The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1865-01-28
Az ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST BeMnARD.

Csrolinal Observer, written py a TeOe. SOL
S;ar Who was inside Fort Fisher during the
t;rs. bombardment. II may be called ar
aide view of bombardment:
About II o clock the fleet had formed in
nne Of battle and commenced to move lp.
IN thew came, the huge frigates leading
~ vav; then the grim. ugly lronsiIes,
,heu the monitors, and the grea: line OF
smaller yessels-sLsetching away oa:, al
most as far as the eye could reach. Nearer
and nearer they approach. All is calm and
ouet in the foU-the men were at their
runs-our Colonel stands on the pa-apet,
watch in hand, to note the time they COM
nence firing. Closer still they comes AND
now they are in position: flash, Z curl Of
shreking noise of the shell, from one OF
the ;rigates, anuonnces the Lght COM
meneed-twenty minutes before l clock.
And now the fight progresses IL earnest
thick fly the shell, loud sounds the iEuE-
der OF artillery, lurid are the flashes CT the
great guns as they vomit forth their mis-.
siles OF death and destruction. ACG oh !,
noby stand our men to their guns. From
Shepherds Battery 10 the Mound ihev
stand unquivering and defiant, loadirGAnd
iring ccolly and calmly, the gunners sight
ing their guns as II they were prac.lc.De q.
target.
The scene is grand and awful. From
every vessel can be seen the white ct.r. O.!
smoke, and high up in the air hundreds O..
smoky rings are formed from the explo-
Gou OF shells. The firing does not aba!e n
The least; j: increases as the tight progress
ses, and the noise is deafening. The ene-
my have concentrated their fire on orr fag
and the ha!liards are cut and now the no.
bic staff is struck in several places, and
falls. The tag at the Mound still floats
and n .rc 1n fac
last they strike it, and down it comes; but
it's Immediately raised again. Bang, bang
-whiz, whiz-clash, clash, all the time
The quarters have caught fire, and the
brgh: flames stretch out their tongues.
vtile the heavens are enyeloped in dark
clouds of smoke. The air is sulphurous,
from burnt powder. Still all goes well.
At5o clock the fire Of the enemy begins
Q pslacken, and the intervals between the t.
ring are longer. Still gradually il slack
ems, and at 81 o'clock the fight ceases-.he
vessels haul oil and return to their an
chOrage. The damage done to the fort has
been very slight-hardly any-and our
weary, gallant soldiers rest from their
struggle for the while, as they expec. ano.h-
er attack at night The casualties are 23-
one mortaliy, 23 severely, and 10 slightly
wounded.
SUNDAYS FIGHT.
This day will always be memorable &c
the men who garrisOned Fort Fisher.
The expectation of the garrison tha- we
gould have a night fight was not realized.
The night was spent in watchfulness ana
repairing the slight damage sustained 10y
she tight Our noble Gen. Whiting had
arrived, and all was con nfdenoe and cheer
fu.ness. As the morning dawned, the fee.
could DO discerned in the distance, getting
ready 70 renew the attack; but it was nor
expected that operations would comrnen re
before high tide, which would be abou.
half-past II o'clock. However, every man
was at his post, ready, at any moment, 20
again engage the fleet. About 10 O'Clock
the fleet commenced moving in-their ex-
treme right resting near Gatlin's Battery,
about six miles up the beach, and their
left extending down to the fort. The Iron
aides led the attack, the frigates resting or
her right and left, and the monitors to the
right OF the frigates. counted tifty-two
vessels 10 ap-one 1ronsides, three 0. four
monitors, four frigafes and forty seven
other vessels. They steamed in very slow
y, two OF the frigates going round TO the
sea front OF the fort, and the ironclads and
monitors lying abreast Of the center front.
Ihe lr0nsides and monitors came up with
10 mile; the rest Of the fleet remained
out about one and half miles. At 1890
.: M, the Erst gun was fred by the Iron
sides, followed by the res. Of the fleet
nring very slowly and deliberately for the
Mniie. The fort reserved its fire, thinking
that the wooden fleet would be tempted to
come in closer range. Finding, however,
that they would not come closer, our guns
opened. also firing very slowly. The day
was quite foggy, and the smoke from the
guns rendered it more 80.
About u o'clock the fire commenced 10
increase with great rapidity. The dull,
heavy, humping sounds of the enemy's
guns as they were fired, could be heard
hnt, and then the whistling. shriekipg
sound Of their shells, as they came whiS-
1ing and buzzing through the air. Their
explosion, and myriad fragments that wen.
nuling by, thick almost as hail, were ter
rible to listen TO. Terrific continued the
the enemy-no delibetationOaway they
would shoot their hell-balls not caring
where they threw them-faster and faster
comes the iron hail, louder and louley
sounds the terrible thunder-the air is ho,
With fire, such as yOn would experience
irom the heat ofa furnace; the earth shake es.
no interval ofquies; all is noise-crash.
nang, and bang crash all the time. Will
It ever ceasef Will it ever stop? No lull.
bang, bang, bang, quicker than yon car
count The sand flies all about. There
:. SAoAi WAAoIAiu8 wy NAooC ~ S'SASsk
Whiting; it buries itself, exploding, cover
MIN all over with wet sand. he does no
move, not even takes his pipe from his
mouth, and only remarks coony: Well, i
spattered iue.''
stu no inte-mission the evening goe'
on the time passes slowly. The men staut
20 tnelr guns nobly. Some have b0en yes
!!erday, fighting al day, and are still hgh:
ing; there is no lag in them; they fgh. al
men never fought before with heavy gucs
COLONEL Lamb and General Whiting arr
everywhere !salong the lines, encouraging
men from battery to battery they Co.; tho
Mea look ct them and smile, and bant
away again; the commanders Of compa
MES arc all q. their posts.
Inc bombardnlent continued terrific till
ABOUT O'Clock, when the firing suddenly
siaokened from the feet. 1t was then dis
covered that tho enemy had succeeded in
!mSnoing foToe at Anderson and Holland
Has.aries, and that their line Of ek!rmieh.