Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-05-07
TEFE NAVAL BATTLE At FORT
JACKSON
The Fro,,- gEGd Steamer Eoujs5ase ga 'he
F5gEf


terestinc description Of The naval battle at Fort
Jackson, on the oath inst, from the pen OF an
officer who took a conspicuous part in he fight;
JACKSON, Miss, May ,, 1862.
30 GREENLNW, ESQ; l arrived here last
| night from Fort Jackson and ST. Philip, having
escaped from the Louisiana on Monday morning
last at ha,fpast eight o'clock in the morning,
| But ! will detail my adventure as it occurred.
After going 70 New Orleans, Com. Whittle or
dered me 30 the Louisiana for the fight. joined
her on the 9TH of last month, and on the 22d we
lett for the forts. She was iron-Clad, like tho
Shirley boat-the Arkansas-and mounted six
teen runs; but, unfortunately, she could not
propel herself, her power being inadequate. On
the morning of the 9th, I had the mid-watch-
from twelve to four. At balEpast three the bugle
sounded the alarm in the forts, and in q few min
utes after the enemy commenced TO run the
gauntlet with twenty vessels, large steam SlOOps,
and thirteen guub08ts. The cannOnading was
terrific, at least three hundred heavy guns being
engaged. ] fred the first gun from the LoUisi-
ana at a bio fellow close aboard. This was the
first intimation they had of our existence, and
the enemy believing us to he a light guuboat or
steamboat, laid Us aboard for the purpose OF car
rying us by boarding, which exposed him to the
direct fire of our bow battery, consisting of two
9inch smooth guns aud one T-inch rife, the lat
ter uUCn heavier ana mECN muic lbTullbable
than the Belmont" or Lady Polk" guns.
Our captain. Mcintosh. OWNING the object of
the enemy, called % number Of men on deck to
Tepel. and whilst firing mUskeiry ut the ship
alongside. he was sHUcN by grape and severely
wounded, losing his righr arm, breaking his Left,
and his right leg. Ia the meantime the rascal
was fast to our bow, about forty feet from us,
and poured 10 a most terrible uroadsldc, driving
the hot smoke from bis guns into cur ports but
our metal was too heavy, aud ho went ahead and
came in range Of our starb0ard battery, where l
had the pleasure of reppering him with my divi-
sion of rifles; this settled hlm, aud he dropped
off into the stream helpless. TEou be fell in with
the Manassas, which had been pokiEg and hOTu-
ingir all directions; Marley backed 0f, and went
INFO our friend full tit, knocking q hole in his
side, which caused him To- sink n 3 few minutes.
This was the only close work we bad, and that
did not last more than zen minutes, i that long
during which we had whipGCaa t~irstclGss sloop-
ofwar. During the balance # the engagement,
sc stood by our guns uad lIej as they passed.
Ia the morning our upper works were a perfect
wreck, cut all 10 pieces by grape aud canister;
the steamboats, cabin alongside was literally ia
]splinters, but our iron casemato was uuhurt
Two lI-lucB shells struck us whilst wC-TveTa so
close, which only made a deep dent In the iron,
not starting tho wood, and although ! was stand
ing immedIa.el under them, Ibid net feel the con
cusslOn. Marley, Iu the Manassas, and Huger, in
the McRae, covered tbeuselve- with glory. War
ley seemed 10 fairlyrevCl in tho fight. Tho Msua5-
sa8 was everywhere, but unfortunately The vessels
of the enemy were faster than size. and carried
twenty guns, whilst she carried bus one, The
McRae held four Of them az bay, and was gal
lantly fighting both b-oad5idcs when Marley
came 70 her assistance. Euger- Of the McRae,
was mortally wounded. Marley was unhurt.
All the regular navy vessels went into the fight
and remained there, But how different was it
with the much bowed OF " Montgomery feet
with the single exception Of he Gov. Moore,
commanded by Capt. Bey. Keun0n, late Of the
navy. Instead Of using their vessels 81 "Tams,"
they ANONYMOUSLY ran them ashore, shot of
their guns, fred the boats, aud took 20 the
swamp. kenuou, of the Moore. attacked one
Of the large sloops-Otwar, running mp the river
directly after and striking her on the stern first;
then backed OF and struck her amidships; and
then aft, then forward, and then amidshiDs-
giving her five blows, which completely ham
mered the life out fiber, anddown she went. But
whilst Bev. was buttiug, the ether vessel was
giving him bTCadsides, and ct the moment Of the
last " butt, ~ a she'll struck The Moore, knocking
her rudder of, completely disabling her, and SO
she dTitted ashore and was burnt by the enemy.
Her gallant commander remained and was
taken prisoner in her. After the fight, we
felt convinced that we could whip the whole
feet if they would only fight US, but then we
could not 60 up. On Thursday morning, at l
or 2 o'clock, the men in Fort jackson mutinied,
spiked the guns, shot the s]entinels and left. At
daylight, when we Gwoke, we found the white
flag in place of the battle flag. Gen. Duncan
had accepted terms, and it then became neces-
sary to make our arrangements to act in the
premises. If we surrendered the ship, no doubt
we could be paToled, but we gave the enemy an
irOn-clad battery. Capt. Mitchell preferred Fort
Warren to giving up his honor, and so we Dred
the ship, and | took to the swamp and escaped,
with three other officers.