Evening star., 1863-04-15
ADDITIONAL PARrICULARs a. rvr
ATTACK UPON CHARLEsroN

|
ATTACK UPON CHARLESTON.
| From various accounts we make MP aSe so,.
lowing additional particular. Of the affair of
Charleston. One report says: st'"l
| During the engagemept ON The sfterneo. cf
the TN our iron -clads were SO near, to the eity
| OF charleston that their two hundred poun6er
Parrott guns could with ease have landed shells
! IN II; but as the movement was only intended
! as preliminary one to the grand attack, d
| mlral Dupont would not permit the city 70 be
! tronbf q at that time The rebel iron. ela<is
Pa!mft ito state and Chicofa were in eight Ana
| tried The sDge of their guns, but did mot at
| tempt 20 "a their rams; and it was no. unti.
our i19ne lads retired hat they esape on; fairly
from beh nd the wallis Of Sumter
be fleet Of wooden vessels was %. eng.,xed
| in these preliminary operations, as it WAS no
thought hest TO expose them before q genera
attack was made.
OF the rebel distractions il IS stated:
Stretching from point close to the north
the channel 10 Fort Moultrie, is s.out thsy-scr.
floating on casks, on which are huae net
seines and cables strung with torpedoee The
veseel comes afoul of this, whis Ks ND the nasty
eDtanglements with It's propeller Is thu. de-
prived OF all motive power, and is a. The mercy
OF the current, to be drifted ashore into tie
na y shs 81 the @ isy wss ns
20 the admirable skill Of the Captains OF t0e
foremost ships who, when their vessels were
just on The point of fouling, sheered Of AMI
saved themselves and the fleet - r ~
The right channel being thus oos.ruatea,..
remains to be seen what can be done with tho
lett. between Sumter and Cummings pDint
Eut this, toe, is still more efectpa ally bIockadcd
by q row CT piles, rising ten feet above the
water, and extending across The whole widih
OF the passage; Looking mp the harb Dor, a2c her
TOW OF piles dIsclosps itself. Stretchinr afro-S
from Fort Ripley on the middle ground 20 Fo-t
Johnson.
The correspondent OF the 7r,tusf who was
on hoard the Ironsides, Admiral DupCnts dsg
ship, thus describes the action:
Nearer and nearer did we approach; clearer
and clearer became the lines OF thn rebel ,i.
lenses. already We can count the guns OF Fey.
WAGNER (the work next TO Morris; I,yhr
house) and Cummings Point and the wipaows
OF the houses of st. Vincent and MouItrieyille
At 225 the first signs Of the afterward fatal
difficulty OF steering the ship in q tidaway
became manifest The bow swung on The po:.
side, and it was necessary TO stop her engine 70
steady her course In few moments we were
again in motion.
The first four Monitors had already IA ssed
Fort Wagner, and we were now abreast OF IL
We can look into the very moaths Of the guns,
but tney remain silent. We know rot what 10
Ahead we steam, anxiously awaiting the
reports OF the first gun. Al iasf, about three,
O'clock, two flashes Of fire burst from Fort
Moultrie and two shots flew aero g the DO W OF
the Weehawken, the foremost Monitor, sta.
seemed TO have approached within less than
half mile. This fairly opened the &C ton.
The suspense did not last long. Six bells had
JUS struck, when dull souRd, like tha: OF a
sledge hammer upon an an vii, was heard on
the tow port side. 1t was the hostile greeting
OF Fort Sumter, now within one thousand and
two hundred yards Of us. second and a third
more violent than the first, shook the eide of me
snip. Soon there were ThiZzinS and humming
OF rified and round shot and Shell over baafi,,
Still the successive discharges could be dis
tinguls he'd The several reports had nct vet
been drowned, SO TO speak, in a contin nous
roar. -.-=-0
Rut harki There is a arayarhara+io +io, as ,,o.s
OF numerous, simultaneous thunder slaps
Now fierce, increasing roar vibrating the air
with violence that causes even the the solid
mass OF our ship 10 tremble. A look through
the open port on the port side dis elosee the.
causes of the furious outbur.t. The frst four
Monitors had reached the convergfng point Of
the pin OF Cummings Point battery Fort
Sumter and Moultrie and Battery Bee; one
alter the other had steadily steamed, without
firing shot, to the verge of the concentrating
ranges. The enemy evidently reserved their
nj ain fire for work at close quarters; but when
the w Weehawken had reached within SIX hun
dred yards ofFort Sumter, a long, broad, hrii-
liant line of flame suddenly formed fiery girt
from Cummings Point - Moultrie VILE, follow
ed instantaneously by immense volnIries Of
smoke and rain of projec tiles that fairly Md
the turrets OF our craft with countless spouts
of water thrown up by striking she: aad shell.
THE WOUNDED MONITORS. -.f-. y.
The KeokEk had ninety shots in all; nineteen.
on the water line twelve starboard, seven
part;) fifteen in the after turreT five OF them
hiouRu one " "fltWoTtn sneff polnted remain
ed sticking in the wall;} twelve in the forward
turret (three of them through;) TWENTY-FIVE
OH the sloping sides Fifteen starboard len
porto eight through shetting on after turret:
ten on smokestack (seYen through, three glano-
edo four through the boats, two glanced off
the deck; one cut signal staff; three or four
went through the flag.
The New 1ronsides was hit bet ween sixty
and seventy times, but sustained no ma terial
damage. One OF the shutters of port five, port
Slde, was Knocked OF an eleven inch-shen
lodged in the bow between the sides AMI the
sand bags. A shot passed through the smoke
stack, and her bulwarks were much shattered
The Weehawken was struck fifty mine times
The turret was badly dented and worked wsh
difficulty. Many bolts IN the pilot onss had
been loosened and driven through. h'
The hontauk was hit twenty times; the Pas
sale ffty-eight times. The Nantucket was
srnck ffty- one times, and had her ;urYet
stopped twice by shot. The CatskiII received
ter had their decks almost torn open by rifled
bolts. .-
The Patapsco was hit between forty and ff-
ty times, and, besides the disabling OF her 9o-
pounder Parrott, had her turret much dented
and pilot house weakened. The NRhant was
almost broken into pieces. Four men were
wounded, one mOTtally, in it, from flying bolts.
OF ammunition, the different vessels fred :.
lronsides.... rounds Passaic -. 9 rounds
Cats kll.....25 Nahant. "a "''
keokuk .....e Weehawken % "a "'-
Montauk. 26 =" Patspsco. ...Isas" .so
Nantucket Is - -r
1oiai -...s...-,.. lol SoHnas
In spite OF the comparative weakness Of Cur
fire considerable damage was done to the forts.
with eleven holes, plainly visible at our dis
taIce Of three miles. Some gaps were three
feet wide, and looked as though the shot had
ploughed right through the wall. Two en-