Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1865-02-07

zone Inc ClGCk-WOlk, the candles, the fuses
''Tyihing prepared to ignite it, failed and The
only way that it was got of at all was to set fr,
TO tht ship at the bow apd let il burn up to on,
END OF he mass Of powder, the ex xploson Of which
sent lhe Uher part into the water, without being
oufnt, so hat ia my belief not mors than ort
tenth OF The powder on board ever did burn,
max ng an explosion, indeed, which is descrbeC
as hardly more ION would have baen leit from
hieen-Dch gun.
fee,therefore, the experiment was not tried
Some day 1t may be. At all events lhs explosion
such as it was, did no, hurt me, because wa,
HXly'hve miles of in the harbor oil Beaufort, coal
ing and watering my transports after the storm
relying upon toe promise OF Admiral Porter, mad,
70 my othners, lnat hv --enld rive me notiea AZ
shA, ! could DO present with th9 troops, when Il
should be determined TO blow Up the p0wder-ship
to land and attack the fort under cover Of the ia
jury and dsmoraIzation caused by the explosion
iet the Admiral blew it up when he knew that
Hos slXtyfve miles Oft-out Of tender considers
lon lor my safety. suppose Tor know OF NJ
other reason why he should have failed to keet
MS PROMISE except perhaps believing that the
powder boat would blow up d steamboat % mile,
Oh The Admiral supposed it would utterly demo,h
tho fort and garrison, and he would only have 10
land his marines and put on the WORKS David
Porter his Il mark-ahd hand il over to the arm,
WHEN they arrived, with a claim for prize money
Let me cay word Or two about the explos ion.
10 the iirst place, the powder waG sIpee ed to Of
Isast paralyze the men in the for fc4tion, and II
was intended That The army should theTeupon i'm
mseately land and take possession Of the works.
such beng the plan, why explode the powder
when The army was siIty.fye miles Oft /? Again,
the time FOR the explosion wal 10 be 90 chosen
mat If y paralyrid the men or did any damsgs to
the work., 1t might be promptly taken advantage
o. by landing the army and an attack by the navy.
why, then blow up The powder Al one o'clock Al
nghl, YET iaIl 10 fte even the fret gun from ths
nsyy uniiltsel o'clock the next day, thus giving
lhe eaemy over eleven hours to get over being
stunned, md 10 repair any dsmsgs that mighi
have been caused by the explosion?
Well, eombsrdmsLt va opened upon Fort
Fisher, and it seemed 10 oe conducted with con-
adorable skill, the ire being directed with good
dsa OF accuracy This Tor one day Arriving Al
night ! .eut my s.ad officer 10 Admrsl Po.tsr 10
cay that would consult win him about the at.
hok to he made lR the morning Of the next day.
Inc Admiral cent me word that he was tired, and
could not zee me that night, but that be wou ns
me or my officers as cary the next morning as we
we're rssay. Intending TO attack f1ft, and hsv.
log, as We Ihsught days work before us, we did
A. We generally DO 10 Lowell, set about It a. day.
light Gen. Wsitlsl and Comstock went on
beard the Malvern st BIZ clock cut the Ad.
mlrAl was not up. They arranged, however. that
~ should attack at eight O'Clock. sbut il wa,
twelve o'clock before the navy reported that they
had ooversd the shore so that Ne could make
landing. landed 2200 men. /. wasa beautiful
smooth sea when We landed blts storm WAS
coming on, and within eight hours allsr We began
ansIng the surf rolled 50 hl.b upon that beach
Inst NO man cou d g,t on or OF. Not gun had
been hpded save boat hovizers. sent the
asIsst engineer fissr bat knJw, Gen. Wi zsl.
&C mya led BY Ll-ut. C0. CJmNock, engineer
OF the snii OF Gen Grant gle had been detailed
by the Lieutenant General hinssit to z, NTH me
upon hs expedition, aG4 who aid COL sea,
lhu's tNo officers 90 shore aud they hsh rsrortsd
20 ne taat the lace Of he for was unir lur,d aud
that IN their Judgment il wss useless 10 assault.
Judge ;heu, whether vas defelioi in nv dut,
90 my soldiers and 10 The country, ami whether
ought TO be houuded doWn aud price almost set
upon lny head, iksA wolf because sid not order
an assault when Two ol the es.t engineer officers
IN the Unlted States advised me not to make, and
IN reference 10 which one Of them Isid to me Il
use his very sxpresson): az YOU order it, Gen
era, II viii bs murder Suppose had made
that assault after thos. well instructed officers
had advised me against ii, and 1t had failed, ought
not | to have been trsd for murdsr7 And
should have been guilty OF that crime in the sight
Of my God aud 10 the eyes OF every honest man.
Every one would had right to join in the ery in
that case "Ah, he was a volunteer General he
would not take the good advice offered him by
well Instructed army officers. Rash fool zee the
result.
You, sir, who has lost brother you, madam.
who had lost son, in such an Asssult-csuld
have looked you in the face if had ordered il ?
Again, 1t has been said that was not 10 60 With
the expedition, that it was 10 be commanded by
General Wsitz. Upon that question might
shelter myself under the fact that the depsr,mep,
under my command WAi The department Of Viz.
giuis and .Nodh Carolina aud that the operations
we're within my department, and so had right
TO 20. But ! scorn all ,ubteriuge or indireeton.
accompanied the expedition with the full know.
edge aud consent Of Gen. Grant verbally given.
Nay, more, If you will examine ais order for the
expedition TO me, you will sse that he saws,
The execution Of the details ot this orier i, in.
trusted 10 you and The subordinate sEcers under
your command not to Gen. Wenzel alone.
etlll farther, as have said, Lieut.. Col Comstock.
engineer OF Genera. Grant. staii, was by himself,
IN person, detailed 10 70 pih ne upon that e1pe.
dluen, and len ten. Grants headquarters b 20
NTH me down the ri,er in the sans boat when
started On the expedition. Agaiu, lay al For 4
trees Monroe nom the oh of December 10 The
l4te,reosivins frequent ieegmns from Cen Grant,
which have an published, while my answers have
been suppressed. II you will read those telegrams
yol viii see that each and Every one of them saws
when will you get oh, whes viii your sxped .
tlon sal and though have had ifCqGont cot.
yela,ion, with Gen. Grant upon ,hs, fer me,
unhappy expedition, yet never by letter, dispatch. I
OF by word has Gen. Gran, niimlted tc uis tha,
be did not expect me to accompany the e1psdi
tOp, or ohide me for going with H. and last ofal,
on the goth dav of December, while Law in
beaufort barhor as commander OF the expedition.
| sent report OF progress to Gen. Grant, which /
he forwarded TO WaShingios, without word of
dissent that | vas not the duly authorized CON-
mander OF the expedition.
Tbs first iu,imauon from any qlArer that .
ever had that was not properly there, was when
| read in the New York Herald an Endorsement
upon my official report-whoh iudouems-t ia in
the hand writing OF staff officer Of Gea. Grant
and was no, filed in the War Office ill seven DAYS
after Gen. Grants letter went to the President,
asking for my rsliei upon other grounds than an,
action OF mine in regard ts the Wilmington expe.
dilion, but which reasons am no. permitted TO
state TO you--aad i've days after my farewell order
to The Army OF The James, the context Of which
may have been misunderstood, and pes,ibly gwen
offence.
Beside, what was done there vss exactly what
Gen. Weilssl advised. Why was It worse for me
to do what Gen. Weitzel advised and though,