The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1863-04-24
=. Dt ION /,
Fear Admiral Comnanlipo

Fear Admiral Commanding.
South Atlantic Beeka ling Sauairon.
I This plan. Of course, was modified. and
in some degree frustrated by the forco Of
/ circumstances.
/ Il became evident at noon. on Monday,
/ that the attack would necessarily have to
/ be postponed al least another dav, on &C
count Of haza, which became so dense
/ towsrd the middle of the day as to obscure
the shore lines aud the range.-all the
Old lsnd marks beng extiugui-hed- by
"nlch the feet was 10 steer. So anchor
was caat; and the anxieties induced by
/ tho thought of the grim work to cone
! were luliei until tho next mornings day
break. There WAS some disappointment,
! and fre;ting over the delay, but AS a
general thing both officers aud crews were
good humored and jolly as usual.
! THE BATTLE DAY.
| On Tuesday the grea. naval battle With
decided he fortunes of the attack ,o,l:
place. II had been desired bv the ad
| rnifaI to gntin motion early in the mornip.
but the argument of the tide wa, acains
.nch 3 course. and it was noon before the
feet 20, under way The Weeharken,
which wa> provided with raft. invented
/ by Mr., Ericsson. fittin, to The power Of
the yes~t and designed to remove obs,rrc.
iion', took The I-aling position The an
chor cable of the He-hawk-n became en-
tang FL II the graphic irons Of thi. al,
! most n. soon Is the l.et was in motion,
AMI delay Of over an hour took place
before tn trouble could he ra.nal1aa n
, ems. hirr.,---.ry were fl fh-s., da-en,ior.,
which bal seemed 20 attend the exna,ll
fion VITA agLravltipg pAstina,:i.v even
from the star =, Pnrt fnval. Thi- mat
Ter right-t! the W-ahawten s'a, TO-! aoaii,
ani th- ott-r Eight iron monsters slowly
fnHaw"l. The fl 20, move up hv he shore
If Morris Island and toward Fort Wage
ner. Ths anxiety for the hrst shot is in
tense, bat he Weeha ken BASES and The
Others also pass one hy one, and al !, Al
, ten'. Suddenly now "a they steam on The
! first two shots come from Fort Mnultria
across the bow Of the Weehawken, sni
every man in the Whole feet ia ready in a
nomast at hs aa>i.nsl p)s' for the com
! mencAmen' Of tho ba.le The next FIRE is
from Fort Suntar. First fash Of tame
anil them a whole broaA-ile from is bar
halte gun. came crashing NJ he flaat -
Then the Cummings Point battery Moul-
tria. and Battery Bee opened. add the
foremost Of the Monitors stool in .he
mills, % the concentrated fire Of half
dozen batteries They had visited until
tie vessel. shou come - near "a nos~i
be 10 the ,.or,vargin" rance of mos, of the
guns IL 'ha f'rt Einat ;ors r0nn4 ahon. |
hsi hn~n fha In'antion 10 nass thruurh
'hi~ fire.. An. bnvou Sumter. bit 81 IN
/. IL the War:iaw ken sea. checked and saarn>
>! 70 have lost Ter motive power AND 10 h..
struggling cla'a~slv againS tho irAnanre
Of Ne TIE This was c0mn'a; nni hy tie
facr that She encountered an ois,ruc,ion
consisting Of large roDa or cable drawn
across the charnol fl pa'rl hv "a k and
t"rpe.ioes. The propeller wa f,uei hv
tie nets and unab'e 10 move for some
tine. A nrpe o bust close 10 her port
side hu, without doing any harm. The
phtaps'p'> screw also caurht in this
obs rtIrti0n, and she was n LONG time In
ex'ricatine herself The left hand chan.
mel, passing between Fort Sumter and
Cummings Point. was ob>trrcted Nv tire.
VOWS Of pile. stretching a. intervals across
the naasage snl rising eight feet out .f the
water, and back Of these three rahaI iron,
c'als were STATIONED. awaiting tie rnmino
Of the fleet II hv any possibility they
they might be able 10 remove the inter
vening obstruction. II is said that a, Az
orening in one of lie rows Of piles there
there is an irmnnse torpedo con
tanning several thousand pounds Of
powder. and capable, As the rebels believe.
Of utterly destroying any vessel that N az
come in contact with it. The fleet
WAS therefore effectualv checked
from further progress. In addition to
the diffienltie. presented BY these almost
impossible Instructions was the great
trouble experienced in steering some oflhe
iron c'aas, or indeed making them obey
the helm at all. The Ironsidos was the
most unweldy. Tie Keokuk, though IN
fitted. as il afterwards proved, to stand the
terrible impact Of the shot thrown at her
from the spIenddiv mounted batteries to
which she was exposed seemed the best
capable Of regulating her movements, and
was thus enabled to pass nearer to Sum
ter than any other vessel. The Iranside.
it Will be remembered, is no. one cf Mr.
Fricsson's Monitors. lat is Quilt, AZ far %
her hull is concerned, neatly on the nlan
q the Warrior and La GIoire. The
heoknk is a lighter draft vessel than any a
the others, and is constructed on y new
plan inrentea BY Mr.. Whitney, Of New 1
York. TIE vessels strictly known as The
Monitors were only moderately successful
in governing their sneri and motion. bu,
rith,,oni the FIRE from the forts with
success which will almost e..ab,iSh their
claim to entire inpregn ,hltv The fr.,
difficulty with the Irnnsdas was ,,.nif
hafore the firing bad co.nmer.
passing NJ the channel =, ,,, - -
,.' pr s''e I'D she coQi. only ba
= our - regain her s'eady course, by
/, topping tha engine FIR a few minn,e.. =
In the midst of the most terrible fr. il
was found necessary 10 throw ont The
anchors to preven: the ship from shpal,
ing and on getting in motion agsin !,