The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1863-04-24
WAR NEWS.
THE CHARLESTON FIGHT

of CHARLES G. FuLToN, |
Editor Of the Baltimore American, reln-
ting TO the Intellectual performances of
our naval forces before Charlcston.---
Mr. FuLToS's account viii be read with
deep interest, os his intelligence and
reliability are we'll known. We copy
the concluding paragraph Of his account
Of the eannonadug
Tho Wcchuwkcn, which received the
first shot also received the last, having
maintained her advance position during
the fight, and rninod in shot and she'll on
Moultric aud Sumter without intcrmis.
sior. The passac, patnpsco, Montauk,
Cotsklll, and Nantucket, all maintained
their ground throughout the entire bat.
tic, which listed two hours and fifteen
minutes. They all fred with much rap.
idiy, aud ratified their immense projrc-
tiles against Fort Sumter greatly to the
damage of It's fair proportions. Several
shells nre said to have entered the en-
brasurcs, and the northwest corner Of
the wall is said 10 be greatly damaged.
The firing on the part Of tho rebels
from all thcir forts and batteries bearing
on tho channel in front OF Sumter, was
wild aud rapid for the first hour but
alter that Il was scnsibly diminished, aud
toward the close thclo was not one gun
fired 10 ten ut the commencement
Their practice was however, excellent,
which may be Judged from the fact thut
the different vessels of the fleet were
struck nltUg thcr not lees than five hun.
drcd times. The number of guns fred
on both sides could not have been la
than eighteen bundled, Tho firing last.
,donc hundred aud thirty five mrut s,lnd
the guns fired certainly averaged moro
than twelve per mirutc.
When our fleet commenced 10 retire,
the guns Of the cucmy materially slack.
cncd-lhcy being apparently perfectly
satisfied that they should go. There trdS
only an occasional gun .fred at them as
they morcd dloRg in JroHi Of Sumtcr,
doua The ship. channel, although htyGr-
cd more rapidly on Sumter Hda at anu
Prcrious time during the .GgdH Tho
Wcchuwkcu, especially, fingered at the
corner OF the fort aud appeared 10th 10
obey the Admirol's summon, to retro --
As they passed down along front the Of
Morris Island, they also exchanged shots
With th, different batteries aud moved of
with Colors lly ing.
Nothing, Of course, is known MS 10 the
amount OF damage done to the inside OF
Fort Sumter, against which our fire W. q
principally directed, Several 10 inch
shot are believed to have entered the
ombrueurcs, aud the 1ulcr wall is extern
sivrly bored and broken. Whether the
slac keuing of their fire was caused by in
t"rior damage is not known, Us the
hcavy smoke prevented The eunnCrs from
sccins where their balls struck
A nlsGRAcEruL RESULT.
tcous,pondeOco or THO Daltimoors Am,hcanl
Orr CHARLESTON BAR, April s.
Yesterday was bright day but uoth
Ing a. compare To tho cleHrncss of the |
a,mosphcrc this morning. We can see
the bruises and indenlDtions ON the walls
OF Sumter, the Gags iliiug from all the
forts, aud even the smoke curling mp from |
the ,himncys Of the houses in Charles !
tn. The stccpl,s OF St Philips s.. !
Michael 3, the Cathedral aud Grace |
Church can bc rcgoni2cd, rs well us the
observatory on the Mills House, Every
thing is distinct and clear to the vision
this morning, aud just s.iiilcnt wind
blowing to carry the smoke rapidly on,
if the pombOrdmcnt be renewed. Fort
pinckncy, which is Tar up Ia the harbor,
opposite the whurvcs OF the city, Ia dis.
tinctly visible, with ia flag, while Folt
Sumter stands cut clearly in the fore
ground OF this magnificent panoramic
view.
TuE COUNTRY plsGRAcrp,
But now comes the snddcst and mos,
soreowiul part OF my stat mcnt. The
seven Ericsson monitors were all exam
ined by Mr., Stimers, Inspector of Mon.
itors, aud, with the assistance of his
workmcn, had them all in rs good condi.
ton for service as they were yesterday
before noon, Half past one o'clock was
the hour fixed upon Tor n renewal ol the
bombardmcnt, and the oilcers OF the dit
ferent vessels were ali in readiness, and
most of them anxious for renewal ol
tho cou1ict. The oydcr for the movo-
mcnt was m0mtnturily waited Tor, but
thc order never came,
At three o'clock it was ascertaincd
throughout the fleet that the Admiral
had decided that "Churl ston was i'm.
ynegnablc, that Sumter eau not bc taken
with the vessels aud appliances placed
at his disposal by the Goycrnmout'--in
other words, that the power OF the Gov
ernmcnt Is no, sufficient 70 humble this
nest of rebels, Sad conclusion 60 tho
man who SO decided, ard surrowul To
che country which trusted in his ability
10 perform the duty assigned him,
In conversation with some OF the COM
members Of the iron.clads, before this or
der was received, wss assured that the
walls of Fort Sumter woro pierced and
crushed, and the opinion was expressed
that in three hours more the Fort wuu ID
be compelled 10 surrender, Several OF
them testified that their immense shot
had entered the cmhra sGrcs OF the Fort,
and dismounted the guns, aud that the
walls were in most sha tered condi.
zion. Other officers approved the acci-
sion of the Admiral, but they are the
samo who have maintained from the first
that Z" Charleston could not be taken. -
The sailors OF the feet, however, were
disgusted with tho decisiou,a and felt them
selves disgraeed,
Two hours and fitecn mlnutcs OF bum-
bardment, one man killed, seven wound
ed, one inferior vessel sunk, and the
great effort of the country To retake the