to stop the course of her fearful adver-