Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-07-29
your sffsclionsse nephew,
PHILLIP ERIEs.
U. s. srEAMRE R1cHzoyD. 2

After several severe trials ws had al LAST Joined
! our feet with that Of Capt Davis irOm above.
/ We had, between Us, traFsrsed the Mississippi
/ from It's mouth almost to its source, sweeping
/ away every floating thiHg that opposed US
SuppOsing ourselves perfectly safe, our fires were
/ extinguished, and We lay at anchor as careless
/ and uuprepsred for az emergency a. we would
/ be in New York hsr5oT- Oa the morning IF tbe
/ the 18Th Of July about O'Clock, We were s1d-
/ denly aroused, and in my case awaked by the
sharp clicks Of the Tattle; this is an instrument
sucn IS IS used II colleges during holy week in
stead Of the bel, and is only spTuug in cases Of
such emergency that the GTLnm6r cannot be
called upon 20 summon the crew to quarters.
The fret words I heard were "sh5 rebsl ram
Arkansas is coming down upon US At once
our utterly helpless condition, without the power
of motion in a swift current, flashed upon every
body's mind and q sickening picture it impressed
there.
Hastily throwing on a few clothes hastened
on deck to ascertain the state Of things
Around US lay the combined power Of fsg Of
heer Earregut's and Davis fleets. Fdgatss
gunbOets, iEO1- plated boats, wooden rams and
lrOn-cased rams were anchored along the bank
for mile and g halE AMI slowly ssseming
along the hollow of bend in tbs river Just
above rs was q long, low, tull, rel. floating OBJ
Jsct She showed neither flag nor sign Of life
US, but being the FIRST Of tho large ships we all
supposed we would be the first object Of attack
Her course also seemed t. indicate it. Two
OF our guubOats now fred. The Arkansas an
sWered, taking cf one mans head and wound
ing three others. I saw her pass the guubosts
1 looked for some vessel moving to atlsck her
Not one stirred; only one man had steam up on
his vessel We believe he could have sunk her,
yet he did not move q f1gor because he 3" did
tialed and dismissed iG disgrace. He was
urged to attack her, but be was not equal 70 his
duty and be should not be trusted with a snip
any longer. Even the charges hsd Been with
drawn from or guns in our iaysied security,
and there was not sufficient time 60 .0ld them
all
Slowly, steadily, gallanlly, the rebel ram kept
on her way, as though she belonged to us and
was quietly choosing an anchorage. che was
now approaching rs and as all the best Of
the crew had been at their quarters some time
I vas obliged to 60 to mine.
/ sat down and "cOOlIy" awaited the blow
! knew must sink rs. In q fs~ minutes our
guns were srad 10 quick succession. 1 waited
but no crash followed.
l went or deck and saw the ran slowly ii1At-
ing below uuiHjIred. Our solid, wrought iron
80 pound shot had been shattered % pieces
against her iron-clsd sides less than & hundred
yards distant. The Benton Hartford and gun
boats below rs, poured perfect shower Of balls /
upon her Bat she was ike adsmsnt Is did
not even hasten her speed, and proudly she
,u1ued point. disappeared from sight, aud an
cGor5d under the batteries and F.cAsoUIg.
doubt whether such feat has ever bofoce been
accomplished, ana whoever commanded her
should be known and hOnoysd. And shy was
she successful By reason CT the stupidity of
cur leaders, and because we were caught nap
ping. there IS a rather wi gsr expression which
expresses our plight exactly, bus shall not
allude to It further. We know this ram was in
the TazJ0 river, together with over thirty Of she
finest river boats, only FIVE miles above us, and
yet no earthly power could induce the flag ON
Ger TO send an expedition 80 capture and destroy
them. We were told she would come cut; the
idea was Tidiculed The 3gg officer was even
told positively, q. 10 O'Clock the night before, |
that she would come down the next morning. /
He did Lot even deem it worth while % tell US
to get up steam.
The morning she came out, the Ca-ondelet, "a !
so called iron clad,) a gunbOst and a ram went
up the IazoO TO rscOuu0iteF. They suddenly |
met the Arkansas, and one was driven ashore |
and the Other forced to retreat down the river, /
both with heavy loss. This firing was heard, /
but strange enough no attention paid TO it. Il 1
is supposed that the rebels, through their pick /
cts and spies, found out that W5 lsy without /
steam up, and accordingly laid this plan for 4
running the gauntlet. They caught rs power |
less except to waste gunpOwdeT, and it was /
amidst mingled curses and admiration that we 1
saw heT round out of sight A plan was at once /
formed to follow her and drag her from under the /
batteTies-:he attempt was made the same
night The Richmond was designated TO steam
wish all her power upon Der. Bat the day had /
been stormy, leaving tie night exceedingly |
dark this, together with the smoke from the .
batteries and ships, obscured objects 50 thas not
q person on any Of the seven ships that came
by Vicksburg saw any sign Of the ram. We
had not succeeded in oar object-the destruc-
ton Of the ram; but we had divided our fleet
into two parts, one above and another below
her, and there she remains, and fear viii re-
main bugbesr by day and night. I doubt
whether you viii ever have true version Of the
affair, except this. JOHNNIE.a