Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-01-21
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which that plscelEas reeaptured by the
rebels. The full details which have come
to hand enable US to give additional par
ticulars of the explosion of the flagship
West6eld and the premature death of Com
modore Renshaw. After the capture Of the
Harriet Lane, General Magruder, who was
in command of the rebel forces, sent word
to the feet to leave the harbor by 10
o'clock, it being then after 9, on the morn
ing Of January 1st. The Westfeld was
aground and the Commodore determined
to blow her up. The Captain of the Mary
A. Boardman was ordered to lie by to take
the crew Of the westfeld. The account says
of the subsequent scenes:
"The scene that ensued consequent on
the knowledge Of Commodore Renshaw's
resolutions on board both vessels was one
scarcely to be paralleled in the experiences
of a lifetime. It might have been %
o'clock, hence very little time remained for
the transfer of men and baggage-the
Commodore, indeed, proposed to allow but
fifteen minutes. Instantly, then, all was
animation. The Westfeld lay at about 500
feet from the Mary A. Boardman, with all
her portfolios open and her guns run out,
everybody on board being promiscuOusly
engaged in endeavoring to secure whatever
came uppermost. Hammocks, officers
trunks, seamen' chests, cutlasses, swords,
rifles, fowling- pieces, blankets, articles of
clothing, even looking-glasses, were
thrown pell-mell into the boats, hurriedly
slowed away and rowed, each with its due
proportion of men, to the BosrdmaD,
where all hands labored increasingly to
receive them.
g The three boats Of The Westfeld, the
first and second cutter and gig, piled to
and fro incessantly. In from fifteen TO
twenty minutes, $50 men we're transferred
from one vessel to the other, Captain Weir
superintending matters forward on the
Mary A. Boardmsn, and Major Burt doing
the same aft. To the admirable coolness
and presence of mind exhibited by the
former gentleman, the latter attributes the
successful rescue of the crew, nor has the
writer any doubt whatever that the praise
might be honestly shared. r- r--.
THE EXPLOSION.
"At length, only one cutter remained
alongside the Westfeld, the gig; another
loaded almost to the waters edge, was at a
little distance, and about to put off to the
Mary A. Boardman. The cutter awaited
but its living freight, in the shape of the
Commodore and two others; that obtain
ed, slow match was to be ignited and the
steamer blown to the air. She had two
magazines on board, and was almost lit
orally full Of powder, shells, and ammuni-
ton. In another TENN fve-minutes
all might have been secure, and Commo-
dore Renshsw and those accidentally hur-
ried into eternity with him, living men at
this hour. This was not TO be. Those
who saw them last in this world, report as
follows:
Commodore Renshaw stood quietly on
the fore part Of the vessel above one of the
open powder magazines. Near him, a
barrel Of turpentine, with its head stove
in, had been lowered down the hstchway
into the forecastle. But two oarsmen were
in the cutter, with some eight or ten pas
sengers. To them descended the chief en-
gineer Mr.. W. K. Green, followed by the
First Lieutenant, Charles ". Zimmerman.
Both gentlemen seated themselves in the
boat All now had quilted the doomed
vessel except the Commodore.
"He was seen to step down the stairway
to enter the cutter, when the match, pre-
mature fired, (it is said by a drunksrd)
must have communicated with the turpen-
tine. Instantly heavy roll of black smoke
surged upwards, followed by a bright, ex-
plosiye flame, full ten feet high. No alarm
followed this, not word was spoken; the
Commodore turned round and looked back,
the heavy boat was alongside with her
crowd of passengers, the crew Of the Mary
A. Boardman and her recent acquisitions
we're gazing curiously at the bright fame
or the tall, thin form of their first officer,
when
"A white puff of smoke broke through
the hatchwsy as frem the muzzle Of a can
non. 1t was followed by an explosion so
tremendous as to move air, water, every
thing within its scope, jarring the Mary
A. Boardman as though she were shaken
by an earthquake and shooting up in the
shape of monstrous fan, like the erup-
tion of a volcano, scared a reverse cone Of
fire, while spreading equally in every di-
rection-for there was not wind enough
in the calm January morning to disturb
them-rolled and billowed the heavy vol
umes Of smoke. High up, too, over head,
adding infinitely to the horror and beauty
of the occasion, exploded innumerable
shells, hundred of which had been piled
up on the deck, perhaps in anticipation of
their destiny. One Of the powder msga-
zines had exploded, utterly destroying the
forward half of the Westfeld, and leaving
the remaining portion a shattered and
blasted ruin. The two boats and all with
in them had disappearedp p
The last Of the " Young NapOieOn.s
The papers which have been brought to
light during the Mcdowell Court of In
quiry wipe out the last stlingering prop un-
der Mcclellan. Besides the Presidential
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