The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-12-13
BURLINGTON WEEKLY HAWK.EYE.
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90 sAs aitA sitipo lie .eanS9.. pEinl, Lesu dts
". D. Ousbing,. conmsndi6g, entered the mouth
lot the New Rivers besNesn Beaufort and Will
mtpgten, and proceeded UP the stream ab0ut 80
miles to Onslow, the county seat of Onslow
county, and took possession Of the place the
rebel troops and male inhabitants hastily leaving
town. A force was landed. who seized the post
Office and removed its contents, together With
what arms and stores could be found, to the
gunboat, which then proceeded on her return
down the river. About eight miles below the
town one of the rebel masked batteries ON the
banks of the river, which had remained silent
on their progress up, ruddenly opened Are upon
them. fon e. nasd sd and, .Hs
This battery. and others lying at intervals be-.
low it, we're successfully eilenced, until when
near the mouth Of the stream, which had been
previously obstructed by the sinking Of large
fats loaded With sand, powerful battery Of four
"a Founders, at distance of only four hupdred
yards, commenced pouring 10 q destructive FIRE
of graps and shell upon the gunboat land two
schooners abe he'd ycaptuled. rs One schooner,
had been capt. red and burned on the passage
up The engagement at the latter point CONT
nued nearly twenty four hours, when egress
with the gunboat being impossible, she was de-
stroyed by firing her magazine, and her crew
came OF triumphantly in one Of the schooners
and arrived at Beaufort on the 9th ulka N
The following reference is made to the affair
by Wilmington N. o. dispatch to the Rich.
mond Enquirer; g5I .e8
a "a Union gunboat Was captured ia New Riv..
Or, Onlow county, on the goth, BY Newkrk's
cavalry. The crew escaped after setting he
steamer on FIRE. They bad been at Jacksonville
and broken open the Court House and Postofice,
carrying off all records and papers ncs. ~
! When Capt. Cushing found that there Vas no
hope Of getting the Ellis out of the inlet, he
called all hands TO muster, and addressed them q
follows: IS 81 seisa,m .soaw .rs4b.6s aas3
"Oficers and Men:-I see NO chance ofgetting
this vessel of. We will probaly be attacked il
the morning, aud that, too, by an overwhelming
force will try and gether OF at the next high
/ tide If am not attacked in thclinterim. In the
meantime, it becomes necessary and my duty to
provide for the safety OF you all. II We are at
tackled by the enemy in the morning ard be
overpowers u, either by boarding or otherwise
the only alternative left is to 20 up with the yes
sci or submit to an unconditional surrender To
do the latter ia neither my desire or intention
will not do the former except as an absolute and
last resort. wish all the men, except s or o.
and these must be volunteers-to 90 on board
the schooner. wish the schooner to be dropped
down the river to a point without the range o.
the enems's shot from the bluff. 1t is my inten
4 ton, with the five or six who may volunteer te
remain with me, in the event of an attack to wcrL
the pivot gun in the morning, and fight her tc
the last. will not surrender the Ellis to the
enemy while magazine or match remains OF
board. 500 no Sfl 81 ea os z.E5 5eA
Everybody volunteered, 60 Captain G. had te
select we men from the crew. ,e.-.t -
At daybreak next morning the enemy opened
with four batteries Of artillery, stationed on ar
eminence and in such manner as to give g
cross fire. The enemy's shells in a little while
almost riddled the Ellis to pieces It was soor
found that there was no chance to save the We
sci, not even the slightest degree of hope te
do So Then it was that Captain Cushing re-
solved, as long as ever il was possible, to main
tain the honor of the flag by fighting to the last
extremity
Finding to remain fighting longer on the Ellis
was but exposing himself and men to every
chance of capture, Capt Gushing fred the Ellii
in fYe places; and while doing this be remarked
~ cannot surrender her. and to a rebel" Al
this time the enemy was approaching the doom
ed vessel in small boats in strong force. Wher
the vessel bad been thoroughly fred, Capt C..
with all on board, left in the gig for the schooner
and the men had to pull their oars through ar
apparent hail storm of shell, the shells bursting
in the air and scattering in every conceivable
direction. Before leaving the vessel the pivot
gun was loaded and trained on the enemy, &C
that the heat would enable the vessel to fight it.
SELF and it did so; for the gun went of. Shortly
after abandoning the Ellis the flames commune
Gated to the magazine, causing laundering Ok
plosion. Portions of the vessel rose in the ali
to great height, aud then spread in all direc-
tons. Some shells which we're left forward alsc
burst in the air. The whole scene was one OF
terrific grandeur. q