Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-04-18

aEAAaAIAe
From de Ch~arseason Mercury, iish.l
at 2 o'clock p. H., just as the ofieafs had
saatad themselves for dinner, the FIRST alvarez
Of The iror-ciad feet Was announced 60 the
comnanaant Of tho post. Their anchorage had
been within the bar Of Ship channel, of tho
southern end Of Morris Island, some four miles
from S1mter. Upon inspection, It waa Judged
that good time would be allowed for the con
clusion Of the mesl, and, after communicating
the movement By telegraph "a headquarters In
Charleston. dinner was comfortably DISPATCHED.
AT halfpass 3 o'clock, after examination of tho
approaching armament from the terreDleia, the
orier for the "loug roll" was issued. The whole
garrison knew Chat tbs hour Of trial WIS at
hand, and the gFeaLesk enlbnsiksm aud alscfiiy
prevailed Tbs men rushed to their guns with
shouting and yells Of EMULATION. The reei-
mental bsnd was ordered to the rampant. The
garrison flag fthe Confederate Slates) was
already flying d~efantly from The staff &c tho
norlhern apex Of the pentagonal fortress. The
blue and white banner Of The Palmetto State
given 20 the wind on the southwest corner
of the work, and tho elegant black and white
color, Of the LIST regiment South Carolina arsl-
lery (regulaYsl was run up at The southeast
angle, ia tho facs Of the coming foe. a salute
Of thirteen unsolicited guns was fired, and tie
band broke forth with tbs stirring strains Of
aDixie.i
Il was determined to permit the feet to come
well within range before openingfre. Lieaisn-
ant Colonel Joseph A. Yates, who thsk morning
reported for duty, was assigned to the snecial
command Of the barbeite batteries. Major
0rmsby Banding VAS assigned the special
command Of the eaeemsks batteries. They
were both at their poets, officers, man and guns
ready, and awaiting the order TO begin the en-
gsgsment. Colonel Alfred Rhstt, the com
msndaRt Of the post, stood on the psrspet
watching The progress Of the doughty iron clad
aess ae -s EvarY heart beat high. Every
face was flushed with calm excitement, BroDsr-
ly incident 10 such a moment On they came,
steaming slowly nortaeastward-seven Moni-
tors their hulls sunk down to the water level,
showing only a blsek line on the sUrisca and q
projecting turret and smoke stack esea-tho
Lronsides looming up from the sea 8 formidable
locking monster, and the Keokuk, her hall
more distinctly visible than The Monitors, aud
with two turrats, the most dreaded Of aA the
nine.
In front, q monitor, supposed to be the Pas
ssic, commanded by Drayton, pushed forward Ii
long rsff, foTked and fitting her bow, intended
70 esteh, by suspendiDg graphing irons, any
sntsglemelts, or to explode any toTped0es which
might lie ia the path Of their hostile advance.
Next followed, in approximate %eehsloa, another
monitor, bearing a pennon, and eonjeetured to
I6 Als nag bu4p u AA1 GuAAAl4liAAAtS AilGIL VI sAh1
feet. This was succeeded, Ia the same order,
BY two others Of similar kind, only distinguisha-
be by slight differences in the sdornment Of
rcd or white paint upon their generally black
turTets end smoke stacks. These constituted
the 6rst line or division. After an interval Of
space, cRnae the Ironsides, Of much larger pro-
portions, her sleek and glistening black sides
rising high and GowRing shove the water She
occupied q central position, and was followed,
at some distance, by the three remaining moni-
tors end the KsokuE in the rear. These four
formed the other line or division Of battle.
AT three CLOCK. when the leading gunboet had
got southeast Of Sumter, at a distance Of about
fourteen hundred yards, Fort kioultrie fred the
first gau. The band was hughed 1T Sumter, the
musicisns were dispatched to their pieces, aud
the order was issued to open fire, carefully and
by battery.
At three minutes past shrse o'clock the guns
beiehed forth their fierce thUnders upon the
foremost monster. Within two minutes there
was q response. His shots were directed against
Sumter, and the strife wes ~inauguratad. The
east and the northeast batteries, en- barJsHs and
ia casemate, were those only engaged, together
with q mortar battery on one of the rampsTts,
which fred for a short time, Itmay beimproper
to publish, Al this %juneture, the garrison Of the
fort, bat we may mention that the east bsybstte
battery was ofieered By Captain D Flemming,
Lieut.. E.. D.. Blake, Lieut.. Jones and Lieut. Ju-
lius Rhstt, Is VOLUNTEER, absent from Preston's
battery light artillery, on sick leava) The
northeast barbette battery was OfIcefed by
/ Capt Harlsston, Lieut.. McM. King and Lieut..
W. S. Simkins. The mortar battery was for a
time manned and Offered by Captain Macbeth
and Lieut. julius Aston, who wsre subsequently
transferred to one Of the cssemats batteries en-
gagged. The other, the largest cssemate battery
engaged, was commanded by Captain W. II.
Peronneau and Lieut.. Tickling, while a third
small battery was in charge of Lisut. Grimbsld.
For thirty minutes the guns Of Fort Sumter
were concentrated on the leading vessel, ire
igpective of the answering esnnon Of the others.
The garrison fought with esgsrness and inpetu-
osity. They had to be restrained, and altar
trial, firing by battery, iswas found that, from
eleven 70 fourteen hundred yards, and its con
stsnt and alternate moving and stopping, it was
difficult TO keep the ans trained to shoot stimuli
tsneously With accuracy. The method was
changed, with apparent advantage, during the
course Of tho engagement. The gunboets fred
deliberately, at intervals. The smoke stack of
the pioneer boat was riddled with balls. The
turret was repeatedly struck and impressions
distinctly visible. At 225 a Aat-headed bolt Of
chilled iron, projected from q Brooke gun,
(giaed and banded seven inch) struck with man
fest damage A volume Of steam was seen 70
issue from the creature, and il turned of On :
curve toward the east ard southeast, sseaming
out Of reuge sud Out Of the fight. Meantime,
the three other mentors Of tho first line had be-
slowed their attention upon the fort with impu-
nifty. They now after the retirement Of the
supposed Passaic, received each, for z brief
season, sundTy Acknowledgements. That bearing
tL7 Peuzs - zh4asta-aaA nfeaana2nd
cut down by a we'll directed shot. It's turret
end hull were indented. Several. shots were
visible, driven and sticking in the iron. Tho
smoke stack was repeatedly pierced through.
And at SA5 this ~invulnerable man.oE-9ar nlso
drew Of followed by the two that had accom-
panied it.
The Ironsides seemed shy Of the contest. She
fred a EeW shots ct e distance of not less than
I400 yards, and perhaps IS much as 1900 yards.
Three balls were seen 70 strike Der ia return.
She soon headed off cut Of range, and was
counted out.
The monitors Of Che second line were under a
concentrated fro, each q fey minutes. ali were
BIZ, but apparently with no special injury. The
longer tho fight continued, the moro accurate
tho firing proved with the eunners Of that gal
lsnl and admirably trained corps.
The Ksokuk now boldly advanced, bow on.
to tlght bundled and fifty yards of the east side
Of Sort Sumter. This was The shortest distance
attained BY any Of the feet, no other venturing
90 near. Col Rhett now requested Lieutenant
Colonel Yates 70 take charge Of a Brooke gan
for q few shots, and to sight it carefully himself.
The first shot entered the open portfolio Of the
foremost turTet, apparently sileneiag the boat.
The next ball was q center shot upon the fur.
ret. The third penetrated the bow, some ten feet
rom The stem, Masking 3 large opening at the
water line and g fourth also struck the hull.
During this time q cencentTie FIRE was poured
into the monster from al the guns that could be
brought to besr. The fire Of the fort had been
reduced By order TO one gun from each battery
every five minutes, and was exceedingly pre-
else AID effective. For many minutes The boat
dTifted hfelessly with the tide. under a terrific
hail. being torn ia different places. and having
shot plainly imbedded in the iron amor. Itwas.
strongly hoped that il would be so disabled az
TO surrender, falling into our hands by capture.
But, after being under punishment forty min
ates, il managed TO crawl fasbly Of and escape.
giving 3 parting salute IS ii was getting ont Of
range, to show that the viii was there Ia Rgbt