Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1862-12-08
The Yankee Iron Steamer Destroyed il
North carolina.

a correspondent or the Huntington Jour
nal gives the following account of the total
destruction. ofaan from steamer, which en-
tered New. RiyeraN. g., on the morning of
sncf r9saf noticed anu promptly
reported by .tsa<t.' Wards pickets to the
proper authority, when Capt. Newkirk, with
a detachment Of the Rebel Rangers togeth-
er With Lieut.. Latham with one piece of the
Kennedy Artillery, proceeded to the mouth of
New River to pay their respects They ar
rived on the morning of the 25th, just as she
was returning from Jacksonville, vhere she
had taken the mail and what papers she
could find, In the meantime appr0priating to
her especial use S0meyboxe5 of clothing de-
posted there by the patriotic ladies Of On
slow, for the uSe+O of our brave soldiers in the
field. And just here, for their consolation
let Inc tell them that although they filled to
reach the proper destination, yet they never
gave. warmth to their enemies as t!4ey were
destroyed with the steamer. AS she was
quietly proceeding down the river, on. her
way out, apparently in no hurry at all, Lieut..
Latham opened upon her with his rified
piece, checking her progress, throwing her
out of the main channel of the river, anu
causing a general confusion on board. So
soon as she recovered from her shock, she
opened upon him q terrific fire of shell and
canist er, but he needed not her reply,
and continued to pour upon her a rapid fire
causing her iron sides to ring. Bat twas a
play at ball with no equality IN our side, fr
having but the one piece to contend with,
she was able to direct her three heavy guns
at us, while Lieut.. Lalhan's balls filed tc
enter to Ker iron sides and it was not unit
he had found he coul] sink her, did he leis.
urely and in the best ,of order retire, while
grape was flying thick and fast in every
direction. The steamer continued to. shell
the woods, to. find oat the whereabouts o
the artillery, and shytng around the place
where she knew it had been she stuck fasr
on a sand bar, and c0Eld neither get over
nor back away from il. Captain Newkirk
tie officer in command, Immediately des.
patched a courier to the artillery camp for
one more gun, which ar ived the night 0
the 25th under command of Captain Adams
1t was then determined to renew the attach
by daylight. Positions were. CHI sen an,
next morning, an hour before day, all partie.
were ordered to their respective Places
Here follows the position of our forces
which We do not think prudent to print -
Capt. Newkirk super intended the movements
Everything was now ready and there en-.
sued for a few moments a perfect stillnes
which was broken by the riied shell.o Capt
Ad ms (which went laundering forth, thel
another made her ring, the1 came Lieut.
Latham's, SHOT, which did its GRAND well
then replied the steamer with her wouId-b
murderous grape, while both pieces of artil
lery kept up arapid.fre iast then a boa
was seen going down, aud as it touched tn
water, Lieuts. McClalnmy and Spicer, witt
their attachments, stood ready to disaut
their passage to the Ind, bat that boat ha
business elsewhere, they made towards
schooner which lay well towards the inlet
and though the artillery threN shot nea
enough to them to thrQw the water i
their boat, it failed to sins them. Just q
a Shell from the artillery made-an ,entranc
into the cabin, a light was. discovered, an
Capt. Newkirk proclaimed the day ours
Very soon the wood work Of the steame
was in a light blaze, and the attention of a
was directed to the schooner which BOZ
them away IS a stiff breeze carried them IA.
down the river. Had it been calm, the en-