, 1862-05-12

Guest remarked, IT must give you tow
and passing rope to the boat, NC soon took
him nearly up to the fort. In this way we OBJ
served as much as be, the river being strewed
with wrecks Of steamers and half consumed !
fre-rafte. Il was not long after the rebel
answer had been returned to Captain Porter, |
before the bombs were again bowling in the |
direction Of the forts, and the firing continued |
until the mortar-deet Was ordered down the
r1rer.
Cur retreat was decided upon particuIazIy |
becAuae there is really no need, under existing /
c1rcumstances, Of keeping up the Siege Of the |
forts. We hare the rebel garrison In a trap,
from which It Is impossible to e1tricate them
selves, and a few days more or less for them T
to hold the forts Is Of no material conse-
quenee. Here the mortar vessels are perfectly
eecuIe.
Since We came down have learned that this |
schooner Nhe Dan. Smith has been selected |
to convey dispatches from Capt. Porter to our |
warded to the Government. she Is to leave
early in the morning. and arailing myself of |
the courtesy Of her commander, who has |
yielded his cabin for my accommodation, I |
shall write as fully as possible concerning eur |
as S spd dsRPg ahf ds1s c Ct 1i1 DS aS
case would be wearisome to pcruse, I shali |
narrate the events connected with yesterdays !
movements, as far as know them from Per
soual observation and from the statements Of
others.
THere is no doubt fznt Commodore Faragut
aoith q large squadron, Is new at Nt,o Orleans.
Read the following letter, a copy of which 1
Was permitted to make. 1t Vas written when
the flag officer was Warm from the conflict,
and the words hare the ring Of true metal in
them:
DEAR PORTER: Ne had rough time Of it as
Boegs III tell you, but, thank God, the number Of
Killed and wounded vas very small, considering.
deEtrAvp1 thp Ci1rfh C1nhat hHtHHen her
and the old Mississippi but the ram backed out
when she saw the alfssisslppi coming at him 90
sih Il pn sWo Or Of ahn ea
ram Parhvd dre5aI: On 70 me, and IN trying .
avoid it ran the ship on shore He again pushed
on 6e IRE Re- a r. soeg eg one sias iRe as tne
again, proceeding Up the river. lighting our way.
We have destroyed all but two Of the gunboats,
and these will hsEe to surrender with the forts.
intend to follow Apmy SUCCESS and push for New
orleans and then come down and attend to the
fortR, you hold them in etdtt quo until
as I'LL % ai4ys4 4 ySn fsaS s5 ISL ss sf sl Ed l. l.
terco1ree with the city is cut Oh. Ne have cur
the wires above the Quarantine and are now go:
prisoners At Quarantine. They surrendered and
/ paro1ed them not to take up arms again con'd
net stop to take care Of M them. T. 4 TIC General
Eunboats there IS protect lin flon IL gaabeats
That are at The forts Wish to get to tne English
Ths5 s S nc not % be ids an9 neithef hi You
ported us most n'0's 'sFzb T. b5r93y fF%RaAeuq F2gEfa;
Tq; cagt. D. D. PORTER, Commanding Mortar
This dispatch was brought to Capt. Porter
this aftern Don By Capt, Boggs, late Command
er of the VaEuna, whose vessel Was sunk in
| the action. From Capt Boggs I obtained
some further information. Hs stated that,
! before the Faruna sank, she destroyed alone
six Of The reuel steamers, Of which he learned
| Webb, Palmetto, Phenix and jackson. As he
| passed the forts, Capt. Boggs, as we'll as alI
| the other vessels, received their ire. The
] Richmond, and one or two more Of the large
| or four broadsides each into the enemy. The
| Faruna did not wait after delivering two
! brondsides, but pressed directly into hornet's
nest Of rebel gnnboats which were mile or
two above. She WAS assailed by them two Or
| three at q time, ram fashion, putting at her
with their iron-cased= prow5, and sew.
| eral large holes were made in her. As long as
his vessel foatea Capt. Boggs fought calamity
I With his guns, aud drove the enemy's stcanl-
ess ashore where they were tired By their own
crews. One Of the Varuna's shot disabled
| still another steamer by making hole in her
boiler, aud this vessel surrendered to the
Oncidl, who took her officers and crew prls-
| oners. The Faruna's 1ast guns were fired
| when her decks were under water, and no clo-
thing OF other property was saved hy J soul
on board. There were three Of the Farnna,s
| crew Killed In the action, and seven wounded,
| two Of whom are not expected to survive
their injuries. Including the ram, there were
eleTeu OF the rebel steamers destroyed, and
the Captain Of the ram is prisoner on board
the Mississippi
| After the light, the whole squadron repaired
to the quarantine anchorage, which Is seven
miles above the forts. There tho dead Wers
buried, and the wounded made as com
Portable as circumstances would permit.
The number OF our killed and wounded is
estimated BY Capt. Boegs at about 135, and Il
of these belonged to the Richmond. H. thinks
| that the loss on the side Of the rebels was
| enormous. The chain cables which were fas
tened on the outside Of our vessels
proved an admirable protection to their ma
them it bounded off without penetrating. !,
great deal Of damage #as done to us " ths
floating dock Of tile rebels, to wlich har!
before adyerted; and although many broad
siGcs were fired at It, they had no effect rhat
ever upon its iron sides.
At Quarantine Station our squadron fouut
large quantity Of coal, sufficient for their us
for long time. All the yessuls, save twt
! gunboats, Started for New Orleans at = o
clock, at which hour they had repaired dana
ges and made themselves ready toranother en
cotnter.
CAPTAIN Boggs came down from the squad
EoD in a snail boat, having picked his We.
through bayou out of the river and pu}1et
| along Back Bay, in the rear Of Fort ST. Philip
| He was guarded by a soldier whom he tool
prisoner, and vas twenty,six hours maxim
: the passage This soldier, like almost all wh
. have been taken prisoners, said that he hi
, | been forced to enlist. He does not bclier
r, that there are any batteries above the forts t
i impede the progress Of out feet to New Q,
. leans. Above the city, at Lafayette, is
| heavy battery on the t1gcr, to prevent Con
, Foote coming down.
The causaltics in the mortar fleet during th]
: | siege have been remarkably few: one kile
> and six wounded covers all. One Of tb
, schoonere, the Maria J. Carlton, Was sunk b
q round shot the second day Of the bombari
;. I ment, but nobody WIS hurt.
a NC baTe had more collisions among the gul
boats during the past few days than cOuI
i count on the ends Of my fingers. The Seios
= and Miami have each lost & mast. and anchor
I boats and bulwarks have been rendered scare
+ generally. These misfortune5 are Of min(
= sort, and are due entirely to the hazardous na'
= jgation, in strong tideWsy, among SO Tast
| tiect. As far as losing the masts is concernet
!. that makes no very great difference, for nearl
r all the gunboats have been deprived Of the
a spars On purpose in order that they may nj
), prove 80 good mark to fire ut The gul
!. boats 1ooE alike, apparently having been ca
- III the same mould The better to distinguish
,e large numbers arc painted in white on the
" smoke stacks, thus: l, scioto; 2, Winona
4 Kineo; 4, Wissahleon $, Kenncbee; 8, z
- nola; I, Itasca; 8, Katahdin; 2, Cayuga.
y The sloop Oneida, Capt, Lee, Las hid eou
!. rough experience. On the second day Of tt
= bombardment she was struck on the sf3rboa1
side forward by q solid 32-pounder, whic
a lodged in her Waterways where it Is frm]
+ imhedded. The same day 3 10-lnch solid sht
= struck her in the after.pivot port. caTTFin
away the stancheons, injuEiug The after-pivt
| carriage, and bounding along the deck, ser
ously iuinring nine men.
: 6t1erAu Houndod.-J. L. Miller, scansai
r band anputated; Chas. D. Murphy, ofdinaz
I seaman, confusion and fracture; John Moi
i seaman, confusion and internal injuries Gst
t Scott, ordinary seaman, confusion; Rfchar
= Graham, seaman, extensive confusion; Edwt
= Perry, seaman, confusion
l. Slightly Ho7.ndea,-Henry Cooper, marine
i Robert Woodruff, landsman John 4. Mazti'
1andsman.
n The very next day shell passed throug
|, the oneida's snaoke-stack, taking of the rig'
J. signM quaFternaaster Vim will probably +
= | cover, although be is 1naimed shocEngly,
G DESCRIPTION OF TEE FORTS,
Il Fort Jackson, which is by far the strong
e | work, is regular pent2gonal Fashioned foTi
e fcation, having tWo fronts bearing on Il
d river, and three on the land side. The Lat
d fronts have each q g1acis and covered way, al
r, twentJ-fv guns. 4 wet ditch, from forty
6 seventy feet wide, and SIX feet deep, eurroun'
e the main work on the river, and simil
a, ditch, one hundred and fifty feet wide, Il
le lnnd fronts. There is also Het ditch, SIX fe
+ Seating battefye ~ The ~ two a chaane1beald1 me @
ly fronts have each eight casennate guns, whit
a are the only casemafed oHes in the work II
a. bitches are defended By 3+pounder ho~itze
as at either flank: The parapet is carried aero