The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1863-01-27

Harriet Lane vas the Erri Object Of
attack. Tier position IN the ehannsl
rendered her eompa a,iyeiy helpless,
aud il was important to the enemy
that she should be di,posed Of hrs',
~ order that The bridge M 80, be lef,
free for the passage of h's lroops.
Two OF the euemys vessels, Inelnd.
ing the most favorable, accordingly
bore dowa upon her, aod seem to
have approached very near before
they we're discovered As som as
they were seen, the Harriet Lane
opened upon them, while al the same
time, the enemy opened his shore bait
teFies upon the Harriet Lane. This
artillery hehi lasted more than an
hour, without inaieiing any serious
damege on either side. The two
ships however, succeeded ip getting
close up 0 tie IIaniet Lane, one on
each aile Of her; for they we're Of
such light draft that they could run
an around ber, and were thus enabled
10 come to close quarters. As soon
as they came within range, the ene-
my's riArmen opened destructive
fire, pouring shower Of bullets upon
the deck Of the doomed vessel, and
/ killing the gamers at their posts
aud as soon rs lhey got well alongside
they boarded her IN overwhelming
lorce. There were about one hum
dred and thirty men, al told, on The
Harriet Lane. who male d sperale
It hopeless fight. Th- odls against
them were SO great that they were
crushed by the mere weight Of mum
bers, and The deck Immediately be-
came The scene Of sanguniuary
slaughter o. ehastly proportions. The
o9i fellows fought hand 10 hand with
their cutlasses, with the splendid vdlor
wilh ahich our sailors always DO fight;
but i ayailcd them nothing against the
| shower OF bullets ,hal tell like hail
from the hsi cotton walls, and the
crushing tide Of hostile men which
swept over them from either side.
l'he deck became slippery with blood
and, IN a moments time, was literally
covered iti dead bodies. II was
hope,s- conflict, and tie itagtdy oil
blood and gorror Has soon At an end.
The cuemy's attack va, thus Who'll
| ) successful. fbc Harriet Lane,
ayorile vesstl in tie navy, as il lad
been with the public for years, fell
into his possession, and il IS believed
that She had not bee materially dam
aged, either il her M :Iiilery or her
armament.
Il was reported taat this attack
nas to be made long time before il
actually occurred; but the story wa,
generally descrcdted.
There @as the bull Of an old vessel
sunk in the channel and the Harriet
Lane, running foul this, stuck fist and
at the time OF The attack was entirely
unable to mauuuyre. The enemy's
vessels were nothing but small steam
boats vel projected will cotton, With
the exception 0! one, the larger one,
which was iron-clad on her bow, ard
constructed for ram. The object
Of the enemy, however, was to cap
ture the Harriet Lane, and not TO
damage her, and the artillery firing
from the enemy was only intended for
a diversion.
| The fight on the deck Of the llar-
riet Lane @as fearfully desperate and
bloody. The brave fellows fought
hand TO hand, killing great number
oi the enemy, whose loss was proba-
bly, greater than ours in killed aud
wounded.
Il Commander Winwrisbi was killed
early in he action on the deck. He
was sho, ia the left knye by one ol
enemy'o sliarpsLooiers, aud had drop
ped upon tie ri1At knee, and vas ex-
horiing his men TO fsht. "S;and up
to i. boys," be shouted; and this di-
Tecied special attention 10 him. Two
Of the enemy rushed upon him; but
he had his revolver in bis right hand
ard shot them 10th lead. A third
came Up, AMI placing pistol 10 his
head, shot him.
/ The men fought until aIl bat tie
acti z master and eleven men lay
dead or MORALLY wounded upon tie
deck Of the ship; and these made 10
formal surrender, but we're disalmed