The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1851-05-14
[cosr1NuEp rRoM FIRST PAGE. ]

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ed ny lanyards insease ihe look should
miss ife. A lieutenant then passed
.,hroushthe ship, directing the marines
d and boarders, who were furnished with
pixies, cutlasses and pistols, how to pro.
coed if il should be necessary to board
The enemy. He was followed by the
fcoptnin, who exhorted them 10 fidelity
and courage; urging upon their consid-
Grafton the well known motto Of tho
brave Nelson, England expects every
man 10 do his duty In addition to all
these preparations on deck, some men
z were stationed in the tops with small
arms, whose duty it was to attend to
4 trimming the sails and to use their
muskcts, provided wo came TO close ac.
,ion. There were others also below,
called snil trimmcrs, to nssis, in work
ing the ship, should it be necessary TO
change her position during the battle.
My stntion was u, the fifth gun on the
main deck ], was my duty to supply
The gun with powder, n boy being up
pointed TO each gun in the ship on tho
side we were engaged for this purpose.
:, A wooden screen was placed before the
entrance 10 the magazine, with a hole
in it, through which the cartridges were
passed 10 the boys. We received them
there, and covering them with our jack-
els, hurried TO our respective guns
These precautions are observed to pre-.
, vent tho powder taking fire before il
reaches The. gun.
Thus we oil stood waiting orders, in
motionless suspense. At last We fred
three guns from the larboard side Of the
main deck; this was followed by the
command.
Cease firing; you are throwing away
your Shot
Then came the orders 10 swear Ship
md prepare to attack the enemy with
our starboard guns. Soon after heard
n firing from some other quarter, which
at first supposed to be discharge
from our quarter deck guns; though, it
proved TO be The enemy's cannon.
A strange noise, such rs J never
heard before, next arrested my attention.
il sounded like the tearing OF sails, just
4 over our heads. This soon ascertain.
cd to be the wind OF The cncmy's shot.
The firing after few minutes cess,..
ton, recommended. The roaring Of
cannon could now be heard from all
parts Of our trembling ship, and min
:gling as it did with lha,o Of our foes, i,
made most hidcous noise. By-and. by
l. theard the shots strike The sides Of our
shin. 'Ihe whole scene became indc-
scribably confused and h,rrible-it
was like some awful, tremendous ,hun.
der storm, whose drufcning roar is nt-
tended by inccssan, s,reaks ofligh,ning,
curryinG death in every fash and s,rcw-
! ing the ground with the victims Of its
wrath; only in our case, the scene was
rendered more horrible than that, by
the presence Of torrents Of blood which
dyed our decks.
Though the recital may bo painful,
yet as il wiilreveal The horrors Of war,
and seow nj what fearful price victo-
~ is won orlost, I will present the rca.
der wiki things as they met my eYs,
.,y-,l|i4asrirs no ProsressTo Of T1'iur dFeuuTu'
fight,
was busily supplying my gun with
powder, when saw blood suddenly fly
from the arm Of a man stationed ut our
gun. l saw nothing strike him the
effect alone was visble-in an instant
the third lieutenant tied his handkcr-
chief round the wounded arm, and sent
the grooming wretch below TO the SUR
.geon.
The cries Of the wounded now rang
4 through all parts Of the ship. These
were carried 10 the cockpit as fas, us
they fell, while those more fortunate
men who were killed outright were i'm.
mcdiately thrown overheard. AS ! was
stationed but short distance from the
main balchway. could catch glance
nt oil who were carried below. \
glance was all | could indulge in, for
the boys beloning to the guns mex, to
mine were wounded in the early par,
of,he engagement, and ] had to spring
with all my might to keep three or four
guns supplied with cartridges. saw
two oftlcsc lads fall nearly together.
One Of them was struck in the leg by
large sho,--hc had 10 suffer ampu,ulion
above the wound. The other had n
x VI CdilIOII StNN SClll lllIouSu MS
ankle. A stout Yorkshircman lifted
him in his arms, and hurried him TO
the cockpit. tIe had his foot cut of,
and was thus made lame for life. Two
ofthe boys stationed on the quarter
deck were killed. They were both
Portuguese. A man who saw one Of
them killed, afterwards told me that
his powder caught fire and burnt the
flesh almost of his face. In this pilia-
bic situation, the agonizcd boy lifted up
both hands as if imploring relief, when
passing shot Instantly cut him in Two.
| was an eye witness to sight
equally revolving. A man named
A.ldrich had one Of his hands cut off
by shot, and almost at the same
: moment he received another shot,
which tore open his bowels in a ter.
rible manner. AS he fell two or
three men caught him in their arms,
and, he could not live, threw him
overheard.