Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-11-16

there, and paying their ReEy respects, then
making the turn 10 20 back end as they went /
up the river, favoFing the other batteries With |
similar oomplimeas-theg game 70 be oontin- |
ued ad Ebif.ui, or until the rebel flag came
down.
UoEiIEaUEEEET OF THE EHaAeENEET.
The ships made the entrance of The Port
Royal channel At the point between the
forts 1t Is twenty-five hundred yards vide
as the feet moved up the rebel batteries on
both sides of the river opened Ere on the head
of the column, with heavy guns Of long
range.
Al ten minutes past ten, the Wabash fred
simultaneously on both Forts Walker and
Baauregard, sending broadside ct each
Each volley fell In front Of the batteries, and
pl0Wed up the same fariously.
The whole feet Immediately Joined in the
engagement, and broRdside after broadside
was fred Ia quick succession. 10 Eve min
utes the action became general along the
whole line. The scene was ons terribly
grand aad exciting. No words can describe
t. So many ships and gunboats were never
before employed in naval engagement on
this continent. The simultaneous booming
of the broadsides, the quick flashing of the
belching hres, the dense curling Of the masses
of smoke, accompanied by the whizzing of the
enemy's balls over our heads, their splashing
on the water, and their destructive tearing Of
our masts and sides, gave an impress of dan
ger, and the vastness Of the engagement al
most impossible to realize, much less 70 ade-
qustely detail. Meantime, amid the roar OF
the cannon could be heard the loud voices Of
command, aud as the smoke rolled upward on
the deck of each gunboat could be seen the
men arranging and sighting their guns, and
everyThere the most courageous and exciting
activity. OF course eager eyeslooked toward
| the forts and batteries Of the enemy. It was
known that our firing must be producing
terrible effect. Looking through the marine
glasses, it was easy to discern the havoc OF
our terrific cannonading We saw guns dis
mounted, and large clouds Of sand swept up
by our shells as they struck.
FIGHT-sPLENDID DESCRIPTION OF TIE BoN-
BARDMENT.
OF course the ships were not obliged to
wait until they got abreast of the works to
commence firing, but the make Of the river
permitted them to begin to throw angular
raking shots at distance of three quarters 0l
mile, firing dOOn the river, keeping it up as
they slowly drifted past, and finally finishing
the round by pitching some parting shots up
the river at asimilar angle with the ones first
fired. This plan permitted seven or eight Of
our vessels to play on the forti6cations at the
same time.
Each ship was in effective range of the
fort for about 20 minutes every time the line
came ronnd; they moved like terrible pro-
cession of destroying angels, and at each Of
their visits, which indeed were few, but not
far between, the combined force hailed upon
the doomed and devoted shore fiery storm
OF more than 400 fiery shells.
The spectacle was one of the most impres.
sive that could be presented to the eye Of
man. The air was filled with bursting
bombs-each deadly prcjectile, as It hummed
through the air, first rose hesvenward In q
graceful curve, and then sw0oped down 10
earth to fulfill its fatal errsnd, leaving
through the air a thin wave=ing line Of
smoke that was first snowy white, then light
purple, then fading to a pale blue, quickly
blended with the azure of the clear Southern
sky. Beautiful as was the airy course of the
deadly missile, its earthly track was marked
by a crimson stream of flowing blood, by the
sickening crash of shattering bones, and by
wreck, ruin ard destruction Of whatever
thing it touched. Nothing could stand be-
fore this fiery storm-guns were hurled from
their carriages; houses were knocked into
heaps OF brick and mortar, and beams and
boards; the formidable fort walls of the solid
est masonry were in places torn and splin-
tered, and the tough trees of the pitch pine
woods were shivered, twisted, Wrenched, and
cut off like slender reeds; and the men were
beaten into quivering masses of bruised, CORY
flesh; or were torn into mutilated, ghastly,
sickening objects.
The terrible effects of shell bursting in
quHT5Ty uoseTress3-r~af men cannot be ade-
are weak. A knot Of men are talking, To-
gether, full of sturdiest lite and earnest
action; every word and gesture denoting
healthiest and most vigorous msnliness and
strength-there comes puff of pearly smoke,
a binding fash of red FIRE, a sharp, sudden
report, and in an instant the active life of
the eager men is crushed and beaten out the
parched sand drinks up their life blood before
the smoke can clear away; but the mangled
! limbs, the still throbbing brains, the gaping
wounds half filed with dirt and purple mud.
are not covered by the sand until that later
hour when the sword and musket are laid
aside for the pick and spade, and men forget
their deadly hates to oconsign "Earth to earth,
and dust to dust"
The effects of q round shot, or of one of the
newly-invented rihed-cannon proiectiles, are
not SO ghastly and terrible to the eye-the
men die, but their limbs are not torn and
twisted off as BY the iron splinters of a
bursting bomb.
The rebels had confidently calculated on
being able to sink the entire feet in twenty
minutes, as we learned from some copies OF
Southern papers, and from soma of the rebel
letters, many of which fell into our hands,
and in several Of which this result is conf. |
IDENTIFY predicted, and is regarded not merely |
as "consumation devoutly to be wished,b |
but was looked upon almost as an accom- |
plished fact. The utter destruction of the |
entire Expedition was considered so posi-
lively assured, and their belief in the ability
of their batteries to put an effeetual quietus
upon the pretensions Of "Lincoln's'' feet was
80 perfect, that in one or two of the docu-
ments the writer's lamented the necessity they
should be under of sending the ships to the
bottom, when the Confederates are so much
IN need OF ships. It was taken for granted
that the tremendous execution to be done, by
their heavy guns, would perforate the hulis
Of our ships and send them instantly to the
bottom. Having this confident expectation,
The rebels looked eagerly sfter every fire to
zee some of our ships go down. They espe-
Tally concentrated theirguns on the Wabash,
md, as the prisoners afterward informed us,
we're much surprised that she persisted in re. /.
naming afoat. When the ships had all
,assed their battery in safety for the 6rst