Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1862-06-19

place in case of fatality, No human voice
broke the stillness-at least, on our vessel
This was the trying time, and now, MIR. Edl'
tor, il You'll Just hend down low so that can
whisper III take back all said about cour-
age, and admit that | needed a little of the
article just then, But the opening gun from. !
Fort St. Phillip brought sufficient supply in |
its wake, and fear gave way to excitement
for want Of room, Fort jackson echoed a
broadside, and from its old seat answered
each mortar boat whose "iron car was
yoked in wrath and Numbered from affair."
As yet none OF the advancing fleet hal
fred gun. But now came the tug OF war.
AT the signal the first and second columns
opened on the forts with she'll that yelled
like demons. A cloud of black smoke rolled
up, shutting out from sight everything but the
paths OF the fused shells, which marked it foil
of vanishing parabolas like flourishes of phos-
phorus on dark cellar wall. We followed
slowly till we found ourselves within six hun
dred yards OF the forts, these fell back a
little and took position on the left shore
The mortars poured over a shower of shell
continually into the fort at the rate Of fifteen
a minute. Icounted eleven at one time in
the air and some of the party counted more.
The enemy started two or three fire RATS,
but they were destroyed before they came
near us, or even in our sight, except as We
caught gimpses of them through openings in
the smoke, when their light looked like
liquid flame. Any attempt to describe de-
tails is useless. One hundred black cats
settling deadly teud in Vermont thunder
storm would present similar field for de-
sc"'ptlon. They fought desperately for two
hous, when daylight began to appear, and
the fleet had passed and were still battering
with some gunboats above the forts Eleven
gunboats aud Hollins' ram were sunk on the
Confederate side and only one sunk and one
disabled on Oh. side The Varona, COM
mandeG by Capt. Boggs, was sunk after
sinking thl,o rebel boats, one of which was
the "4 ankee" that they took from us. The
gallant captain continued firing as his boat
was sinking, and the last gun spoke death to
some rebel jast as the gun carriage was
going under water. The men took to their
boats and gave three cheers for the Union be-
fore it went entirely down. The Ports.
mouth, a sailing sloop of war, was disabled
and obliged to fall back. 1t was the only
fighting sailing vessel in the whole fleet
except the mortar boats. The number of
rebel killed was 100, only five of whom
were killed IN the forts. Their wounded we
can make no estimate of Our loss was sixty
killed and two hundred and fifty wounded
Commodore Farragut, after driving all the
gunhoats up stream that he did not sink
proceeded up to the Quarantine grounds
seven miles above the forts, took five hun
dred prisoners, and released them on parole
This was necessity, for he had no room nor
force to keep them with The fleet being
above the fort, it remained to get the troops
there to cooperate with it in cutting off
communication between the forts and New
Orleans and in reducing the city. 1t was
impossible for the transports to get by the
forts, and the next best thing was to take
the men around into the G If opposite the
forts and land them there. The levee above
Fort St. Phillips is only little more than a
mile wide, and Gen, Butler Immediately put
his feet in motion down stream to reach this
place. On account of the shadows about
these banks, it took two days for the trans
ports to come TO the nearest point possible
(slx miles from shore), and Saturday night,
April 26th, he began to land the troops in
lighters that could 90 within one mile of
shore. The landing was effected in Quar-
antine Bayov near Sable Island and Isle au
Breton.
The line Of communication once cut be-
tween them both, New Orleans and the forts
were ready to negotiate surrender on as
good terms as possible, for the last hope OF
the city rested in these deiences, now de-
fences no longer. Gen. Lowell pretended to
be unwilling to give up the city, but the citi-
zens demanded 1t as the alternative was that
the city should be burned. Forty eight
hours were given them to mediate on an un-
conditional surrender, and at the end of that
time they were in favor of it lis past, and
the "hated Yankees to the number of
5000 parade the streets of King Cotton's
capital, and guard the strongest sapproach to
its gates. After the forts surrendered, as
much of the fleet as could be spared went up
the river to cooperate with Commodore
Foote. At this date we have no news from
| them, but expect soon to see the whole Mis-
| sissippi opened, and this great artery of the
| Union, again. as Natures God evidently Or
daned it should, with an unbroken circula-
ton,
The bombardment of these forts has in
many respects no parallel, especially in the
amount of iron thrown. have made some
little estimate of this. Ten thousand and
fifty shells were thrown into or at Fort jack
son by the morars alone. Each she'll weighs
213 pounds A little mathematical calcula-
ton will show that Com. Porter has been
heaping Goals of fire on the heads of the reb,
els to the quiet amount of over 1000 tons.
1t takes on an average twenty pounds of
powder to fire mortar at the range taken.
A; this rate it took over 200 tons ofpowder
to perform this neighborly act. The expense
for ammunition in this bomdarlment will ex.
coed quarter of a million dollars. And yet
so strong were these Notifications, it is prob
able the enemy would have held ont for an
other week Under thu same fire. The cta-
del within the fort was burned to the ground,
but the soldiers took refuge in the classmates,
and to drive them out of these, might be be-
yond the power Of powder and ball, if they
had the determined bravery of the heroes of