The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-05-01

mention this because il can do no harm
as the rebels have better knowledge OF
our whereabouts than | can possibly give
your readers. The insurgents have no
batteries on whnt was tho island, but in
every other respect the "situation' is very
similar to that at No. 10, and the siege pro-
misses TO be ofcqual duration. The distance
across the point from our mortars to the
! battery upon which they are now at work
! is about two miles. Our gunboats are in
easy supporting distance, anchored i'll the
stream.
THE BoNBARDMENT
! A bombardmcnt with mortars is seeming
| " q terribly uitair, but in reality it is gen
Icrolly a very harmless amuscmot. can
readily imagine why mortar fleet should
inspire the inhabitants of bcsigcd city
with terror, for if shell did not explode in
in ono street or square, II propably would
in another. Moreover, they roar trcmen-
ldously, shaking the hollow-sounding earth
for miles around and, this Of itself, is well
calculated to fill nervous people with dread
but they might bclch away for weeks at a
small object like battery and not strike it
once. True, if one of the monster shells
hurled 10y The mortars should happen to land
in the right spot the result would be tcrrible
but of this there seems to be little more
probability than that tho enemy should be
struck with lightning any time when n
thunder storm is passing over them. | can
readily credit the statement made by the
rebels that but ono man was killed by our
mortars during the bombadmcnt of No. ] o.
The firing yesterday and last night was
quiet spirited. Within five minutes OF the
time our mortars opened, we received
shell in response, and up to the time hostli-
4 xk.....
many as we sent. Their firing was very
good, and IL was evident their guns were
served by experienced artillerists who had
- correct knowledge Of the position of our
boats. The smoke from our mortars OF
course served as good target for them.
After uightlall their shot and shell rainod
around us thick and fast, falling in the
river close to the gmboats, FLASHING the
water high in the air. One of their shells
lcxplodod directly over the gunbOat St
Louis, one Of the Fragments striking one oi
the crew on wrist, but doing him no scr-
ous injury. Another struck the Carlo on
one her casCmates, but glanced off like u
muskct bail, with out harming her i'll the
least. From the elevation attained by some
of the cncmys she'll, which at night can
bc seen coming toward us, il is thought by
somc that the rebels, too, are usiug mortars.
The more general impression, however,
seems to be- that their shell are brod from
rIlcd guns, and that their gunboats are acti-
= yoly participating in the engagement
MORTAR FIRING.
have been somewhat interested in the
firing of our mortars, rs ! doubt not most of
your readers would be could they witness
It, The captain of the transport ON which
the representatives of the press have taken
quarters has wholesome dread of the
cucmy's she'll and high regard for the
skill they display in the use of those.
---eugnes whose rude throats
The immortal JoNcs dread clamors counterfeit,
and consequently keeps at respectful dis
tancc. Our views of the interesting opera
ton, therefore, are generally at "long range,
but sufficiently near for all practical pur-
poses.
When mortar is discharged we first
observe n dense column OF smoke, not
exactly shooting up, but raising rapidly as
high as the tops of the surrounding trees
About twenty seconds alter-for be it re-
mcmbcrci we are two CT three miles of
we hear the report, which breaks upon the
the tympNnnm with stunning force, jarrring
everything, and roaring through the woods
as ONLY the report of . thirteen-inch mortar
'dll. IIb'n twenty W lOIty bctOllub, ldltl
J depending entirely upon the length OF
the fuse the report of the shell bursting
can be distinctly heard, although six o,
eight miles off. In tho immediate vicinity
e. il must be loud as the discharge of an or
3 dmary field piece though not SO crashing
+ It is an imitation of the mortar, and takes
up md prolorgs its echoes ere they have
. died away
t If the shell should explode in the air, W.
b, FIRST see a putt Of white smoke, apparently
= not larger than y mans hand, shaped like ;
! stoeyad weight which soon after bears II
s striking resemblance to an invested balloon
$ and then gradually diesGlyes itself into air
% At night the course Of the shell through
c The air can he traced by the burning fuse
b. but the sight is not such an one rs the illus
} trutions in oar pctorials would lead one (,
y supposc il is. Viewing it from behind, at
+ distance of two or three miles, the shcl
/ looks not unlike star of the third or iourtl
o magnitude red and fiery, like Mars, o
o coursc-and seems to rsc perpendicular,
n in the air. and to descend in the same path
7 | cam see no similarity between il and
comet The exhibition is not imposing
- though possibly it might be to one wh
!, could see the messenger of death describe
q its parapolic curve
+ There has been spasmodic lombard
l. ment ot the enemy o-day, but The be llowin,
4 OF the mortars no longer excites attention.