The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1847-02-13

It. draw little to find greater secur;,
y behind the highest part Of the hill; v
4 soon saw that our shot and shells wei
J. doing fearful execution by the holes
p the walls of the houses. As the en-,
g. my did not open upon our boats imm,
If diately, our fire was slackened for fea
= that our shell might burst before reacI
J. ing the shore, and do injury to our ow
=; people.
b "When our boats boarded the Con
dor, the enemy, with three cheers
opened upon them with voleys ofmus
J kerry and an 18 pounter chal ged wit
grape and round shot, and culveren
situated within musket range Of them
Our fire from the ship was at ono,
fiercely resumed, and so we'll directe
that prevented the enemy from ap
preaching the Condor, confning them
behind the hill, as the whole space wa.
swept by our shot and shells. Then
fire was also warml y returned by oul
Iaunch's gun and smalI.armed men
drawnup on the deck of the brig. Her
cable, though Of iron, was snon cut
with an axe, and our men were heav-
ing cheerlIy upon the hawser. running
to the kedg anchor, which they had
dropped as they approached the brig,
with 'of' she goes, and off she must go.
IN the mean time the enemy's fire be-
came so hot that Lieu,ent Harrison
ordered the brig to be fired, fearing
the boats might be disable This
work was done under showers of balls
as they were receiving The fire of at
east five hundred muskets. When
she warped up to the kedge, she was
taken in tow by the boats; it was at
this moment that the enemy had some
exultation, seeing the boats pulling a.
way from the brig; and not Observing
the hawser which was slack, they
thought the boats were beaten off, but
they soon saw tn hawser tighten, and
The brig follow the boats; the lst cut
ter was sent to assist in towing in
charge of Acting MasterJ. F. Stenson.
The brig was soon out of range Of the
enemy's musketry, the fire was far ig-
nited, she was towed to lee ward Of US,
and the boats cast off; we ceased firing.
our officers and men were joyousIy re-
ceiv ed--not a man was injured, which
seemed miraculous; thebrig's side, and
masts were full OF shot, and one ofour
iaunch's oars was broken by grape
shot, the only injury done us. 1t
seems as strained and fabulous to me,
an eyewitness, when written, as it
must to you, that two boats. with a.
bout fifty men, should be exposed to so
great fire for from twenty to thirty
minutes, without sustaining injury; but
such is the whole truth. believe you
may search naval records in vain for
better planned or more completed exc
cuted expedition. Its entire success
without loss is the highest evidence OF
its just conception and its gallant exc
cution. The spirit that lighted the
fires at Tripoli is still alive in our navy.
The old spirit is not buried, but rais-
ed up.
ii, must be recolIected this cutting
out was made at midday and previous
notice given. The truth is the enemy
did not open their fire upon our boats
Until they boarded the brig, when, with
three cheers, they opened upon them
believing that they had every man bag
ped that ;yas in reach Of their shot,
There can b.: no doubt they felt that
they had them trapped from their exul-
"a on. Never did a set OF men behave
batter than ours did.
"The Spanish consul's letteT recelv-
ed in the morni2g being unanswered
Capt. Du Pont now replied to him say
ing that he would not open his hre a.
gain unless some offensive act was
that the inhabitants might
return 10 the town and resume tEelr
avocations, that he had accomplished
all that he had come for and would
leave soon; and showed moreover to
the Mexican commander by the cutting |
out of the Condor within pistol shot Of
his barrack that his previous forbear-
ance had arisen from motives OF hu
manity and desire to protect the prop
prty of neutrals. This letter was sen'
On shore by boat from neutral yes
sci.
ave have not been able to learn.
with any reliability what damage or loss
the enemy sustained.
"A captain OF a-neutral vessel inform
ed us that the enemy had expressed
themselves confidently that they could
beat off any force that might attempt
TO cut out the Condor and that our file
had been most destructive to cover ou'
boats; that one Of our Paixhan shells
had exploded in the inside of house
and turned it inside out and that SO
great was the force of our 32-pound
shot. that one had gone through five