Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1863-02-27
T1aE CUNBoAT ATTaCK ON Fr. NC
ALLHSTER.

Auc Az 1. xFlOuNe mas long account O
the attack on Ft McAllistcr, on the Georgi
coast, BY cur gunboats. The engagement
resulted in nothing more than proving til,
invincibiity Of cur mon.clad Monitors. w,
publish portion Of the account which will
be found very interesting
The Montank stood steadily on around tn.
point, presenting to the locker on about n.
saucy spectacle AS one could well imagine
Ees. old description Of her departed predc.
cessor, a 4 ankee checse-box ON raft. y
will give one better idea of her external
appearance than any chapter which coull be
written. Her appearance at any time is well
calculated to excite the risibles of q specta.
tor, but never more 80, despite the serious.
nsss o. the occasion, than when she set out
u Dc BATH" ,.,,:eNs.. H.. .-.-.11I-
The Seneca had the honor of opening the
engagement, letting fly shell from her Par
rott rlne. A moment aftcrwar,l, the Mon
TANK gave the rebels sample of the contents
o. the 1ankee checsc-box, followed success.
sivsly by the Wissahickon and Dawn. The
enemy was not long in replying, opening
With only two guns, but paying exclusive ut.
sention to the iron-clad. The Montauk find.
ing herself in good range, had anchored
about $500 to 1000 yards from the battery.
hs Seneca, Wissahickon, Dawn and mortar
sehooner-the first named about five or six
hundred yards below the Montauk, and the
others at intervals Of three or four hundred
yards below, followed the Montsuk's exam
pie, and letting 60 their anchors Immediately
began their mornings work The engage.
tnent following was, venture to say. az fine
q specimen of an artillery duel az has been
witnessed since the war commenced. IA I
have previously said, the rebels paid exclo
sive, attention to the Montauk. For three
hours they did not favor their wooden antap.
onists with single shell. They were eyi.
IDENTIFY impressed with the idea that from The
iron clad they had most to fear and upon
her accordingly, would they bcstow All their
'ron greetings. The rebel practice was such
ss to excite admiration from friend &C we'll
~ Zoe Although the precautions had been
taken the night before to remove their s,okcs
ana other ranges on the river side between
os anu the Fort, they had yet such range
OF ~ points on the river below them that the
very nrst shot nred by the battery struck the
'urret OF the Montauk. This was not a
snancc shot. for each and every one follow:
ing u was almost equally well directed; il a
oa'i a'd not mt the vessel itself, it was sure
20 P'ow up the water in close proximity to
y. But ball and shell were equally thrown
away, and, for real damage done, plight as
Wen 1"ve been dropped in tho nejghboring
The firing for III. first hour an,, . half
vas Kept up quite lively and unremittingly
en the part OF the entire flotilla but about
10 o'clock, the tide changing from ebb to
nood, the vessels began swinging, and for
the next half hour or more it was quite i'm.
possible for any but the Montauk to bring
thcir gsns to bear. As during the entire
siornng the Montauk fired hut SLOWLY do
!'vcring her shots, on an average, but once
m eight minutes, the rebels who WE have
since learned had not an overabundant stock
Of ammunition, did little more thar renly 10
her guns. They soon perceived that tIcir
only chance OF doing any execution on her
IRON sides was to get shot into her norris
and now universally reserved their fire until
the turret came slowly round fronting them
and then, at the instant the port holes became
visible, blazed away. AS an example of the
accuracy Of their craftsmanship. | will state
that ono OF these shots, from ten inch gun,
struck the turret directly between the two
p ,rts, a little over them, yet not more than
Is or 20 inches from the opening. No
wooden vessel could possibly have lived in
she position occupied by the Montauk fifteen
minutes. About half past ten o'clock the
Aontauk hove up her anchor and stood few
hundred yards up the river. This position
Was within about 800 yards of the fort, and
was maintained by her until about - o'clock
Without any apparent effect upon her, and
may say as we'll of the battery either The
gunboats below, in the meantime. having
pretty much exhausted their supply of long
range. shell, took but an occasional mart in
The affair; and indeed, for two hours had
used Their guns but very sparingly on this
account About moan storm, which had
been brewing all the morning, came up, with
2 misty rain and fog, completely enshroud-
ing the fort !; and the Montauk, too. having
exhausted all her shell with the fuse of the
required length, tho vessels Of the flotla
retired to their previous nights anchorage
snd dispatched tug Immediately to Port
Royal Tor more munitions of war, the arrival
OF which they are nov anxiously looking
Tho AFFAIR lasted in all about five hours. -
during that time there were probably iE tho
vicinity Of $50 shot and shell expended by
the feet. The enemy with the exception
Of four shell from their mortar with which
the Seneca was favored, replied solely and
exclusively to the lire of the Montauk, and
probably expended about hall as many
So far as test of the resisting powers Of
the iron clad vessel Of the Monitor class is
concerned, the affair was most satisfactory
one. In all, the Montauk was struck thir-
teen, times, mostly by l0.inch and ri1ed solid
shot. The effect Of these shot upon the tur.
rot Was to leave an indenture oil about one
half an inch. One shot, which just grszed
one side of the turret, Knocked oil he head
Of one Of the numerous bolts with which the
plates are fastened, which was about the only
real damage which could be SAID to have
heen done. Several shots struck the deck
Of the vessel aud plowcd long burrows on the
surface of the iron plating, tut injured moth
ing. Two solid lO-inch shot struck in close
proximity to one another on the edge Of the
hull and deck plates, which made the deep
est indenture received by tho vessel. But al
together the damage inflicted was not one
tithc the amount received by a vessel in a
gale Of wind, or when exposed by any unu-
sual labor. sTS
4 The working Of the machinery Of the yes