The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-01-18

Ds1uDei1 10 h-fEs1z eaotE nsB1aE
PARTICULARS OF THE CAPTURE
! aa OF FORT FISHER.
Gallantry Of our Army, and Navy
20, 900 PRLSONERS AND .
,s45gs Ii GUNS, CAPTURED.
BALTIMoRE, JaI

| that it was time to be up and stirring, pre-
pairing breakfast and getting through with the
routine of morning duty so as to be in readi-
ness at dawn to commence the serious work
! of the day. The moon ia still shining bright
! ly and the throBg of vessels rest caniy on the
sea, the wind being too light to ripple its sur
face. This too, it.should be remembered, just
out of cannon shot of the dreaded coast OF
North Carolina. Truly the elements promise
to favor this great enterprise. [
At five o'clock a second signal was given by
the flag ship to get under weight. At half
past five signals Of division commanders to
move forward were given and responded to,
causing brilliant pyrotechine display. The
gunbOat TACOMA was sent ahead last night to
| anchor of the Flag Pond battery, and the day
not yet having yet dawned her lights can be
seen as steering point of the feet. in shore
I about three miles aherd OF us, The three frig.
ates, Wabash, Minnesota and Colorado moved
off first, led by Porter's flag ship. They were
followed by the new iron sides and the mont
tor fleet, signals from the army transports
added to the scensc pisplay.
EtnAf the first dawn of day the whole squadron
was in motion. The wind was changed due
west during the night, and coming off shore
tends TO render the landing of the troops COM
paratively easy. AT quarter to seven the Ad-
mira1 signalized to form in line of battle,
whereupon the Brooklyn. with her line of yes
sells, moved along close to the beach in the
following order Fl Brooklyn, 20 guns; Mo
bican Z, Tacoma 10, Kansas s, oUnadella Z.
Hudson4, Mawmee 5, Pawtuxent 10. Senics
4, Pontoona 10, Nyack7 2, Yantee7, Nereus T.
This division was ordered to prepare for aci
tiOn and move in close TO the beach to shell
the beach at the point decided uponfor land
ing the troops, about three and a half miles
rom Fort Fisher, near the deserted Half Moon
battery. In few minutes the whole division
was in position, throwing shells into the MARI
row strip of woods separating the sea shore
from Cape Fear River, about mile In land,
parallel with the beach. In the meantime the
iron-clads moved into position directly in front
of Fort Fisher, the Iron Sides about three.
quarters of a mile, and the monitors about
halfa mile off in the following order New
[ronsides, commander Bradford, 20 guns;
Monadnock, commander E. G. Parrott, four
guns; Saugus, commander E. r. Gotham, two
guns Canonieus, Lieut. Commander G. S.
Belknap; Mahopae, Lieut. Commander E. E.
Potter, two guns. Before they got into posi-
ton the fort opened on them, but they needed
it not until they had secured their anchorage,
when at s 30 the Iron sides opened on the fort,
and was followed by the monitors with their
tremendous shells. Every shot struck ID
the embraisure and exploding, threw clouds
of sand high into the air. The fort occasion
ally responded, but did not send more than
one -snot every Ten minutes, ana al Times 50
sible to work the guns.
IRA nine O'Clock the boats of the feet were
called away to assist in landing the troops.
The woods had in the meantime been thor
oughly shelled and no enemy had appeared
The transports were enabled to go within hall 8
,n,,o - so 900 =,
!sba usssls In the ieet The sayperei ros a.,
;oined in tho work and carr;ad soldiers To
within I'M Yards ~ the beach where thew
we're transferred IL small boats. TENTS ana
ica,nn eo,,inments were aIso landed With sev. 8
ara dsy proviso for The s,,4ire sorce which
mas a010 stronos 40 nine rn,cIoclx the heats
from ali tho TRANSPORTS moved sim,,ltaneo,,slv ,
for the shore and in q few minutes the f,rst
50, men stepped on the beach and planted
the;r rao;mentaI FAC On ono If the hiohaste.
iand Nils amid 'cbaar;r, from tho transnorts
oond Acct The man yyera- over;ovad to again
cot from shin board snd IN faw minutes had
Acut down cedars Sufficient to make q rousino
are to dry their clothes, some havino oot wet Z
tn their knees in nassino throuoh the surf-.,
The hands soon Commenced nlagiug while the
men co,,ld he seen runnipa about and rolling
! in the warm sand like school of children en-
loving q holiday. No signs of an enemy could
be seen at this time in any direction. -
Al ten o'clock about 1000 troops having BEEN
landed, a skirmish line was sent forward on
the beach, Admiral Porter signaized to
Capt. Slisson, commanding the Santiago, to
move with his gunboat division inside the line
of frigates and shell the. beach in advance OF
the skirmishers' division. They moved in the
following order:-Santiago de Cuba, ii guns,
Fort jackson, seven guns, Osceola, ten guns,
Sassacus, ten guns, Chippawa, four guns, R.
R. Cuyler,s ten guns, Mafatanzas, six guns,
Rhoee Island, twelve guns, Monticello,seven
guns, Alabama, ten guns, Montgomery, six. 2
Keystone State, nineteen guns, Quaker City.
seven guns, Iasco, ten guns. The woods In
advance of the pickets were thoroughly she'll
ed up to within a mile and a half Of Fort Fish
sr, where we dropped anchor in the rear Of
the iron-clad fleet, and fully two miles in ad-
vance of the balance of the landing of the
.roops, where they remained up to four o'clock
in the afternoon. From our advanced posi-
ton had splendid view of the work of the
iron clads, which was the main business of the
day, though some shells fired from Fort Fish
or came ia rather close proximity. The firing
on the fort from the monitors and new Iron
sides was a magnificent sight. From eight In
the morning up to four in the afternoon the
monitors pouredin ponderOus shells at the rate
Of four per minute, the whole number thrown
in that time being not less than 1000. Every
hot struck the embrasures or parapets of the
fort, and the gunnery exhibited was never
surpassed. During this time the fort probab-
ly threw 800 shells in return, but the difficulty
thew had in mrnaging their guns amid the ex
olosion of our shells and the sand that con
,tantlv enveloped their works from our well
directed shots doubtless married their gun
nery, as most of their shots struck beyond or
hort Of their mark, All our vessels. however.
| received honorable scars in the fght. ana we
could see that several Of their smoek stacks
| had been perforated and their armor bruised
| The DAMAGE done Ia the fort Nv outward an.
soearapces was most distinct. bnt what the in
ternal damage may be is not known. About
fbe ,ns;da Of The fort indicated that Soma rAhal
huts had been flred. 14815 S,,s9lg u
A. four O'Clock fine Admiral si6naIized 10
the vessels in line of battle number one. 10
lake the position marked ont for them on the
charts and Join in the bombardment. They