The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-08-26
The Movement Against Mobile.

The Movement Against Mobile.
PARTICULARS OF THE NAVAL
ENGAGEMENT.
From the New Orleans Times
~ tne loiiowlng account is furnished us by a.
D. Do o'G,rett, VINO was on board the gunbOat
ror' hoyai at the time Of the fight
r,s FRIDAY. Aug. Z, 1864.
Inc fleet, consisting of the Hartford Brook
Ign, Richmond, Lackawanna, OssiDee. Monon-
gaheia, oneida, Galena, Port ROYAL. Metacom-
ct, Octarora, Seminole Iasca and the Noni-
tors Tecumseh, Manhattan Chickasaw and
WinnebaSo and the Admiral's steam-barge
Loyal, got under way at the ancbora~e of the
entrance to Mobile Bay at Sunrise. the Mont
tors in advance and the wooden vessels poinc,
together in pairs, the flagship taking the lead
When within point blank range of Fort Nor
gan the vessels ahead were slowed down to en-.
able the line to close up, and at this time the
fort and rebel vessels opened fire on the fleet
which was returned from the one hundred
FOUNDER PARROTS placed on the bows OF our
vessels in advance.
The Admiral waited until directly abreast of
Fort Morgan when he delivered Il succession OF
broadsides from the ninc-inch guns of the Hart
ford with such precision and CALLING effect that
the rebels were driven away from their guns,
and the water battery and fort were silenced
At this time the Monitors engaged the rebel
iron clad ram Tennessee which was discovered
lying in position TO advance on our noble Adj
miral.
At this moment the Monitor Tecumseh
struck torpedo, and was seen to rise and dis
appear beneath the water almost instantly.
The firing now became terrific, and the feet,
although stcaIping ahead at a full rate of speed
was completely enveloped in fame and smoke.
The rebel ram made several attempts to run
our passing vessels down. but failed to do so.
and in the midst Of all this q boat was lowered
from the Metacomet TO pick up the survivors
of onr i'll fated Monitor. 1t was a beautiful
and appalling sight to witness this boat rowing
around on its sacred mission to rescue our
drowning men, with its beautiful flag flowing
in the breeze, and the missiles of death and
destruction striking and ricocheting all around
it. But the gallant officer Gan ensign whose
name / forget heedlessly kept on his way. and
succeeded in reaching the pilot. one Of the Of
ficers and three men belonging to the Tecum
sch.
With the exception of the Monitor our
fleet had by this time succeeded in passing Fort
Morgan, only to be subject to a CALLING. raking
fire from the three rebel @llnboats. Selma, Nor
gan and Gaines.
Our vessels, which were secured together in
pairs. were now cast off, and the engagement
became general. which in short time resulted
in driving the ram and two gunbOatS under the
guns of Fort Morgan, while the Selma steamed
up the bay with the evident intention of escap-
ing to Mobile After chase Of about forty
minutes the Selma hauled down her FLAG
to Captain Jarrett. of the AIetacomet.
On boarding her the cause OF her sur
render was soon apparent = the decks
were covered with the dead and diving and her
scuppers were running with their blood
Among others recognized the body Of Lieut.
COmstOck, with his bowels torn out and lying
across the breach of a gun, which he was en-
gagged in sighting at the time of his death. He
once belonged to our navy. language is not
adequate to describe the soul-stirring cheers
which went up from the Threats of cur brave
tarS, and was rc-echOcd from one vessel to an
other all through this terrible ordeal. and our
brave, noble Admiral has eXemplihed in this
fight that his theory of iron hearts and
wooden ships :" is a correct one.
At this time while our fleet with few eX-
ccptions had collected together on the west
side OF the bay. in the direction of Fort Powell,
and out of range of MOrganS guns. the ram
Tennessee was discovered steaniing in the di-
rectOn.
The Monitors closed with her when in range,
and one of the most interesting naval engage
mentS OF the war succeeded, and we. in the
smaller wooden vessels, were the spectators.
a fight OfsOme minutes cnsued, when Ad-
niral Farragut, anxious TO close the ell
gagement in 4 summary way, started towards
the Tennessee at full speed at the same time
Capt Strong in the Monongahela. struck the
Tennessee amidships and withdrew in time to
give room to our Admiral to grapple his an
tagonist, Buchanan. When the smoke cleared
away nom the two vessels white flag was
seen to wave from the Tennessee's pilot house,
in token of submission, and Capt. Jeraud, who
went in a volunteer On the Ossipec. as repre-
sentative of Admiral Farragut. received the
sword of Admiral Buchanan, and that terrible
engine of destruction was OIr>, although
gained at great loss OF life.
Our loss in this fight is about 30 wounded,
including the brave Capt. Craven, of the mon
itor Tecumsef, and 100 of his crew, who went
down with him.
Admiral Buchanan of the Tennessee. was
shot through the leg, below the knee and the
LEG will have to be amputateG.
Fort Powell, in Grants Pass. was blown up
last night after dark and Fort Games will soon
follow.
The rebel glihboats which sought protection
under the guns of Morgan will be destroyed
or captured by our monitors to-day and the
lnyesture and capture of Morgan must follow
Latest accounts say that the brave but mis-
guided Admiral Buchanan is very low, and that
it is almost impossible that he can recover.
Admiral Franklin Buchanan is the only officer
OF his rank in the rebel navy. He is an Old
and experienced officer, having originally en-
tered the United States navy on the 2Sth of
January, 1915. On the breaking out of the re-
belllon he deserted his country's flag, and on
tuc otu Oh september, 1851, he entered Tic
service of the so-called confederacy. On the
26th of August, 1862, the organization of the
rebel navy was completed, and he on that
date, received his commission as Admiral. Bu-
chanan is native of, and was appointed FROM
Maryland. He served twenty-One years and
five months sea service in the United States
navy, and nine years on shore. lie has been
naval commandment at Mobile nearly the whole
time, leaguing with traitors.
Should the present incumbent of the position
of senior officer i'm the rebel service not sur
vive, q chance to testify their regards for the
pirate Senmes will be open to the rebel au-
thorities. lQ y gI
We are sorry to record the loss of the dis
patch steamer Phillippi, Captain Sewers. She
was burned in sight OF the fleet, but the affair
as vet is enveloped in mystery. The Phillippi
was a beautifully finished, sharp-prowed, LIGHT
draft steamer, built expressly for speed. and
for some time past has been used as Admiral
Farragutis dispatch boat. Ysi5 ai~ )
She accompanied the Hartford until within
range of the rebel works, but when firing be.
gan she was ordered away, After getting some
distance out, flames were observed to hurst
suddenly from her, and it is supposed She was
otally destroyed. The fate Of, Can't Sewers