, 1864-09-20

1nipute4 past cigs. I was no. long "a coapte-
henctng his 1nsentians to be the dss ru3o' OF the
dag chip The moEitors and such Of .be Faoceu
t ne
only with their guns, hut bows on 81 1aA epssa:
And then becnp one Of the derree. naVaLtonaaes
Fas The frst vessel that etruck her, and IN cslns
70, carried &way his own iron pros. tosetaer Wta
the entwat:r. without appnssnEy DONG nls aotss:
and vas the next vessel to strike her. which ata
did at iuIrfpeed. hut though heT ereTn was cut and
crutbed to the plank ends icy the disfaucc three
feet nbore the waters edge to i've scct below. the
only percepib'e effcet On the ram was to E1ye her
y h-a1y lit, The Hsrttoro WAS tho thisa vsssel
wh.eh, struck her, hot a. @ fae Tennessee quickly
sud ss she ra<ped along an1 eide. we poured our
wtolc port brtadaade q 9insh solid shot ~ithtn
ten tect Of her casenate+ The mont ors worked
offered. The Chlckheaw succeeded U gcttineundcr
her ttern, hld 15 inch .ehst from the Maah Attsn
broke thronSh arr iron plating u q esvF Woadeo
backing. though the. missile ttseF Old mo- enter
Imnediatesy alter the collision With the dag
sh!p. Greeted Captain Dfa{son to near "a dow a9r
when, unfortunately, the Eaczawanua ran into the
Hartford jnst forward Of the m1zzeumast cutting
her Gown to- within two fec* Of therwater's edge.
ne soon got clear aeain, however, and were fast
approaching our adversary, when she etruck Der
cofors and run up the whlta flag. She was at This
tine tns Va Resean
her IT. fnl sperd, and the Monop0ahe's L,cka wan
M and lhis ship NJ 70 hearine down upon ner. d.
had been shot awny/ /her steering chains were
gore, compelling re~ort to her lellestng takes.
aud 9. Feral q the posttnp.teFs were 14n4ed- II;
deed, from the time the Hartford struck her untl
tcr Eu11eruerfebe never ired gnu< Is the o.
atpee. Commander lie Roy, vas tbout to etrlke
her, she hnsted the white fnR, md that vessel I'M
to B<otd glatctng blow. During the cortest with
>tpe rebel punboats and the ram Tenueeaee, and
which terminated by her surrender at ten o'clock.
batteries Of Foat Aazean. Admiral Bneh.n-
an vas wounded in the: les. two or tnree
>of his men were9il1ed, and i've OF gig woaedcd;
States Navy, y8z in cnrauaand Of t1G Terhes+er.
and came on hoard the flagship to surrender his
sSosd sod thas Ct Ada s, The su
df,tyn Of the Adtu1rak and wiehed 20 know what
was to b. done With hin Fleet Surgeon Palmer,
Who VIVA On board tie Hartford during she action.
ct>ttd that thoee of buth ttoes be se1s to ensaco
ID, where they conid b p1opsE,y c3SeS fqs. 1sFe"
cu,prp gliding Fort Morgan, tufor@ing him that Ad;
ifal~Buchaurn AID others OF the Tennessee pad
been wounded and desif1sE to sn9w s ns m
truce, 10 convey them, with Or without our men
wounded. TO Pensscols, on the under;taadfnE thas
the vessel ehulld take out noue but the wounded.
and bripg roihipg back that SHE die not tako ont.
This was acceded TO py Gen. Page, and the Meta.
A hsd an elevated position IN the main ug-
eipG, near tho top. was able to overlook not ol-
jy he deck Of the Hartford. hut the other vessels
eren1 = ehot, ard the good conduct Of the men at
thtir guns; ard although no doubt their hearts
aicl leped as nine did. Hhcn their snlpmatcs were
struck beside th.n vt here "a, n.' NO mo-
spring AGAIN 70 their deadly wore. Our ilttle cen
fort, the Metacoue1, wae a1so under ny immedi.
ate eye, during tbe whole action, up to the mo-
neIt ordered hcr to cast of IN pursuit Of the
Selma. The coofnees ard psomptnees OF Lentfn-
ant Commander Jouett throughout. merit high
rralse; hts Ehole sondact was worthy Of his repg;
thcatte1uon Of the Department to the cordu:t Of
Acting EcsianHenry =. Nields, OF the Metacomet,
xho hsa ch,e Of sse boat ssne so9 s xssae
one Of the mcst calling Hres ever 50 =. and suc-
ceeded 1n re cqlug from ceath ten % her crew
within fi1 hundred ysfd;s r. q the ors T1n.d r.
mahdirc officers OF MI the Tcese's who 1ook part
| tr the sctnn. deserFe ny warmest co9mendations,
on iG ssns og s cet bur os tbs
fhe engagement viii tie exception q he No:
paaIsa ahead, and to which hare already Advert
Cd the tret Of batt]e was preserved and the ships
followed each other In close ORDER past the bat-
| tetleS Of Fort Morgan. and IN comparative satety,
TOO, with the e1cepuon Of the one,da- firz boil?
c1s were peneuatea ~ shot from the Tort Ehich
completely disabled her bar hcF consort the Gale
"a s ass2ed t ss sde he1 aas
/ c.nton Of Carrying the vessels lin two abreast.
Commander Mrl]any, who had solicited eagerly to
iotine lis leit nfn. Il The enfou1ter WITH tic
ram, the commanding officers obeyed w1th alauity
the order to Fun her down. and Without h-aitst.on
eutmy. Our trun-caads. from lheIr slow speed and
| bad steering, had fome difficulty ia getting into
and maintaining their position in line We passed
Ternessee fFon he came eapees, W.re aot 20 ek
I feetive as could have been desired; but cannot
give too much pralse to Lieutenant Commander
Perkin= who, though he had orders rom the Depart.
mint to return 9TH, Tolupteerel to taEe CON.
mnrd Of the Chieaasax. and old bis dutr no5ly..
| The Tinnetaco vas commanded b. Comm 3nde1
tuirets will work, ~hien compelled him to turn his
tettsl every ti%e 70 get saot, 50 that be conld
4be Msssssi.n appeared to work we'll though
ahe moved slowly: Commander Nicholson d.
witt one Of biz 15~,arh shot bso.e tnrunsh tht
| arQor Of the Tennessee, with Its wooden backtng
thohsh tic sao1 itself did Rot enter the vessel.
nru, Of her plates were aud several 81 hes
poIt;tt4utters jsmned BY the Ire iEom the differ
! Tic Hartford. my ns.satp,, VAS commanded by
Captain Perciral DIa51cp, wbo e1lIbIied through.
GIL that coolness and ab1tJ for witch be h.s been
lopx 1noEn: 10 hts bEothvr ottcere. Dur must
the feet captain # my aauadron, and one Of more
dste1mi0ed energy, untiring devotion to daty, and
ana z9al 3or the tsr!1ce. tempered oy great ealm.
e.,lJour attention 10 This ofacef thp1eh veil aware
that IN thus speaking pf his high qualities an
onfy eomnn1,eatinS officially to the 1epartnen!!
All I'd for ,be dstaii oi nv ieeE &'1 --
|. Lieut.. j. C1it,tnden Watson, my Flag L1eusea.
Ssg sss &c
attending % the sicna1R, ,:and pcttorme1 dulles
MeKtniey, and Actn: Ensisn L. f. Bowen, Bi' vcf. a
aeo Cd The poop, tne latter taking uote= Of The
tion, adn's which he performed with eooness ant
Two other acti5g ss..ens Of ny staff {ns; Bo=ari
F and M1. HeGinbuthaua) were on duty IN the pow
1red zeal and a1al11y: The lat1er. regret 10 say
ssysss h sh9t e s
scnng married nan, and has left widow and ont
child, whom commend to the kfhdre=s Of LIT
Lieatena5t A. z Yates, OF the Augusta, acted =.
a. additional aide 70 inc % baara- the uartfJrd
AID ~as very efficient In the Transmission o
| o1oers.
| The last Of my etst7 and to whom I >wo1n cal
| the nu1ice Of the department. Is rot the least II
| Importance / mean Pilot Martin Freeman. H.
has been EyGreat 1e1Iance IN all diieuIEet In hi
line OF du15. During the aet1on he vas in lha
1patn-top, rilottuE1he ships into the bay. Ii va,
cool and brave throughout. neEer loainy his self
rpescfslop. This mz4 was cartured early in tht
! var tn fine dfhiug Emack which he owned. and
thopgfbe protested that be had no interest IN tnt
VET. snd only asked for the prtSieca3f fehing 70,
the fleet, Jet his services were TOO valuable to The
! capso1s as pilot, NOT TO be Eecared. he was ap
pointed fietflass pilot and hss served rs viii
I zeal and 1denty. aud has LOST hl4 vessel, which
went t1spfeccs on Slip I-iand. T commend him
10 the Department.
orr1cEEs PRAISED.
II gives me pleasure to refer to several officers
who xo'1nlee1td 10 take any situation where they
EigLtbt useful eom~ Of whom vera On tier way
Norb. rlthcr BY orders II the Department con
deEsned By medical survey. Tae reports Of aiges.
en- ss@manacrs Tdl sho" to~ they conducted
have already mentioned Lieut. Commander
lie Augusta. Acting volunteer Lieut.. Wtli,aat
Hamilton. Iate commanding officer OF the Augusta
DtnEmo1e, had been tnyallded py,1uedlcal survey,
onead Ssa fe ectssa hs7rg had nah 2g e
Actine a Volunteer Lieut. E. Grand. another ex-
81 theae vessel tnt a. they wase all solI supplied
with cfncerq, fcF1p,tted him 10 go Tn tue Oss1-
pee, under Commander Ii Roy-: Aftertke notion
be wae eeiVentempo9arr.haegc OF the RIM Tennes-
Before closire ,hI. report, there ts one other off
Ger Of my squadron OF whom feel bounn TO speak
Capt. r. a. jenkins. Of the Richmond. who wss
formerly my Chief OF stan mot because Of bis hay-
Ing held that Portion. hnt becsuse be neveAprgets
|. to CO his tuty to ihcGoFetnmeut, and takes now
lie same interest In the heet as<when he stood IN
that relation to.me., He is also the commanding
a. such has shown ability and the noet untlring
zeal lie carried out The spirit Of one Of !ord Coz
1pewooc's best esy1Rcs, Not t9 be aiFaid Of do
a. they ought" Wien IN Pensacola he spent days
The euGys Il the ssst II
vice, ard keeping the vessels from beng detained
one moment iopeer IN port than was necessary.
The gallant Craven told me- onl{ the n!ght before
The sctloo in which he lost hi8 HE: regret. Ad.
ben foT CAPT. Jenkins, God knows when should