The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1861-11-16
Particulars Of the BOmbardment
Of Port Royal.
THE FORTS ALL CAPTURED,
with the Private Property, Letters,
Dispatches, &C.
DNiIrEQpI ARANQlNED
BEAUFORT ABANDONED.

BEAUFORT ABANDONED.
TIE KILLED AND WOUNp'D'
The gale encountered by .'' 1rn nvu, s m"i
very severe. The sttd W. were lost ,d The The
Oscee!!a went asho yyssndered at sea, but the
steamer Gove ei henaccecdcd in saving all her
Isaac y ne exception of few marines.
creW' VIE arrived at Port Royal on Mon,
HE 4th inst. On Tuesday tho small
-dnboats sounded and baoyed out. the chan
mel under fire from the forts, which did no
! damage. On Wednesday the weather pre-
vented active operations, but on Thursday
morning the 9TH instant, the men Of war and
the glnboats advanced to the attack.
At 10 A. NJ. the action commenced, and
was hotly carried on on both sides, and las
ted about four hours, at the end of which
time the Rebels were compelled by the
shower of shells from the fleet to abandon
their works and beat hasty retreat.
| Our loss i'll this brilliant opening Of the
campaign in South Carolina was only eight
men killed, including the Chief Engineer of
| the Mohican. and about twenty wounded.
| The Rebels loss in the action is not known,
but htty-two dead bodies Mere found by our
men and buried. All their wounded, except
| two, were carried off.
| Two forts were captured-Forts Walker,
on Hilton Head, mounting % guns, and
Fort Beauregard, on Bay Point mounting
, 10 guns. The guns were Of heavy calibrc.
They were both new and splendid earth
works of great strength, constructed in the
highest style of military science, and pro-
nounced by our engineers as impregnable
against any assault by land forces.
THE REBELS RErREAr-A COMPLETE RouT.
The final retreat of the Rebels was per-
feet rout. They left everything, arms
equipments of all kinds, even the officers
swords and commissions. All their letters
and papers. both public and private, order
books documents Of all kinds, were left in
their flight and fell into our hands, atlording
our officers much valuable information.
Among the papers was a despatch from
JEFF Davis to the commander of the post,
informing him of the sailing of the fleet, and
that he knew their destination to be Port
ROYAL. Query-Who was the traitor?)
The whole surrounding country was seized
with a fearful panic on the arrival of the
fleet. The day after the fight of the enemy
from their entertainments the Seneca and
two other gunboats, under the command of
Lieutenant Amman, proceeded up to Beau
fort, and found but one white man in the
town, and he was drunk.
All the plantations up the river seemed
to be deserted except by the negroes, who
were seen in great numbers, and who, as
the boats passed, came down to the shore
with bundles in their hands, as if expecting
to be taken right off
Our troops seized all the letters in the
Post Office at Beaufort.
LANDING OF TIE NATIONAL ARMY.
After the capture of the forts the whole
army, about fifteen thousand strong, were
safely landed and established on shore.
g., hut Ia "a, hut -
Rebels could not stand the explosion of our
big shells.
The force of the enemy in the forts, as
asce:tained from their papers, was from
three to four thousand men, under General
Drayton, of South Carolina.
NONE OF OUR VESSELS SUNK.
Notwithstanding the heavy ciibre of the
guns in the Rebel forts, and their abundant
supply Of ammunition, as subsequent dis
coveries proved, not tne of our fleet was
either sunk or burnt, and none were scri.
ously injured or even disabled
The following extract is from a private
letter written by Com. Duport:
Their confidence was extreme that they
could drive us away. They fought bravcly.
and the rifle guns never missed. An eighty
FOUNDER rifle shot went through our mainmasl
; in the very centre, making an awful hole
They aimed at onr bridge, where they knew
they would make hole il lucky. A shot in
the centre let water into the after magazine
but | save perhaps a hundred lives by keep
ing underway and bringing in close
We found their sights graduated at SIN hun
drcd yards. When they once broke the
stampede was intense and not gun was
spiked.
In truth, have not conceived of such fire
as that of this ship, the Wabash. on her second
turn. and | am told that its effect upon the
spectators out side Of her was intense.
learn that when they saw the flag flying on
shore the troops were powcrlrss to cheer, but
wrpt. Gen. Sherman WAS deeply affected
and the soldiers are loud and unstinting in
their expressions Of admiration and gratitude.
The works are most Scicn,i ically construct
ed, and there is nothing like Fort Walker on
the Potomac!
did not allow the victory to check our
ardor, but despatched some vessels under
Capt. ellis over to the other side.
To-day have an expedition to Beaufort to
save the light vessels, but they were fired
Instantly after the surrender
Beaufort is deserted. The negroes are
wild with JOY and revenge. They have been
Shot down they say. like dogs because they
would not go of with their masters.
| have already boat at Skull creek, and
communication between Savannah and
Charleston is cat off.
EXTRACT FROM PRIVATE LETTER.
The following is an extract from a private
letter from one Of the officers engaged in the
bombardmcnt:
| am sure our success will rejoice youl
hearts; it has been complete, and terror run,
over the whole country. The negroes ar,
wild and plundering their masters houses
The whites have been driving the negroes
away by force and shooting them down, but
they still come down to the gunbonts. The
moment Gen. Drayton took to his horse, il
the panic Of the 9TH, his two hundred servants
went directly to the Wabash. This is worth,
of notice, as putting down the nonsense tina
slaves were ready to fight for their masters. -
They surrounded Capt. Amman in crowds. a
Beaufort, one Of them calling ont in the JOY
Of his heart, 81 didt think you could do it
masSa."
IIniOn hIpu in Tanncssaa