The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-05-09

| aye was no worse, The incident was looked upOr
as commonplace.
Mindful OF the Mornings experience with the
RAFT, Capt. Porter ordered all the boats belong
Ing to the mortar aotilla to he fitted with crap
mel ropes, fire buckets and axes, in preparation
Tor another, should the enemy send one down
In the evening about sunset the boats were re-
viewed. They pulled by the Harriet Lane ir
single line, each officer in charge being cues
toned as he passed Commodore Porter as fol
lows; " Fire buckets? axes? rope?" respon.
sive "Aye, aye, SIR and the Commodore di
rected, "Pul ground the Mississippi, and re-
turn to your vessels The Mississippi being a
| quarter of Il mile ahead, the men gave way stur.
Oily, in order to beat the rival boats There
were not less than $50 boats under review, many
! OF them ten-oared, and the whole sceue remind
| ed me more OF grand regatta than of any thing
| else.
An hour after the review, the men had an OPP
portunity to test in practical manner their
means Tor destroying tire-ralts, and they proved
10 De an admirable success. turgd column
OF black smoke, arising from rcsinous wood, was
seen approaching US from the vicinity of the
forts. Signal lights were made, the varied col
ors Of which produced a beautiful effect upon
the foliage of the river bank, and rendering the
darkness intenser by contrast when they disap
peared; instantly a hundred boats shot out
toward the raft, which now was blazing tierceIy
and casting wide zone of light upon the water
Two or three of the gunboats then got under
weigh and steamed boldly toward the unknown
thing OF terror. One of them, the W testified,
Capt. Renshaw, CALAMITY opens her steam valves,
ana dashes turlously upon 1t, making the sparks
ny ana tlmbers crash with the force of her blow
Then stream OF water from her hose plays up-
on the blazing mass. Now the small boats Law
alongside, coming up helter-skel,er and actively
employing their men. We see everything dis
tinctly In the broad glare--men, oars. boats
buckets and ropes. The scene looks phantom
like, supernatural; intensely interesting, ex-
tremeIy exciting, nextricabIy confused But
finally the object is nobly accomplished. The
raft, yet fercely burning, is taken out of range
OF the anchored vessels and lowed ashore, where
it is slowly consumed AS the boats return
they are cheered by the feet, and the scene
changes to one Of darkness and repose, broken
occasionally by the gruff hail of u seaman when
boat, sent on business from one vessel to an
other, passes through the fleet We have
contempt for fre-rafts They have proved, like
many other things, to DO "weak Inventions of
the enemy
The engagement was opened by Fort Jack.
son few minutes before 9 clock, and the
gunboat Owascn, which had gone length or
two ahead OF the mortar vessels, was the first
to reply. Presently the bomb Ho,ilia COM
menced throwing It's shells, somewhat slowly at
hrsl, but with increasing rapidity as the sailors
became accustomed to their work, until bomb
was sent from each vessel, on an average once
in five minutes. Before the fight began was
lucky enough to obtain place in the foretop of
the frigate Mississippi, where the entire field of
strife could be taken in at glance. From this
point saw the effect of the firing There were
70 shots fired from the forts during the first
hour and a-half, the larger number of winch
came from Fort jackson Most of them passed
over the masts of the schooners on the left
dropping IN range of those on the other shore
but from 50 to 200 yards short After a while.
however, the leoels got the range of these six
vessels accurately, and the balls fell about them.
especially from Fort Phillip, terribly thick and
last. In return, the bombs were directed spir
ltedly upon the fort, and with such effect that
the enemy slackened his fire. 1t is wonderful
that our vessels were not smashed to pieces
Solid shot struck the water close beside them.
wettlng the men with the spray, or lodging IN
the soft mud OF the river bank directly between
the schooners, threw thick column of earth
high up above their masts These vessels all
|
(Lieut. Commanding Queen's)
But am getting IN advance of my story, and
must return TO my main-top for description of
the scene, as it appeared from that point That
1t was intensely grand and animated, nobody
will question. The Hartford. Pensacola. Rich
mond, Brooklyn and Mississippi had come up
close to the rear line of mortar vessels. lust
without the range of the enemy's guns. and
were steaming only enough to keep their rela-
tive positions against the force of the current.
dozen smaller steam-vessels dotted the smooth
surface of the river, like the chessmen upon a
board when the game is nearly finished. Of
these gunboats the Owasco kennebec, Wissa
hicon, Cayuga and Sciota, were at the head of
our lines, belchlng out she'll upon the enemy
from their ll-nch pivot guns with furious ra-
pldiiy, and with them the sloop ofwar Iroquois.
Capt. DeCamp, whose gallantry is everywhere
admitted. The lIOquois seemed to be special
target for the enemy and shells plowed up the
water all around her, but she escaped with onlv
two OF the crew slightly wounded.
Over the woods, beyond tho forts, we can
count seven or eight moving columns of smoke.
which indicate that the rebel steamers are pass
ing about, probably plotting some mischief
against us. Soon one, and then another, and
third appear in view, steering to-
ward the forts. Before reaching them how
ever, the steamers dash to cover again, and we
see that three huge burning RATS have been set
adrlli. The swift current sweeps them towards
Us; below they are Il brilliant blaze, and rising
from the flames is spiral, funnel-shaped cloud
81 Sraylsh black smoke, so dense as to shut
from the fort and all else in that direction