The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-05-16

commander of Fort Philip, considered on,
terms wholly inadmissible, and that the For
would never surrender. he also offered az
apology in behalf of bis superior officer, for
firing upon the flag of truce, assuring Us that
it was done by mistake the color of the
flag having been indistipguishable.
When the young lieutenant, whose name,
l believe, is Kennedy, of the First Louisiana
artillery, left the vessel, he allowed his boat
to drop down considerable distance into
our lines, pretending that bis men were un.
| able to row against the current. Undoubt.
eddy bis object was to make reconnaissance
OF our forces, and as soon as his shrewdness
was observed, We ran toward him. Cap,
tain Guest remarked, 81 must give you a
tow" and passing a rope to the boat, we
soon took him nearly up to the fort. In
this way we observed as much as he, the
river being s.rewed with wrecks of steam.
ers and half consumed fire.raits. 1t was not
long after the rebel answer had been re.
turned to Captain Porter, before the bombs
were again bowling in the direction of the
forts, and the firing continued until the NOR.
tar fleet was ordered down tie river.
There is no doubt that Commodore Far
ragut with large squadron is now at New
Orleans. Read the following letter, copy
of which l was permitted to make 1t was
written when the flag officer was warm from
the conflict, and the words have the ring
Of true metal in them:
"Dear Porter We had a rough time of
it, as Boggs will tell you, but, thank God,
the number of killed and wounded was
very small, considering. This ship had two
killed and eight wounded We destroyed
the ram in single combat between her and
the old Mississippi, but the ram backed out
when she saw the Mississippi coming at
him so rampantly, and be lodged her and
ran on shore, whereupon Smith put two or
three broadsides through him Ind knocked
him all to pieces. The ram pushed fire
raft on to ne, and in trying to avoid it 1
ran the ship on shore. He again pushed
the fire raft on me, and got the ship on fire
all along one side. thought it was all up
with US. bat we put it out and got off again
proceeding up the river, fighting cur way.
We have destroyed all but two of the gun.
boats, and these will have to surrender with
the forts intend to follow up my sue
cess and push for New Orleans and then
come down and attend to the forts, so you
hold them in statu quo till come back. /
think if you send flag of truce and de-.
mand their surrender they will yield, for
their intercourse with the city is cut off.
We have cut the wires above the Quaran.
tine and are now going ahead. l took
three hundred or four hundred prisoners at
Quarantine. They surrendered and I pa
rolled them not to take up arms again. l
could not stop to take care of them. If
the General will come up to the bayou and
land few men or as many as he pleases,
be will find two of our gunboats there to
protect him from the ganpoats that are at
the forts. wish to get to the English
Turn, where they say they have not placed
battery yet but have two above, nearer
New Orleans. They will not be idle and
neither will l. You supported US most
nobly. Very truly yours,
I'D. G. FARRAGUT,
"To Captain D. D. Porter, Commanding Nor.
tar Flotilla."
GALLANT ACTION OF THE VERONA,
OF the incidents of this long siege it is
impossible for me to write in this hasty
sketch. l can give you an outline only of
the principal events and of the results.
Perhaps the most exciting time of all was
when the gunboats ran the fle of the forts.
Thirteen of them succeeded in passing and
getting safely out of range. Among those
were the Mississippi, the Hartford, the
Pensacola, the Richmond, the Brooklyn,
the Oneida, the Scioto, the Kineo, the Wis-
sahickon, the Pinola, the Katahdin and the
Cayuga. The Verona, in attempting the
passage, came in contact with several of the
enemy's gunboats-a perfect nest of them
in fact-and after destroying no less than
six of them, was herself sank. She was
butted under by one of the irOn-clad mons
sters, but when she went down, and while
she was half under water, her guns were
discharged and carried her assaiiant with
her. Only three of her crew were lost 10
the action, and Captain Boggs and his men
have won lasting glory for their galantry,
stubbornness and indOmitable courage. The
Itasca received a shot which disabled one
of her boilers and could not get by. The
Kennebec and Winona also made the at.
tempt but met with some distractions.
The Harriet Lane, Miami, Owasco, and one
or two others, without intending to go
by, steamed up and added their strength to
the attack. The Winona had two or three
killed aud three Or four wounded. The
Harriet Lane received shell which killed
Fitzgerald, sailor, and wounded George
Huestop, petty officer, so severely that am
putation OF the right leg was performed.
So far as / can learn these are the only &C.
cidents which occurred to the steamers
which returned. 1t is said that one hun.
dred and fifty will cover the whole number
OF killed and wounded on board the Vero~
ma and those vessels that passed the forts. "a
HoLLIN's RAM EXIT.
The morning after the passage of the
forts our eyes were astonished by visit
from the famous ram, which has won i'm
mortal fame for the doughty Hollins, but
this time she appeared under circumstances
of great disgrace. Iron clothed as she is
and improbable, the Mississippi had in
dignantly put shell through her sides and
set her on fire. Whether her crew were
burnt or drowned themselves, or whether
they escaped by some means or other, is not
Sha FILL