The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1862-07-04
The Disaster OF the Mound
civ,

The telegraph has told us OF the terri
bic disaster of the gunboat Mound City
on the White river. A letter in the Chi
c;g' Tijgne siv,s th cat.st:ol he more
in detail.
While advancing slowly, the r,bcls
o"encd u destructive fire FROM two riiltd
- Founders ON the fleet, to which the
! f nr gunboats replied vigorously for hall
az hour. II was ut this moment that
t. great catastrophe occurred An ul-
la ky shot from one of the hayy gups
on the hill cumc plunging down, aud
struck the Mound City ON the larLoald
quarter, forward ahead Of tho Iron plates,
and cut its way through the heavy tim
Der us il il was an inch board, aud struck
the steam drum, passed through il and
~. ~ nee'ei aud brought up in the pantry,
Then followed scene winch Deggars
description. The decks were crowded
with nearly 200 men, and us the hot
scading steam was thrown with tremen-
dous force between the decks terrible
cry of agony arose, which my informant
says, will ring in his ears to all eternity.
Out of one hundred and eighty men
twenty-five are all that escaped injury -
Every officer but one was scalded or kill
ed outright, He was on the upper deck,
and out ofrcach of the steam,
Captain Kitty wHs in the pilot house,
and was badly scalded about the face
hands and feet, but is expected to recov-
err Several jumped overheard, and the
yawls OF the other gunboats quickly went
to thcir assistance. At this Juncture
Colonel Fry, the inhuman devil incarnate
commanding the rebel fortihcation, or
dercd his sharpshooters to pick of the
poor sailors swimming in the water, and
for some time kept lrngat them ". Ii his
large guns A shot passed through The
Conestoga's launche, but fortunately kill
ed no one. Many Of our men were killed
in the water, and several drowned. Col.
onel Fry is said to be an exlieutcnant oI
the Federal Navy,
by this time frRg had ceased, and the
Lexington towed the disabled Mound
City into the bend. The tug came tc
the transports for Surgeons and assistance
for the scadcd. The sufferers were al
stripped, the skin coming OFF in large
flakes With their clothing, and all tprnet
to render the assistance so imperatively
demanded, One OF the men who was dy
ing onthc gun deck, by some means
caught hold ofthe rope by which the caI
on the guns exploded, aIid in the extrcm
ty of his agony discharged the larboarc
bow gun, u very large one, and tho shot
passed through the engine Of the New
National, forward OF the wheel, cutting
of stem pipe of the larboard en-,
gine and scv rely scahing the 'engi
ncer.
The steamer Mussclmpn was ordcret
to take the wounded to Memphis, under
convey Of the Cunestoga. About sun
down all the living were taken aboard
and the steamer started on the 18th, about
day light. The steamer reached the
mouth of White river during the night
Twenty died, among them 3d master
John II. Kinzie, Jr., of Chicago; five
men died on the Conestoga; among them
N. c. Gum, the purscr, and surgeon
Jones was not expected to rccov.
or.
At twelve o'clock, M, on the 18th, the
steamers stopped above Islands No. 81
and 6S, and buried their dead, twenty-one
from the Muselman and four from the
Conestogu. They were buried 10 a sin,
gle grave, or square well, with an inscrip-
tion at the head Of each rounded hillock
denoting the name andrank Of the do.
ceased, Their bodies can be easily recov.
cred, II desired.
The body Of young Kinzie was brought
to Memphis and will be forwarded to hi.
friends in Chicago After the explosion
he jumped overboaad and was shot three
times in the water by the fiends, through
his legs and arms. At first IL was thought
that he would recover, but he failed rap
idly towards morning, and at four a'clocE
on the morning of the 18th, Just as tn SUI
was kissing the tree tops of the bank,
of the great fiyer his spirit passed
away.
Fourth master J. A, Scovlle, :, also Of
Chicago, was one Of the victims. lie
was left on the Mound City and will be
buried with the rest. &.
First master Dominy, the only one i'm.
hurt, says that the number Of those kill.
ed aud those who must die will exceed