, 1862-08-05
GAFoso Ho uEB, MEAEuts, Tt

Ram Quesn Of the West to Moaa.
p1:1a.
GAFoso HOUSE, MEaPuts, Tenn,
July 39th, 1851.
Since the brilliant successes Of the federal
feet at Memphis, and the demolishing Of, the
confederate rams and gunboats, on the memo
rable 9Th Of June, series Of disasters and IT.
pulses has served to di5hearten the men In
command somewhat, and to cause the people
to lose the great confidence heretofore re-
posed In the ffai1 wooden rams and the tbinly-
plated eloW-going mud-turtle gunboats.. It
was not mill the lamentable explosion Of the
steam drum Of the Mound City, of st.
Charles, in White River, had resulted In the
loss OF almost an entire crew Of as good and
true men as ever trod deck; until the loss
Of the ram Lancaster; the loss, almost, Of ths
steamer Tyler; the disabling Of the Queen Of
the West, and the gunboat Caronde1er, In the
several contests with the batteries at Vicks-
burg, and the rebel ram Arkansas, however,
that 1t became fully apparent that destruction
had seized upon our western navy, and that
disaster seemed to follow it like . lend. It
is Idle to ray ne have anything upon the wa-
te1s Of the Mississfppi-any efng1e craft, I
mean, that can be successfully pitted against
the Arkansas. We have not, with one or two
exceptions, our gunboats are penetrable by
ordinary shot and shell, especially when fired
from slight elevations, or point blank range.
Then their ports are not well projected
their speed Is less than 1t should be. Their
guns are generally good, and Of heavy metal.
Their commanders are brave men; their sea-
men and officers Of the same piece.
That there has been gross mismanagement
9inse onr aeet left Memphis and PASSED TO
Vlck6burg, or that the fxtes have been greatly
against us, IL very evident from the number
Of gunboats aud rams disabled, and the seq
men slaughtered within the past few weeks.
Some say that in the fight Of the 18th inst, in
which the Carondelet, The Tyler, and the ram
Lancaster we're engaged with the single ram
Of the rebels, the Arkansas, and in which that
boat passed through an entire feet, rakiug it
right and left with her heavy broadsldes, and
landed safe and sound under the protection Of
the batteries at last, might have terminated
differently had the federal fleet been prepared,
as it might have been, having had time enough
and having been warned on the night previous,
bad sufficient steam up to make
headwsy. They could not get clear of in
trudipg transports, hence could do nothing
but lay idle and allow the saucY enemy to
pass By. How true these structures may be,
I snt not called upon to Judge. may stats,
in the feet On the morning Of the 18th inst,
informs me that the sound OF firing could be
distinctly heard up the Yazoo, tae stream
taking course there that would bring the
contendlng parties within three miles of The
! fleet by lsnd-and that he heard 1t, and thus
EuIs, supposed to have been Smelling the
woods along the river bank. Even in this
event, it would appear to have been the duts
Of somebody to see tLat steam YVES up On the
gunboats. Somebody did not do it. Some
! body, therefore, is TO blame for no1
| dong as he should have done. Another
thing. 1t was well known when tat
fleet passed the mouth of the Yazooo Riyel
| tEat the Arkansas and other boats were NJ
| that stream. The Arkansas was then unGn:
ished, unarmed, and, in fact her guns wert
subsequently carted to her across the country
from VicIshuFg- Knowing this, was it not thE
| duty Of Commodore Davis, Us soon a. HI
back with some Of his feet, or send soms
! one back with sufficient force, to capture th.
boat or destroy her? It would appear SO, tc
an unprofessional person. Even now, tn.
| cause Of the late movement Of The same flee
back to the mouth of the same stream is tt
lock the stable after the steed has Aown-o
! after the best steed has doWn--as there are bu
| few transports and some incomplete ram
low In the river. The Arkansas has esciped
done injury enough to our fo.il1a to cause u
to blush for the effectiveness OF non-effectiSe
MISS Of our whole western navy, and no n #
back down, retreat twelve miles, and pause t.
allow him to complete repairs and give he
plenty Of rope-not to hang herself with, bu
with which to bang up some more Of our flee
| Tor repalrs. This may be polite, may b
right, but am not alone in thinking other
wise.
suppose they have accomplished. This Is No
Wholly without foundation
TIE F1GHT oF TIE NINETEENTH.
Full particulars In an account in tnll, as fa
as is now known, was sent you by Ielegrap
the other day, OF the fight with the Arkansa
and the batteries at Vlcksburg, on the 19t
inst. It was briefly "a defeat Of our gunhoat
resulting in retreat. What caused the Esse
to flee from the foe after firing three gun
payipg no attention to the remainder Of tt
fleet. What caused Commodore Davis
forget to follow up and aid the ram Queen
the West, after her second and Intellectual @
tempt to injure the Arkansas by buttiue
What caused all this, say! We who did q
see the fight are at q loss to determine. Pc
haps the Essex vas disabled If so, she
; nof show it, but on the contrary did show 4
extremely 's clean pair Of heels, as she steat
I'd down etream. II Commodore Davis d
, forget to aid and back The Queen, he did n
forget to below forth some undistiaguishab
words through his trumpet, which caused b
| to u,iss her first and hest blow. But the chi
; inquiry, after all, in this tight, is, s'What VI
| Faragut doing, that he did not come up
the scratch aud cooperate With Davis in
, | attempt to capture the rebel ram?" There
but an echo to answer, Why =" One thil
is certain, however, he did not 90 it. whatey
The most charitable conclusion that can
> arrived at, with the existing llsht upon t
: subject, is, that Commodore Davis was,
!. | stated, confined to his cabin with 6ickne
and that he did not even go 50 far as to spe
I through his trumpet to the Queen Of t
those Ut Farragut's feet, were prostrated VI
e levers, and all eufeebled and unit for duty.
must have been so. I cannot believe ii
i such result could hare otherwise be
| reached.
h TIE RETURN OF THE QUEEN OF TIE WEST
On the Goth the Queen Of the West star
on htr return trip, badly crippled By the sh
: Of the Arkansas, In charge Of Lieut. Hunt
l She was accompanied by the three remain
: members Of the Bohemian brigade, all
;. others having returned to Memphis SO
s weeks before, either wore out or sick II
:. break-bone fever. The Carrondelet folio n
= but csme along much slower than the Que
At GreenEiIle, or just helow. The Queen I
the ram LaoDess gong to the Aeet- The CT
had lost une OF its members by the guns Q
masked battery located on the shore #
miles above the town. Hence, when
Queen nea1ed the supposed location Of
II battery, preparations were made to res
J. >Muskets were put In the hands of all
:: Newspaper men included-and some Of
a latter even volunteered to serve the guns
u the decks-9nd everything made ehip-shE
g for action. But little did 1he;gallant little b:
anticipate the reception they were to me
., | The hull Of the euuken steamer SI1ie II