New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-04-14
Or BOARD q. s. srKlx YRIaArn Nsw;IRoxsiDss

dav break upon the quarterback Of the blbo' AL
signs augured for q commemoration oil the anniVer'
sary of the battle Of Shiloh BY the opening Of ou'
guns upon Fort Sumter.
About 2 a. m. took leave Of my kind hosts OF sns
Bib, and in few minutes stood upon tho spar-deck
Of the Nsw-Ironsides.
Admiral Dupont with his staff, comprising Fleet
Captain C. R. P. Rodgers, Lieutenant A. 3. MAC
kenzie, Ordnance Officer; Flsg.Lsutenant 3. w.
Preston Ensign NJ. L. johnson, Aids-ds.Camp and
Signal Officer and Mr. A. McKenIy, Secretary, had
boarded the ship from the James Adger early in the
morning. Duty did not absolutely require the pro-
sence of the Admiral on one of the ronclads, but
chivalric sympathy with his subordinates appeared
to impel him to share the dangers of the fearful Or
deal through which they were about passing. i,
One could not help beholding the Ironsides with o
sensation of awe rather than admiration The sense
Of the beautiful was not touched either by SYM
mety or elegance Of form neatness Of general ap.
pointment. But she looked the fighting crsft-the
machine of destruction all over. Outwardly and In:
wardly, her every visible inch revealed her devotion
to war and war alone. With her body stripped Of
the last vestige of spars and rggng-her sides dis
colored with slusb and yawnipg with monstrous
guns, she impressed one like fit head and leader Of
the turreted Dondescripts around her. , RI.
Her deck, in addition to it's iron plating, was pro-
tected With untanned hides aft and layer of sand
bags forward. TO provide agaius. penetration BY
SHOT or shell of her unarmored bow and STERN barri-
cades Of sand bags from three TO four feet Thick and
rising from deck to deck, had been piled up on tho
gun and powder decks They filled the cabins, and
deprived the officers almost of their V'e The furni-
ture had been slowed away below. re increase the
resistance of the sand by moisture, stesy stream
Of water that flooded the cabins was poureS from
hose upon the bags. Upon the gun-deck the llk'ch
Dahlgrens and 200.pound PARROTS sbone VIZ ias.
tive gloss. Muskets, cutlasses and pistols ~tIe
stacked and beaped about. The powder ways were
open. The Surgeons had their knives, pincsn and
saws displayed. Upon the whole, the flagship,
though hardly replete with comfort, was attractive
enough to one who understands to appreciate the
stern pathos of preparation for battle.
had been aboard about two hours, when the sig
nal to get under way was ordered to be made to all
the iron-slads outside of the bar. simultaneously
the drum and fife called all hands to quarters, and in
a few minutes every man on board was ct his post,
and the ship ready to commence action at any mo-
ment. The general command of the ship was ex-
srcised by Commodore Thomas Turner and Lieut..
Commander George f.. Belknap. Lieut.. Commsn-
Ter Barnes, commanding the gunboat Dawn, had
also been detailed for special duty on this OCCASION
The first division on the gun-deck was in charge Of
& cut. Robson, aud Acting Masters mate Sheppard;
3D. Acting Master Skilings and Acting Masters
Nate George II. Bradley; Sd, Acting Dometf
md Acting Masters Mate Hand 4th, Acting
faster Butler and Acting Masters Mate Harvey;
tb Fret Lieutenant Bartlett and Second Lieutenant
Young, with the Marines Flag.Lieut. Preston and
lieut.. Mackenzie volunteered to work guns Of I'd
md Sd divisions in the action. Paymaster Russell
vas in general charge Of the powder-deck, assisted
n the forward division by Acting Masters Mate 7i
Howard Acting Ensign Reanev was in command
# The masters division. tt "t
For crossing the bar the following directions had
been issued by Admiral Dupont: 5'a
"Bring Bib and buoy schooner in range. Run
in on that range leaving lst I'd and Sd buoy on port
hard, say from 80 to 100 yards From Sd buoy steel
Tor Moultrie Honse."
The several iron.cads had all been provided with
,ios The success Of the attack rests of course, 10
great extent upon their respective ability and fdel
". The Weehawken had Active Ensign Robert
'iatt; Passaic - Cook Monsauk, Acting Master
Ioffards; Patapsco, = Look; lronsides, Acting
faster J. w. Godfrey; Nahaut, Isasc Schofsld;
JatslSill, Richard (colored) Nantucket, Gabriel
colored) Keokuk, Robert Small (the man that
,rought out tile Planter.
The crossing of the bar involved considers
,le risk from grounding, but all passed it safely,
md were at anchor inside by ten o'clock. The
Jagged somewhat behind, by havinga
aft from the Ericsson again fitted to her bow, but
Don joined the rest
Charleston Bar is ridge.like elevation Of the bot.
ON OF the sea- reaching from one end Of the entrance
II the harbor to the other. Large vessels can
afely make the inside only through three openings
n this, known as the Main Ship, Swesh and North
channels. The first runs TO the south Of the bar,
.most parallel to Morris Island. The third to the
lorth of the bar, along Sulvan's Island and Swash
channel, between the Two.
The main ship channel is commanded by the forts
md batteries OH Morris Island the Swssh and North
hannsls by those on Sullivan's. AL three channels
up into one directly in front of and at short range
rom Fort Sumter, whose guns, with those OF the
souidstant Fort Moultrie and Cummings Point bat.
ery thus defend the entrance to the harbor proper
by concentric fire. In addition to the mentioned
works, there is said TO be another heavy battery
Fort Bee on Sullivan Island, between the Moultrie
House and the fort. 1t is presumed that the fire OF
nearly I5o guns converses at the described Junction
If the three channels
The course Of the iron-clads was mp the main ship
channel. 1t was expected that before coming under
lie fire Of Sumter and Moutrie they would have 10
.un, in distance of three miles from the bar, the
yaunst of four works on the beach OF Morris Island
-one at Lighthouse Inlet, another near Lawford