, 1863-02-12

board side Of the Mercedita, passed throue
her condenser the steam drum of her no
boiler, and 1t exploded against the port sd
blowing hole in Its exit some four or f,
feet square, killing the gunner, and by:tt
escape Of steam, ecalding a number Of tl
men ndrendcrdng her motive power apparcu
II useless. and unable to use lis guns. an
being at the mercy Of the enemy which n,
lying alongside on his etarhoard quarter, a
- au1ther Teslstahce was deemed hopeless I
Captain etellwagcn, and he surrendered. IT
Crew and officers were paroled, though notl
ing was said about the ship. The exccutt,
officer, Lieut., Commander Abbott, hayin
gone on board the cnemy's guuboat aud mad
tho arrangement
The iron clad leaving the Merccdita to he
Fate, to sink or not, ncxt engaged the Ke.
stone State, Commander Leroy, who was ais
attacked by the other, their fire was gallant
returned, but shell exploding in the fore
hold af this vessel, she was set on fire. Com
mandcr Leroy kept of until 1t WINS got under
when he stecred aeain fos ono Of the lro,
to try to run her down. The guns had beer
trained and depressed for plunging fire Al
The moment ofthe collision, and the ship laaG
acquired speed Of twelve knots, when shel
from the enemy passed through the steam
chest, wholly disabling her boilers and render
ing her poWerless.
len rifled shots struck the Keystone State;
two burst on the quarter deck, but most o1
them struck the hull, being near and bclow
the water line. In the meantime, the Angus
IA, Commander Parrott, the Quaker City,
Commander Frailey, and the Memphis, Act
Ing Lieut.. Watmouth, kept up n fire on the
enemy, diverting, their attention from the
Keystone State, which WAS soon after taken In
tow BY The Memphis and drawn away from
the fire.
The Augusta and Quaker City we're both
struck in their hulls, the Memphis only In
her rigging. The H0usatonic, Capt. Taylor,
gave chase, and a shot from her struck the
pilot house Of one Of the iron -c1ads, doing, it
is thought, some damage, and carrying away
one Of her fiags. The rebel vessels then mass.
ed to the northward, receiving the fire Of GU.
ships, and took refuge in the swash channel
behind the shoals.
The only casualties were In the Mercedita
and Keystone Sta"c. On the Keystone State
they are very large, about one fourth OF her
crew were killed md wo1ndcd, among the
former the medical officer Of the ship, Assist
ant Surgeon Jacob II. Go1walt, who was
scaldcd to death while rendering surgical aid
TO one Of the wounded men. Nine Of those
when the boilers and steam chimneys were
penetrated; md among the wounded the
greater number received their injuries from
the same cause.
As the sMercedita was the only vessel which
surrendered. ! have directed court Of inqui,
I
case, as well US intofhc terms under which the
surrender was made
On the Mercedita, there were four Killed
and three wounded; on the Keystone State
twenty killed and twenty wounded.
<,. Very respectfully, s.
Rear Admiral, &c.
To Hon. Gideon Wc1les, Secretary Of the Navy.
WAsHHo7os, Feb. 9.-The following is the
report Of Commander stcllwagen, Of the q. s.
steamer Mercedita:
PoHT ROYAL, Jau. 81, 1853.
Rear Admiral s. F. Dupont, &C.:
Sir: I have to report That at halE.rast this
morning two Iron.clad rims from Charleston,
In tue obscurity Of q thick haze and the moon
having Just set, succeeded in passing the
bar rear ship channel, unpercefred by the
squadron, and mndc an attack on it This
ship being the first encountered, particular
vigilance was exhibited bv the officers and
crew In the expectation Of q vessel to run the
blockade. 1t 8 a. m. VIC had slipped cable
and overhau1ed troop steamer running for
the channel by mistake. At o'clock 1 laid
down. Lieutenant Commander Abbott was
on deck giving orders to Acting Master Dwy-
CT, about recovering the anchor, when they
saw smoke::and the faint appearance Of a YES
"She has black s1noke-watch, man the guns
spring the rattle-call all hands to quarters.1' -
Mr.. Duyer came to the cabin door, telling
me that steamboat was close aboard. I was
then In the act Of getting my eajacket, and
slipped 1t on as ! followed him out, and
and low boat, apparently tug, although
thought it might be little propeller for the
eqnaofpn, / sang ont, stra{u your guns.
sight On him, and be ready to fire as 5000 Us 1
order.'' hailed the steamer, *sahoy! stand
clear Of MS, and heaye to. What steamer is
<t..A@ + 81
and told him, ''you viii be into us; wl.at
steamer is thate's His answer to the first or
second hail was: "Halloo!' The other re-
plies were indistinct, either By intention or
from having spoken inside his mail armor
until in the sct o1 e striking rs With his Prov,
steam RAM" repeated the order, :" Fire,
fire !" but no gun could be trained on him, as
lie approached on the quarter, and struck us
just abaft Of our after mast with 3e-pouuder
and fired heavy rifle through us, diagonaliy,
penetrating the etarboard through our Nor.
mandy condenser, the stea,n-dfum of our
port boiler, and exploding against the port
side Of the ship, blowing = Io!c in its exit
tomc four or i've feet squire.
Reports were brought 10 INC that Il shot had
passed through both boilers; TINT the fires
were put out By steam and smoke that gun
ner and one man were Killed, aud number OF
men badly scalded; that the water was over
the fire room floor, and the vessel sinking !;
that the ram had cut us through ut aud below
the wafer line on one aide and the shell lad
burst at the other almost at the Tater's edge.
Alter the ram struck she swung round under
our starboard counter, her Prov touching,
and hailed, "6nrrendcr, or I'll sink you.
Do you eurreuder?" After receiving the
report, I answered: II can make no re-
sistance; my boiler is destroyed - " Then do
You surrender: :" Yes | replied, hnyiusg
could bring notl,ing to bear but muskcts
ugainst6h shot proof coating. He hailed several
times to senda boat, nno threatened to fire
again. After some delay boat was lowered,
and Lieutenant commanding Abbott asked II
he should GO in her, and asked for orders
What to say. told him to sec What they de-
mandcd and to tell them the condition we
were In. He proceeded aboard, and according
10 their demand gave his parole on behalf Of
himself and all the officers aud crew. His re-
ports accompanies: Tie ram having been de-
tained half an honr Or more an IN 1nE f91 tie
we had tried TO alarm by lghts. VI saw
shell explode as it struck tho ram without in
juriug her. 2aw the Keystone State struck
several times, and saw thc steam and smoke
blowing from her.
The firing then reccded to the no1thward
and eastward, and WIS pretty brisk ut the
head OF the line. I set everybody at work
taking care Of our wounded, pumping the
ship, stopping leaks, examining the engines,
DC.
About G o'clock p, N. got things in order to
start a little steam and hove up anchor. The
6tettin and Flag seeing our condition. I told
to J'iak up men, the fighting now being oyer
ln conclusion, haye to SAY that In tue
equndron, where NIL the vessels were conspic-
nous for vigilcncc, this ship has never been
found wanting. Everything was done the
circumstances permitted, and in a propcr
Trarrer TeFU razrAr}fuJ1r x-cur nhnJ:nuA
servant, II. 8. 6TELLNAGEN.
COMMANDER LERoT's REPORT.
s1K: have 10 report that about five o'clock
On this day, ,January 81, while at anchor off the
min entrance of the larbor Of Charleston,
the slip was approached by what Was suppos-
cd to be steamer, but, regarding her appear.
ancc as suspicious, 1ordercd the cable sllpped,
and fired gun, which was responded to By
shell, when I ordered the guns to be fired as
tect. On putting my head TO the eastward,
II was discovered that there was ono on either
quarter, aud we made them out, from their
lccuilar construction, to bc iron.c1ads. after
tAc model OF the Mcr1inac. Owing to tirc
ID tae noto, We stood to the northward about
cast about ten minutes, fo enable "a to su1,.
duo the nre, and then turned around.
and under full steam, proposed attempting
TO run down the ram; but about slx q. H., 3
sheu from one q them entered on the port
through the port steam chimney, and fandine
in the starbonrd, dcpriving US Of our rnotfve
power. Ten rifle shells struck the shin nnd
TWO hurst on the quarter deck, most Of them
striking the hull, being near and below tho
va cr line.
Our steam cllirnneys being destroyed. our
motive power was lost and onr situation be-
cane critical. There were Two feet Of vat,1-
iu the ship and leaking badly, the Mater rising