Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-01-06
Fort Fisher Uninjured by the Bonn
bart1nent-
Special Weste.

The attack was opened on the oath with all til
;,.on clads and heayv vessels-the smaller vessel
being held In reserve previous to making the al
tack A torpedo on a large scale, supposed
contain powder enoughto explode the magazine
the fort, was carefully prepared under comman
Of Commodore A. G. Rhind, and exploded under
the fort.
sts of the powler explosion recently, IN EnglS gE
that great results were expected from the ex pa-
ment. The boat selected WIS the Louislant = an
| afte1. beinp prepared at Nor folk she was toWi1
round to Beaufort and filed with powde r, TIE
/ Louisiana was disguised as blockade r amor \
/ painting her white and ado ling anoth er smoe
stack Every preparation tor her succe IS was cor
pleted at Beaufort.
Gen. Butler had arrived at he rendezvous pe-
vious to the concentration Of he heet, and eyey
effort was made to have as briele delay as possih
On the 18th Admiral Porter sailed from Bea-
fort for the rendezvous, twenty miles east of Nv
! Inlet. and found most of th e feet assembd
| there.
On the 20th heavy gale spr; ing up, which he
| feet managed to ride out with out accident X
i cent the loss of a few anchors The tTanspor,
/ being short of water, and not fitted fer seyte
weather, put into Beaufort andI emaned until te
] storm was over.
| On the 23d Commodore Rhend. was ordered B
make ready to explode his tori ledo under FG
Fisher and at TO- 80 P. d. the L Ouisiana starte
|
sures of the fort were in sight th Wilderness cal
! off and proceeded under steam to within two hui
| dred wards of the beach and fiv c hundred froi
/ Fort Fisher where she was aneh ored. A blocl
ade runner went in directly ahead OF her, thereR
enabling Commodore Rhend to N axe all his PREF
arations without suspicion.
/ After everything was ready the fuses We're III
ted. and the party escaped to he Widern9,
| which Immediately steamed out 0 sea The f.
nlosion occurred at foYty-iye M nutes past he
| O'Clock. on the morning of the "A th, and was bit
at all like what was expected. HE vessels Inhe
feet were shaken buthttle. AT daylight the Jet
| moved IN. and at 1880 A. NJ, the attack las
commenced It was opened in fine s tyle, By be
New Ironsides, followed by the MaIladnock, Il
nonieus and Mahopac. Seventeen guns we
counted on the northeast face only hve WeTds-
ed. and these were soon silenced.
\ The Minnesota and other large yes sells next bk
their nositiop and delivered their fiI rapidlE
As soon as they opened, the FIRE was so severas
! 0 drive the enemy to the bomb-proo IS, and fly
,, piled from only one or two guns Smaller al-
h ats then took their position accOrd ng to ords,
~, Joined IN the fight In an hour and ffan
mi, utes after the fight began the enemy gis |
1ye,y completely silenced Two mag aZlnes We !
bloyn up and several buildings set OIL fire. Qr |
fs,e W. rs then slackened, but still kept UP in e
hone f attracting the attention from the trgk |
norts V ith the troops. 4
Gen Butler came at sunset with new trooo
and rran lrations were madefor renewing the fsl |
in the mo- nIng - II
and fifteen hots per minute were Iired- The eel
mv's guns " ere silenced so quickly that no onSnl
he Acct was injured by their fire.
Siv ore I'm. ldred FOUNDER parrot guns onAe !
Aeet exnl0ded 5illing and wounding in the age |
cate fiorty-four officers and men. These exc |
sions were on The 1lconderoga, antlc, JuHa;
Nactinaw. Ouak, II City, and Susquehanna, hd /
1gar. attributed tC the defective character ofhe |
o1,ne The Nacipa W was perforated in her 5ois, /
and had ten nersons badly scalded. The O4lal
was atruck near her magazine, and made weII
rapidly. but was sayeo through the exeTtloniofl
her officers and crew. ~.
sose,cns ''s SANTIAGO de G. ba and Fort Jacksonrd
mentioned. and also the I 'rooklyn, Colorado, Sa
ouebanna, Mohican, PAY Ehattan; Tcondero.d
Shenandoah. Pawtuxet anderbllt, Minneso1
and the Monitors. The ofh GERS and men canb
out Of the action with contem ptIof the rebel aH
tiery, and were anxious to rem eW the night.
On the morning of the 25th u le transports had
arrived and a conference was hel0 with GeneralE
Butler and Weitzel to decide upol the place 4
attack 1t was decided that the heI e should rd
new the attack, while the army landet' and mad
etn assault.
Seventeen gunboats, under Captain GlessorR
were sent to cover the landing of the tro ops.
either small vessels were afterwards sent, and b n
sing their small boats the troops were rapid n
thrown on shore.
The shelling was resumed at I A. ~, on thtl
18th, the firing being quite slow, with tie desigA
OF amusing the enemy while the troops assaulte9
tile fort. The enemy fired but few shots. Thh
point of landing was five miles east of the heetn
About 3, 900 troops were landed, and moved uf
to within 600 yards Of Fort Fisher
One officer ascended the parapet and broughA
away the flag A soldier killed an orderly and
brought off his dispatches. Another fred his guS
! into the bomb-proof among the rebels. Several
/ of our men were wounded by our shells.
AS the ammunition gave out, the smaller yesA
sells were ordered to retire, and the iron clads an
/ heavy vessels were commanded to open with gre8e
rapidity. At sunset all but the iron clads were
! withdrawn, the latter keeping up a fire until dayp
light, expecting to cover the assault in the morIa
! ing General Weitze sent word that the ASSAULT
was impracticable The army landed at tw
/ o'clock, and commenced re-embarking at fvF
| clock, one brigade staying on shore during th g
night, covered by the gunboats.
! Sixty-fve rebel soldiers surrendered as ouE
/ troops landed, and two hundred more gave them
! selves up to a small accommodating party Tha
| loss of our land forces is not stated a detach,
ment of gunbeats was send to find an entrance
| the harbor but the channel has been so change
/ that it was not discovered. Where the origna
! channel existed there is now shallow bar Il
! The general officers are highly complimented 3
among them Commodore Rhind and Lieutenan 4
/ Preston, VINO nland9Ga anu eApiOQeu Ine JCfpeut 4
boat Louisiana Its said they had deliberateltt
arranged to blow up the vessel in case the rebelw
should take it by boarding. The officers and crew Il
of the monitors are complimented for their pa
tience in riding out the gale and for gallantry III
action Is
Admiral Porter closes by saying There arr
about one thousand men left on shore by the artF
my, who have not yet got off on account of thfl
surf on the beach, They viii be taken off in thu
morning, and the soldiers win then be sent hometa
/ In the bombartment Of the 25th firing was sloy
/ for several hours. The enemy had twenty-nlnS
/ guns on his upper battery, and managed to stlik
several vessels through without doing much dang,
! age.
Accompanying the report is a letter from Gen
/ Butler, with Admiral Porter reply. Gen Butte
says Upon landing the troops and aoeompanieg g