Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1863-04-16
From the Charleston Mercury.
rs.s A,.a.ls on Charleston Opened.

~ st the long deriod of DELAY is ut au end
tes cnntronted with the formidable
that the tast:s of man have ever put efoat.
The first in The move drama OF the war, ch
trust add lustre the fame of tharston has
closed Let render thanks the Lord OF Hosts
he result thus dar has been OF proud trnnh to our
country. As yet however, have bat enteed upon
orde2 It viii De for the nez few days t. tell the tale OF
aur sad disaster, or complete success
In view OF the retcel which (or Of tary
policy has marked ausons to the
the ironclad feet, brief review of the week will
be of place About noon on SeDday last th9 first in
tegence flashed to the y from Fort sumeer, that
the turrets Of the ar ned Monitor gnaboas were loom
ing against the heasterD horizon During the after
the entire fl ct hove in sight Eight Aontorn be-
sides the irgae iroDsd's aud Nv wooden
vessels took their position just beyond the bar. As
he b. buited about the city, very many e
populaoi (preVlousl' lncfednlous ct dn
ge) de Easty prepars TO DEPART and every train
has Lett the city siGce has heavily laden with the
eleventh hour refuge and / cir effects.
sunday night quietly passed by Monday morning brough
and the OF considerable force OF Yankee
troops Coles Island Bat throughout monday and Mon
bar On Tuesday morning it observed that another
Monitor had arrived, making force OF no less than ten
iroa-olad vessels including the lrOnsides
At two o'clock On Tuesday afternoon despatch from
Fort announced ta these vessels had crossed
most one having al that time reached point about three
thousand yards from te Fort The next brought
to u.s. hour later ty the dull detynaoa Of the first gau
from ort hioutre, which Immediately answered by
heavy report and cloud of white smoke the urret of
nv having within range opened
tere and almost simultaneously the white smoke could
vans Islands, indicating that the Beauregard Battery
left Battery Wagner the extreme right had be-
battle of Fort Samer, maintained very rapid
turn fire. occasionally hurting their Is inch shot and shell
recDg their chief efforts against the east face Fort SUM-
Gradually but Visbly the distance between the at
tackng the Fort laSsened and the
my drew the firing became hot and almost c0ntn
uoas
general The at that hour viewed from the Bat
tery promenade, was truly grand Battery Bee had
and the whole expanse of the harbor entrance Su
VANS island to Cummings Point became enyeoped in the
lshes Of the conflict. The roGclads
kept constantly shifting their position, but whichever way
they went her ports, always turned towards the battle
agens: the walls OF that famous stronghold Ever and anoD
the huge shot went rcoehettng towards the mark the
water dashed up in sheets of spray towering far
parapet of the Fort, while the reas of smoke
g of the the post were their
duties In the foreground staunch little IRON
log geticay aud down heir chosen fighting posi-
ti5n, evidently impatient TO participate in the fray
Up to this time the trgae ronsides had born very
cons part the zht. Her long hall lag She dis
lance. apparently of mile from batteries and her
tremendous broadsides than ly answered
by broadsdeR rCm tee Fort became apparent that
she Unable stand the fire directed against
her Steamrg rapidly seothwsrd she gave Fort Sum
few parting shots and withdrew from the action The Kao
aus double tu-retted aonisor, after followed her
cxampe ard before five O'Clock the fi0g hsd evidently
begun sacken The remaining NCniIors however, still
ket up bombardment ana forts and bat erias
d ed vi uudminshed alaCriE. At quarter alter ve
N he Monitors heqa rete and at half past i1e The
enemy fred the last shot Of the engageEaeft =
Gratifying the general rsEuits OF tS fight, the
hour which it closed precuded The possibility OF
receiving the full tafs from the Forts despatch from
Font informs that the 1roneices an Keoksk
roughly haadlad an& rciFed s. Tic
1red Tie KeokuS hsd her f8g ct d0wE f"r bHat sh
away three h2,es il her smoke STACK &n9
how shot of The pEacsic5 o. gunners most
dtabe. Nearly every shot struck of the iron
Cleds but with what effect known. Fort Sumter was
struck thirty four times. of guns dismouBed
otherwise the Fort is good condition Fort Mouitrie
was unrjored. The casualties al Fort Sumter drum
mer boy named Ahrens mertallV wounded two Sc
verely wounded and three others slightly injured. At Fort
Moulrie accidentally hurt By fall frem the
flagstaff, on which he replacing fag, which had
been shot learn that he afterwards died. Two
small houses the back beach u Suliyans Islahd
demolished by the eneDy's fire.
After their Withdrawal from the action, the enemy iron
clas anchored off Norris Island where they ie Eany
think that the fight will be renewed day break this
ing but up to the time at which write g m all is
quiet The reports get from the Ston9 River that
enemys transports still remain in the Doubt
less the Yankee Generals intend before venuring upon
land attack, await the issue the struggle between
their ships and our batteries