Santa Fe gazette. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1859-1864, 1863-05-16


OF the enemys range covering on interval Of two
hours and a ball, from bali past two till fve) YET
The essence oIthe fight was shut up in these thir
ty tremendous minutes.
The best resources of the descriptive art care
not IN whose hand. are feeble to paint so terrific
and awful reality. Such Gre, or ANYTHING ap
preaching it, was simply never seen before. The
mailed ships are in the locus Of concentric lie oI
the i've powerful works already indicated, from
which they are removed only from four to eight
hundred yards, and which 10 all could not have
mounted less than three hundred guns. And. an.
deratand these not the lighter ordnance, such as
" AZ Founders, which form the ordinary arma.
lnent OF forts, but ol the very heaviest cahre--
the lnost and largest guns from the sDoiIs of the
Norfolk Navy fatd. the splendid aud heavy 10
ana ! inch guns cast at The 1redeaur Works,
ana the most approved hugIlsh Hiled guns Whit
worth and others Of the largest calibrc made
There was something almost pathetic IN the
spectacle Of those little floating circular towers
exposed to the crashing weight of those tons Of
metal hurled against them with the terrific force
OF modern roiectes, and with such charges Of
powder as were never before dreamed of in artil.
lery firing. During the climax or tbo 6re,o ban.
dred and sixty shots were counted in n .snele
minute Some ofthe commanders Of the iron
elads afterwards told mo that the shot stuck their
vessels as Inst MS the ticking Of a watch. and not
les than thirty five hundred rounds could have
been fred by the rebels during tbe brief enoaop.
meat He
It was less Of the character An ordinov ortil.
lery ddeI, and more oflhe propouion, Of n war nj
the litans 10 The elder mythojores or liko In ibe
.. Hurricane ecli1se Of tbe spn
While the fleet is receiving tha fra lrom tbo
forts. what, 10 the meantime, are tbe iron rlaJ.
doing in relnug '''''
On the order being ovan In disre,o,i tho mo,.o.
ments or ibo Ancsbh nm, Ls.iass'i III wy n.y. y.
Rhpd ra his yo.snI tba EooLni. mn Vp|I'SHs ,L
others and nldi seanoay nnjar "'V"S" ,,,',, ''V
of snmlor and witbin 5t;o % m",a tIO Ion y Tau' @
dred wards rrom il rloss hobiod b % r,,Di %,D "u, u,
hundred wards of the farl i, tbo T",',.;II '" a,N
manded by lieortn Rodgers so,I ~ ao+
In Iotb ofi5a,n 'na nn,J1 ov't'sD
appIying The exclamation nr NeIson "t T"J, "op ,a
See how Collingwnod. that rohIo Gollo'r e.. sa
ries his shin into l6e 6phtlS '''''' '''"' va
Close by the NontnsE co,rmordo1 il, ,ho to.,
Worden, while pot far removeJ aro tha' b. ",'o
the Patapsco. the Nobont tbo Non,ncl,ot ,G,
Weehawkpn and the lronsidea 'N'"''' '"'
The whole 0est i dryoting its4lf moi,Ir % III,
face of Fort sumter nrosented to'n %,G ,ho @ es
cepton of tbe lronsiGss wGob Fan =" wy ';,a 'A
can do better work m Fort N"rnr;o y'''i' anJ I,
pouring forth lis terrific hroodsids from n a seror
10 inch guns on that work w ~ y
Could yon look tbrorob ,ho suoto and u,.ora,
the fame lii ports ipto one of Moso rop,Iv;5,
towers, spectacle would mest vonr ava sncb % a,
Vulcaus snthy might prssent IIero aro t,y,
huge guns which form tbo armament Of eocb mon. D
tof--the one and the other ) inches IN Diane
tor Of bore The gunners begimed with powder
and stripped to the waist are loading the nun.
The charge powder--thirty Eve pounds to each
charge--ls passed up rapidly from below; III,
shot weighing l2O pounds, is loisled M by me.
chaDical appliance to tho muzzle of tbe pan and
mmmel home; the glln is run ont to the port. and
tightly compressed 7 The mort is omen for an iDs.
taut The captain of the gun stands behind hnyart
in hand Ready lre. and the enormous pr6iec.
tile mshes through It's huge rarabola, win III,
weight Of ten thousand tons, home to It's mark.
That mark is the face Of Sunlcr, which alread,
dispays papable proofs Of the borid in,nact !.
Half dozef ugly pock marks SHOW conspicous
and huge crater was formed in the parapet nea,
the eastern aDgle. We look with interest at tbes,
effects. and look forward with GOOD hone to see
ing a breach ut length effected, il only the ror
cads can remain long enough under fire to bate
away. ....
II only they could have remained
But what craft, pray. could remain under such ,
hurricane of Gre? And what is this coming dowr
out Of the Gght? ltis the Keckuk-we know beI
by her double turet. She has defed Sumter nm
der its very walls, end now comes out to repor /,
the flag ship that she has received her death bhv
and is in a sinking condition The flag ship her
self has had one Of her port shutters Shot away
thus exposing her gun deck. and red hot shot ha,
penetrated her wooden bows. In addition, three
others showed signs of tlsablemept and lhere wa.
little moro that sufficient daylight left for tho fleet
to gain its old anchorage. So the admiral at
o'clock made signal to retire.
Beyond tho fact that half the feet was disabled
neither those who were engaged, nor we who
were spectators, bad aay means of ascertain.
ing the nature Of the damage our iror
clads had sustained until the feet had re-
tired and resumed its old anchorage off the shore
Of Morris Island. AT the conclusion of Tho Goht