Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1888-05-28

peninsula, 20 a. 20 nave no obstruction DO
tween their guns and the Yankee boots.
which had to follow q sharp bend in the
stream, bringing than In direct range Of the
batteries when several miles above
the city The artillerymen, they insisted, had
got the range by practice, and, assisted by tho
brilliant moonlight, would make every shot
tell The probabilities were that we should
get aground in turning the bend, and be at
the mercy of the heavy guns We should,
In all likelihood, be completely destroyed;
not a man would escape
My reply to all this was that, a. was
simply seeking sensation, the greater the
danger the greater the sensation. They inti-
to know how big fool might be.
We got of Just before midnight Ths
night was like day, the moon being 20 bright
that we read papers and letters after start
ing. Two other war correspondents Of New
York journals, who were my friends, were
ON the expedition, which was abominably
fitted out-a regular death trap, az one Of
the pilots had pronounced It Fifteen en-
listed men who had volunteered for the occa-
don-it was the custom In the army to call
for volunteers for any service considered par
ticularly perilous-two officers, and the crew
OF the tug brought the number up to thirty
four. The night was beautiful, very warm,
and singularly still We 6oated with the
current, not willing to arouse the attention
of the enemy, il we could help 1t, by puffs Of
steam. But our precautions were futile He
had seen ua We had barely got opposite the
batteries, on the further side Of the bend,
when we saw flash, followed by . re-
port, and q thud near the water line of
the nearer barge assured us that the gunners
had indeed got the range The next instant
every battery that could be trained upon u
was belching forth fame and iron. We were
continuously under fire for four miles, first
rounding the bend and then slowly moving
directly under the guns The cannonading
surpassed the cannonading l have already
described The Confederates appeared to be
furious at their previous failure to destroy the
previous vessels or prevent any Of them from
getting by, and redoubled their efforts on
this occasion. They were most prodigal of
powder, shot and she'll The moon was
dimmed with the ceaseless flashing of the
great guns; the smoke lay along the river
and partially obscured the town. Our
bargcs, with the tiny Lboring tug, appeared
Insignificant compared with the stunning
din from the shore. The shot roared, the
shell screamed and burst all around us.
Why we were not blown into the air could
not comprehend. But the tug kept up its
petty puffs, audible only at intervals, and
steadily crept on. The handful of men were
distributed about, watching the hostile fire
and chatting Of our chances of getting
through. We could only wait for the result,
which 1t seemed every second must be de-
cided against us. We appeared to be in the
hands of destiny, and destiny was not, mani
testify, on our side. It occurred to me that
Wordless would have enjoyed the scene,
which was magnificent and terrible repre-
sentation of war-war Of multitude against
a few compelled to be wholly passive. So
many shells exploded above our heads that I
believed that some Of our men must be killed
or wounded l walked over the barges and
perceived that several Of the soldiers had
been struck Whether dead or not l could
not tell The horrible noise hindered in
Quiry; no aid could be rendered, no action
taken until we were out Of that fire of hell
under which we had now been for nearly
half an hour We were getting below the
town; the heaviest batteries had been passed ;
in ten minutes we should be beyond peril