The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-17

/ beach and the garrison In the fort puzzled
every one. The Rebel newspapers which gave
an account OF the explosion explained this. The
Louisiana was seen, but was thought to be
gunboat which had gotten aground, and had
been abandoned and set on fire. It was impos-
sible for them in the obscurity of the night, to
Judge OF her distance from the beach; and as
several OF our small tugs had at times during the
| history of the blockade been abandoned and
blown up from the glare the Louisiana attracted
no particular attention.
Soon the light was extinguished. and all was
dark again. The night had become thick, and
the Louisiana was scarcely diseernible from the
deck of the Wilderness.
Twenty minutes passed. The sentries still
continued their walks on beach and parapet, and
their challenges were occasionally heard. At
length Arey announced, "They are coming"
and soon the boat and her crew were under the
quarter. "Au right" was the word from
khlnd, as he came on deck and
although orders were to cast loose the
boat and let her go, he coolly remarked that
she was too good boat for the Rebels to
have, and ordered her hoisted up. This being
done, -Four bells" was the word to the engi-
neer, who had been bottling mp his steam, and
the Wilderness darted away to the eastward at a
speed of fifteen miles an hour.
In obedience to the Admirals instructions,
rockets were now thrown with great rapidity to
| notify him that the powder-boat had been duly
placed and arrangements made to explode her.
This done, the party joined in congratulations
on the success of the affair thus far, and hopes
that the results would equal general expectation
According TO Commander Rhnds estimate
the Louisiana had been anchored within three
hundred yards of the beach. ID was hoped that
the wind being light, she would swing to the
Hood tide, with her stern towards the shore. But
she swung head to wind; so that she had to be
securely anchored with two anchors and short
scope OF chain, just sufficient to hold her firmly
The clocks had been set at ten minutes to
twelve, to run an hour and half; and the can
dies of the chandelier had been cut to burn an
hour and three-quarters. The Wilderness hove
to at ten minutes to one on the morning of the
18th, and awaited the explosion. The clocks
should have exploded the powder at twenty
minutes past one, and the chandelier at twenty
five minutes before two. But it was not until
twenty minutes to two that the explosion took
place; and by that time the after part of the
vessel was wrapped in flames.
At that moment Q'40 A. NJ q huge column of
lire rushed straight upward, four loud explosions
followed at intervals of about half second, and
all was darkness
Rhind turned to his officers and quietly re-
marked, There's fiz2le!" and went below.
In fact he had feared all along that the arrange
ments Tor securing instantaneous explosion would
fai as there were no fuses laid in the great mass
OF the powder under the deck. AS these ar
rangements, however, had been made by the
ordnance officers, he did not attempt, on his own
responsibility, to alter them, but gave his whole
attention to carrying out the directions he had
received. with the utmost carefulness.
Nnen day broke, the Wilderness steamed out
TO the flagship on board of which they were
most heartily welcomed as men risen from the
dead. Indeed, the Admiral informed Comman-
der Rhind that, when they had parted the pre-
vious evening, he had never expected to see any
OF the party again in life.
1t is almost unnecessary to state here, what
has been for long time so well known to the
public, that the explosion failed to damage the
works. 1t was felt heavily at Wilmington, and
distinctly at Beaufort; the former about thirteen
miles from the forts, the latter about seventy.
Rebel officer and q number of his men, who
were lying on the ground about two and half
miles from the fort declared that 'the explo-
sion jumped them about lilie-pop-corn. But,
on the other hand, number of wooden build
ings on the point about mile and a half from
the place where the powder-vessel was blown up
were not even injured.
1t has been the custom to refer to this affair
as ''the failure of the attempt to blow up Fort
Fisher" But it is hoped that the readers of this
article will carefully discriminate between the
failure to obtain certain expected results, and
the failure of the expedition. The expedition
did not fail; the attempt to blow up the for Is
did. The powder-vessel was placed and eX-
ploded according to orders; and the failure con-
sisted entirely in the effects of the explosion not
fulfilling the sanguine expectations of the pro-
jectors.