, 1863-02-13

tic gun, with tie crt:lscTyiaen swung tlc:r
gun upon its pivot, ilA .!aik lnuEzle WITS sud
denly Depressed, thu lanyard pulled, End tht:-
contents poured full In The fAces Of the rchels.~
TIE 1uan on horseback had stopped, was lcan-
ing forward on lis animals necl;, graspi,,g the
1rsa,lc in one l>and. He shouted to tho Fedc-
whipped Ike Ill! surrcnder!a Tho gun WAS
fired. TL!s man WAS literally blown to pieces,
Lis right :l,anl and arm were broken; hc had
Lolc III Ills chcst that q mans fist might enter;
another shot had entered lis side, md u leg
hit forty times. When tic corpse Of this per
son was buried on the ensuing day he Still
held III Ills unrclcnting death grasp part Of
the mnne of the horse, the hair' Of which It
Ind been found impossible to remove tho
hnrd from without cntting
The assailing party fed prccipitatcly and the
ntttmpt to capture that gun WAS not renewed.
Help was near Mt hand. Tho guuboats were
heard approaching.
THE ousnoAT FIGHT.
IT was o'clock in the evening, six hours
from the time Of the commencement of the
attacls by lie rebels, when Capt. Fitch ana
his forces appeared hefore tue nstonhoed enc
my. The e1tuntion, for the Fcdcrals, was IT'LL
nincnt. Had not the gnnboats arrived as
they did-hAd not tho rebels boon deceived by
their spy, who in turn lad bccu deceived by
tl,c ri1ul Ut the st. Clair-lnld not the place
hcen most gnllantly defended, 1t would now
hn!c been IN the 'ni'!ls Of the enemy.
After lie arrlvnl Of The rcinforcenents, Col.
Hardin. ordered hls men to cease iring, and
gather In II protected position, crowded as
closely together as possible, that lie shell nnd
shot frnu tho Ennb0ats might not iniHrc
them. THIS wns most judicious move ul,
Ills part ns will be srcn wien the cfItc. Of
"fat followed Is considered. The rrbels still
maintained tlcsultory fire, but knew full
well that their tine lad come for lcpartur.-
or was not fur distant.
The naval force was divided by ortler Of
Cart. Fitch, The o,c.half going aboyc ind the
other brfow, leaving the centre for the oecn.
fancy Of Cuf. Harding anl The gnrrison. The
first gun svas fired from the Fairplay, which
opened brilliantly. with grape aiid shrnpncl.
l}rillnnt, Silver Lake md Robb, followed In
the rotation nnued. Tho St. Clair, Cul,t. J..
8. llurd commanding, cllancli,g to lii directly
oppnsitr tllc point Occupied By tho Federal
gnl riso,,, could not fire upon the rebels with
tnfrty. stc yas therefore ordered to n dis.
tanco nGov!e, where tl'u rebels wcre IN 81 rong
ft'tcc. III l,cr new position this gunboat did
| excellent service. Their MIN was accurately
| directed to Il point where the garrison l.au
| not previously forght. On Nat *js't thirty.
| eiyht dad l@lis q 4ttH|s tr.1r ne ar1t day
picksd NJ. Tho Lexington nlso sllcl!cd thp
| eaMc point by orders of Capt. Fitch.
At the opening or the gnnboat cannonadc
| the rebel force WIS turIncd with the 1nass OF
| It's body below the fort, thc right ut the crave
| yard on Top Of stc lsill, and their left ut the
| river bank. II was thus in state Of prcnar,,
! tion for making final attack upon the fort,
expecting that victory would perch upon
| their banner.
The firing Of the Eunboats was, however,
more than the ConftdcEates had bargainci
for. They did not wait long to sec whit the
effect Of n protracted bombartl,ncut might be,
| but soon after the boats opened, their ranka
| also opened and all run. In twenty minutca
| there was not On uninjurcd rebel within half q
mile Of the largest range gun in the tlect.
THE LOSSES ON BoTH SIDES.
You hare already had a list Of the Killed
sma1l-yery small, considering the length o.
time wc fUHght, and the oTcrpoweriug mum.
bcrs ptttcd against us. Tic rebels lost over
600 killed. Their wounded must have been
double that number. Tie lattcr were carried
! OF. The dead were left upon the field
| Among the latter swere recognized the body
Of Col. McNairy, one Of Gen. Forests Aids
aNd thut Of the old man who met the pilot III
| this place, and wlh was nlso known rs q rebel
| spy. lie performed his duty-camc back tt
Forrest, and met his death III the attack.
| rAnoLEp PRISONERS.
Among the dead left upon tho battlefield
were found number Of paroled prisoners
| with their paroles still upon their persons
One among these was the son Of 4 pronlinen
Nashville banker. He had even taken tn,
cath Of allegiance, the signed document beins
discovered III Lis pockets. The old man-t!E
spy--had about Lis body passes to and from
Forts Donclson, Henry and Heiman, dull
signed by the Federal commanders at thcs
places, obtained !'y him for the purpose o