Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1862-05-16
Capture of New Orleans.
COMMANDMENT OF THE LOWER FORTS

4
the proceedings Of the fleet before Fort
. jackson and ST. Philip, including brle
history of the gallant act of Commodor
Farragut in running the gauntlet of thu
forts towards New Orleans. There art
no particulars in the report, in these re
speets, which add to the information fur
nshed by our special correspondent
"Agaius," and published in the JOurna
of Thursday evening. Subsequent
movements are thus described in Com
Porter's report:
For thirty minutes after the ships
passed, the forts fred very feebly on the
vessels that remained outside so much
so that the Portsmouth was enabled to
drop with the current out of gun shot,
though the shot fell pretty freely about
her at last. think the fire IRON the
ships must have Been very destructive Of
life. The last we saw of our vessels
they were standing up the river. Some
explosions took place, which made US
feel rather uneasy, but which may have
been the rebel gunboats. We could see
that our squadron had not destroyed all
the enemy's vessels at the fort, for three
or four of them were moving about in
all directions, evidently in a state of ex-
element.
Before the fleet got out of sight it was
reported to me that the celebrated ram,
Manassas, was coming out to attack US,
and, sure enough, there she was, appa-
rently steamng along shore, ready to
pounce upon the apparently defenseless
mortar vessels. Two of our steamers
and several mortar vessels opened fire
uron her, but | soon discovered that
the Manassas could harm no one again
and | ordered them to save their shot
She was beginning to emit smoke from
her ports or holes, and was discovered tc
be on fire and sinking. Her pipes were
all twisted and riddled with shot, and
her hull was also cut up. She had evil
IDENTIFY been used up by the squadron a,
they passed along. tried TO save hel
as curiosity, by getting hawser around
her and securing her to the bank, but
just after doing so she family exploded
Her only gun went off, and emitting
flames through her bow port, like some
huge animal, she gave plunge and dis
appeared under the water.
Next came a steamer on fire, which
appeared to be a vessel of war belonging
to the rebels and after her two others
all burning and floating down the stream
Fires seemed to be raging all along
up the river, and we supposed that our
squadron were burning and destroying
the vessels as they passed along. Itap-
pears, however, that the McRae and two
river boats and their celebrated floating
battery, brought down the night before
were left unhurt, and We're still flying the
Confederate flag.
The matter of the floating battery be.
comes a very serious affair, as they are
all hard at work at Fort jackson, mount
ing heavy riAed guns on it, which are oil
no further use in the fort. She mounts
sixteen guns, is almost as formidable a
vessel as the Merrimac, perfectly shot
proof, and has four powerful engines in
her. / shall, at all events take such
measures as will prevent her from de-
stroying anything, and may still hold her
in check with the steamers, though they
are rather fragile for such a service
This is one Of the i'll fleets Of leaving
an enemy in the rear. ! suppose the
ships fired on her as they passed through
but that her mail resisted the shot. She
had steam on this morning, and was NOV.
ing about quite lively. l tried to put
some mortar shell through the roof but
without effect, as she moved of,
The forts are now cut off from all
communication with New Orleans, as /
presume that Flag Officer Farragut has
cut the wires.
have sent the Miami around with
Gen. Butler to the back Of Fort St.Phil-
lip, to try and throw in his troops at the
quarantine, five miles from the forts, and
at the same time to open communication
that way with the flag officer and supply
him with ammunition. | am also going
to send part of the mortar fleet back tc
Fort Jackson, to cut off the escape oil
the garrison by that way, and to stop sup
plies. A deserter, who can be relied on
informs US that they have plenty of pro.
visions for two months, plenty of ammu-
milton, and plenty of discomforts.
Our shells set the citadel on fire the
first afternoon we opened. 1t burned
fiercely for seven hours, but thought il