Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-05-13
ZEE OoOUPArIoN OF NEw ORLEANl

eseEN NAslo9 VIII AA1 AoA-OioN 'S''S4..
lSu Z. O.
FHR OCCUPATION or NEW ORLEANS.
Passing the Rebel FOrts--DestFuetIeu Of |
the Rebel Fleet--HsrOio Daring aHd Dea- |
Perato Oembats.
We gave, several days since, full report
Of the ascent of the Mississippi from Its mouth |
to the rebel forts-Jackson and Philip. We
now complete the record Of the brilliant
deeds connected with that achievement upon
the lower Mississippi, by cOpiOus extracts
from the report of the passage of the forts
and the advance upon New Orleans The
record is q glorious one for the American
Navy, which has won undying hOnors dur
ing the wsF against rebellieR, Beside the
two formidable forts, which the rebels had
declared fnPregnable" and impossible, the
river was Obstructed by two immense chains,
large feet of rebel gunbOAts, iron rams,
and BY tOrpedoes and Ere RATS innumerable.
Against all these eur feet had to contend,
but the work was in hands that knew no
such word as fail, and all we're successfully
and successfully overcome.
The commandment of the forts was com
menced on Friday, April 18th, and cont n
ued through six days and nights. 1t was
determined to run past the forts on the night
Of Wednesday the 23d. Two heavy works,
mounting in the neighbOrhOOd of two hun.
dred pieces, chain cable, half dosen or
more steamers, well armed, ram or two,
hre-rafts Withont number, swift current
and desperate foe, were among the Difficult
lies to be overcome. At11P. NJ one Of the
boats detailed to cut the chain cable reported
it clear. The feet sailed in three divisions,
the hrst under Flag-Ofiesr Farrsgut, com.
prising the Hartford, Brooklyn and Rich
mond; the second under Capt. Bailey, the
Cayuga, Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Va
runa, Katahdin, Kineo, WissahickOn and
Portsmouth; and the third under Capt. Bell
the Scioto, Iroquois, PinOla, Itasca, Winons
and Keunebeo. At 2 o'clock the signal was
given to start. At 20 minutes before 4,
Ere was opened from Fort st. Philip. The
flag ship was put under full speed, snd the
rest followed, either to victory or into the
laws of death. The correspondent of the N.
7. Herald-from which We take these details
here says:
THE TLAG-szIP joins IN THF EIaHT.
At Eve minutes of four o'clock our bow
gdn belched forth FIRE and smoke, and mess
enger, in the shape of a nine-inch shell, was
sent to Fort Jacbson-the works, by the way
which We we're to attend to. In few min
utes more the broadside firing was commenced.
Both forts we're reply ing as fast as they could.
Broadside after broadside was being de-
livered to them in rapid succession, while
the mortar vessels were adding to the dread
ful noise.
| TIE HEIGHT OF THE BATTLE.
| Shot she'll, grape and canister filled the
air with deadly missiles. Il was like the
breaking up of q thousand Worlds-crash-
tear-Whizl Such another scene was never
sU5aInesr5 B. hg4 7aqFtal-pnRpO.., Steadily Ka
| ing rife shot and shell, ten inch columbiads,
fOrty-twO, thirty-tWo and twenty-four
FOUNDER balls; and to add to this state of
affairs, thirteen steamers and the floating
battery Louisiana, Of the enemy, were pour
| ing into and around as hail storm of iron
/ perfectly indescribable. Not satisfied with
their firing, ere raft aftsr FIRE raft was lit and I
set adrift to do their work of burning. The
Ram was busy at work trying to shove them
under the bows Of our vessel.
REBEL sHARPsHOoEEAs.
The rebel steamers were crowded with
boA AuoT ~ IL a., I,,1I
most of which did rs no harm. One OF them
came near as, and think am safe in say
ing she contained two hundred men. Oar
howitEers opened on them, and Captain
BroomeS Of the Marine Corps, opened into
her with two nine-inoh guns. . ~ r
A REBEL VESSEL BLOWN TO PIEoEs-ALL BANDS
LOST.
An explosion-terrifcy yelIs-a carsen, and
that fellow was done for Their steamers
we're bold and fearless; but no sooner did
they como In sight Of our gunners than thew
were sunk. The Varuns sunk six of them,
one after another.
TIE FLAGSHIP AaAOuHD AND on T1RE.
In the midst Of this awful scene down came
. tremendous FIRE raft, and the ram showed
her under our port quarter. The flames
caught our rigging and side, and for mo-
ment it seemed we must fall a prey to the
FsVagss of fFe A Ere was also burning on
the berth deck. The FIRE nose was on hand,
and We soon subdued the flames, and gave
the ram dose Of rife she'll. She, however,
came up for Us again, but some other vessel |
tackled her and she hauled of. During |
this stage of affairs we grounded, and our fate |
seemed sealed but our men worked like |
beavers ana the engineers soon got the ship |
astern and ahoat. 1t de6es the powers Of |
my brain to describe that scene at this time. |
The river and itS banks were one sheet of
Hame, and the messengers Of death were
moving with lightning sWiftnsss in ali direc-
tions. Steadily We piled shell snd grape, in
tsrspersed with ghTapnel. Rebellion began
to quRkei her boats were fast being riddled
By well directed broadsides, and they who
were sbls made for the shore to run them on,
% that they could save their lives. Some
Fere on fire and others were sinking. Cur
boys were cheering with hearty good will,
and well they might, for we had almost won
the day. and We were nearly past the forts
Our ship he'd been on Are three times, and
We were riddled from stem to stern. The
cabin was completely gutted, the stsrboard
steersge al torn up, and the armory all
knocked into "pi." Ny clothing was streWn
abaft decks, and was obliged to pick it up
piece BY piece. The manuscript Of the bonn
bsrdment came near to destruction by a rife
shell, which tore up my room and killed one
man
-r--.t, va ARH PAST TIE EoRFa.
After being under q terrific 6re for one
hour and twenty minutes We we're past the
forts, badly eut'Ep, shot hole through the
maiHmast two in the stern, and several
through Us. I frankly confess am unable
tOdesCFibe the scene. Words cannot express
any adequate idea Of the engagSment.-
Wrapped up in smoke, firing and being fred
at shot and shell Whaling like locomotive