Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1862-06-02
Tas naval oRgRlTI0US m THE |
VICINITY 81 ERw osIsIls.
llterestine Letter ffon Cen. Porter
to Sonatof Grimes Of IoWa.

AvsNs - Nv VDDDA~Cs
lltsrestilg Letter ften Cen. Porter
to senator Grimes Of Iewa.
10 letter from Captain D. d. Por.
ter, US. NJ, to Senator Grimes, of Iowa,
dated Ship lsla1d, May 6, he says:
"Four rams and floating batteries,
such ~ the world never saw before,
have been destroyed in the late attack.
The Louisiana, an invincible steam bat
terry, was set on fire and sent down on
the vessels while was engaged in draw
ing up capitulatiou for the surrender
of the forts-a flag of truce flying At
the time. She exploded within 800
yards Of Us and sunk in one minute, her
splendid battery Of rifed guns being
lost to US. Her fragments fairly cover
ed Fort St. Phillip, and killed man of
theirs in the fort There was southern
honor for you! That vessel was 1000
tons, 27O feet long, and had Is heavy
rifle guns, all made in Secessia. She
intended to take position that night,
when she would have driven off all our
feet, for as proof of her invulnerabil.
ity, one Of our heaviest ships laid with.
in ten feet of her, and delivered her
whole broadside, making no more inn
preston on her than if she was firing
peas. The Louisiana's shot, on the
contrary, went through and through
the above mentioned sloop of.war as if
she was glass.
1.-THE iron ram Manassas hit three
vessels before her commander ran her
ashore and abandoned her. She has
been troublesome customer all
through.
"In New Orleans our naval officers
found the most splendid specimen of a
floating battery the world has ever
seen: a sea going affair, and, had she
been fioished and succeeded in getting
to sea, the whole American navy would
have been destroyed. She was 5000
tons, 27O feet long, 60 feet beam; had
four engines, three propellers, four inches
land in some places more) Of iron, and
would steam eleven knots an hour. She
cost Mr.. Mallory & Go. two millions Of
dollars.
"rhe best one I saw floating by me
was dry dock turned into a floating
battery, mounting l6 guns, and the en-
tire engine which was to propel it her.
metically sealed DO thick iron turret
against shot. She was sunk, but float
ed down to Southwest Pass, and is now
aground on the bar, and: can be easily
raised.
"Besides these monsters, the naval
part of the enemy's defences at the forts
consisted of six or seven iron-clad gun :
boats, almost impervious to shot, and
certainly so against vessels coming bow
on. We had nothing there on our side
bu. twenty trail mortar.boats, five
sloops of>war, n,nc or ten poor gun
boats-in all little over one hundred
and forty guns-to contend against two
Of the most impregnable forts in this or
any other country, mounting one hun.
dred and seventy-seven heavy guns
(many Of them rifed, three iron-pIated
batteries, mounting thrty.one guns, SIX
or seven iron clad gunboate, and nine or
ten things got up for the occasion, soon
destroyed, and their power never to be
known.
"Allow me to send you a perfectly
correct tracing of Fort Jackson, made
by the coast survey party attached to
the mortar fleet. They acted in the
same capacity as the typographical par
ty holds in the army. Without them
our work would have been tedious.
They trianguIated every position &C.
cup;ed by the mortar vesels, and it is
safe to say that We knew to yard the
exact distance of the mouth Of the NOR
tars from the centre Of the fort. The
enemy never saw US except for one day,
when one of the divisions of six vessels
was placed in sight, getting pretty
roughly handled. I moved them under
point of woods, where, with their
masts covered with green bushes and
their rigging with vines, they were in
visible to the best Of glasses. Our fir
ing was matter OF calculation, and You
may judge how accurate it was when
tell you that 1913 bombs struck in the
centre and solid parts Of the works !;
$3.50 struck in the moat near the
foundation, shaking the whole fort to its
base; nearly 1857 struck about the le-
wees, in the marsh close around, and in
the paths, and near the waters edge,
where the steamers attempted to come.
"All small boats, scows and armed
bargcs were sunk and if the garrison
had desired to get away they could not
have done SO easily. l never saw so
perfect desolation and ruin, nor do |
be- ieve there was ever such perfect
ortar practice. We could clear the
batteries Whenever the soldiers ap.
peared on the ramparts. In fact, no
guns there could be worked.
This sketch may interest your friends
in the far West. 1t will rem ind them
that the influence Of the navy is felt
everywhere over this great country !;
aud, when the vast riches ofthc western
States are floating securely and peace
fully to the seaboard in the swift waters
of the Mississippi, let them remember
that it was the navy which opened the
doors to commerce that might have
been shut up for quarter Of a century,
and that they can dictate free trade
now where they might have been
obliged to pay tribute.
sWith my host w;ahoe 7 roroo;n