Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1862-04-02

: !! Il a ! !gl lzf
Ma i. b. Smith, Pilot a Aassa toe
Unitsd States steamed CssAsvsassd q the
sinAek heE hAttle awitk che iroe plated
n m 49, &C. ki$sd N shis oisy
I'D HI svsnlslr. ia VI Obtained from
him the following aatheatis statement Of
the Kfsas n.salyb xt$aa Of 6asuF3.y and
Sunday irnsnptnn Beads
sTATzaxsg or yas FELox.
On Saturday morning the United States
steamer Cumberland laid Oh in the roads
at Newport GeWs, about shree hundred
yards fron Ne aizara, 4hs Congress being
two hundred yards south OF ~. Tho
morning was mild and pleasant, and the
day opened without any neteFsEtAy la-
ciderks. About eleveE O'Clock o aark-
looking object was deserted coming round
Cransy Island through Norfolk channels
and proceeding sssaight In our diEsosion.
Il wa isssaanlly reeesaissaas sha Merri-
mac. We had bean on the lockout for
her fer scns time, and were a. well pre-
pared then ID We could have been At any
othss time, ss ~ va haye been during the
lass six noushss
An she came blowing through the wa
tar right onward toward our port bow,
sha looked Ike ahuge hslg.sgbmerged
crocodile. Her ssies @seefned of solid
iron, except where the gnna poiased from
the narrow ports and rose slaasingly
from the water like tha reef Of y house on
the archea baek Of > tortoise. Probably
the extreme hight OF the apex from the
wafsgss edge parpsnsiiuulaxIys was ten
feet At her PROV could see the iron
ram projecting, straight forward, some
what above the wassrss edge, and appar-
emily d mass OF iron. SNAIL boats were
slung OF Easseaed to her sides, and the
rebel lag Hoated from one staH, while
pennans was fixed to another at the stern.
There Was q smokesEack or pipe ne@r
middle, and she was probably propeller,
no side wheels or machinery being visible.
She 10 probably covered with railroad
iron.
GETTING gEApV FOR ACTION.
Immediately on the appearing Of the
Aeyrsmae the command was given to
make ready for instant action. All hands
were ordered TO their places, and the
was sprung aeross the cham
mel, 50 that her bgoad-sld9s could bear
On the Merrtmae. The armament We
could bring 10 bear on the Msrrissac was
abou seleyen nine and ten-inch Dahlgren
guns and two pivot guns Of the same
maks. Tue gunneTs were ~ shaEr posts,
anu we waited eagerly for approach with
IN range, She came up at the rate of four
Dr. five knots per hour.
oPKsISo TIE BATTLK.
When de sfsrrissae arrived within
about mile, we opened on her with onr
pivot guns, and as soon Is we could bear
apsn her, our whole hEoadside commeno-
ID. Still she came on, the balls boune-
ing from her mailed sides like India rub
DsF, apparently making not ahe Least i'm
precision, exeaps 30 cut OF her dag -ssaf,
and thus bring down the Confederate
eolors. None of her crew ventured at
hal time on her outside to replace them,
and she fought thenceforward only with
her pennans flying. She appeared to obey
her heln aud be very rsadsty hanated,
making all her movements and evofntions
With apparent facility and readiness. We
aad pEobsbly hrsd AK Or eight broadsides
xhez shot vas received from one of Der
gums which killed five Of our marines. 1t
was impossiblS for our vessel to get out
IF her way, and the IsTTfmdc soon crash
ed her iron horn Dr. ram into the Cum
5ErLagd, just starboard the main chains,
1nder the bluff of the port bow, knocking
/ hole in the side near the water line as
arge as the head of hogshead, and
irving the vessel back upon her anchors
With great force. The water came rush
mr. into her bold. The Afsvrizuae then
packed out and discharged her guns at Us,
he shot passing through the main bay
md killing Ave sick men. The water was
All the while rushing in the hole made by
he ram, so that in FIVE minutes it Was Up
10 the sick bay on the berth deck. In the
mean time her bxuaasides swsp& our Ren
away, killed and manned, and also get
9ur vessel on FIRE in the forward part
raat fire was extlngaished. | cannot tell
how many were wounded. The sick bag,
berth deck and gun-deck were almost lit
orally covered with men killed and wound-
ID, bat the surviving onez still fought
veil, and every one, officers and men, dis
played the utmost heroism. The fight
usted three fo0rths of an hour, the Cana
ssTlGaad firing rapidly, aud ali the time,
he waSss pouring in the bold, and By and
by the ports, as her bow kept sinking
deeper and deeper. Near the middle Of
the fight, when the berth deck Of the
Cuga beyIGsad had sank below water, one
1t the crew Of the Msrrip1ac came out Of
3 port to tbe outside of her iron plated
roof, and ball from one Of our guns
Instantly cut him in two. Thas w&g the
asst aad emily rebel th&t ventnFed within
sight, the rest remaining in their safe,
ron wAllea Enclosure. We fred constant
s., and the MerrimGc occasionally, but
sEegy shot told upon our wooden vessel
md brave crew. Her guns being without
he least elevation, pointed straight at as
along the surface of the water, and her
aearness, she being much Of the time
Rithin three hundred yards, made il an
sasy matter TO send each ball TO its exact
mark. Probably her guns would be use
sss at a considerable distance, as it ap-
,ea.s impossible to elevate them. Final
y. after about thTee-fourths of al hour
II the most aeyere hghting, oRT vessel
,ank, the asars and stripes stia tsaviFsg.
that dag was finally submerged, but after
he hull ground on the sands ffty-four
leet below she surface of the water, our
seanans was still flying from the topmast
above the wavss. None of our Dea were
but many were drowned As the
Fessel went down. We had about four
aunared on board, and suppose from
,ne hundred and fifty 10 two hundred
were killed during the engagement and
drowned as ne sinking. Lisss. George
v. MaaYies was ID command % the yes
sci, Captain Radford being absent on the
At q Court Of Inquiry, and
shougb be hnrried back to reaah his yes
sci he could not arrive till after she bad