The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-03-06
The Sinking Of the Corvette HOusatOn-
Ic---Full Details OF the Affair.
u. s. SHIP CASANDAIGUA,
February Is, 1864.


Editor Boston HeraA,-It is with pro
found grief that l chronicle the loss OF
the U. s. corvette Housatonic by an in.
fernal torpedo machine The event
took place last evening, one Of the cold
est of the season At quarter to nine
o'clock long object just on the edge
of the water, was discovered astern OF
the ship. In an instant the cable was
slipped, the alarm sounded, and all
hands beat to quarters, but before the
ship had made any headway the torpe-
do exploded under her starboard quar-
ter, making a most frightful report
The propeller was broken of, the stern
was torn 70 pieces, and the ship sunk
rapidly in less than eight minutes from
the time the torpedo machine was first
seen. The vessel sunk in six fathoms
Of water As she began to sink, the
I most frightful scenes were witnessed.
/ Men with nothing but their shirts on
were seen struggling in the water, Off
J GERS were trying to get the boats loose,
/ while others were mounting the rigging.
/ Three boats were finally unlashed, and
/ these were sent to rescue those in the
water The gig at once started for the
! Canandaigua, carrying Capt Pickering,
/ who was badly injured, but is now doing
we'll
As soon as Capt Greene Of tho Can
andaigua igot the news, he at once
/ hoisted signals of distress and came to
our assistance, and in three hours after
T the attack on the Housatonic all hands
: that were saved were safely transferred
( TO that ship. whore they received every
attention. Subsequently a portion Of
/ the survivors were transferred to the
Wabash
I The Hoasatonic is a total loss. All
hands lost all they possessed, money,
! clothes, DC In fact, many Of them in
| cluding some of the officers, went on
board of the Cananadaigua in naked
state. a sad incident Of the disaster
/ is the loss of Ensign Hazelton of Con
cord, N II. Mr. Muzzey, Captains Clerk,
John Williams, Quartermaster, and
/ John Welch, coal HEAVIER, Of Boston
were drowned The latter had got safe
I " on the deck, but ventured back TO
save $500 which he had i'll his bag on
/ the berth deck Poor fellow, he never
returned Theodore Parker (colored)
who was on the lookout directly over
where the ship was struck, was blown
into the air and instantly killed. Captain
Pickering was slightly injured BY the
explosion. John Gof, the Captain 5
Steward, was somewhat injured These
were all the casualties The officers
and men of the ship displayed the
greatest GOODNESS during the trying
scene, and thereby saved many lives
The Housatonic has been the especial
spite of the rebels Three times they
have tried to destroy her, and now they
I have succeeded.
1t is feared that many others of the
vessels on this blockade will follow the
fate of the Housatonic It's well known
the rebels have six OF eight more Of
these Internal machines ready to pOunce
upon the feet The masts of the Hou-
satonic are all that can now be seen Of
her, and the gale which is now prevail
ing will do much to make a complete
wreck of that once noble ship.
Ensign GoOdall has been very unfor-
tunate. He was taken from the Hou-
satonic and ordered to the ill-fated
Weehawken, in the loss of which he
lost all his effects He was again or
dered back to the Housatonic and now,
for the second time, has lost all
Ensign Hazeltine got into the sacond
boat, and had he remained in IL would
have been saved, but as the ship careen-
ed over he jumped on board The last
ever seen of him ne was floating among
the fragments of the wreck, a corpse.
First Lieutenant Higginson, of Bos-
ton, escaped from the stateroom with
nothing but his shirt and drawers on
The surgeons steward and many others
who were in bed, had barely time to
escape in their night clothes
1t is a wonder that Capt Pickering
was not instantly killed, "a he was di-
rectly over where the explosic- took
place. lie escaped, however, with some
severe cuts and bruises, and viii soon
be well again.
At low tide the water Is about six
feet above the rail Of the Housatonic.
If the weather moderates, her guns and
many valuable articles, and the pay
masters safe, will be recovered. She
cannot be raised, IS her stern Is com
pletely blown off clean 70 the ward
room hatch. She was loaded down with
coal and provisions, which will be total
loss. Many Of the survivors had quite
large sums Of money laid away % send
home by the next mail The loss 10
them Is severe.
Considerable excitement prevails
here, and everything viii be done to
prevent the destruction Of any more Of
the feet