The Portland daily press., 1863-03-17

A Ruse de Guerre .. vlek.surs.

A Ruse de Guerre at vieksburg.
HOW THE HEBELs-Losr rME 1EDIANoLA.
The Union gunbeat Indianola vas captured
by the rebels, 1t viii be remembered, on Tues
day, the Path Of February. She was blown up
BY her captors just week later, ON the ap-
pearance Of what the official dispatch to the
rebel authorities described as "turreted mon-
ster.r The following extract from the Rich
mond Examiner, 7th inst, contains fah aud
monster
In the early part Of the war the Southera
Coufederacy was much diverted with the Yam
kec fright at masked" batteries, little think
ing the day would soon come 70, them to turn
the tables on us and join In general gufiaw
over our panic at gan-boats Daring the sum
mer Of 1892 the newspapers fbeiieved by the
immense Conrad) pleaded earnestly for the
fertilization Of coasts, harbors and rivers, and
endeavored to prepare the public mind tor the
disasters which would inevitably ensue as soon
as the gun-boats began to swim in our waters
But Mr.. Davis sneered at nayies, placed his
reliance in the somnolent Mallory, aud expen-
ded his energies In the creation, on an average,
Of two brigadiers to each private
True to the prediction of the newspapers,
came. They knocked down the mud banks at
Hatteras, and alarmed the good people Of the
Old North State beyond measure Their next
essay was upon Fort Henry, little pen, which
Mr.. Benjamin supposed to be placed, as near
as he could guess, at the confluence Of the Nile
and the 6anges. After that, the gun-boat pam
ic seized the whole country, aud 1t became
a serious question 1t the Navy Department
whether liberty and the Southern Coafederacy
o~fcf In fko <,f A,.s
ing on piece Of wood In the water.
In this state OF direful trepidation the un-
happy South remained until the nght at Dru-
rvs Bluff. On that eminence the fragmentary
crews of Mr.. Mallory's exploded navy were as
sembled to contest the advance of this modern
horror, the iron gun-boat. Sailors, marines and
middies did their best, and, with the aid Of
Providence and some spunky ciod-hopper ar
tlllery from the neighborhood, succeeded In
driving the gun-boats OF. Here was bravery
and skill; but the exploit was no greater than
the Chinese had performed on the Pcihe. Yet
the whole Coufederacy threw up its hat, wept,
danced, chucked and shouted, as If Leonidas
and Thermopyl& had been found again The
event was great in that 1t dissipated in mo-
ment the gun-boat panic. Since then gun-boats
have been regarded with such indifference that
the gentlemen who are acting during Mr. Nal
lory's permansnt nap have discarded navics
6iboSCiuCis 0uu us7N VSCh ihaiiuC upCId-
tions to a wild Tennessee cavalry under Whee-
Ter, mounted on scraggy ponies.
The Horse-Marine system has answered ad-
mirably till now. But oil late new terror has
turned up. The telegraph brings rs tidings Of
something which is tremblingly described as a
Turreted Monster" Gun-boats are deemed
not more dangerous than dug -outs, but when
the case Is altered to an interview with .
Turreted Monster" then the brave defenders
Of tbo Pa If Wafo~e m do unftainr hat far
than make 2 40 toward the mountains.
The reported fate of the Indianola is even
more disgraceful than farcical. Here was, per
haps, the finest iron-elad ia the Western wa
tiers, captured after heroic struggle, rapidly
repaired, and destined to join the Queen of
the West in series of victories. Next you
hear that she was blown up in the true Merri-
mac-Mallory style, and why? Laugh and hold
your Sides lest you die Of q surfeit of derision,
0 Yankeedom! Blown up because, forsooth,
fat-boat or mud-scow, with q small house
taken from the back garden of plantation
put on top of 1t, is foated down the river be-
fore the frightened eyes Of the Partisan Ran
gers. A Turreted Monster!
"a most unfortunate and unnecessary af-
fair,' says the dispatch. Rather so! "The
turreted monster proved to be fat-boat with
Of that "She passed Vicksburg on Tuesday
night, and the officers (what officers? p believ-
ing her TO be turretted monster, blew up the
Indianola, but her guns fell into the enemys
hands" This Is passing odd. Her guns fell
into the enemy's hands after she was blown
up? lncrediblel Mallory and Tatnall did
better than that with the Merrimac.
The Queen of the West, continus the IA
cetious dispatch, q left In such hurry rs to
forget part of her crew, who were left on
shore" Well done for the Queen of the West
and her brave officers. Taken altogether
concludes the inimitable dispatch. at was a
good joke ON the Partisan Rangers, who are
VIGOROUSLY more cunning than braye.n Tru-
ly an excellent joke-so excellent that every
man connected with this affair (if any resem.
blauce of the truth is contained in the dis
patches) should be branded with the letters
IT. M. and enrolled in detached company.
TO be known by the name of The Turreted
Monster" henceforth and forever. We employ
the conditional tense because as the reader
VIII perceive by Gen. Pemberton's telegram Of
later date, some doubt yet exists as to the
true story. Gen. Pemberton does not precise.
~ contradict the original statement relative
to the turreted panic, but indicates that the
guns did not fall into the hands of the enemy
because one Of them bursted, and the yessel
itself is sunken In the river.