The Washington herald., 1908-08-07
FORTS BEAT OFF
SHIPS OF NAVY
Continued from Page One.

tory Under cover Of the feet. a great
army had come up the river In small
boats and attacked both shores simul-
tsneously. From the underground and
behind entertainments. or any other cover
that was az hand. the defenders sent in
a raking fire that checked these boats
icrg before they could get ashore
Many Of them were crippled far out IN
midstream. through the interference with
their oarsmen- created by the limp bod
les Of the dead and mortally wounded.
Many OF them were overturned and their
occupants struggled ashore, TO surrender
in the face Of the bristling line OF bayo-
nets that greeted them
Captured n COlOred Boy
Col Ourand. commanding the land foces-
was at headquarters when assembly
sounded. and he was Joined by Capt
Mitchell and his aides. At a quarter TO
nine o'clock Capt Mitchell reported that
a small negro lad had been captured and
brought in. and he told Of many men
camped on the river bank far below Mar
shall Hall. talking in foreign tones, That
they had put out in the river in boats.
Upon seeing him they had endeavored 70
capture him. but he ran and escaped
despite the fact that several bullets were
sent cutting through the un6erbrush about
his head Instantly the supports and all
the reserves were intrenched along the
water line
When the big guns began firing upon
the fleet. reports came into headquarters
thick and fast Of small boats coming up
the river and attempting a landing. and
interspersed with the road Of the big
guns was a continuous rattle OF musk
etry. VoIley after volley was sent crash
ing into the loaded boats. each doing
frightfuI execution.
All these boats were theoretical but
the officers and men did not know Ihis'
they were firing according TO orders, and
theoretically the enemy was slaughtered
BEHIND their defenses they had fred out
over the water in such manner that
nothing IN front of them could have es-
Caped- The same tactics were followed
On both sides Of the river
Fort Hunts Strong Fight
Lieut. Col ReicheIderfer was in COM
mand OF the land forces, al Fort Huns.
and he received the reports as did Col
Ourand- These reports Of the enemies
movements were teIephOned 10 headquar-
tiers. and the men moved accordingly
None Of the militiamen had been previ-
ously appraised Of these reports or their
nature. or the place Of attack or dispo-
sition for defense But so satisfactorily
did they meet the theoretical problems
that the instructors are enthusiastic IN
their praise Of the defense
Great credit IS given 10 Fort Hunt. par
-n=H H-z 1elsam
Il was the Fort Hunt forces that first
picked up the Oneida from her covered
position behind the excursion steamer
Through the clever manipulation q her
commanding officer the Oneida succeeded
in getting much closer IN than did the
other vessels
Brig. Gen. Harries. Col. Smiley. and the
brigade sraI were present in the battle
command station as observers during the
engagement. and the general watched the
complete destruction Of the yacht without
a tremor. although he faceuously asked
for mercy
All of This Was Real.
During the evening several additional
thrills were afforded the spectators that
were entirely unexpected and not pre-
viousIy planned Soon after the action
began. sparks from one Of the signal
rockets sat the flies Of one Of the head
quarters tents. occupied by Sergt- Mai
Mcdaniel. on FIRE. This had just been ex-
tinguished when the adjoining tent. occU-
pied by SergJs- Preston and Stewart
bIazed up from under the tent walls
This FIRE was more stubborn than its
predecessor. and il destroyed most Of
the clothing of its occupants. who were
at the time busily engaged in the defense
This clothing was valued az so