The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-03-22

naPs not IRE q gun or lose q man. The
o!d Stick-in-the.mud,' | wish he was
mere 10 see this" &C., &. 1t must he
Dorne in mind that this wall. beinr nar,
aiiei with the line of fire from the ha,.
lerles of the enemy on Morris Island
W. was In comparatively good condition
lhe east or seawall had been 40 des,royc,l
as TO reasonably give the Commodore The
opinion assigned to him. The crumblnd
mass had formed sort of rlacis IN rho
%a.el cage, and no doubt, as from the
ursiance on'i OF his vessel, appeared smooth
auu easy OF ascent, but in reality was far
other"ise from the bodies Of masonry
Pro)ecting here and there, AS they were
hurled from tue parapet by the irresisti.
ole Two and three hundred pound Par.
ROY shells. The officer climbing up the
hlght before, assai!ed by minnie balls
ana orlckbats, and seeing the best wall
Oh the tort 6y day, naturally differed in
opinion with his superior officer AZ 10 the
cohuition OF Sumter. They had not the
same opportunity for observation and
ARRIVING at correct conclusions.
May. Elliot! anticipated
A SAVAGE BoMBARDMENr
as punishment for the nights work.
had It occurred while we were crowded
win prisoners, end with the scarcity O;
protection for his own men and none for
mem, lie had dccued, as the best means
OF stopping it and saving life, to march
lnem TO the top o! the ruins in full view
OF their friends, who no doubt wcu,J
have understood the hint. Fortunately
'he Smelling did not occur, and all the
prisoners were sent to the city IL night or
TWO later, steamer coming for them
| with company Of the First South Caro-
llna Artillery Regiment, under command
OF Capt. Mitchell King, as 4 guard. Th3
losses Vi the enemy in this night assault
were not definitely known, but must have
been heavy, for the sweeping fire of the
batteries and gunboats, and the vertica,
rlie fire from the walls, must have been
| very destructive to both men and boats
| fragments of the barges and several
| bodies tloated by the fort the following
day, and when the body of the officer
killed was returned to the fleet uude-
hag -oi-truce, the one in charge of the
boat which received it, iuadyerten,ly
expressed his surprise, exclaiming: is
this all" These circumstances con.
hrmed the impression of severe punish
haeht 10 the enemy. On the Confederate
side 1t was a bloodless victory. Can't.
i1opHins and some OF his men received
some slight contusi0ns from the bricks
scattered around by the shell from our
| own batteries. At the session of tho
south Carolina Legislature compliment
tary resolutions were passed to Major
Elliott and the officers and men of the
Charleston Battalion for the meritorious
defence of Sumter.
During our stay at the fort We were
not subjected to any very severe shclling
but still at times enough to render it un.
comfortable, if not particularly danger
Gus, (no casualties occurred TO the bat
tallon) and to give Us an appreciation of
what Col. Rhett and his gallant rcgi-
ment must have been subjected to in the
fiery ordeal through which they had
passed during the almost entire destruc-
tion of the place. A reconnoitreing
monitor would occasionally salute us
with g fifteen inch Norman shell, in ad-
dition to such attentions from the Nor.
ris Island batteries, but doing no harm
beyond carrying away cart load or SO
of masonry when the upper portion of
the ruins was struck. Major Elliott took
all possible care of the negro laborers at
work in the fort; they were allowed to
drop their implements and run for such
protection as could be found whenever
the sentinel called Lookout! ~ They
we're not slow to avail themselves of the
privilege, and never stood on the order
Of their going, and ere the shell explod-
ed, which followed the warming pretty
soon, were under such cover rs could be
obtained. Notwithstanding all the pre-
cautions and safeguards possible, some
casualties occurred. Working on the
walls was impossible during the day, of
course, and at night, to prevent it, the
enemy threw q strong calcium light on
the ramparts SO bright that one with
goud eyes could read ordinary sized print
when turned towards it. 1t reselnbled
very brilliant moonlight. 1t was singu
| lar that we never could definitely decide
where this light was placed, beyond its
being in the vicinity Of our abandoned
battery, Gregg, on Morris Island.
Though it appeared too target for some
of our ar,illerists, the light was never
extinguished by shot 1t was evident
ly on some elevation, yet neither staff
nor scatfoId could be discovered even in
the day with the aid of glasses.
A MONITOR AGROUND.
On one occasion l was observing q
monitor as she reconnoitred our position.
and having some slight knowledge of
the ha,bor and neighboring shoals,
thought she was in danger of getting
aground. My suspicious were soon con-
frmed by seeing the crew throwing
shells overheard, while she occasionally
fired one at the fort. l Immediately re.
| o.. NT.,;,,s Elliott ,,bo rot
appeared rather incredulous, saying the
enemy would have been too careful in
| approaching for such mishap, but came
az once to satisfy himself as to the cor
rectness of my impressions, and his
| glasses convinced him IT the true con.
dition of things. 1t was quite apparent
r0w-the bow of the vessel was not sub
! merged as usual in fighting trim; the
water.tanks, with which such vessels are
supplied to depress or tighten them at
pleasure, had probably been emptied,
but this expedient failed to float her in
the fast edding tide her stern was
aground aud she was fast.
Major Elliott promptly telegraphed
and signalled the batteries to open fire
on her, hoping the exposure OF her hull
below her armor- plating would make
her vulnerable. This order WAS quickly
executed, and some OF the shells ap-
peared TO strike her. Her consorts, see-
ing her position, advanced to her rescue
and defence, by engaging our batteries,
and thus trying 10 divert their fire. This
eliminated in
A PIERCE ARTILLERY BATTLE.
A few of us got on the crest of the east
wall behind some sand-ba for protec.
ton, and had splendid view OF grand