Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1863-04-16
The Attack on Charleston.

The Attack on Charleston. %
The Adocnce Qfyhe Iron CL,d Fket-Ad.
mTdt DupoHts Order Of Baftle-t4d
I vtincc Of Gsnerdt Fefty's Dicsioa to RoLy
{ gLslaatf- The Aauunce to,ourd Fort Sum
q ter The action opened by Fort Mouitrie
The most ferr!fchriaQ on Record The
Advonce Checked Jy Obstructions-1 The
Ironsides Working B,ntiy- F,re Of tie
alroasCtdds UiMJled--h h ie,ts found I'm.
possible 10 pass the Obstrictions - z he
+. terrific fire Sustained IN the Iron Clqds -
The Dtma0e doae FWt ..Sumter--T The
Fleet Recdiled .Jron, the. Aftdck y,
Special Disrui.h to tie NJ r. Iiibuie. if ~ 2 ~
''t ,is WAsHINaroN, April I2, 1863.
The gunboat Flainbeau, fiom Charleston
Bar at ! J. clock on "Wednesday, arrived at
the Navy Yard mt 2 O'Clock to- day. She
brings Capt. Rlind, who was wounded in
the action with tile Rebel fmts and Lieut..
Forrest of the Keoknk. Your special cor.
respondent, who alone Of the uienlbers Of
the pres, in tho Department of the South
was with the iron clad feet during the ac-
tion, being on board the Admiral's flag.
ship, is also 9 passnnger. His summary OF
events is asefoif0wA ~ m tsg ~. ag
The iron-cIads Sqnadron, conveyed by a
number OF ganboaiSarIiyeJ off Charleston
on the morning Of the 5th inst. In the
course of the afternoon, the channel across
the bar was busyed Nut by the Coast Sur
vey steamer Bib6 aud the Keokuk.l +, b.
p 1t was intended to cross the bar that af.
ternoon, but u high wind arose, which in.
duccd Admiral Dupont 10 postpone cross.
ing till the next day. Toward evening the
Patapsco stood 10 close to Light House In,
let, to protect bu0ys. IL was expected that
she woul draw the fire Of Rebel batteries,
but she anchored inside aud remained un.
mplestsd all night. DO. l.is s.a.i., ls,.s1 u
!n the evening the Admiral issued his
order Of battle. The plan Of the attack was
to move the IrOu.clad squadron up the
main channel, without noticing any fire of
the Morris Island batteries, steer directly to
Fort Sumter and engage its Northwest face,
at distance Of 600 to $40 yards, the FIRE to
be aimed at the center embrasures The
line OF buttle to he rs follows: Weehaw-
ken, Pnssaic, fGtspwo; New Ironsides,
tl,s kasasn ssh'Ep' Gat'Elll, Nantucket NAhant and
A squadron of rcscrve, consisting Of the
Canandai9ua, Hou ,atonic Hur,n ,Uuadilla,
and Wlssafic0n, Was to form outside OF the
bar prepared to come, ii necessary, to the
support Of the iron clads.
Early on the morning of the 9th inst.
Admiral Dup'nt aud Staff transferred their
quarters from the steamer James Adger to
the lronsides. ~. b
About clock general signal to get
under way was given. Some fears were en-
tertalncd OF gr0niiding when crossing the
bar, but all the vessels got over safely and
came to anchor directly opposite Light
House Inlet. ,ea
II was deemed necessary 20 await the ebb
tide IN order 10 discover more readily the
obstructipns. The Hest was ex x,eoted to be
able TO move to thea at o'clock p. NJ,
hut at that time;a thick fog had risen CON
ccaling tho shore lines, the guidance Of
which the pilots, among whom were three
colored yoluptsefs, and Ruoert Small, re.
required for 'sAfS steering. Ia. m "a y
The Admiral then reluctantly postponed
the attack 10 next day. '''''i
Y During the day brigade Of Gen. Ferfy's
Division workedIj its way up Folly Island,
itself close u the beach and
opened COMMUNICATION with the feet. No
portion OF the land forces got nearer to the
point Of stack, end all were Obliged to play
the part ofear Witnesses iedi aolls6ni1n ~
Nothing, was done during the remainder
Of the sixth. ,..,. ....;' - a
On the morning Of the 7th the fog was.
thick, but by Q O'Clock it had nearly cleared
lway, and there was no further cause for
delay ot the attack. a Up 10 " o clock pres
psrStioas l a. :. TOR the oonaiot were continued on
J AT I p. NJ. the pilot ofths flag ship At
est declared himself resdy to- move. The
,ignal 10 get under way was made, and at
ifteen minutes before q The, whole fact was
10 motion in the order given above. At "a
j clock the batteries on Morris Island had
been passed by the first four Monitors With.
,ut drawing ths4lre Of the enemy. .-ls,ls.5I 4
{. Shortly before 3 O'Clock, the Ironsides
'howed disobsdieace to her rudder, her bow
'wlngiug 20 the strong ebb tide, and threat; !,
ming to bring her opthe shoals TO herright.
,rSS Sns wss sSereiors So@pellsa e sone 70
arst four monitors had continued on toward
he fort a .Eo4a0 n
The enemy allowed the Weehawken to
'ome within 500 yards Of Fert Moultrie.
when two shots across her bow ttvom this
The ironsides bad again got under weigh
lpd approaches, within 200 yards Of Fort
sumter, when che opcs more became ,pn-
| : S aeageabls and was again obliged to drop
The Monitors ahead II hsr bad then
Y. Tsaeaea y rs. re c9nyerging point Of the Dire Of
Cummings Poipt battery, Fort Sumter,
r9rt Mouitr.e, snd work between Fort
NO, ,s and MCultfisville, known - Hat,
l.La.. - aa.sI i, "a. .a.eL - .ad,