The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-09

carrying 20 guns, Mononganeia, carrying
Is guns.
Iron-clad-Kineo, carrying s guns; Al
batross. carrying 5 guns; sachem. carry
ing s guns: Genessee. corrying guns:
Essex. carrying 16 guns.
Also five mortar boats each carrying
one 13-inch mortar. Total, 1873 guns and
five 13-inch mortars.
On the night of Dec. 18th; Captain
Boone's battery of light ..rtillery, con-
sisting Of three pieces and supported by
Companies D and of the First Ala
bama crossed the river, and gaining a po-
sition opposite the fleet and behind the
levee without being discovered. opened
fire at dawn. A spirited duel was kept
up nearly all day, but without material
results.
In January, 1853, the ''Dr. Beatty" a
large Red River transport. protected by
cotton bales. carrying one 2o-pounder
parrot gun and about 500 infantry.
left our landing and steamed up the river,
flying a large Confederate flag. The Par
rott gun was In charge of Lieutenant I.
Watts Kearney and the whole expedition
under command of Major ]. L. Brent
The DR.. Beatty, the Rams Webb and
Queea Of the West and another cotton
protected steamboat constituted the IA
nous expedition. Fully three thousand
Confederates had assembled on the banks
of the river to witness the departure, and
the deafening acclamations OF these and
those on board marked this as one of the
most memorable incidents of Port Hud-
son. The avowed purpose was the cap
tu.e of the Indianola which had passed
the yicksbarg batteries. md one of the
most powerful river gun .ooats in the Fed
eral Navy. How this improvised feet
performed this daring exploit in captur-
ing the Indianola e one of the immortal
achievements of the Confederate soldier
and sailor.
On the night of March 18th, 1863, taps
had sounded and we had retired for the
night when about IL p. m. the discharge
OF several guns from below reused us
from our hunks. Farragut's feet was
coming up. The long roll. and the shrill
shouts of officers, fall in, men, fall in. !"
dinned in our ears as we hurriedly
donned our clothes and took our places
| in line. The firing of the batteries be-
| low by this time was tremendous. The
| flagship Hartford with 1t consort Kineo,
| and with Commodore Farragut and son
| dashed to the mast were leading the way.
| Following these in succession were the
| Richmond, Monongahela and Genessee
| and Mississippi, each except the last with
| an iron-clad consort. These were fol-
| lowed by the Essex and Sachem. The
| great bonfires of light-wood knots pre-
pared on the opposite bank of the river
were not lighted as ordered. only the
| starlight dimly revealing the advancing
| squadron on this eventful night. Battery
| after battery opened fire as the fleet came
within range. Our batteries being upper
| most were the last to become engaged,
and the fleet opened fire about the same
| time. The scene was one of indescr ba BILE
grandeur. The river and line of fortiflca-
lions looked like a sheet of fire. The
deafening roar drowned the command of
| officers, and gunners and their squads no
longer awaited commands. but loaded and
| fired as rapidly as possible. The mortar
| boats stationed below, having previously
| gained the range of our positions, poured
upon us shower of bursting shells.
After half an hour the Hartford and
consort had passed up with no material
damage; the Richmond and Monongahela
| had fallen back down the river badly
damaged; the Essex slightly; the Missis-
| sippi pierced with shot and shell and
| her rudder shot away was struggling to
| extricate itself from the front Of our bat
| teries Which battery of the First de-
| stroyed the Mississippi Is an unsettled
question All confess that 1t was de-
stroyed by the First Alabama gun, but
each company set up some individual
claim to the honor. During the hottest of
the fight she was seen to quit the chan
mel opposite battery 8. and steam directly
towards the landing which was between
batteries and 3. At hrst we thought she
| was going to disembark troops. She
came right up to the landing. All this
| time she was in excellent range of all
| four of the regiments batteries. and IL
| Is probable that she received shots from
| each of them. While at the landing we
| first noticed the distressing hiss of steam
| fro n her m achine:y, knew she was dis
abled and there was a momentary pause
| of firing to give her an opportunity to
| signal for surrender. AS sho gave no sig
| nal, the firing was renewed with increased
energy She hobbled out from the bank,
bearing up the river and back towards
| the channel in a curved line, went dag
onally across the channel and ran
aground on the opposite bank half a mile
below. Some evidences of ire were OBJ
served before, but 1t was not certain that
she was on fire until grounded. Here the
flames spread rapidly. and she was soon
| enveloped. Fifteen minutes later she
broke loose from the bank, fioated down
the river a surging mass of fire a hun
bred feet high. The fire soon reached
her loaded shells and guns and the rapid
| explosion of these resembled heavy
| cannonade. The feet below fed in con-
sternation from their late companion.
1t was a sublime spectacle. About a.
M the flames disappeared behind a point
| of land below and the red-painted horizon
beyond absorbed our attention. About 5