Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-02-14

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summoned the men to quarters, thei
hurrying figures becoming dimly visi
BILE as all abreast we bore down upol
them. Give wayw shouted Col
Wood. "Give way, boys, give way,
repeated Lieut.. Loyal; and give wa,
We did with a vim. 1t was q momen
of terrible anxiety and uncertainty
not unmingled with misgiyings. Wer'
the enemy aware Of our appoach, de
struction were inevitable. Retrea
was impossible now; death lurked il
the still, silent guns ahead and in the
waters around.
The instructions were that one divis.
ion should board forward and the
other astern, but through some mistake
large number of boats went forward
Col. Wood amidships. The enemy
who had gathered in the ways just afi
of the wheel-house, greeted US as we
came up with volley after volley oi
musketry, which, flashing in our very
faces, rendered plainly visible the po-
sition of our opponents. Our men
worked with a will, cool aud determin-
ed, in spite of the deadly fire that now
and then struck down one of their
comrades. As soon as our boat struck
the sides of the Underwater the grap-
mel was thrown aboad, bringing us
close alongside, and we were soon
scrambling up her sides, the firing con-
tinuing unabated. Lieut.. Loyal was
first on deck, with Gill, engineer, and
Col. Wood at his side, leading the
men onward. Following in their steps
came Lieuts. Hoge, Kerr, Roche,
Gardner, Roby, Wilkinson, Cooke and
Scharf.
At this time the fire was hotter than
l had known during three years expe-
rienee of the war, both in the army
and navy, and [ hardly dared hope
that one-half Of our number would
escape with their lives. Col. Wood, a
brave son of our glorious old State, /
feared every moment to see fall, but
standing upright in his boat, issuing
his orders as coolly as before the ene-
my we're in sight, he seemed to bear
about him a charm which rendered
him bullet-proof. One after another,
in fatal succession, our men were shot
down, crushing ia their fall others.
Once on deck, the fighting commen-
ced in earnest, hand to hand, with cut
lasses and pistols, each one with a
rush selecting his man, and so unequal
were our numbers that some struggled
with three opponents at the same time.
In few minutes the capture of the
Underwater was complete. After de-
Tending their ship calamity, fighting
desperatelyin all parts, their command
er slain, and the majority Of their men
killed or wounded, the enemy called
for quarter.
Our loss was over one-fourth of our
number-six killed and twenty-two
wounded. Poor Gill was lying in the
gangway mortally wounded, shot in
four places and Midshipman Sanders,
a gallant youth, cut down in hand-to-
hand fight, was breathing out his
young life on deck.
The fight was ended, the boarders
successful. The Underwater being
moored head and stern under three
large batteries and scarcely stones
throw from the shore, the report of
the musketry had aroused the soldiers
on shore, and they were soon active
witnesses of the scene, for, unmindful
of their own prisoners aboard they
fired shell into us, which, striking
the upper machinery and exploding on
deck, produced terrible shock. Fast
and heavy they succeeded each other,
and we soon found that the shore bat
teries had opened on us.
The prisoners we're ordered into the
boats, and the ship soon made ready
for action. Lieut.. Hoge opened the
magazine and manned the guns, but
the steam being down and the machin-
cry disabled, it was found impossible
to take time to get away under the
heavy fire of the batteries, not a hun
dred yards distant; so, taking time
only to hurry the prisoners into the
boats and remove the wounded, the
vessel was fired, and five minutes after
our evacuation of her the Underwater
was one mass of flames, consuming the
dead bodies of the federals killed in
the action.