Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-11-04
The VERY --LATEST
TELE q r. APH-
Particulars of the Destruction OF ahe
RahsI Ran Albemarle. -

Particulars Of the Destruction OF aha
Rebel Ram AlbemsrIs
EEw YoRx. Nov. 3.-Tbe correspond
ent of the Herald gives the foliowine
account of the destruction Of the Abe
marie.
Along the dock to which the Abe
marie was tied wers large number OF
SoIdsszs.- 0Ir. force, afters a-sHzprise,
found blazing in front Of 7tssif Eilnes 9
row of camp Erss, lighting uP the rebel
vessel and The river By the aid Of this,
Lieut. Cushing discovered the pier o.
floating tirnbers which surrounded th'
ram on the accessible sides, to guard
against the approach oframs and Of tor
psdoes, and by the aid of the same high
be plainly saw the large body of soldiers
thronging 10 the. wharf and blazing
away at bis boat To quiet these fell
lows, be brought the bow Of his boat
around little and discharged heavy
stand of canister into them from his
twelVe-pounder howitzsr, mounted upon
the bow, and sent tksu fying-making
q complete circle under seorching
musketry FIRE, at less than thirty yards.
He came around, bow on, At fall steam,
and strnek the foesing guard Of tImbers,
pressing them in towards the hull of the
ran. His boat soon lost hsadway and
came to . stand sill refusing TO back
Of or move ahead.
The moment for decisive action had
now arrived. The enemy fred muskets
and pistols almost in kis face froE TIE
ports Of the ram and from the hundred
ANAL arms on shore. Several OF his
men we're wounded, ard Paymaster
Swan had fallen severely wounded
The effieers and crew Of the Albemarle
cried out Now we've got him Surren-
der, or we'll blow you TO piecesl" The
case looked desperate, but LIeut Cash
ing was cool and determined BE Fixed
tbs Lanyard to the torpedo and the lins
Of the spar, and crowdisg the spar until
be brought the torpedo under the over
barge 81 the Aihsmarie, be detached il,
By an effort, and then pulled the Lanyard
Of the torpedo, aud exploded il fairly
under the vessel on her port side, just
below the port-hole Of the 200-pouhder
Brooks rife, which at that moment was
discharged At the boat An immense
volume Of water was thre~n out By the
explosion of the torpedo, almost drown
ing all IN tbs boat To add 10 the peril
of The moEnsnt, The heayy shell from the
enemys gun had gone crashing through
the bottom Of the boat, knocking the
splinlezs about in terrible style She Al
once began 70 sink, In the most rapid
manner and Lieut. Cushing ordered all
hands 10 save themselves as best they
could. He divessed himself Of bis coat
and boots snd plunged into the river, fol-
lowed BY those OF bis crew who were able
60 do 90. AL struck for the middle Of
the river, ander bot FIRE Of musketry.
The balls struck all around them, and in
two instances, il is feared, badly wound
ing the swimmers, 90 that they sunk be-
fore boats from tho shore could reach
them. Lieut. Cushing heard the rebels
take to boats and push AFTER the survi-
yors, demanding their surrender. Many
gave Up. Two Of his seamen we're
drowned nsar bin, whether owing to
wounds received OF exhaustion. he coald
not state. Paymsster Swan was wound
Gus anu - uHNohotSutg y pFts0hEfs hHt
how many others VI the crew fell into
rebel hands has not been ascertaine
Lieut. Cushing swam down the river half
a nsile, until exhausted, but he reached
shore sbout daylight He era*ied
shfoaglia swamp until he reached ! no
sitgon wiibia speaking distance Of ste
enemys soil While lying there some
rebel officers walked BY, and from
sheir conversation be learned the ram
was destroyed. After q while, deeming
bis situation unsafe, he managed 10 push
himself along upon his back about sixty
yards and got better posisioH. Before
midnight be scared the services Of ne
gro to 20 back and look after the Abe
marie. The negro returned and reported.
Liest. cusbing then alrack through the
swamp in bis stockingfset, over briars,
&c, until he reached = point six miles
below the town, where be took a boat,
and with paddle put Cd for she squad
ron, twelve miles, reaching Il IN safety