, 1863-04-18
MORE OF THE FIGHT.
Another Account Of the Charles,
ion Battle, by an Eye.
Witness.
INJURY TO THE MONITORS,

INJURY TO TIE MONITORS.
Opinion of Ericsson.
OFF CHARLESTON, April 7th-Evenfng
At 34 o'clock, some one calls out that the
Weehn1kcn, foremost Of tho iron-clads, is
ahead, past the sand hammoeks on the
beach, in the direction Of Fort Sumter, and
an instant afterward all the other vessels are
discovered to be following. They move on
noisclcssly for j mile, prcserving their rela-
tive distances, when the Wcohawken slows
Her colleagues do the Eame. We know that
the first vessel IS provided with q machine for
exploding torpedoe5, and Is to feel the way
for the rest, therefore this slackening of speed
is easily interpreted. The entire fleet is now
within close range Of the batteries on Cum
be reached by the guns of Fort Moultrie and
the battery below it. but as yet the rebels give
no sign that they will fight. Fifteen minutes
more clapse, and the onlinous calm is at length
broken, ut 2:27, By the rapid firing Of eight
signal guns from Fort Sumter, u heraiding tug
lie Ironsidcs keep slowly steaming forward,
and another anxious half hour passes, bring:
inc the Weetawken, 1t seems to US, within
hailing distance of the fort. THIS period oi
suspense is again interrupted By the report oi
a, heavy gun from Moultrie, at precisely fire
| minutes before three, and the fall Of the shot
| is marked by 4 column OF rater that shoots
up beside the Neehawken, and two Other
spray fountains which appear for an instant,
as the missile skips onward, in the direction
OF the Passaic ard Montauk. In moment
| after, the enemy commence in earnest. Spite
tul flashes burst from the Notifications on Sui
liTan's Island, and the batteries at Cummings
| Point belch out their wicked fire. It is soof
| evident that the rebels are determined to at
| tack The Monitors in detail, in the hope a.
| sinking them BY the tons Of metal that eau b.
directed upon them at single discharge. Al
| first, therefore, the awful tempest bursts upor
| the Weellawkcn, and she seems devoted It
| destruction. 1t was amoment Of thrilling ex
| citement to oil Of us, when she entirely t1isap
| pcarcd from view beneath the volumes uf vi.
ter in which she is buried, turret deep, by th'
| p]uDging shot. But again we see her, as, no
| bly, Withstanding the shock, she presses on
| letting slip 15-inch solid shot upon For
| Sumter. It is well aimed, and apparentl,
| strikes the southeast face Of the work. Ii
| three minutes more all the barbettc and case
| mate guns Of the fort that Gun be brought t.
bear upon the Weehawken, hitherto grinl
| silent, simultaneously open, and unite thci
| thunlcrs with those Of the other batteries
necessarily. Again the little vessel is liddc7
by the ycled waters, as they are dashed up fu
rious1y around her, and flll, mingled with
torrent Of metal, against her sides and turrct
and again she disappears.
The Paseait By This time has got abreast G
sumtert and, reaching the place just vacate
By the Weehawken, Is made the target OF
concentrated fire. It Is now clear to ever
observer, that in precisely that spot is th
point Of intersection Of the fire from Cum
ning's Point, Fort Moultrie, the heavy bal
tery just scaward Of 31oultrie, and also Of til
guns on the southeast flce Of Fort Sumte1
This place OF concentrated fire Is within half
mile Of Sumter, and as each vessel crosses III
i line, shc receives her awful baptism.
At twenty minutes past three the Wcehap
ken, PaEsaic, Montauk and Patapsco, all
them having preceded the New 1ronsides
tho order Of the attack, safely passed Il
eastern face Of the fort. and, shielded from IL
posed to the terrible lire from NIou1tric. Fo
Bcaurcgard and Battery Bee, as well as Fo
| Ripley aud Castle Pinckney up the harbo
/ continue moving forward, delivering the
shot and shell as E.st as practicable asain
Sumter, and disregarding the other batterie
: Penetrating Il distance Of a third Of 4 mil
perhaps, beyond, their further progress Is a
! ~
: channel between Sumter aud MouItric. HI
, the torpedo exploder of the Wechawkt
, eorucs into use, destroying pctarl Witho
! injury TO the vessel, and, at the same tim
{ the patapEco gets entangled and remains f
: quarter Of IN hour In a network Of cable
Commander Aminen cxtricates her, unaide
Meantime the New Ironsides comes Il
followed By the Catskill, Nantucket, Naha
r and keokuk, all Of then, passing through i
:, rebel fire which has not slackened its origin
= severity. The flagship, on account Of her c
e Fort Sumter as the other vessels, and thci
>. fore she is placed by the Admiral in po
ton about midway between Forts Afoultl
and Sumter, in the centre Of the chann
# within 1900 yards Of either fort. She
IS about to deliver broalsile into Fort MOI
a tTie, when her bows swing around with t
i tide, aud 1t becomes necessary to drop
anchor to prevent her going ashore. As
8 chain again brings her head up stream, s
j. delivers half dozen shots from her lin
n guns upop Moultric, but the tide Is still ct
.. ing fast and admits no farther delay, comp
(, ling her to move back again past Sumt
" where, for the second time, her anchor
.. droII'1d to avoid rnnuin:1 on the hntto
Il She is nov within good range Of the Gu
=. 1ning's Point batteries, at which she discharE
n two shots, with the effect, it Is thought,
rs dismounting ono Of their guns and cxplodi
r. magazine, us there is Il loud report and
r. fire from tic battery ceases. This is all Il
NJ the 1rGnsides docs in the contest, and so
~ afterwards she slowly retires from the i.n1l
of diatc scene Of the action.
O. For two long hours the fight has now be
II going on with fury, the rebel artillcrists Sc
ae Ing their guns vigorously, and for some ii
70 giving the Monitors, byaetual count, as ma
IL IL Is 20 shots minute. Thcec determined lit
Il crafts, however, will not be daunted, ,and cy
If one Of them, including the keokuk, VII.
re comparatively exposed build might we'll b:
d. excused tue temcrity approaches within 50(
er GEO yardsof Sumter, Keeping bare stcera
way, and deliberately delivering her fire.
r. We could see that the rebels sent us at 1c
.st 100 shots in return for one OF ours, but
he ulrst be taken into consideration th1t, II
q. the exception Of the Montauk aud the F
sale, none Of the Monitors had had pract
~ in working their guns. Tie entire mat
,,d was new to tho crews, and rapid firing
n. only be attained through experience !
tn otker great draw back to ce1erity Of operat
an Was the difficulty Of navigation, aud the
ccssity Of feeling along cautiously for tor
rr does and obstructions, thus distractine
I'd also, Of tho steel-pointed projectiles, vii
Tal the rebels Eeem mainly to have used, rs Il
a slammed against the turrcts and scored dec
is across the decks, did much to render cars
ar accustomed to such sounds unable to ca
~ the orders Of the officers,
M side very perceptib1y tagged, undoubte
1R5 from sheer physical exhaustion OH the par
their sunncrs, and, upon signal from
b, Admiral, the fleet slowly emerged from
be meath the pail Of gray smoke that draped
by walls Of Sumter, and impregnated the attn
m phcre for miles with a su}phurous su,
Of moving down the shore Of Morris ISL
M about half the distance to their former
is chorngc. Here they again formed line Of |
H. tie still within range Of the forts, with vt
=, they exchanged few shots as they retired
M 1t was now almost dusk, and the Nantuc
n. went across the bar to communicate with
n, fleet, for the purpose Of obtaining the par
an ulars Of the encounter. I went myself to
ne Kcoknk, tWhitney's battery, aud found I
he she had been shattered terribly. Climb
with difficulty her slippery, slasting 81,
IN. which we're r1astercd thickly with tallt
nd compound to answer the double purpose
) keeping Off boarding parties and deacc'
a the course Of shot, found myself among
tic powder-bcgrimcdc crew, who were talking.
Io- they had just passed. 4 very cursorv ex
IN | ination satisfied ue that the vessel vas
.rs further service. Sh. had been struck nil
odd times. Her deck and sides we're de-
ere fu1rowed on almost every yard of sp
Mi Both turrets were shattered aud pcrforl
ate and in the after turrct ! $50 pound Whitw,
,di. projectile still remained, after penetrating
rcx arInor more than 4 foot, although it struc
ne. = very acute angle. The water compa1t,u
,er- at either end of the vessel were crushed
mir exposing immense ragged holes like the
r. frances 10 cayerns. In almost every Inst
the iron bolts that secured tue plating to
turrets and hull we're loose and protru
:, thtee or four inches, and she was 1ea
otr1,. -.