The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-11-15

Il
est life and earnest act ion, every wOrl and grs-
| turc dcnoiing hcalthicst aud most vigorous
| manlness and sttcngth-thcrc comes puff Of
| pcarly smoke, binding fash Of red fire, a
| sharp, sudden repo e. and in an instant the ac-
| tive life Of the eager mon S crushed an beaten
ont, the paichcl sand drinks mp their lite blool
/ lciorcfh smoke can clear away; hut the man
| plcd limbs, tho still throhhng brains the gap
ing wounds half filled with dirt AM purple
| mud, are not covered hv the sand until that
| later hour when the sword and mu,kct are lil
| aside for the pick ard spade, and mon forget
their deadly hates to consisn "Etrth to car,h,
| and dust TO dust
The effects Of a rolni shot, or of ono of the
ncwly.iuycntcd riilrd cannon p'ujc,i are not
| ~ ,,hus,ly and terrible to the cvr-th, mrr
die, hut thcir limb, are no. torn AMI twisted oil
as by the iron splintcis Of bursting h,nb.
| INST ~usricioNs ORA MISTAKE. ASu ruWS
raE st~Tl,tuN, ,usiIHNup.
| Tho r,lcl bad conlHrullv cllrull'ci on b.
| .ra ALL to uh the emit h',. in tW,IJv min
| U.,., as vc lcalrcd from SOM c1p., ~ South.
| IN pcr., and from .lu' a! the rrh1 letters.
many of which l,ll INTO otv hrls. ial in ,'N.
| Hsl ,t which thi- te.ul, it u'lru " predicted.
| and j. r,.nrd,d moi merely u. = ''.li.umniti,n m
| i. vou,lv to I've wished, bat was looked upon
| alr,si ~ an accomplished fact. The utter de-
| strtction ur the cnirc Expedition VAS con,d-
eyed 20 positively assured, AMI th,ir hclict in
| hc alil, ' Of their batteries TO pu, m rilcriuh
| y'i,'ts upou the prctcntious OF "lircoln's'
| fleet was 70 perfect, that in ono or two Of
| he documents th1 writer lmcutcl the
| necessity they ,houll he uul,r uf scnl-
| ing the shils 10 the bottom, when the
| Confederate stc 20 much in need Of ships. IL
| Was taken for granted that the tremendous eN-
| oculion TO be done hy their heavy guns, would
r,ifurntc the hulls ui our ships nnd send them
| Il stantly to the bottom. Having this confident
| expectation, the rebels looked eagerly aitcr
| every fire to see some oi our ships 10 down.
l They especially concentrated their guns on the
| WABASH, and, ~ the prisoners niicrward in
| formed us, were much surprised that sh, per-
| sisted in rcmainin.. l.lOlt. When The ships had
| all passed their battery In safety for the first
| time, and had "pcrpcrcd them we'll AMI had
all got oil without apparent injury, the astonisll-
1 munt wHs great, and the universal impression
| bc,pn to prevail that there was some mis-
take.
For the second time the fleet came stcaming
down; !or the second time they poured in that
icrrill" lire, Ll,mounting the Eung, shlucting
| the building, and stretching IN death numbers
of their mon; and for the second time the lcct
4 passcd on in safety, showing not the slightest
| sign oi any intention Of going 20 the bottom.
| ly this time, new element hcgan TO minglc
i with the feelings of the rebel garrison. With
astonishmcnt and wonder that they had not yet
1 sunk any of the opposing vessels, began TO
| mindc large, avery large proportion Ol doubt
| whether they r00id do IL.
Il NlliONl INNllk nlulF WIFlll''U W INV nhIh-
| ing of the battery AZ Fort ncrurcgarl, ON Bay
| lunt. than tu pitch th,m an occasional shot
m,r,ly to let them know they were not forgot
| ton Tor the tIird time tho ilrct rounded their
| circular trick, AMI came slowly down To pay
| their respects again. Again WaS the
| whole fire ti tn fort concentrated ON the Wa
| losh, aul altcrwaid in turn on ctch one Of the
| thius as they passed IN fiery procession before
| the thorc, dcliN vring with the utmost C1olhrs-
uud tie most exact precision their murdcrou'
fire, running even nearer than before, firing
more ~. c.Wlly than ever AMI again stcaminl
away unhatmcd, and turning the point Tor aiil
| .uuthcr round.
| Tie utmost Consideration now took full pos
| ,ssioR If the rulvls, an / in an uuconiroll,hl
panic they fled with tn, utmost precipitation
| indeed, not halt 10 much so for the rebels II
| flrir mortal terror ran for the woods withoi
| ,topI iug for anything whatever. They left u
| thcir tolis hundreds of dollars nt money, Col,
| watches, costly swords, and other valuablc'
| .howing that thCir fear was uncOntrOllaDlc ant
complete
| Probably there was never naval, or a scmi-
naval engagement like this, where ships tor 40
many hour. sustained fire so heavy, AMI at
| such short range, without being much moro
| damaged than these Ol ours have been. Ih'
| hope aud intention OF our cn"my to sink on
| Hrvt in ~ minutes was, cou iiring the wclSh
Of the huge rebel guns, their number, and theil
! admirable Iu,i ion, which rendered II possible
TO corccnliate The fire OF % guns on sini;l
hin ly no means an urpucslonallc one.
venture 10 say that another action, fought un-
d. r ,imilar conditions, with our ariiil.rists tt
bundle the shore batteries, would result much
more disastrously 10 tho navy.
No TIME TO CORRECT TLrSpEHs.
Very many of IN, shot lium thG shore bat
t,rics were aimed high, especially at Tia, licn'
Vile aud other n ufmors having tho walking
beam of the engine hilh ahoyc the deck, IN
4. Lii, ,sri la "A
- | thus render the vessel unmauaSeahlc, 80 thal IN
9 | might drift on the shoals and become an eaS
. prey. In these att,mpts they were not success
| iul in a antle instance, t,r not one ot our ship
u save the Penguin, which was Immediately iakC
II care Of by one our own boats was injured
It her steam wOrk9so as 10 he disa'led Tor sung
d. | Instant
The Pswncc was struck nine times, anl III
y Mohican also received u uumbcr Of shots. Ihes
x | two were the most cut up Of any Of the smally
u vessels Of the llcot. The Ottawa, Seneca, van
il dulia, Seminole, Susquchlnna, 70 'nhontas, an
AUGUSTA, all were several times hit, but non
g were dis -lhled. This apparent lack OF eNccl
J. lion when the shots 50 many times struck III
,r vessels. arises from the iact that either III
rebel, purposlly aimed high, for the purpose
breaking the walGng-hcims, and 80 crippllIl
the engines Of such Of our vcsacls "a could IN,
p bc disabled; or from the tact that M
i lccm'rg II possible tnt we Wo.Il wv
4 1
= yaTds in-t d Of two or three miles, She ruI
- wrrr all i-htrl ipf the longest range, AM tn,
l. consequently carried over aud clear Ot the hal
Of our shipe' and oIlv cut the upprr ri" sint,
course, it would have been rnsy for them toht
to so altered he elevation OF the guns as to brir
4 them 60 bear ON orr SHIPS even a the uNe'
n, ppctcdly short distance they took up; hu' IN
' thc runncrs la not the requisite sklll dit n
ret the orders, or had 20 far lost their prrsrn
oi mind NJ tu render il impossible tor them
Il o'.ev, for r,r'ain il is, that thoy by no mrl
" made tho h,st use of their guns, and probable
l. that In tle hands Of their new masters q
non d, ,.s Il war, when again slot slip, W
cry 4" TuN,r,' 10 much more effective purpp
,l,tn when under ruhel miodrcc'ion
~ Some If the shots played queer prark'. OI
~ slid Columbiul shot of $50 pounds weight !
e. ,o,he,, four times after striking the water ~
. tl,n -ccmod about 10 pass through the lNr
'' vii. iugi above tho wIter-lnc, when II hu
es 1,nly took a nylng leap clean over the latt
he ship, IA sim, lUur Il feet ahuyr her decks, al
oh ,rt,d. die Augusta, which lay ~ or 40 var
ou beyond the Bicnyillc.
al C.4T oF TuE BATrl.E,
The Wabash nycd, during the entire acti,
900 shots, lrnr III T. ., 10 and ll-iuch .sh'I
with the exception Of a few rhed cannon p
,os cctiles Of new pattern, and which were "a
simply ~ a mltcr Of experiment. The ,
20 uu,hiunah fred 5Cn shots, the BicnVilc, j.
lnI the average Of the gunbolts and the OIL
We smaller shiIs may probably he set down at
n, | each. There were, in all, 10 vessels ongas
lly ON our side, and probably from all Of them "