, 1862-05-12

ar, Gen. Butler sent them down to the |
outhwest Pass. All these vessels are now at |
be head Of the Passes, save the Great Repuh- |
c, whose grreat draught prevented her pas
pirlts at the prospect of having something to
o.. Anything in the way Of a change from
he1r desolate encampment ut SLIP Island |
royes acceptable.
SECOND LET TER.
rhe Gauntlet Run---Farrasutss Fleet
Toua.--Rekuru OF the Mortar Boats
to Pilot ToWn--Letter from Flag"
Officer Farrasut.
Orr Pnor Tow., MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
Friday Evening, April Is, 1852
When closed my letter yesterday had no
dea that ehould be down here at Pilot
Town, III my old quarters, more than twenty
niles ], IRON the scene q the bombafdment.
#ith which have been more specially con
1ected, was ordered suddenly, about s o'clock
IN the afternoon, to get under way and repair
to this place, where most Of the vessels arr
now at anchor. The mortar feet, worn out By
toll, had been greatly dissatisfied
for tie past day OF two, because the large YES
sells took no part in the action. The men
were completely iaded with their hbors, With
out receiving much encouragement IS to the
advantage which had Iesulted therefrom. 1t
vas really pitiful sight to so on board the
seboCners and look ut them. have seen
them when relieved from duty SO exhausted
that they did not attempt to go below, but,
dropping upon the deck, seek Sleep amid the
internal din Of the firing. At each discharge,
tue vessels shlvrrcl aud vibratcd rs if each
plank and timber we're hung upon hinges,
making everything mogeable dance and clat-
ter, the lateral conclusion of the atmosphere
being torcible enough to shattcr, as it did,
striking upon the tinpanum with q painful
ring, productive Of hcadache and deafness.
II required heroessto support this long-con-
tlnned strain upon the physical organization,
and as such shall always look upon these
Mortar-men.
before, aud the old huIks which supported it
were trailing the river bank, where the tide
had swept them. When it became known
positively OIL Wednesday night that Com
modore Farr7gut would certainly move
his squadron at . o'clock the next morning,
everybody WAS made happy, and the wearicd
men looked eagerly for tie moment which
and starlight; the serenity Of the scene being
rpdely broken upon every ten minutes By the
lang Of mortar from each of the vessels Of
the division On watch, which awakened echoes
and rolled the sound in rcyerberating waves
far down the river. The rebels all day had
preserved an o1ninous silece. Nota single gun
had been fired from either fort, and the fact
argued that they had either evacuated their
position, or were reserying their ammunition
In anticipation Of the grind attack. For myself
l could not think Of sleep, because Of my
anxiety for the SUCCESS Of the momentous IN
de1tahing which was soon to commence. I
passed the slow hours in gazing at the dark
nnt1trns rf 4hf. Gra}b.fitza st3I1DeeE
hung over every ship, unrelieyed by the faint-
est glimmer Of lanlplight. There were no
warm colors in the picture, and its cold, dreary
aspect WIS suggestive Of any but pleasant
thoughts. Precisely at two o'clock two sig
nal lautcrs we're holsted upon the Hartford 's
miZzen peak, and in 1eW moments the Eoicea
Of the boatswains rang clearly over the river,
tsup all hammocks," which meant that the
men were to forego their sleep and get the
ships underWeigh& There was some delay il
getting up anchors, and ranging into position,
and it was not until 81 O'clock that the yes.
divisions, in order as follows:
The steam sloops Hartford, Brooklyn and
Richmond, and the glnboats Sciota, Iroquois,
Kennebec, Pinola, Itasca and Winona. These
verscls we're especially under the direction Of
Commodore Farrsgut, and were to fire upon
Jackson
The steam -sloops Pensacola, Mississippi
Oneida and Varuua, and the gunhoatg Kath
din, Kineo, Wiesachfcon and Cayuga, unde
Capt. Bailey, Of the Colorado, composed th,
second division, to operate against Fort Philip
The narriet Lane, Hestheld. 0waseo, Mi
ami, Clifton aud Jackson, comprised th
third division, under Captain Porter. Thes
Were to take q position from which the,
could pour an endlading fire Of grspe an'
shrapnel into Fort Jackson, and they wer
Joined BY the Portsmouth, sloop-of-war,
sailing vessel, which only could reach her po
sition in spite Of the cxertions Of her oflicen
and crew, in time to deliver ono broadside.
As soon as the vessels got under hcstdwsy 6
furious fire was thrown in the direction o.
the forts from the whole line Of mortar YES
sells, which seemed to shake the very waters
and at times could count nine bombs a
once in their fight as they twipkled throuz zh
the all, radiantly as falling stars. The reb el;
foremost Of the aee4had scarcely got abreast
Of the line Of fire from the forts when sigma
rockets were made from st. PhiEp, aud aho,
began to fall rapidly upon them. For tint
III re was no reply; but soon nc could heal
the noise Of the brosdsides, which sounded
Chinese fte~crackers let of together.
had got 8 boats crew, and Ventured along
| the liver bank as near to the forts az was p1u
| dent, in order to get q fair sight Of the en-
gagement; but con1d make OUT nothing dis
linctly. Broad flashes Of Light momentazilj
burst through the banks Of clouds on tn
horizon. which resemb1ed sheet lightning OF
| near Fort st. Philip, and tor half an hour tn
| din was terrible. Pandemonium coul,
scarcely be more aHe-inspiriug. At the eu'
Of that time it began to grow lighter, and
soon eaw the Harriet Lane, with Capt Porter
and ~ the vessels Of his division, comin!
the gunboats Kennebec, Winona aud Itasca
| which had been unable to pass beyond tn
forts. The ltasca at the time was under
shower Of Shell from Fort St. Philip. aftes
under the guns o1 the fort shot passe
through her boiler, and this rendered her uus
ble to proceed On her Way down she wa
exposed to q raking fire, and received thrice
shots below her water line. Singular1
enough, only two men were injured on boar
Of her. The Kennebec was struck sever
times, but none On boaTd were hurt
| 1t WIS now about S o'clock, and the mo
ta1s, Which had kept up their fire incessaotl.
we're s1gn21Ized to cease. Then report vi
spread that the larger part OF the equadrl
had paased beyend the foTte, and cheers upo
cheers Of exultation made the wclkin ring.
Between 8 and O'Clock, went on boa1
the OWasco, with Capt. Guest, who had bee
commissioned By Capt. Porter to 60 with
Aag Of truce up 70 the forts and demand the
unconditional surrender, We approach5
Fort st. Philip within 5 mile, when We We
| hIed upon rapidly five times. I confess til
bad anticipated something Of this sort, AZ
was not, therefore, uup1cpa1ed. We immed
: a!efy hau1ed down our flag OF truce, returae
but In half an hour stterwatd . gig came doE
from the rebel foft, flying the reba flag astel
and white flag in the bow, and containing
pale young man, with bushy hair, in the NJ
form coat Of q First Lieutenant Of arti1leE
with somewhat seedJ cap and pautaloons
coarse corduroy. Capt. Guest went to me
our visitor, and their conference lasted fe
: minutes. The crew Of the rebel bost Was
more motley appearance than can descr1o
: Their clothes were soi}ed and ragged. %
wore red ahirtr one white, and the 9th
= TWO gray shirts. One had 8 black slouch
hat. and the others violet c0lored militia
caps. We waited after the rebels vent ba'
to the tort until they came back With .
ana#er to. our demand for surrender:
hFetu,51nE, hasq5 e. tie rebel Ess };lax 3ayissd
mesa message II there Taf9 81 COURSE sSa ofa'e9 be vas
cynosure Of all eyes, and he appeared to
greatly abashed at the position In which
: found himself He brought word that Colon
Hgg1nson, the commander at Fort Fh1lt
Z; considered our terms wholly inadmissae
and that the fort would never surrender.
t also offered an apoiegy in behalf of his 6uperl
officer, for firing upon the t1ag OF truce, s
! surlng ns that It Wa done bT mistake-t
I ( color Of the flag having been 1ndistugnls
G able. hen the young Lieutenant, Whe
. name, believe, Is Kennedy, Of tho FL
t Louisiana Artillery, left the vessel, be allow
bis boat to drop down considerable distau
q | unable to row against the current Undoul
6 ! ediy his object ~as to mike reconnnIssa1
< Of our forces, and as econ 81 h1a shrewdn.
0 | Wns 0bSf{Te4. We-yan toward h1u. Capt