The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-01-19

ano pHfeu III WAnsport6 ana netd h0spna6
EDWIN n eTANTON, Secretary Of Wen
Admiral PortcD's Report.
Uxnp aSAID rAasHr hANaRA
Or ToRI fmm, Jan Is, 1So6
SR-l have the honor 10 iabrm you that We have POS
session Of Fort Phor and that The fall Of the SURROUND
ing worn. viii soon follow.
AsI informed you In my hst 70 had comnsnsed
operators sh The iron vssels which bonhasnd Will
landed tns ssoopa On tbs 18th ordered Ill tn
sss Carrying ssveninch guns 70 bombssd with the s
sides and BnDokixA tahns The esA BY sunset Ne nm
was reduced 70 . pulp Every On was silsncsA by
being injured covered up with earth that hsy would
not wosk.
On the 16sh General Jery and myself arranged Ar the
assault and ordered one thousand S0ur hauissd sabn
and marines 70 paysicpsA ~ daylight the ixos vsss
the BnCokfyn and the ehysn-ineh ganboas, connassd
battering The works while SSsrocps ~ods NlDsens
Wi1sn oss Hundred and nv yards Of o. nrt ~ Ven
O'Clock all Tho vessels steamed in and took their Stations
opening heavy hre, which was kept up until thrss
NJ, when the signal was mais 70 assault the soldiers
taking the land sde the sailors ths se and The ships
changing, but not stopping theis IRE 70 other works
The rebels met us with courage worthy Of betses
cause and fought desperately About thifty Of the sail
ORE and officers succeeded in getting TO the top u tho
parapet amid murderous nne Of grape, canister and
muslsetry They had plasAd the fog 1sse, bst soeys
soept oscoy In moment Others tried CT Up the steep
pancopse The marines could have cleared she pasapet
by keeping up steady Ore bA they iled to DO So and
the @ors were sepnlsed Many gallant fellow Cell try.
ing 70 emulate thcir brothers who wore fighting
TO obtain entrance tbs northeast angle q ap.
pears in charts The snemy missook Mo seamen's
attack for that Of the main body OF troops and opposed
most vigorous resistance there But Witnessed It all;
and think the marines could have made the assault see
cesynL
IN the meantime gallant soldiers had gained SCOT
hold the northeast corner Of the fort lighting like
lions and contrasting every neh ofte ground The Iron
sides and Monitors kept throwing their shells into the
twerscs not occupied by men, but sd held by the
rebels. In this why troops toSght from Hausrse b
taversc from Tires 0slssk II ne qfIsroos Antl I'm at
nioM, WAen tss ioUs nshsgs Sgsausd 10 TIE aeet
wespppsd our fire and gave them hrse Of the hear,iest
cheers evor heard
II has been the most terrific struggle saw, and
tbep was very much hard labor The troops have
covered themselves with glory and General Terry my
beau IDEAL Of soldier and general Ons Go operation
has been most HARMONIOUS and mink tho General will
do the navy the credit TO soy that this time at least we
substantially injured the fort defensive work =
General Terry had only iew troops than had
the last OCCASION when the enemy had only one hun
dred and my men in the works. This Mme the works
were Aiy manned and contained about eight hundyed
mon at tbe time Of ths assault.
Lis matter Of great regret me 80 my gallant
officers and men SO cut mp; but unwilling let
the Troops undertake the capture OF the works without
the navy sharing wa them ths peril all we're anxious TO
uuerso and should have had the honor Of meeting
others in in The works. had the sailors been
properly supported.
We have nst abost two hundred In killed and wounded
and among them some sSllaat o6ncUs I regret TO
announce Ne death Of lieutenant 8. ". Preston
and Lieusensnt B. q. Porter They were both CAP
tused toestbsr m ths atack en- Fort Sumter and
died togsahs In endeavortas to pull down the Gag that
bias 20 lpns Haunted In eur fscea Lieutenant u Lam
son waa severely wounded He was lately associated with
L'euensDt Preston in his psrious adventure on the
powder boss Lisvssaant csosge n. Bache, and mum.
Der of othSs wene wopndea ne former not dangerously
The assauh only took place rev hours ago, and am
unable to tppm yos Of our casualties They quite
severe from the sauf; bus bad casualties from
the enemy's cannsp
Knowing the Impotence Of the Department 10 rscebs
news Aom Fort Fisher have written thess few hurried
lines No one conceive what the army and navy
have gone through TO achieve this victory which shea
hSve been ours ON Christmas Day, without the loss OF a
DOZEN men This has bssn day OF terrific ssrua-
gle, and is not surpassed by any event OF the war
We are all worn out nearly; and you this
brief and unsatisfactory account. will write fully by
the santiago d. Cuba which goes North 10 morrow, 70
carry the Wounded.
SSsidns the men m Fort Fsher there were about five
hundred In the upper nbrts and relief OF about
thousand FIVE hundSsd brought do~ by steam.
ers this morning 30 far, believe, we have only cap
sored the garrison Of Fort Fisher don't suppose there
ever was work subjected to such terrific bombsrd
nsen,, or where the approach Of fort acSed
There s spot q earth about the fort that has not
been tom vp by our shells
don't know yet the number Of killed and wounded
by our n,e; but nfteon.iuoh shell alone pierced
bombproof, and killed sixteen and severely wounded
twenty.a 1--WE.
1presame are possession OF oil the forts, ~ Fort
Fisher commands them ali II Va late that can
learn nothing untn morning
am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
DAVID D. PORTER, Rear Admipal
Hon G,psos wnas, Secretary Of The Navy, Washing
ton, D. O.
TINE HERALD DISPATCHES.
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