Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-11-16

were beaten into quiyering masses of
bruised, CORY iIesh; or were torn into mu-
tilated, ghastly, slckeniug objects.
The terrible effects OF a shell bursting in
the midst of group-of men cannot be
adequately described, for words and pen
alike are weak. a knst Of men are talk
ing together. full of 4turdiest life, aud
earnest action every word and gesture
denoting healthiest aud most vigorous
mauliness and strength comes n
puff of pearly5 smoke, a binding flash of
red FIRE, a sharp sudden report, and in an
instant the active life Of the eager men is
crushed and beaten odt, the Parched sand
drinks up their life blood before the smoke
can clear away but tho maugled limbs,
the still throbbing be4ins, the gaping
wounds, half filed with dirt and purple
mud, are not covered by the sand until the
later hour wheS the sword and musketare
laid aside for the pick AID spade, and men
forget their deadly hates eonsign earth
to earth, and dust to illli 80 II ~. 4
The effects af round itot, or of one Of
the newly invented rifed cannon prejec-
| tiles, are not so ghastly and terrible to the
eye-the men die, but their limbs are not
torn and twisted off rs by the iron splin-
tiers of a bursting bomb.
It was suspected that tue enemy had n
force concealed in the woods back of the
Fort, and many shells were thrown in them
for the purpose of dislodging any troops
there stationed. The suppositionwas par
TALLY correct; n number of men had fled
from the Fort to the woods, terrified at the
tremendous effects of our fire. Many of
these poor fellows were killed without
having fred shot.
After the ships had made one round, and
sailed their fiery circle ouce, the order Of
battle was changed; certain ones of the
gun boats dropped out of their assigned
places, having discovered that they could
take up position which wonld enable
them to remain stationary, and still keep
up rapid and CALLING ERE on the Fort.
So. IlencefOrth, the other attacking ships
moved in single line, the Whbesh still
leading.
Four of the gun boats ran into the blight
ofthe river to the north ofthe Fort, where
they werc enabled to keep an enfilading
FIRE, that completely raked the entire forsi-
fcations of Fort Walker, and distressed
the enemy" exceedingly.
Very mauyIof the shot from the shore
batteries were aimed high, especially at
the Bieuyille, and other steamers having
the walking beam of the engine high
above the deck, the object evidently being
to cripple the engine and to render the
vessel unmanagable, so that she might
drift on the shoals and become an easy
prey. In these attempts they were not
successful in single instance, for not one
of our ships, save the Penguin, which wns
Immediately taken care of by one of our
own boats, was injured in her steam works,
so as to be disabled for a single instant.
Withina distance of nine hundred yards
from the rebel guns, the Wabash threw in
her fiery messengers, Mhiftethe other fiji
gates, no further away, participated In the
deadly strife; and the guuboats, from their
sheltered nook, raked the ramparts fright
fully. Thus the fire of about fifty guns
was concentrated every moment upon the
enemy, who worked heroicalIy, never wa
vering in his reply except when the Wa
bash was using her batteries directly in
front of him. Then it was too hot for
flesh and blood to endure. Shells fell nl-
most rs rapidly as haiI-drops within, and
for mile and half beyond the battery.
AS they struck and ploughed into the
earth, a dense pillar of sand would shoot
upward, totally obscuring the fertilization,
aud driving the blinded gunners from their
pieces.
In describing circuit and delivering
their FIRE the vessels consumed rather more
than an hour for each round. Little more
than half of this time, however, was spent
in getting into position, for gliding slowly
around, perhaps entering the bay nj the
distance of half mile, Just far enough to
permit the safe turning Of his immense
ship, the Commodore brought her back,
and repeated from his starboard battery,
until the guns became too hot to handle.
that devastating FIRE. What is true re-
specting the firing of the Wabash is also
true respecting the Susquehanna, Bienvil'e,
Pawnee, Mohican and the rest. Each ves-
sci discharged her broadside at the short
est possible range, loading and firing
again and again, with all the GOODNESS aud
precision exercised in target practice, be-
fore she passed the battery. Bnt the enc
my was by no means inactive. He offered
Stubborn heroic resistance. Looking
through u powerful telescope belonging to
the engineer officers of the expedition,
saw asthe ships were approaching the bat
terry the second time, two men wearing red
shirts. They had been particularly active,
and now satat the muzzle ofa gun, appar.
entity exhausted, and waiting for more am
munition. This terrible fire was falling
all around them, but they moved not, and
Idoubtedif I they were alive. Finally they
sprang mp and loaded their pieces she'll
at that instant burst near them, and they
disappeared, doubtless blown to atoms.
heard frequently, during the hottest of the
fight, most unqualified approval for the
manner in which the rebels served their
guns. That their craftsmanship was
good, the torn hulls and cut rigging of orr
vessels, rather than the number of killed
on board furnish full evidence.
For the second time the feet came
steamtug down; for the second time they
poured in that terrible ERE, dismantling
the guns, SCATTERING the buildings, and
stretching in death numbers of their men;
and for the second time the feet passed on
in safety, showing not the slightest sign of
any intention of going to the bottom.
BY this time, new element began to
mingle with the feelings Of the rebel gar
rison. With astonishment and wonder
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