The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-07 00:00:00

and it was not until the evening of the 25th that
the beach to the north of Fort Fisher was trodden
by the foot of a Federal soldier. But before that'
time enough troops were at hand to protect the
town of Wilmington from a land attack, or to in-
terfere with the Federals in the event of their at-
tempting to stretch across the tongue of land be-
tween the river and the sea, .and to cut off Fort
Fisher and its dependencies.

Recovering as best they might from the rough
handling of the sea, and availing themselves of the
bright, cold, and clear weather which followed the
storm of the 21st, the Federals stood in upon the
morning of the 24th, and formed a lunette or cres-
cent of ships, extending for about three miles, and
stretching from the wreck of the Modern Greece in
front of the land face of Fort Fisher to Smith's
Island, until the fire of the last ship on the left of
the Yankee squadron swept the " ramp," or sloping
tramway which ascends to the rear of Lamb's Mound.
Upon the extreme right torn of the Federal half-
moon lay the monitors, four in number, distant from
1,800 to 2,000 yards from the land face of Fort
Fisher, and firing right into the embrasures of the
guns from a direction such as to render the traverses
of no effect. It may be remarked that the heaviest
guns which Fort Fisher mounts are upon its sea
face. The guns which responded to the monitors
were too small in calibre to be of any avail against
their iron ribs. In the centre, and opposite to the
sea face of the fort, lay at a distance of nearly two
miles the large frigates, such as the Colorado and
the Wabash, one of them carrying the flag of Admi-
ral Porter. The left horn was occupied by sloops
of war, by some frigates, and by crafts of divers
kinds, carrying guns which throw shot of every
conceivable shape and calibre, from the 15-inch
shell of the monitors to the 3-pound shell of the
lightest field gun. Behind the ships of war lay
the transports, ready to disembark their living
cargoes and to throw them against a fort in which,
after two days of unprecedented bombardment,
it was calculated that there would be little left ex-
cept dead, wounded, or panic-stricken men. At
about noon of the 24th the lunette of Federal ships
was arrayed ; and never since the 20th of July,
1588, when Lord Howard of Effingham first came
in sight of the Spanish Armada, stretching in a
crescent of seven miles from horn to horn, did a
"navy more irresistible and disdaining prevention "
(to borrow the words of Sir Francis Drake) ride the
waves. Commencing shortly after noon, there burst
simultaneously upon a given signal from the throats
of hundreds of guns such a storm of shells as has
never before been rained upon any fort or work of
human construction. It was in vain that General
Whiting or Colonel Lamb attempted to make an
accurate calculation how many guns were thundering
at the fort, how many jets of flame issued from
the infuriated ships, or how many shells were dis-
charged in each minute. Suffice it to say that
the reports of the artillery, usually as distinct as
the strokes of a bell, swelled up to heaven in a dia-
pason as continuous and uninterrupted as the roar
of Niagara ; and that three miles of the horizon
were checkered with puffs or wreaths of white
smoke, which showed against the sky as though
Jupiter was pelting the earth with gigantic snow-
balls, For five weary hours upon the 24th the iron
hailstorm, without one instant's cessation, de-
scended upon or around the fort, tore great rents
in the palisades which protect the land face, set fire
to the wooden quarters of the garrison, swept away
every vestige of flag or flagstaff, howled above
Lamb's Mound without injuring a hair of the head
of its defenders, scattered iron splinters broadcast
over the beach, bored great holes and chasms into
the sides of the mound, the slopes of the fort, and
the barren waste of sand that surround them, and
occasionally, flying wildly inwards, lashed the water
of the Cape Fear River into lofty columns of spray.
From 5 in the afternoon of the 24th until about 10
in the morning of Christmas-day there was a lull in
the firing, followed by its resumption for seven
hours with unabated fury and ferocity upon the
latter day. The burning buildings in the interior
of the fort, when darkness cloied in, cast a lurid
glare over the scene, as the men wild with excite-
ment, but calm and pale with set teeth, issued from
the bomb proofs, and looked in wonder at their
comrades, to see so many unwounded survivors
after a bombardment such as mortal ear never heard
before, and of which the reality seemed, even now,
but an unsubstantial dream.

What, it will be asked, was the damage effected
by,the tons upon tons of iron which now lie buried
in the sand of North Carolina ? Briefly summed up,
two or three guns were dismounted, three men were
killed, and 55 wounded. As for the damage done
to the mounds of sand which constitute Fort
Fisher, it was scarcely visible yesterday, and
will be wholly invisible within a week from this
time. Upon the first day of the bombardment the
fort responded more excitedly than upon the second,
firing 660 shots during the five hours' bombardment
of the 24th, and rather less than 600 shots during
the seven hours' bombardment of the 25th. Two
English guns especially. distinguished themselves—
an 8-inch, or 150-pounder, Armstrong shunt gun,
and an 8-inch Blakeley. It is believed that upon each
occasion when the Armstrong gun was discharged (it
was only fired thrice) a Federal ship shifted its posi-
tion, or hauled out of action. The Blakeley gun was
fired much more frequently, and-with excellent effect.
The value of these guns, as compared with the Brook
gun, which gained such credit for sinking the Keo-
kuk off Charleston in April, 1863, is now satisfac-
torily settled, according to the judgment of the de-
fenders of Fort Fisher, in favour of the English
pieces. In regard to the minor incidents of the action
it is worthy of record that upon the afternoon of the
25th several boats or barges were lowered from the
Federal frigates on the extreme left of the arc, which
boats approached the rip at the mouth of the river,
under the guns of Fort Buchanan, and were believed
to have been feeling for torpedoes. A gun from Fort
Buchanan opened upon them, and at its fourth dis-
charge a shot cut a Federal barge in two, scattering
its crew upon the water. The men were picked up
by their comrades in the other barges, which im-
mediately proceeded to withdraw from action.

It remains for me to narrate the fortunes of that
portion of the Federal forces which clisembKrked
upon the beach. About 4in the afternoon of Sun-
day, the 25th, several surf boats were lowered from
the transports and ferryboats, which were an-
chored off shore in the deep water, about three
miles to the north of Fort Fisher. It is believed
that, availing themselves of leading lines warped to
the shore, these boats landed three brigades of
Federal troops under the command of General
Aofin their landing-place The woods and beach in the neighbourhood
-place had been swept previous to
their debarkation
Fisher s
by a storm of shell and shrapnel,
which drove off General Kirkland and his brigade of
Confederates, who would
the landing
landing,landin the gofany otherwise have prevented
Federal troops. Immediately
ft
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oa
fn and
landthr eupon
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jtuhsettboenfgouree
sunset a strong demonstration (assault it couldhardly be called) was made, chiefly aF against the land
face of Fort Fisher, and it will readily
,be believed.
that this:was the most anxious moment experienced
by its gallant defenders. It seems to have been the
impression of the Federals that after such a bom-
bardment as the fort had sustained the resistance to
an attack could not have been otherwise than feeble.
It is probable that at no moment during the last 18
months had Colonel Lamb so small a garrison
available for the defence of his cherished fort. But,
calling upon his gallant little hand of about 900 men,
half of them tried and seasoned troops, and half con-
sisting of Governor Vance's junior reserves, Colonel
Lamb rushed down to man the palisades, and his
efforts were nobly responded to by his men, Imme-
diately that the Federals saw the defenders of Fort
Fisher swarming over the parapet, and rushing
forward with undiminished heart and in unabated
numbers to the defence of its palisades, all vigour
and hope departed from the assailants, and the fort
was saved. night the Federal pickets lay upon
their arms, and in the dim dawn of the 26th the
fo
morning . momentarily lifted up and
revealed a strong
intantdhestfroegtchifenug
afomnrdobstchureesdeathtoe
view, but
elbow to elbow, and
line of soldiers standing almost
the river.
whAegnai
day 011.,e more lifted and cleared
off for the
the assailants had disap-