Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1855-09-14

thi bCioi VI vic oidhu ttbht nave
come to have look at us. Thou
sands of people crowd the rocks and
heights along the shore, TO watch us
all day long, and the harbor is per-
fectly alive with boats carrying
troops TO different island batteries.
AT $50 p. NJ. general signal was
made Have steam up by 3 A. NJ
Aug. ga glorious morning,
and all hearts beating quick, with
anticipations Of today's work.
us, A. M.-Admiral has Just
signalised, asking Euryalus if all is
ready, who answered. nearly one
boat shifting berth ; so suppose
we shall commence to lombard the
place in less than en- hour. The
plan OF attack is for The mortar boats
to shell the fortress, while the gun
boats cruise about to draw the at
tention of the earihworks which line
the shore away from them, should
any effect be produced by the NOR
tars. The blockships and others
viii advance nearer in, and, | hope,
destroy the place.
80, A. M.-Signal made Nor
tar vessels open fire with shell.
The bombardment will last forty
eight hours.
$, A. M-First she'll fred nine
gunboats commenced firing, and the
action became general along TO the
eastward. as far as the eye could
reach and to the westward as far
as a gun could reach every rock,
and garden, and house seems full OF
guns.
At 10 A. NJ. we set fire TO Fort
Nargo, and at LIS the magazine
blew up with all awful explosion,
aud for few minutes the Russian
fire slackened. The enemys FIRE is
very good when once they get the
range to prevent their doing this,
the gun-boais kept moving in cir
Giles formed by four or FIVE in each,
and as each brings the bow gun to
bear upon its object, it is fired, then
turning as sharply round as possible,
the broadside gun is pointed and
fred, and they proceed TO complete
their circle, while doing which they
have time to reload.
Noon (exactly.)-A monster ex-
ploslon took place, which lasted
without iniermission for more than
two minutes il was like a volcano
IN a state Of eruption, vomiting forth
lighted shells, roofs of houses, and
beams OF timber. Following this,
in the course of half an hour, three
other explosions took place, which
set fire to the barracks aud town in
four places.
. p. M--The enemy's fire has
been very slack since two o'clock
aud there are so many fires upon
the Islands of Svarlo, Vargo, aud
GuStalSVard, on which the town and
ito hithorto form ,daLis fnrtreSs is
built, that il is one continual sheet
of red flame and smoke. Not shot
or shell has yet been thrown at the
city of HelSing(ors, but signal has
just been made to prepare all the
rocket-boats by eight o'clock. Our
men behaved nobly, and if this war
has done us no other service, it is an
unanimous opinion in the fleet that
i has taught us the immense use of
steam gun-boats, of which TOO much
cannot be said in praise of them.
Oar mortar practice during the day
has been beautiful, and all the young
officers in charge of them deserve
the greatest credit each of them
worked and fired his own mortar
himself, aud there was scarcely one
that did not tell.
Aug. Ill concluded my last
letter about s A. NJ. on the 9th. AT
that time not gun was being fred
by the enemy indeed, the extraor-
binary slackness of their fire all day
was a source Of general surprise to
US, for, instead of having 200 OF
300 guns playing on us, we had not
more than % or 30, and of these
only one at time fired every two
or three minutes. The fearful ex-
plosions of the day, and the destruc-
lion that was raging around, seemed
to have paralysed their defence. "A
little after A. Nj. on the OH, the
rocket 1oiilla assembled round the
Duke of Wellington, aud shortly
after left 10 take up their station I'M
der the command of Captain Henry
Caldwell. They commenced prac-
tice about $50 p. NJ, when it being
quite dark, magnificent spectacle
presented itself. The citadel, adj
mralty house, store houses, and
other public buildings on Vargo,
were all on fire; a beautiful breeze
from n. r. famed it into fierce
blaze. The red flames, rising at
least $50 feet high, seemed to riot
among the clouds of black smoke
and lick them up. At this moment
the rockets commenced their fearful
rush through the air, like mighty
meteors, leaving long streams OF fire
behind them, aud the mortars,
which had ceased for a while, TO al
low them to cool, began TO boom
again, and their shells, mounting
high in the air, twinkled like star,
as the revolving shell showed its
lighted fuse occasionally. We
could trace it on its mission until II
fell and exploded, when bright
fash, followed by smoke and a