The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-14
THE BATTLE Of FORT FISHER
Views Of the Action From Differ.
emf StaHdpoints
Commander Of the Fort and Com
mandcr Of Monitor Canonicus al Va
r1ance-Thc Latter's Raps, OF Vision
Being Contracted He Necessarily
Drew Cpon His Imagination.

| AasCCTs fadi'Ee Oh VISION
Being Contracted He Necessarily
Drew Cpon His Imagination.
tCONTIUED FROM LAST sunday
Lieutenant Commander Belknap saws
the fort hit him four times; as 1 orderd
10 inch shells solid shot, only. TO be
nred at the monitors, it means we
threw 43O pounds Of metal at the
CanonicuI," while she replied with
e4,620 pounds. She was very close to
or o. targets, and our artiIlerist
could not have missed her turret and
ppe works e visible. but as the
oIoeF was TO destroy the smokestacks
VI Ohe monitors sc as to stop the
ordugnt and I'LL turret and hods with
smoke 10 Sudocate the men. if they
Kept up fires, We may have missed
ner chimney. It was impossible to
see the effect Of our shot, as there was
a dead calm, nor breath nor motion
except that caused by conclusion and
explosion in the fight, and the smoke
hung over fleet and fort as impenetra-
bic as a fog. | tried my best to see
5000 AN SiI "do "dSleu dHu WIN
a splendid field glass, STOOD on top the
hospital bomb-proof against which
there was not direct fire. almost as safe
as Lieutenant Commander Belknap in
the Canonicus coming tower. and
much more comfortable.
in obtaining knowledge Of the effect
or IL shot. had Oh Christmas day,
the Invaluable experience of a distiD-
guished British naval officer who was
at S~ebastopol, and who came from his
ship in Wilmington to act as my aide
and III was by my side, IN most ex-
posed positions, as often as I would
permit it. He was a reckless but
plucky blockade runner. A. u. s..
naval officer of the bbockading squad
ron off Wilmington, i'll writing his ex-
~periences Off the Cape Fear, remarked:
Among the blockade runners were
several commanded by English naval
officers. These cared for our cruisers
about as much as a hound does for a
flea. One morning when the cruisers
squadron were anchoring, one of the
blockade runner commanded by Cap
tain Murray took the opportunity CT
u blowing off steam, to IL in, pass
ing about 25 yards under the senior
officers stern. Captain Murray with
his usual courtesy, bowling TO our
American flag. It was the coolest
piece Of d-n-d impudence ever saw"
He had previously, in July, 1863, been
with me when with u single Whit
worth Jul and crew, supported by a
rifle company, | recaptured the Kate
of London, which had been chased
ashore on Smiths Island, east CT BuZ-
Yards Bay, owe Z nautical miles from
the Mound battery and in range Of the
guns of the two fleets blockading the
two mouths of the Cape Fear river.
Murray was his blockade running
alias, he was then Captain c.. Murray
Aynsley, R. n. After the civil wal
he was rapidly promoted for gallantry
and m]eritOrious services in the British
navy. and when I was his guest at his
villa, Hall Court, Hauts, England, in
July 1879, he was already a retired ad-
miral. He died about ten years ago,
universally aamented. From What
! heard Of him through others about his
career in the British naval service, he
must have been as gentle as a woman,
yet with the courage of a lion, and
endeared himself to every officer, man
and boy Dol the ships which he com
manded. / pay him this tribute. be
cause from the books he brought NE
: and the personal aagice, he gave MI
after we first met III July, 1863, | owe
l much of the credit I received for the
= construction of the defensive works
= on Confederate (now Federal) Point
which French and Whiting, two IN
surpassed engineers in the u. S. A. AND
the C. S. A. allowed me without inter
ference or suggestion to build after my
own ideas Of a ~seacoast fertilization.
The same conditions made it impoS'
sible for my gallant adversaries to see
= the effect Of their shot aid she'll on
the fort, and they had TO depend main
ly on a que~terTnaSter in the main Oh
fo%recross trees, who, apparently, didn'
= hesitate to spin a yarn when he re-
ported to the executive officer. This ex'
e cuses the reports Of the first fight made
! by the admiral down through al
grades, to Acting Master Crafts, of the
Little Ada the baby CT the fleet
who reported to Admiral Porter De
Z cember 81, 1864, as follows: II consider
the fort as having been practically 81
fenced on both the Gath and 25th. The
: almost complete silence Of the guns OF
the northeastern face of the fort in
duced me to think that they were dis
abled or were 'quakers.' / should hav'
. supposed that a soldier would hav'
!. felt himself bound by every considera
= ton of honor and patriotism to at
I tempt those works by assault, but
: am not a soldier and do not perhaps
Q know what is desired and what i
! not, but under similar circumstance
= I should like to be one of a THOUSAND
. b~lue-jackets to show what sailors cal
: do andawhat soldiers might have done.
have no hard feelings towards tn
Acting Master. In obedience to gen
eral order No. IS, he had TO report T.
u his admiral. especially on the feast
bility of Buffers capturing the for
= Christmas day, and he did his best