Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1865-01-27
FORT FISHER.
on.,,, p.,ort a, ,dmIr,.l ,'o.-ter.

interesting document. we haze 7ca only
for the portions describing the and stssis,
and the strength q :he fort.
The sailors took :hs assault By flank. along
the besch, whi!e the troops rushed In at the
:. .., ,sfsdsh shs psiisades thai had been
Knocked swaJ o7 the Ere OF our guns
All the arrangements on tie fa-t = ''s
.silors mad been well carried cut they mad
succscaej Ia ssttFng ub TO within short
distance Of the fort. and laid securely in.:hsir
bitches. We had but very iee ki!,e1 end
wounded &c this point. The marines were to
have held the r'sc-pits X covered the boarding
party, which they iuiled % do. On rushing
through the palisades, which extended from
tho fort 70 the sea, the head OF the column
received nurderous Ere OF grape and CAMS
ter, which cid not, ho FeveT, check the ON
Gers. and slilors who were leading. A. TINS
moment had the marines performed ;heir du-
ty, every one ct tise rebels on me p7rIts,
would have oeen killed.,
witnessed tils ei5ie sssn ssw how
recklsrsiy the rsccls exposed themselves, ana
/, chat ar advantage shey gave our sharp
rS5oters, whose guns we're scarcely 6Eed, 9r
fred with no precision Notwithstanding
the hot ERE, Oi1ceEa sId sai.ors IN inc fetd
rushed On, sn1 s1s.s even sr7-ieS the para
pet, a large namte- having reached the ditch
The Trance was swept from TIE parapet
! ike chat, and, notwithstanding ~ the e.
! forts made by the commanders . com uaniea
| 10 stop them, the men 10 IN, r--i, ----iuC the
slaughter in trout, and that thcy we're noi
covered By the marine=, commenced ~ retreat
and, as there is 10 stopping -aiicr Il ne
| fails OF such an OCCASION on the hrst rush,
sew the whole tnIng hsi - h- given up. In
the meantime the trupp- were more success
| fol On their side. The rebels, seeing 80 large
BODY OF men coming AZ them On the sea
side, were under tine impression shat Z vas
! the main attack, and cCnccnt-gtef The -argest
| forces at that point End, when tney gave
three rebel ch,ers, thinking that they had
gained the day, sheY received = vollcy Of
musketry in their backs IRON our gallant
soldiers, who had been successiul in gaming
the highest parapet. Iaen commenced such
a svstem Of lighting IS has never been beat
en-. Our soldiers ls4 g-ineu tFc rrayerses.
while | directed me IT0Rsldes % ire on the
trayerses occupied by the rebeir Four, nv.
and six tr7.v-rses we're carried ~ vur troops
in the space Of An hour.
Th-ss trsyer-es arr imInerse bJni-prO0is,
about sixty iert long, 6ity tel Dits, end
twenty feet high-seyente,n II them IN all
being on the n0rth-ast Las. Between each
traverse o. bomb-proof SAT one U rE' hssvy
guns Th- sighting lasted until 20 c'cl,-:$
~ night. the fr0HsIces and MONITOR hriag
through the trsYerseG ~ advance VI DIR
troops and the level strip Of land, esi.ei
FEDERAL Point, oeing endiadcd BY o., -hi{-
u prevent rciniorcsmepts reaching me re6-
els
Gen. Terry himself went int ID, i,r., and
kept up constant eOmnunIcatila WIKI lirn
until three hearty cheers, winch were taken
I'D 17 toe heet, announced thu capture Of
Fort Fisher
Our troops fought like lions, ard knew no
such word as fail They finally fought and
chzsei the rebels from traverse 70 traverse.
Until they reached Battery Lamb at the
Mound isce Of work extending about
400 ysrds in length. At TINS point the
rebels broke and Bed 70 the end Vi Federal
Point. Our troups followed them ~, sud
they surrendered at discretion.
Thus ended one Of the mes. remarkable
battles On record, and -1c which will do
more damage t. : e rebel cause tnsn any
that hiss taken place In this WIT. Twenty
thr-e hundred rrb,ls manned Fo-t Fisher .
nineteen hundred were taken prisoners. the
rest were killed ami wounded
have since visited Fort Fisher and IT,
adjoining work.. and ind their strength
graaty beyond what had conceived. An
engineer might b, exc1sable n saving thew
could rot Dc captured, except By regular
sicgt I wonder even now how It wa icne
The work. A. I =aid before, i really stronger
Khan the Maia<off Tower. which lcicd 20
long the combined power cf France aud Eng
land, and yet 10 o. captored Dy handful OF
men, under che hre O. she guns Of the feet,
and 10 seven hours after the attack commcnc-
ed IN earnest
We expended in the b0mosrdment s5out
80 ,Ue1 shells, and have as much 90 board.
] feel much indebted 70 the Bur-au 1i Ord
nance ior 80 promptly supplying W with
ammunition anu guns
l regret that some one stopped sur supply
OF cOal-which should haze hc~n d0ubly IN
creased-tOr it came very near defeating this
expedition. Iled We not been supplied By
the army, this expedition would have been u
failure.
The number Of guns captured in these
works amount % IS, many OF them superb
rifed pieces Of very heavy calibre. All those
facing the ships were dismOuDtei. or injured
50 they could not b. used, or the muzIles
were FLIED up with sand OF dirt, which rem
dered them useless.
| only saw two tnst we're not rendered
useless
believe We have burst ali the rIfed guns
LETT in the fcet-one On III, Susglsiauua
one on the Psyuo:, Gad one on the Osccola-
and think the rspusstion.ot these guns Is
now about ruined.
We have lost heavily, and the country has
lost some gallant officers who sell or the enc
my's ramparts.
The success is 50 great thst 80 should not
complain. Men, 1t seems. must die that this
Union NAV I've ; s1d the Constitution under
winch We have gained cur prosperity must Il
maintained. We regret our companion, IL
arms, and shed tear over their remalns; but
If these rebels should succeed, We would
have nothing bot regret left US. and our lives
would be spent in terror and sorr0~.
l am, sir, very respectfully,
yJur 1beoient servant.
DAVID ID. PORTER.
Rear-Admirsl.