Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-07-15

O1ullC1 win q Wow Va
taking charge of her, and 10 report
TO him if she needed anything to
make cruise. l reported her hull
and machinery intact, armament
and ordnance good, but no provis-
ions and fuel for one days steaming.
An OK was driven in under the bank
and butchered, few barrels of hard
tack from the Mazeppa was rolled
on board, twenty cords of pipe-staves
were taken from the river bank to be
used as fuel in lieu of coal, when re-
ported to Gen. Forrest the flagship
was ready for duty.
The crew was imprOmptu as the
supplies, made up from material OH
hand But the crew was the best
part about it, The vessel WAS but
little better than a wreck. whilst the
crew was selected from my old bat
tory, all of them tried men in heavy
aud light artillery. \ large part of
them had done volunteer duty on
the Arkansaw ram in the terrible
conflict with the whole Mississippi
river fleet ut Vicksburg.
My pilots, engineers, mates and
fireman were detailed from the trans
ports captured; they all denied being
States, so there was nothing wrong
in impressing citizens found on our
soil. Before the war | was steam
boat man, so you will see from COM
mander down every one was familiar
with the duties deVolving upon him.
Lieut.. Col. Dawson was to take
charge of the transport Venus with
our two siX-inch "ParrOt" guns that
had done SO much work the day be-
fore. | arranged with Col. Dawson
class of signals, very simple, but
understood by ourselves. The I'm
dine was to take the lead, running
about one mile ahead. A long blast
from the whistle indicated no enemy
in sight; short, quick, consecutive
blasts was, the enemy in sight in
force, retire quickly. Everything
was now arranged and understood,
and we were about to start when
some one noticed we had no flag 20
designate our nationality. Not Il
Confederate flag could be found.
The Captain of Gen. Forests escort
gave us his battle-fiag. In lieu of
ropes to hoist it boy climbed the
mast-pOle and nailed it to the mast,
where it remained until it went up
in fire and smoke.
We started on cruise of olISerVa-
ton, the whole command following
along the bank of the river. We
would steam along slightly in all
vance, occasionally catchinga glimpse
of the enemy's cavalry on the 0ppo-
site side of the river.
Late in the afternoon of the lSt, l
think, of November, we had steamed
-nxrnral tniIn. in .afiNyaprn ff lanI
support. We were running on slow
bells, about one mile in advance of
the Venus. On turning a sharp
point or bend on the river / was very
much startled to find myself in close
proximity 10 three of the enemy'S
guubOatS. / at once repeated signals
to my escort to retire, and after wait
ing time sufficient for her to have
turned around, i commenced back
ing slowly down stream. AS |
surprised to see the Venus lying to
nj the bank. ran alongside and
learned from Col. Dawson something
was wrong with her steering appa-
ratus, and greatly feared he would
have to abandon her. During this
time the enemy were firing with
great rapidity ut my vessel, several
shots striking us, but doing hut little
damage. One shot tore away part of
the pilot-hOuse. We were replying
with our two bow guns, though fee
bly, when compared with the Federal
gunbOatS. The Venus was released
from her mOOrings, backed to and
fro in the river, but she did not an
swer to her rudders. She was finally
beachcd and abandoned. When one
of the gunbOats was within two hun
dred yards of her the other two kept
their batteries at work on the I'm
dine. AS soon as we came in sight
OF our batteries ON the bank, the enc
my, remembering the lessons of the
day before, struck out for Johnson
vile. We lay the balance of the
day under the guns OF the artillery.
About dusk Gen. Forrest CAME on
board to give in his final orders be-
fore the final attack on JOhnsOnVilie.
l remember them well, for they
were short and explicit. He said:
''In the morning at daylight L will
have my artillery on the river bank
few miles below JOhnsOnVillc; at
dawn you must attack the gunbOatS
at JOhnsOnville and draw them
down the river until they pass my
upper battery, which will be con-
eealed SO that it can not be seen,
until they have passed, when, with
my lower battery and your gunboat,
| shall capture all the gunbOats ut
JOhnsOnVille."
1t was raining very hard at this
time, and l offered the General the
hospitality of MY boat for the
night, offering to put him off
at Johnsonville for breakfast, but he
declined, saying he twas more accus-
toned to exercise on horseback"
Promptly at O'Clock the next morn
ing-the Sd, l believe-we raised
steam. The rain was still falling
heavily, and l felt sorry for the boys
who worked all night to get their
guns i'm position below JOhnsOnville,
and determined the navy was the
place for me during the balance OF
the unpleaSantnesS. No wet or mud,
all comfortable and dry, and as we
steamed along through the heavy
mist that had settled like fog on the
river, | built castles i'll the air all in
the next few hours to be dissolved in
smoke. Sergeant John Leonard, the
only officer had, remarked, just be-
fore we arrived at JOhnsOnVille, how
silent the artillery was. In passing
the point designated by Gen. Forrest,
not sound was heard nor light TO
be seen. ] gave the artillery credit
for their silence, but never even
doubted that they were there just AS
Gen. Forrest said they would be.
Dawn had arrived, and with it our
bow guns told the Yankees we meant
business. Soon all was uprOar in
JohnsOnvillc. Long files of infantry
could be seen on the banks. Dozens
of steamers, side by side, lined the
shore. From out of this mass of YES
sells two or three gunbOats made their
appearance, saluting me as they ar
ranged themselves side by side, head
Ing toward me. backed wnstream;
they came head on. The distance
between us was about half Il mile,
about good point-hlaTk range. l had
given the entire command below
decks TO Sergeant Leonard, instruct
ing him to fire as rapidly as possible.
/ was giving instructions to my pilots
and watching the bank for our
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