Year: 1863

On Monday night, Oct. S, daring but
unsuccessful attempt was made by the
rebels to destroy the frigate New Iron
sides, lying near Fort MOultrie, by tor
pedo. They employed for this purpose
small and very swift steamer, segar
shaped, and showing but a very small
portion above the water. She was man.
ned by crew of four persons, consisting
of Lieutenant Gassett, who was the CON-
mander of the party, an engineer named
Toombs, q fireman named Scott, and a
pilot whose name is unknown at the pre-.
sent writing


As soon as the stranger was made out
she was hailed and challenged by En-
sign Howard, the officer of the deck.
The only reply received was volley of
musketry. Instantly all hands were pi-
ped to quarters, and the marines, the
earliest on hand, answered with their ri.
fes 10 the volley of the stranger. They
seemed to produce no effect upon the
coming craft, which, dashing on with all
the speed it could make, soon struck the
frigate on the starboard side. Instantly
aterrifc explosion followed. The Iron
sides trembled from stem to stern. Vast
columns of water thrown up, and de-
scending, extinguished the fires of the
venturesome steamer. By the fearful
shock some sailors lying on the gun deck
of the Ironsides were thrown with vio>
lence up to the under surface of the spar
deck, and one of them had his leg bro.
ken by the fall.


This wss all the damage that the New
Ironsides sustained. As soon as her
guns could he brought to bear upon the
rebel craft they were opened, and when
the smoke of the first fire cleared away
the stranger was no longer visible. Only
the circling waves where it had gone
down and few objects floating or strug-
Cling in the water marked the spot where
it had been moment before.


On the following morning Captain
Rowan, thinking it not unlikely that
some of the rebel crew had been picked
up by vessels of the surrounding fleet,
ordered o search to be made; and on q
coal schooner from Philadelphia, Lieut..
Glassel, of the rebel navy, and a rebel
sailing master, named Toombs, were
discovered. The lieutenant had already
assumed the garb Of Union coal car
rier, for which he had paid the captain
of the schooner the sum ofthree hundred
dollars and gold watch, and was pa.
tiently awaiting an opportunity to get
back to Sullivan's Island, in which eff.
fort the Philadelphia skipper had cov'
enanted to aid him. The three persons
we're chained together and taken in irons
to Port Royal.


From all that we can learn OF the
strange craft, she was built expressly for
the purpose of destroying the New Iron
sides, and was constructed by means OF
public subscription circulated in
Charleston. Five months have been
consumed in getting her ready. Her
hull, though long, was narrow and shall
low, affording room only for her engines
and q crew of four or five picked men.
Projecting thirty or forty feet beyond
her bows was an immence torpedo, which,
although exploding by percussion as in.
tended, had no other effect than to jar
the frigate it was meant to annihilate
Who eau tell if our "alligatorS" or
devils" such as Straddled the stem OF
the Weehawkeu in the iron>clad attack
last April, would have been more sue
cessful than this costly apparatus OF the
enemy? Our machine never had an OPP
portuni.y of testing its efficiency; but
we can judge of what its effects would
have been, should think, by the result
of the grand rebel experiment last Mon
| day night