The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-02

Early on the morning of, the 16th of March, three of the enemy's. strongest gtlnboats Isshsd a together advanced within close range of Fuckers, opened vigorous Are upon it, and also. upon our position below sThey were now within fair range of all our batteries and every gun
 was brought into action. All day cannon thundered from gun.boats. the east bank. and the. Island At Fuckers. one man
 was killed and several wounded by shell.
 Beyond this there was no material dam age to either side This closed the big gest fight at Island 10, the fleet after this keeping yell out of our reach. Major H. s. Foote, son of Mississippfs distinguished Congressman. aid-de-camp to Gen. J. F. McCown at Island 10. relates the follow ing incident of Col. Steedman at this battle. "The ammunition was exhausted by three P. NJ The colonel of the First Alabama who was at Fuckers with some of his men, came down to headquarters through water; waist deep in places, to get cannon cartridges The cartridges were carried by negroes who had vol unteered for the work. the Col. of the First leading the way, bringing up the rear. The sight inside that place tRuck- CTS Battery) was enough to dishearten and terrify the bravest. There were our HIGH, ISHllHS WitI tHt ucSptidtioh VI NC- spair; some of the guns. were dismounted, the platforms sunk .n mud and water. and dead and wounded lying around, the bursting shells; Rucker, like the hero he was. encouraging his men; and the men, stripped to the waist, at their guns, and all other sad sights of a fort almost battered to peices by cannon shot. Never theless, that Colonel of the First Ala bama coolly walked into this chamber of death and there remained until the last cartridge was disposed of. This fort was not captured until after its evacuation and retreat of the army.
 Shortly after this. the Yankees fitted out at night a detachment of about fifty men and sent it do VII the river during a terrific storm to spike the guns in Fuckers battery. With muffled oars and under cover of darkness they reach ed the battery undiscovered. surprised the sentinels, and before the guard that was bivouacing fifty yards away could be aroused from sleep and reach the bat tery, spiked the guns and made good their escape.
 In the meanwhile the enemy had suc- cessfully passed transports across the point of land opposite our batteries and reached the river below us. The water on this point was several feet deep from the overflow of the river, and the enemy, by cutting down trees few feet below the surface of the water and removing logs and other Instructions from small bayou effected a practicable canal through the swanrs for transports. The water was not deep enough for gunboats. The enemy now attempted to run gunboat past our batteries. Accordingly. on the night of April 4th, 1862. which was stormy
 |, .s1lyn ~tzaar lNxyt thn casional flashes of lightning. unusual &C., tivity among the gunboats A few min utes later the Carondelet. sunk nearly to the waters edge and protected by bales of hay. dashed out from the fleet on its perilous voyage. Smol'e of stygian black ness rolled in immense volume from its smokestack as revealed here and there along it's way by occasional lightning. It steamed directly in the face of Ruck- ers's battery and approached within two hundred yards of 1t; and then turning at right angles west pursued its course under heavy fire from cur lines without returning a shot. The guns of Ruckers's were out of order and could make no attack. The other batteries hurled tons of shot and shell at the bold craft. Reaching a point of safety below. the Carondeet fired a gun as a signal to the fleet that it had passed in safety.
 On the morning of April 9th. heavy fir- ing in the direction of Point Pleasant, opposite New Madrid, indicated that the enemy was landing troops there under cover of the guns of the Carondeet. About p. m.. before we had eaten sup per- the regiment was ordered to report at headquarters. There were hardly three hundred men in ranks. An hour later all the available troops of the command had assembled. leaving a few in charge of our Notifications. and we started in the di- rection of Point Pleasant. presumably to recapture our battery. About a. m. we were drawn up in line half mile from Point Pleasant. expecting to advance. But we were 500 nordered to rest, and in few minutes were asleep. When we