The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1912-05-17

der TO protect the mortar vessel. On
the 10th OF May the mortar boat
reached her position ut 8 n, m. The
lronclad Cincinnati was close by. Az
0:35 a. m. eight Confederate rams
steamed nc full speed up the river tc
capture the mortar boat. This was de-
Tended for q time with great spirit by
the crew, who fred the mortar eleven
times.
Danger was slgnaled TO other iron
clads up the river. and the Carondeet
started Immediately to support the
Cincinnati, the ironclads Mound City,
Pittsburg and Benton following. The
Confederate rams were led by the
General Bragg. She made for the Gin
cinnati and was fred upon by both the
Carondelet and Mound City before she
could strike When she struck she
knocked a great hole in the shell room
below the water line,
The Rams Spread Havoc.
At this time the Cincinnati started
to retreat; then the ram General Price
struck her again, and finally the Gen.
eral Sumter dealt her a blow which
sent her ashore in n sinking condition.
Meanwhile the Carondelet forged to
the front and opened with bow and
broadside guns upon the foremost
rams. Three of those had already
passed above her upstream. These
opened fire upon the ironclad, which
she returned with her stern guns, put
ting a shot into the General Sumter
just forward of the wheelhouse. The
Mound City, which had come down the
river with the Carondelet, had been
badly rammed by the Van Dorm and
sank in shoal water. The upper deck
of the Carondelet was swept with
grapeshot and fragments of broken
shell, but she stayed in the fight until
the rams took shelter under the guns
of Fort Pillow. The Federal ship cap
tains claimed that they could have cap
tured some of the rams, only they had
no means of towing them out Of ac-
ton. The steam power Of the iron
clads was out of proportion to their
bulk and weight.
Farragut Forging Ahead.
On May 12 Farraguts warships COW
cred the landing of 1,400 Federal troops
at Baton Rouge, La, the capital OF
the state. This incident marked the
second stage of the opening Of the
Mississippi river. Farragut's orders,
which also applied to General But
ler's land troops, who were to CO.
operate with the navy, looked to the
capture of all the Confederate land
on the river and the ultimate
occupation of Jackson, Miss, the state
capital, lying east of Yicksburg. The
navy had halted below only long
enough to destroy the Confederate feet
after passing the forts covering New
Orleans. The last Confederate ship TO
90 down was the Governor Moore,
which was beached by Captain Kennon,
her commander, six miles above the
forts. The Moore fought successfully
five Federal vessels, four of which be-
longed to the leading division Of the
fighting squadron led by Captain Theo-
dore Bailey. Bailey's flagship, the
came out Of the fight carrying
forty-two shot holes in her hull With
the Moore in flames and wrecked on
the beach the last enemy afoat had
been disposed of.
In spite of the wounds Of his ship,
Bailey steamed on toward New Or
eans at the head of his division and,
after running past the rams, gunboats
and batteries, captured the post at
Chalmette, below the city, with a regi-
nent of soldiers and all the guns.
Farragut accorded to Bailey the
honor of demanding the surrender Of
New Orleans. 1t was refused. The
leet remained in front Of the city until
Butler had landed a force OF
roops and proclaimed martial law. 1t
hen continued up the river, reaching
Baton Rouge on the 18th. This point
'emained the northern limit of Federal
and occupation along the river for
many months, although the navy con-
inued to make demonstrations against
he Confederate Notifications farther
Upstream.