Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-02-18
spirit Of gctfersol1.
Charlestown, Jefferson County, West Va.
TUESDAY MORNING. FgDRUARY rs, 1873.
REMINIsCENCE OF A REBEL RAM.
7'sco Hours and Forty fire Minutes on the
"Arhonshs' hs''-Running the B1ocAdde-
One ofthe Hottest Encounters ot he War.


the Federal feet at the mouth of the Yazoo,
in order to get to Vicksburg. soldier in
the Confederate army assisted" as the
French say, in running the ram, and gives an
interesting sketch of the hot encnuuter, in the
Little Rock (Ark,) Gazette. He says:
If remember rightly, the Arkansas was
in length 100 feet by breadth Of thirty two
feet. und was clad outside with railroad iron,
so placed as to dove tail together. inside of
which were oaies of tightly compressed cotton.
while still inside was thickness alhng the
vessels side of twenty inches of solid live oak
timber. From TINS being protected one
imnenetrable. Not so, as we had occasion to
find The Arkansas sat about i've feet above
water. while amidship was built gun deck,
the sides of which wer. perpendicular. while
on the ends the inclination was at an angle of
forty FIVE degrees. Had her sides the same
inclination she would have sui fered compare
lively little. Her armament consisted of
''two smooth bore sixty fohrs'' and nine inch
shell gun on each the starhoard and port sides
making in all ten guns. Each guu was man
ned by sixteen men, thus making lGD meD,
exclusive of officers, engineers, pil"ts, fremen
and coal beavers. numbering twenty live,
TINS max ing total of 1856 men. cooped up
the gun deck in space forty feet long and
thirty two feet vide, and with the tempera>
ture 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The machines
ry of the Arkansas all lay below the water
line and far aft. The pilot house was situa-
ted in and was part of the eundcck, and was
plated with light steel. Still it was not bali
proof
On the morning of July 18th, 1862, the
was cast loose. On the morning of the
10Th we hove in sight of two Federal gum
boats. the Carnndelet and Tyler. then out RS
picket boats, and about three miles in advance
Of the main feet winch was lying quietly at
anchor at the mouth of Yaznu river The
Federal feet numbered twenty>sx vessels,
including the picket boats. Some of the
feet composed of the finest vessels in the
United States navy. among which were the
sloop of>war Brooklyn, aud the steam fri"a'e
Hartfnrd the latter of which had ii splendid
armament. was found OUT to our sorrow
during the fight. When we came ia sight of
the picket boats lively skirmish ,""k place,
they rrtreatiug until u>t a. they reached the
main h. ct tie Csr"ndelet sunk. going down
until the w''er reached her port holes. Her
crew all took I" the water, aud some Of them
attempted to save themselves by s.etting on
the Arkansas, but were unsuccessful in their
attempts a few moments after the Carnn-
delet went down the Iy er went up by the
assistance of well directed shot fru,u one Of
the bow guns, which shot went through her
boilers
At this same stage Of the game the enter
tainmeut commenced in earnest Us we were
in the midst of the feet, and as We came
within few yards of the Hartford, the ves-
c,I e., ~. "a
fears on our part of blowing JUS out of the
water. Only four shots from the Hartford
took effect the Arkansas hut the damage
they did, amply repaid for the loss of the re-
naming nine Of the broadsids. One of the
shots. weighing 12S pounds, tonk effect Just
aft of. and little above, the forward port
hole on the port side, at which port | had the
honor OF commanding gun. The l2S pound
ball went entirely thr ugh the layer of rail-
road iron. also through the bale of cotton and
the twenty inches Of wood. killing four men
in row on the side of the vessel next where
the ball entered, went thrnu.h the smnkc-
stack and killed three men on the other side
and buried itself IN the wnnG beyond
Strange to say the man standing nearest the
place where the hall entered. remained nnhur..
which can he accounted for only in this way:
He was at the time the ball entered. stopping
over, adjusting the block and tackle in the
ring bolt. and the shot. we,yhin., only ninety
pounds, struck aft of the middle port hole. on
the port side. passing through the iron ratings
and lodging in the cotton. The third ball of
the same weight as the last named, struck aft
of the rear port hole on the port side. and
lodging in the cotton, set fire to it, as did the
second shot, both of which compelled us to
cut away the wood work the inside, that
we nigh; rig hose to extinguish the fire. The
fourth shot did no damage. having struck
quarter boat which was hung to the davits
thus cutting it in TWO. One stray s.rIHe
thirty two struck our pilot house killing one
man instantly, and wounding another so badly
that he died in few hours. The same shot
cut two telloes out OF the wheel, but not en-
tirely disabling it. The Federal feet was so
situated at anchor aud moorcd to the shore.
that the vessels comprising it were all brought
to bear on the port side of the Arkansas
The starboard side received only two shots
they being from the Tyler, in the beginning
of the fight. The battle commenced in earn
est at nine o'clock, and lasted with unahated
fury for two hours and forty five minutes, al
thongh the distance from the mouth of the
Yazoo river to Vicksburg is only eleven miles.
still we could not run with any speed, as I
have before said, on account of the low stage
of wnter, together with the ignorance of the
pilots as to the channel The Arkansas was
said to be capable of running twelve knots an
hour. but she carried during the fight onlv
ten pounds of steam, just enough to give her
stcerageway, while her capacity was l6O
pounds During the fight all commands we're
given by sign, as the roar of artillery was so
deafening.
notwithstanding the disadvantages under
which the Arkansas labored. we landed at
Vicksburs all right, except the loss of ten
men killed and fifteen wounded, among the
latter our captain, Isaac N Brown Our flag
was three times cut down, and each time