The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1862-06-13
.THE FALL OF MEMPHIS.
sPIFsrrED GuNBOAT AND
RAW ENCOUNTER OFF
THE CITY.
TIIEREBEbC CUNBoATs nEsTRoY
ING EACH OTHER.
CAIRO, June 3.

NAINo, June y.
The regular packet Plattc Valley, th,
fret boat through from Memphis, arrive,
: here THE morning. Our forces nrc IN pos
session Of Memphis.
. The hotilln congistinF Of five punbout,
aud eight rams, left Fort Wright at . o.
, clock on Thursday morning, aud finding
. no distractions oi Fort Randolph, passct
on, aud at 3 o'clock on Thursday evening
the gunboots anchored two miles ubov,
Memphis. The rams remained n Bhorl
distance above.
A reconnaissance was made, and tho
encmy's fleet, consisting oftho following:
Gen. Van DJru, flagship; Gcn. Price,
Gen. Bragg, Gen. Lowell, JEFF Thomp.
son, B nuregurd, Sumptcr and Little Il b.
81, were discovered lying near Mem
phis,
During the night the rcbol feet moved
down the river, aud at daylight wcro out
Of sight, hut Ia half an hour oiterward
were seen coming up, formed in line Of
battle.
Our gunboHts had IN the meantime
weighed anchor, and followed by several
rams, moved slowly toward the rcb i
fleet, when shot from the Little Rebel,
/ from riflcd gun of long range, f. u
Within short distance OF the uupbont
Cairo, which wai in the advance. I'M,
Cairo replied with a broodniGc. md eoon
the engagement became general at long
range,
The rams, IN The meantime, advanced,
and the rebel ram Beaurcgard being some
distance IN advance, wns sihplcd out hy
the Federal rams Monarch and Qrccn OF
tho West, each striving TO be frat iu
strike the rebel craft.
The Monnrch succeeded in striking her
omidrhins, almost cutting her In two and
causing her to I'LL aud sink Immediately
III the chaLncl dir city opposite the city
At this juncturc the Little Rebel mudr
dash at the Monarch, which by this timo
was IN the midtt OF the r. bel fleet, but by
a skilllul movement orths pilot of the
latter, she dropped out Of the way, and
The blow intended for her struck the rebel
boat & n. Price taking away hr wheel,
making il necessary for her % run ashore,
whore she sent a shot, which, unfurtu.
nutcly for the rcbcls. slruel the boot dvu.
Llvcilrcndcring her unmunagcGhc. lm-
mcdiaicly aitcrwurd,she was run down hv
tie Qucen,f he Wet.
a brortfitc li,m Tie Bcrton took cf-
feet on the sides Of j. n, Thompson. when
shc ran ashore in n.mcs and burned to
the waters edge.
-Four rebel boats having been disabled,
the remainder oil th,irilcttrctrcutcd down
tho rh cf, rurfucd by our buOts, 1rinp as
they advanced, rctulting in the capture
al fItt EnItIgr nFu.v., 4 .stI
which hud been abandoned ly most OF
their crews,
Cept. Montgomery, the Flag. Officer,
aud most of the officers aud en-, sucrecd.
cd IN making lhciF rscT6c TO the woods
on the Arkansas shore.
The Federal RIM Lancaster was struck
by the DcNurcgHrd carly in the engage.
ment, aud was slightly disabled.
Col Ellct, commanding the Federal
rams, was struck in the breast ly splin-
ter, and was stunned temporarily, hut soon
recovered, aud continued on deck thrJugh-
cut the acton. This was the only CASUAL
~ on our side,
Our iums were manned by shnrprhooi-
ers-mostly from lllinois--whu did great
execution, picking oi' the cntmy's gun-
ncrs at every opportunity.
The rebel loss in killed, wounded and
prisoners is heavy, but not yet fully asccr-
toined. Our tugs were busily engaged
picking uP the crews Of their disabled
boats.
Altcr the return of the gunhouts from
the pursuit, Commodore Davis sent the
following note to the Mayor of the city of
Memphis.
u. 5. FAC STEAMER BEsToN,l
"Orr MEMPHIS, June g, 1862.
"Sir; have respectfully to request that
you will surrender the city of Memphis to
| the authority of the United States which
: ! have the honor to represent.
| 81 am, Mr.. Mayor, with high respect,
"lour obcdlcnt servant,
&c. II. DAVIS, Flug.O
In reply the Mayor said;
"luur note is received. In reply /
have only 10 say, us tho civil authorities
have no means OF defense, by force OF
circumstances the city il in your hands. ."
! Immediately an T u hoit's crow land.
cd and the national Nag was hoistcd over
the post, tlice. The party wus followed
by Un excited crowd, but ihcy were II,
intcrfcrcd with.
The lSd and 10th Indiana regiments
now occupyd the place, Col, Fitch in
command. The City Is quiet, No de.
menslrations whatever have been made.
II is even asserted that il will not be nee.
essay TO declare mOrtiul Jaw. Five oI
our gunboats now lie abreast of the city,
We captured five large steamers which
were mcorrd at the lCyCc. The rebels
burned gunbcOt which Was nearly ready
TO be launched
The Vicksbws Wing Of the Ith says
the FcdeIels have landed 5000 troops at
Baton Rouge. The Memphis Avalanche
of the 6th says ths locomotives recently
rua oil by railroad employees, wero.rc
covered. The same paper says all In,
bridges between Mcmphis aud Humbol
. have been destroyed.