The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-19 00:00:00

THE IRON RAM ARKANSAS.

The correspondent of the /11ew York Tribune who described
the defeat of the Federal flotilla off Vicksburg on July 15
by the Arkansas has given an account of the unsuccessful
attempt of the Federal officers to destroy this formidable
vessel of the Confederates. The correspondent says :
" So patent had been the demoralising effect of the late
achievement of the Arkansas, and so greatly has fear dif-
fused itself as day by day went by without her capture or
destruction, that Lieut.-Col. Ellet deemed it necessary to
call Commodore Davis's attention to the matter, and renew
the proposition—the execution of which was attended with
so much hazard —made to him immediately after the rebel
vessel reached Vicksburg.

" This proposal was to attack the Arkansas at her moor-
ings, off the town, and endeavour to sink her by running
her down. For this purpose the following plan of opera-
tions was formed—Three of the vessels of Commodore Davis,
the Benton, the Cincinnati, and the Louisville, were to
stream, andto give raptphlee
Queenh er as shean
passed,
en-
gage the upper rebel batteries, the Bragg to lie behind the
bend in readiness to butt the Arkansas in the event of her
appearance above, and the Essex to run down in advance of
the Queen
ram her. Farragut meanwhile engaged the lower batteries.
After the Queen had struck the enemy she was to come up
excellent draw
ra
opportunity
her out into
the to
or go down the river, as was most advantageous, the Ben-
ton protecting her reti eat in the former and the Essex in
the latter case ; the Sumter to rum the hostile gunboat if the
Queen failed to perform her task. This arrangement was
good, and entirely satisfactory to all parties, and promised
to be faithfully carried out. The three gunboats opened fire;
the Bragg took her position, and the Essex led off in fine
style, the Queen following at a high rate of speed, and
under very favourable auspice.. As th© ram passed the flag
°Lir aviloauuore Davis waived his hand to Cul. EnAt. .1- a -
ing near the pilot-house, and cried out, Good luck, good
luck l' The Colonel misunderstood the words, supposing the
Commodore said ' Go back, go back 1' and therefore turned
the Queen about and steamed towards the Benton, when he
heard Go on, go onl' Without comprehending this appa-
rent inconsistency, and believing the first duty of a soldier
is to obey, the Colonel steamed down under the batteries,
and arriving at the first water battery near the Marine Hos-
pital, where the hostile gunboat was lying, he discovered
the Essex had gone on, and was then in advance one-half
or three-quarters of a mile.
"The Queen was now exposed not only to the batteries of
the enemy, but to those of the gunboat, which lay with her
stern into shore and her bow up stream, apparently expect-
ing and prepared for an attack. All this while, so far from
the gunboats drawing the hostile fire, and standing between
the Queen and harm, she was receiving most damaging at-
tention from all sides. Shot and shell were raining around
her, and she had been struck a number of times in very de-
licate localities. Col. Ellet saw his was a desperate chance ;
that he had staked his life upon a cast, and that he had
probably lost, that those on whom he had depended had
failed, and he could now depend only on himself and fate.

" To attempt to strike the Arkansas with his wooden boat
while a score of tho heaviest guns were pouring their fire
upon him seemed certain destruction. There appeared no
chance for escape above, and none below. He was hemmed
in on every side. A wall of fire on both sides. And still he
saw and heard nothing of Farragut, who was to occupy the
lower batteries, while the ram relieved herself from her
hazardous strait.

" Col. Ellet now determined, come what might, to strike
the Arkansas—willing, if he could but sink her, to lose his
existence. The Arkansas position was unfavourable. He
would have to take a roundabout course, before he could
reach her, and strike her going against the current; thus
decreasing the rate of his speed, and diminishing the
accuracy of his aim. But even these adverse cir-
cumstances did not deter him, nor the fact that
heavy shot were every moment piercing his vessel,
going through and through her, as if she were made of
paper. The colonel determined to take the odds, sink
or not, and he took them ; he went against the Arkansas
partially up stream, designing to butt her forward of her
side guns, her weakest place—but the eddies in the river
altered his course somewhat, and he struck her aft of the
aft side gun, and, unfortunately, a glancing though violent
blow, that made both the traitorous and the loyal craft
tremble. The Arkansas seemed to shrink and yield before
the blow, and for a moment it was thought her side would
give way ; but she recoiled, and the ram flew back from her,
and, in moving toward her again, ran into the bank. The
Queen reversed engines, and, as she went sternward into
the stream, her head veered up the river, and it was then
evident her sole opportunity was above.
" Nothing more oould bo dono, and Col. Ellet resolved,
if possible, save his men, though that, under the circum-
stances, was the most forlorn of forlorn hopes. No friendly
gunboat or Union vessel was near. Three or four of the
hostile battorieo were playing upon the devoted and seem-
ingly doomed Queen, which must run by the great death-
belching guns before she could be regarded as in any way
secure. She had already been struck by more than 20 shots.
Her chimney. stacks were perforated with balls ; one of her
steam pipes had been shot away ; in various places large holes
had been bored through the sides and bow of the dauntless
vessel, and yet no one was hurt, though many of the
escapes had been almost miraculous. The Arkansas had
given her broadside just as she was passing, and it was
feared she would soon be water-logged. She therefore
moved up the river, the Confederate batteries increasing
their fire, as she did so. Heavy shot and shell fell before,
behind, and around her, and every few seconds one would
go tearing through her deck or cabin. As she passed one of
the upper batteries a 34-pounder shot struck her in the rear,
went through every one of her larboard state rooms, in
which no person happened to be at the time, into the cap-
tain's office, penetrating the iron safe, and passing out,
shattered the wooden carriage of one of the mounted brass
pieces on the boiler deck, dismounting the gun, This shot,
which was afterwards picked up, was a peculiar one. It
was composed of.pewter mostly, with a mixture of lead and
zinc, and weighs, probably, as much as 501 b. It is probably
moulded out of tha heterogeneous materials which the citi-
zens—the wives, mothers, and daughters of the Confede-
racy—have from time to time been urged by the rebel
leaders to contribute to the glorious cause.
" The Queen ran by the hostile batteries through a ter-
rible fire, and made her appearance above the bend riddled
with shot, but not a man on board seriously injured. She
was received with acclamations by the crews of the fleet,
who had as little hope of seeing her return as Col. Ellet
himself had of returning. His escape was what the
orthodox call miraculous, and the philosophic fortu-
nate. The same experiment could not be tried with the
same result once in ten thousand times, though her almost
entire freedom from casualty is partially due to the precau-
tion of Colonel Ellet in taking as tew persons as possible,
knowing that the probability of injury wouid be propor-
tioned to the number of his crew.

"On comming out of the action the Queen presented a
most dismantled and forlorn appearance, and is as nearly
shot to pieces, for any vessel that will float, as can well be
imagined. The many who have visited her since her ter-
rible experience are with difficulty persuaded that not one
of her crew was killed or dangerously -wounded. She has
the semblance of a complete wreck, and it will be necessary
to send her north at once for repairs, although some think
her injury too great for remedy—that she is not worth the
mending.
" After Colonel Ellet's return it may be supposed he felt
as if he had been, to say the least, unfairly treated by the
two commodores, who had in no wise fulfilled their portion
of the covenant, while he had done a great deal more than
his. The cslonel chiefly regrets the contretemps because
he is firmly of the opinion that if Farragut and Davis had
performed what they agreed he would have been successful
in capturing or destroying the Arkansas, and he expressed
himself not only willing but anxious to repeat the attempt
whenever they will assure him they will achieve their por-
tion of the task.

" Commodore Davis crying out Good luck' to Colonel
Ellet, was very unfortunate, for it threw the ram behind,
and gave the Essex leisure to get too far ahead. Had the
Queen and Essex been nearer together, it is quite possible
they might have achieved a favourable result.
" Commodore Davis informs Colonel Ellet that after the
Queen had passed down his position was very much ex-
posed, and ho ordered the Cincinnati and Louisville up the
river, following them with the flag ship, forgetting, until
they they had ascended the stream some distance, his Prwx!lse to
cover the Queen's retreat. The Commodoreimmediately
ordered a downward movement again, but his boats are so
slow that before he could recover the gT°Und he had lost
the Queen was out of danger and saved, but without any
cause of gratitude to the distinguished commanders of the
The Essex lost one man
s not
killed, and three wounded, all sailors.
combined fleets. but a i
jured, and he has no loss of men to report. The Cincinnati
received some 20 shots ; but is also little damaged. The
Louisville entirely escaped•
tg The Arkansas was very little hurt, it is supposed, by
v
in-
" The Benton was struck several times,
the butting of the Queen of the West, as she had up steam,
and was moving about an hour agsi in the river. Doubtless
she needs repairs for the injuries inflicted on her on the 15th
inst., and is not by any means her former self, though, I
apprehend, she could still do us a great deal of damage if
she were bold enough to attack our fleet. The best evidence
as I have said before, that she is or was badly damaged,
lies in the fact that she has not made a second attempt
to engage our flotilla. Had she passed unscathed
through the gauntlet she had selected for her-
self, she would most assuredly have had sufficient confidence
to attempt the renewal of her first brilliant performance.