The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-12-21
OF PENSACOLA.


-
oms VII admit First, Of .Atgty IS
1Hs PREPARATION
TIE object vas % destroy de Navy Yard, %
q % nj : stoo n fbeiS - Of Government
nronartv and ~ = buildine aay more extern
~ mcsna of Sofsnee. and 20 batter down some
a. 40 fnrsi6onf iona ()rsern veee given 70
our sssisssss TO place baes filled with coal
around snch peetious Of the machinery % were
expeoel 20 shos. asd ssasly all ths work was
Dor vhieh q necessasy 70 "prepars ship for
aesios.. 49, ~
ON shcre % confer With Col. Brown in regard
70 ufoliminarieS ~ II o'clock he returned,
and then % received orders to complets Or.
rsaeeuenta Osdsss we're dispatched to the
Richmoud and Montgomery, then In port,
giving them directions how to act, and the
word was passed that We shoald move IN q
vetes battery and the sand battery, just in front
ofefcRse, all three Of which could bring their
guns to bear upon either Fort Pickens OF the
shipping. lsa 2.
We ooald form no idea Of the strength Of these
plaoes but IL vas highly important that We should
draw their Ore % they esfladed the parapet guns
Of Pickens II had been arranged that, As soon
- The steamers came down from Pensacola 70
the navy yard, the fort was to open fre upon
49,
Oh oil means Of bringing down reinfoscemerts
ftoa the town. and the hrst gun from the fort
vas 70 b Tie signal for - % move IN and open
Gre. Orders were passed 70 have sumc:ent food
for the day cooked before O'Clock 10 the morn
tsg. and at late nouf 1855 nigns We turned 10,
TO dream OF terrible oatues ana nair'Dreadtn
escapea
.i ofsslaa o. 1at sAoAoEhENT;
~ sunrise snis morning we were aIl reaoy.-
Oar ooets nad oeen no'sseo OUT ana moore1 y,
aloeSaos, snos ana sneM eot ~ ana ~ s'eam ~
rcaoy 70 move u soot: nos.se. me usual
morning pfaye. vas onerco up, sne chaplain I'M
plonng blessing upon sae sve9s s 2. .oe Gay,
siser wnicn sne tl,9 Omcer aoofesseu rev
vorcs 70 zoe men ~ ms 1sos' cle.l, qu.cx' c1me
so'soe Poshs :. an"e" ne uIEeu upon 'heln
STRICT ooeosence 70 oroers: cooiness, Judgment
ana precision IN nr'he Inc answer was snree
nearly CHEERS.
Asoa! naii-Pass nine We coula see the sseam
ers coming Gown 70 sne navy isid, nttle gus
pec1ng mat sne'r ooo@ w.s sssleo; IN asery
eoofs u@o Icy "eIe i.es " ene ooch: a.u
less sre.s r,'.u'es VI ~ "e ~ soAe 'sS.e
. y. TUT .ic-en', snu " e.. .ee ooons "
sos sau. = c1 S:e,. ouIss Io'n .son v.' "t
eno eve, sn'Ps sncnoF came up hve'y' !"
",s osl. snen. :.
40 oroer 20 Drlns our guns wltnln range,
s: necesss'y lot Us 70 RUG ins0 very snosi WAFER,
sno eon:eqaeauy y requigeo sne UTMOST caa',on
10 so,Ang sne snip Asen Win = Pe!Iec'ly
smoosn ses .ne1e 1eu,u ~ ony 'wsn'y i.cnes
o. Wsset onast oo. zee, ana !: IL snoula oegln 70
c clo. VI ns..y sIsn ~ was .. n.ceSsssy
lo' w ~ Iss ~ .ue sup III sucn Pos'''on '"a'
VIC Cou,o essIy ~" iuso ueep Wa.sr.
Wnlle wotkmg our way IN, tno hlchmond
came Up unoef our steF0, ana az sue draws less
vsser snan We 20, .ne Oommooore ordereo ner
70 30 III sno open n.c % soon Is soc was WITHIN
range. one passed Dy Us, s0ok position near
ef 70 the lana ana opened nre. heantime, the
waseE oettefy anu Fo!s Acnac were ooing tneiI
best 70 irghten Us, ~ throwing shot that fell
about mile snort. we kept on steadily until
We shougns shss We were Witnin range anu then
came 70 ancnor.
fHs ACTION.
oor nrst snos was from the S4.pound rifle, and
solo with very good enecs the next wasirom
llncn gun, out It Tell short lev more
werc nfeo with mocn the same result. FINDING
mat We were TOO far on, boat was sent out In
charge OF the master, In order to sound, and
having found that we could get in mewhat clO-
ser without the water shoaling much more, We
hove up anchor and ran in about one-fourth Of q
mile further.
During the time that our boat was out sound.
in9. several OF their shots came very near 1t, but
fortunately none bit. We now again opened
fre from our broadslde guns, and this time to
tome purpose. Almost every shot told The
rebels we're constantly throwing shot at us, and
| seemed to he either increasing the charge Of
powder, or else getting moro elevation, for theis
shot gradually came nearer, though it was not
until late in the afternoon that We were struck.
By IL o'clock, both the Richmond and Nigga
70, together With the guns bearing from Fort
Pickens and Battery Scott we're all playing into
Fort McRea and it's surrounding batteries. We
averaged one shell every three minutes, and as
the Richmond bad more guns though smaller,
aud more than our number Of guns were being
served from Santa Rosa, there were about two
shei! each minute, being fired at this point.
About one O'Clock, firing commenced from
| masked battery which disclosed itself in the
woods along the shore, and about q mile south
Of HcRea. They seemed to have q particular
spite against US, by the pertinacity with which
they fred at US; but finding that they could not
reach US, they turned their attention to the Rich
mond, which vas nearer in shore. Many of their
shot came close to the latter, and had they been
| well directed would have done great deal OF
damage IS
Only one took effect, however, and l regret to
record that this killed one man and wounded
| seven. The man killed was captain OF the gun,
and was in the act Of taking aim when struck
The wounded were but slightly hurt The bat.
terry Of the Richmond was now brough: to bear
upon the hidden rebels, but do not think it did
much execution, as most of her shot we're seen
to fall short. About o'clock she hauled out.
Al two O'Clock, shell from one Of our guns
Get DIRE % . frame house in the rear of McRes,
and much OF the time the fort has been evelop.
ed In cloud Of smoke. Soon after this fire
broke Out. their Flagstaff Was shot away, and the
symbol OF treachsry came down by the run. Sub
sequently It was raised again.
About two o'clock, one or two shots passed
over .: and dropped into the water, and by the
note Wnich tney sang 40 they passed, we knew
that they he'd turned some heavier metal upon US.
Two or three OF our guns we're directed to the
spot whence the smoke vas seen to issue, and il
they treated ~ to music. We returned the com.
Piiment With interest They succeeded in plant
ing two shots 10 our sides, making rather ugly
holes, and upsstting things in one of the Lieu.
tenants roolna. By six O'Clock We must have
dismounted the gun, for at that time 4cRea ceas-
ed dfing altogether. and for one hour and half
we eumbied shell after shell inside of her walls,
without any response. ~ et.
We ceased firing at $40, it having become
TOO dark to get good aim. Our whole number Of
shell fred vas ls0; Of these, 4S were flied with
| n nYun8 liant =