Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-01-05

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fnun6DAr nvENrno. ......... Jan;
r. Dounhoroment q F0f(
Fisher.
ooeosooee6d 6o1Nome ~
Nelgol eosoosso oepoees
csrrespsa&ence letwsen
Hntler and Porter
At dsylieht Of The 94th ~ - q.
DR. way end stood IN line o. o.sus. - ~
ll:s0 o'clock A. NJ, the signal ~ 1,sos g
engage the forts, the Ironssoss .sI ~ 10y
~ Gonsdnock. Caneeisen, ~ Aahoprc
s.;i.e;r~ ~ 1rpnsi6es too& h9 peost1su
4 "a. ,,sseH h1onfifbi and 6somealike man
nsr ma oosnsd deliberate 6ght on tho
1crt. which vas firing Il her With oil its
guns, which did not seem numerous in the
northeast Acs. though Ne counted Whist sp-
psassd 70 b seventeen guns. But fcur or
i've Of thsss were Cred from that direction,
and they were silenced almost a. soen - The
1ronsides opened her terrific battery.
The MinnsssA thsa took her position 10
handsoms style, and her guns, after getting
IL rAnn vure fired With Sapidity; while
he Mexican, the Colorado and the large
vsesels marked on the plan. got TO thsir sta
tions. III firing 70 cover themselves while
spckoring. BY the time the last Of the large
vessels anchored and got the batteries into
play. but one or TIVE guns Of the spemy
were fired, this (ts Fsnfsr driving them Ill
10 the bomb proofs.
The small gunboats Kansas. Unsdilia,
Pequot, 0sasca, Pontoosuc, Yantie. and HUI.
ron, took's position on the northward asd
eastward q ~ 0snitors a0d enlilading the
works. III Shenandoah, Ticondsroga,
0ackinaw, Taeony, and Vanderbilt, took
effective positions O. marked on the chart
and sdded their Gre 10 that already begun.
The Santiago dc Cuba, Fort Jackson, Osoo-
u, Chippewa, Sassacus, Rhode Island, Mon
ticello, Quaker Cky, and Iaseo dropped into
position acceedlag to order, and the battle
became general. In one hour and fifteen
minutes after the Rrst shot was Cred not .
shot came from the fort. Two magazines
had been blown up by our shslls. and the
fort oct on Gre in several places. and such .
torrent Of missiles were failing into and
bursting over it that il vas impossible for
anything human to stand It. Finding that
the batteries were silenccd completely, d.
rected the ships to keep up moderate fire,
In the hope Of attracting the attention Of the
transports and bringing them in. At sun
set Gen. Butler came in in his flagship, with
few transports, the rest not having arriv-
ed from Beaufort Being too late to do any
thing more signaled to the fleet to retire
for the night TO . safe anchorage, which they
did without being nolestcd by the enemy.
BURSTING or PARRorr GUNS.
regret, however to have TO report some
severe casualties by the bursting Of one
hundred FOUNDER Parrot cannon. One burst
on board the Ticonderoga, killing six Of the
crew, and wounding seven others another
burst on board tho Yankee, killing one off,
Ger and two men another on the Juniata,
killing twoo officers, and wounding and kill
Ing ten others; another on the Mackinaw,
killing one officer and wounding five other
men another on the Quaker City, wound
ing, believe, two or three; another on tho
Susquchanna, killing and wounding seven.
l think the bursting Of the guns (six in al)
much disconnected the crews Of the vessels
where the accident happened and gave one
and oil great distrust Of the Parrot hun
dred-rounder and as subsequent events
proved they were UNFIT Cor asrvice. and CAL
culatcd to kill more Of our men than those
Of the enemy.
DAMAGE SUSTAINED BY THE FLEET.
Some Of the vessels were struck once or
twice. The Mackinaw had her boiler per
forAted with shell, and ten or twelve per-
sons were badly scalded. The Osceola was
struck with shell near the magazine, and
was at one time in = sinking condition, but
her efficient commander stopped up the leak,
white the Mackinaw fought out the battle,
notwithstanding the dainagc she received.
The Yantic was the only vessel which left
the line to report dsmages. Commander
John Guest ct tho east end of the line,
showed unusual intelligence in selecting the
position and directing his fire. Twice his
guns cut down the flagstaff on the Mound
battery, and he silenced the guns there in a
very short time, the Keystone State and
Quaker City cooperating effectively.
rnR FIRE DISCONTINUED.
The rebels fired no more after the vessels
Ill opened on them, except few shots from
the Mound and upper batteries, which the
Iasco and liar consorts soon silenccd. Our
men were It work At the guns five hours,
and glad to get . little rest. They came out
Of the action with rather contempt for the
rebel batteries, and anxious to renew the
battle in the morning.
OPERATIONS ON SUNDAY.
On the Goth all the transports had ar.
~s~cl c.~A n..x1 80 - A.
see me and arrange the programme for the
day. It was decided that we should attack
the forts again while tho army landed and
assaulted them, il possible under our heavy
fire. sent seventeen gunboats, under the
command Of Capt. G. s. Glesson, 10 covel
the troops and assist with their boats in
landing the soldiers. Finding the smaile,
vessels kept too far from the beach which
Was quite bold. sent the Brooklyn to- SC,
them an example, which that vessel did, re
lying, - every commander should, on til,
information gave him in relation TO tn,
soundings. TO this number was added all
the small vessels that were covering tn
coast along. And finally sent some cigh
or nine vessels that were acting under Com
mander Guest in endeavoring to find way
across the bar This gave one hundred
small boats to land the troops with, bes;d,
those the army we're already provided viii
about twenty more.
,nsxEwAL or ran ENGAGEMENT
At 7 A. \. on the 25th I made signal t
get under vay and form IN line of battle
which was quickly done. The order to ct
tack was given, and the Ironsides took po
sition in her usual handsome style, the
monitors following close after her. All the