Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-04-16

foremost ships who, when their vessels Just on the
point Of fouog sheered off, and saved themselves and the
fleet.
The right hand channel being thus obstructed it
mains To what be done with the left, between
Sumter aud Cummings Point But this, too is still more
efectuay bieekaded by Of piles, rising ten feet
above the water and extending the whole width OF
the passage Looking the harbor another row OF piles
scoses ITSELF stretching from Fort Ripley the
middle ground 10 Fort Johnson 1t does not stretch
trey across, however for midway is opening inviting
the passage of the fleet Submerged in the water under
that opening is torpedo Furthermore above the first
line of piles is second and above the second third
while above all and just behind the upper line Of obstruc
tons the three rebel ironcsds drawn up in battle
array, vomiting huge clouds of smoke.
This unlocked for esoppe utterly deraDged the original
intentions The rebels quite we'll aware as we that
the northwest face of Sumter is its weakest point that
was fact finished mud therefore that it would be
first attacked AMI they used means which admirable en-
cheering skill would suggest to prevent our reaching it,
THE RoNsIpEs uNmANAGEABLE.
Thus brought TO pause it only remained for the iron
cads TO take up such positions they could And the
complication further increased by the ibehavior Of
the flagship the Ironsdes While steamng along up
through the passage in front Of Sumter she is caught by
the tdeway and veered of from her course and her huge
great part unmanageabe This embarrassed not her only
but all that portion Of the fleet following her. The two
Monitors mmed aely behind (he Caskill and Nanucket)
fell foul OF her, the one on one side aud the other on the
other and full fifteen minutes before they o0nd be
got clear and pass
In this plight only remained for Admiral Dupont to sig
nal to the fleet to disregard the movements of the flagship
This he did and the ships then assumed such positions
available and they could gain, the whole number be-
ing at the mouth of the harbor between Cummings Point
and Suvans leland and opposite the northeast and east
face Of Fort Sumter distances of from hundred
to a thousand yards
THE STORM OF sRoT AND SHELL.
While the msneuvres rapidly Indicated in these para
graphs going you must not suppose the enemy in
active The powerful work on Cummings Point, named
Battery Bee opens the long range rifle ordnance of Fort
Beauregard join in Moure hurls its heavy metal the
fifty guns that line the Redsn swell the fire, and the tre
mendous armament of Sumter vomts forth its fiery hail
There period of not more than thirty min
ues which forms the climax and white heat of the fight
for though from the time when fire opened the head
Of the approaching line to the time when the retiring fleet
passed of the enemys range covering interval Of
two hours and half (from hsfpss two till 6ve yet the
of the h was shut up in those thirty
minutes.
The best resources of the descriptive art not
in whose hand feeble paint terrific and awful
reality Such fire, any thing approaching it,
before. The mailed ships the focus Of
concentrc fire of the five powerful works already indicated
from which they are removed only from four to eight
hundred yards and which in all could not have mounted
less than three hundred guns And understand not
the lighter ordnance such 80 42pounders, which
form the ordinary of forts but of the very heaviest
cabre the finest aud largest from the spois OF the
Norfolk navy yard the heavy 10 and lnch guns cast at
the Tredegsr works and the most approved English ed
guns (Whworth AMI ohers) of the largest cabro made.
There something almost pathetic in The spectacle Of
those little floating circular towers exposed to the crash
oil metal hurled them with
the terrific force of modern proectles and with such
charges of powder before dreamed Of in
artillery firing During the climax of the fire hundred
and sixty shots were counted in single minute
THE FIRE OF THE IRoN-cLADs.
While the feet receiving this fire from the forts what
in the time, the iron-cads doing in return
On the order being gwen to Disregard the movements of
the flag ship the brilliantly audacous Rhnd his vessel
the Keokus up through tine Others aud laid it seemingly
under the very walls OF Sumter, aud within little
than FIVE hundred yards from it. Close behind hun, with
hundred yards of the fort is the Catskil, command
ed by George Rodgers soul of courage compact and to
both of them could help applying the exclamation
of Nelson at Trafalgar See how Congwo0d that noble
fellow carries his rhp into the fight" Close by ia the
Montauk, commanded by the heroic Wordcn; while not
removed the Passac the Paapsco the Nahant the
| Nantucket, the Werhawkrn, and the Irousides
The whole fleet is devoting itself mainly to the face Of
Fort Sumter presented TO it, with the exception Of the
Ironsdes which, from It's position do better work
Fort Moutre and pouring forth its terrific broadsde
| from its l0-uch guns, that work.
Could you look through the smoke aud through the fame
lit ports into Of those revolving towers spectacle
would meet your eye such Vulcans sihy might pre-
sent Here the two huge guns which form the
ment OF each Montorthe eleven and the other fl.
teen inches in diameter OF bore The gunners be2rimmed
with powder and stripped TO the waist loading the
gun The charge If powder-thirty-hve pounds 10 each
CHARGES passed up rapidly from below; the shot, weigh
ing 400 pounds 10 hoisted by mechanical appliances to
the muzze of the gun and rammed home the gun ia
port and tightly compressed y the port open
yard in hand Ready fire " and the enormous projectie
rushes through i's huge paabOa with the weight of ten
thousand tons, home to its msrk.
That mark the face Of sumter which already displays
pspsble proofs OF the hnrrid impact Half dozen ugly
poe show conspicuous and huge crater form
ed the parapet the eastern angle. We look wi
interest these effects aud look forward with good hope
seeing breach at length effected If only the iron cads
remain long enough under fire to batter away. But
what craft could remain under such hurricane Of hrel
CESSATION OF THE CONFLICT.
What this coming down out Of the fight 1t is the
Keokukwe know her by her double turret She has de.
fed Sumter under it's very walls and out to
report the that she has received her deathbow
and ia in sinking condition The Weehawken to which
assigned the important duty, faithfully performed in
the midst Of the fight to examine and if possible to force
the distractions has reported the mpossby Of working
up the harbOr until devised for their removal
The hg ship herself has had Of her port shutters shot
away thus exposing her gun deck and redho shot has
penetrated her wooden bows In addition, three other
vessels showed signs Of dsabement and there little
than sufficient daylight left for the feet to gain its
old anchorage So the Admiral at Ave O'clock, made sg
nal to retire.
DAMAGE RECEIVED.
The feet Of wooden vessels was not engaged in these
preliminary operations as it not thought best 10
pose them before general attack was made.
The Nahant received in all thirty wounds, several Of
them bad fractures Of the deck and sides below and above
the water line. The fatal blow however was given
by heavy rled shot which struck the pilothouse and
dsodged several Of the bos OF which driven violently
nwards, wounded all Of the inmates of the pilot house
the captain, the pilot, and tho Iusrtermastsr
The Passaic asO received twenty thirty wounds
The most extraordinary shot from large ten-i0ch
fed proeoe which struck the top Of the turTet coop
ing huge portion Of the IRON breaking all Of The eleven
Asn,,