Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1865-01-27
The Victor, az Fort TIshu.
ADMIRAL PORTER'S REPORT.
TIE FIGHT DESPERATE

OrF FoEr FISHER, January o., lsc5.
Sri have the honor 10 inform yea that We
have possession Of Fort Fisher, and that the tai
Of the surrounding works will son follow. As 7
informed You m my last. We commenced opera
tons with the iron vessels which houhsriei 10
while we landed troops.
On the l4th, ordered an vessels curyiug 3 D
inch guns TO bcmbari with the Iroasiies. ;he
Brooklyn taking the lead. By sunset the fort
vas reduced 70 pulp every gun vis silencel
by being injured or covered up with earth. .o
that they would not work
On the 18th, Gen Terry and myself arranged
for an assault. and ! ordered 400 sailors suI
marines 10 participate. At dsvlight, the iron
vessels, the Brooklyn and the Il-iuch cunbost,
commenced hattcriu- the works, while the troop,
made a Judgement within 80 ysrl, Of the tort
Al 10 O'Clock an the vessel, s;camsi in and ton,
their stations. opening . heavy IRE which W.,
kept up until p. NJ, when signal was ma.ic
60 assault, the soldiers taking the land side thc
sailors the sea face. and the ship. changing .out
not stopping their fire TO the other works, The
rebels met "a, with a courage worthy of a better
cause. and fought desperately
About thirty of the sailors anil officers sue
ceeied IN getting 10 the top 0fthe panpet. amid
q muricrous IRE Of grape. canister and musk
etry. They hal planted % d1g there, hut werc
swept away IN % moment uthers triei to ..,t
up the steep precipice. The marines could havc
cleared the parapet by keeping up p ste7iy irs.
but they failed 20 DO so, and the sailors were rc-
pulsed.
Many = gallant fellow iril. trying 90 emulate
their brothers in arms who were fighting o. 1t-
tain an entrance IN the northeast angle as It ap-
pears on our charts. The enemy mls-oos o..
seamen', attack for that OF the main body of
troops and opposci mo-t vigorous resistance
there; but witnessed il AT, and think the ma
rines could have made their sSs,ul; successful.
Ia the mcsuiiu- our gallant soldiers hal gain
cd a foothold on the northeast corner Of tho fort
hghtn. ike lions. and contesting every inch ~
ground. The Ironsdes aud monitors kept Storm
ing their shells into the traverses not occupied
by our men, but still held by the rebels In this
way our troops fought from traversc to traverse.
frum clock IN the afternoon. until i0at night
when the joyful tidings WAS signallei TO the
foci
We stopped our hrc and gave thrcs Of the
hesrtiest cheers ever heard. Il has been the
most terrific struggle ever saw; and there was
very much bard labor. The troops have covered
themselves with glory, and Gen. Terry is my
beau idea Of a soldier and a general. Our CO.
operation has been most harmonious, and think
the general will do the navy the credit TO say
that this time A. least we 'suhstsntislly injured
the fort as a defensive work.
Gen. Terry had only few more Troops than
We mad on the last occasion, when the enemy
had only $50 men in the works. This time the
works were fully manned, and contained about
500 men at the time Of assault. 1t i matter
Of great regret to me 10 see my gallant officers
and men 50 cut up, but was unwilling to let the
troops undertake the capture Of the works with
out the navy sharing with them the peril all were
anxious 70 undergo, and We should have had the
honor Of meeting our brothers in arms in the
works had the sailors been properly supported.
We have lost about 200 IN killed sud wounded
and amongst them some gallant officers. regret
TO announce the death Of Lieut. 5. W. Preston,
and Lieut. B. II. Porter. They we're both cap
tured together in the attack on Fort Sumer, and
died together in endeavoring to pull down the
fag that has so long tisunted in our face. Lieut..
r. II. Samson was severely wounded. He was
lately associated with Lieut.. Preston on the pow
der boat. Lieut.. Geo VI. Bache and a number
Of others were wounded. the former not danger
ously. The assault only took place few hours
ago, and am unable to inform you Of our casu-
slties they were quite severe from the assault
but We had no casualties from the enemy's can
non. Knowing the impatiencs Of the Depart
ment TO receive news from Fort Fisher, | have
written these few hurried lines. 80 one can
conceive what the army and navy have gone
through 10 achieve this victory, which should
have been ours on Christmas day without the loss
Of dozen men. This has been day Of terrific
struggle and is not surpassed by any event of
the war We are all worn out nearly, and you
must excuse this brefand unsatisfactory account.
I will write fully by the Santiago de Cuba, which
goes north tomorrow TO carry the wounded.
Besides the men in Fort Fisher, there
were about 500 in the upper forts, and a relief
Of about 800 men was brought down 10y
steamers this morning.
believe We have only captured the garrison
Of Fort Fisher. | don't suppose there ever was
work subjected to such terrific bombsrdment, or
where the appearance Of a fort was more altered.
There lie not q spot Of earth about the fort that
has not been torn up by our shells. | don't
know yet the number Of killed and wounded By
our ire, but one l5-inch shell alone pierced
bomb-prcof, and killed Is and severely wounded
%. presume we are in possession Of all the
forts as Fort Fisher commands them all ltisso
late now that can learn nothing moro until
morning. DAVID D. PORTER, Rear Admiral.