Complex sentence: When the rebels realized this they attacked the "Island Queen" and a brief gunfight erupted between Beall's men and the steamer's crew, leaving one man wounded in the northern most naval skirmish of the war.
Split into simpler sentences: When the rebels realized this they attacked the "Island Queen". A brief gunfight erupted between Beall's men and the steamer's crew, leaving one man wounded in the northern most naval skirmish of the war.