The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1863-08-07
THE FIGHT AT CHARLESTON
Bombardment Of Ft. Wagner.
Or Attaek RepulseI nth Bavy Loss.
Graphic Description of tie Scene.



and again we have been 'erulsed, and |
with. | regre, to sar. m,ch more for
mdab'e loss in killed, wounded aud miss
ing than in lie first attempt.
Admiral DahIgren sienalleS that he was |
ready. aud n few moments the Montauk. |
Chs flag ship,) the Ironsiie< the Catskill, |
tie Nantucket, the Weehawken, and the
Patapsco, moved intoiina and commenced |
hurting their heaviest shot and shell |
around, upon, and within the Fort, and. |
with intervals Of but ve!v few minutes, |
continued this terrible fire until one hour
after the sun had gone down. During all |
the afternoon the iron feet Law about one
mile off from the fort. but Just at the close
OF the engagement, and but a few mo-
merits before the first assault was made bv
Gen. Strong, the Admiral ran the Mon
tank directly under the guns Of Fort Wag-
ner, and within $50 wards. firing round az
ter round from bis 1l-inch gun. sending.
as every shot struck. vast clouds of sand
mud and timber high up in the air, ma
king one huge sand heap of that portion
facing the sea, aud dismeunting two of
the heaviest guns.
Deserters and prisoners tell US that Fl
Wagner mounts thirteen rifed guns of
heavy cahhre, but during all this furons
bombardment by land and sea, she conde-
scended TO reply with but two: one upon
the whole fleet of iron clads, and one upon
the entire line Of land batteries. At half
past two, a shot from one of our guns on
I laf, b. 1T
and brought the rebel flag f1ut;erng 20
the ground
In moment, almost before we had be-
gun 10 ask ourselves whether they had re-
ally lowered their flag, and were upon the
point OF surreDdering or not, the Old red
battle flag, which the Army Of the Poto-
mae has so often had defsnt!v shaken in
lis face, was run up about ten feet above
the parapet, little cluster of men rallied
around it, cheered, waved their hats, and
then disappeared, and were no. again seen
during tie day. Fort Sumter, the moment
the let'el flag came 10 the ground, sent a
shot over our heads to assure us that it
had been lowered by accident and not by
design. In this snot she also desired us
| to distinctly understand that before Fort
Wagner surrendered she herself would
have to be consulted. With the exception
Of this little episode almost profound 81
fence, so far as the rebel garrison them~
selves could maintain it, prevailed within
the fort. A heavy cloud Of smoke and
sand, occasioned by our constantly expIo
| ding she'll, hung over the fort all the af-
ternoon, and it was only when the wind
driled it away that we were able TO see
the amount Of damage that we had dore.
In few hours THAT had been the smooth
regular lines of the engineer, and the beau
titul sodded embankments, became rugged
and irregular heaps Of sand, with great
gaps and chasms IN Ali sides Of The fort ex
posed to our fre From my pain. Of ob
servation, . wooden lookout, fly fee,
high, erected for Gen. Gilmore and staA
upon a small hill Of abont - 70 s~.,--'
and situated . sh~.. ~-'' "e
- .y,t distance back cf ils
-..,erles, it seemed as if no human being
could live beneath so terrible fire wheth
err protected by bomb-proofs or not, and il
this opinion was fully sustained by near
y every person around me. There seem
ed to he out one opinion. and that was tina
We had sllenced nearly every gun, that th'
15-inch shells had driven the rebels frou
The botnb-proofs. and that If there has
been strong infantry force in the rear o
the fort we had made it impossible 70
them to remain there and had slauehtere,
them by hundreds. But there were f.
| LAT q II hot III
ION was the correct one, who said this pro
found silence OH the rebel side was signit
icant, nos Of defeat and disaster, but of vi
innate success III repelliny our assault
that they were keeping themselves undo
cover until they could look into the ere
of our men and send bullets through thei
heads, AMI would then swarm by thous
ands, with every conceivable deadly mis-
siIe in their hands, and drive us in conf
sion and With terrible slaughter back t
our entertainments.
For eight hours the Monitors AMI tn
lronsides have kept up continuous fir
aud Sort Wagner has not vet surrendere,
For eight hours fifty-four guns from tn
land batteries have hurled their shot an
: shell with her walls, and still she flaun
the red battle flag in our face.
Something must be done and ,ha, to
quickly. or IN few DAYS we shall hay
. the whole army in Virginia upon u.s." sal
an officer high in command. g" We rru
. storm the fort to night and cary it at Il
point OF the bayonet !"
In moment signals are made from Il
. top OF the lookout. and soon generals an
= colonels commanding divisions and brio
: AIDES were seen galIoping to the headqua
+ ters OF the commanding general A fe
r. words IN consultation and Gems. Ssvmou
Strong, Stevenson, and Coils Putnam ar
Montgomery are seen Fastening back
o their respective commands. Officers shou
r. hu2 les sound, the word of command is II
en-, and soon the soldiers around, upo
: and under the sand hills of Morris Islar
spring from their hiding places. fall in
line, march to the beach. are organized i
:, to new brigades, and in solid colum
stand ready to move to the deadly assam
r Not in widely extended battle line. Wi
Of cavalry and artillery at supporting dista
It ces, bit in solid regimentaI column. on Il
=