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FIGHT AT POCOTALIGO-FORT MCALLISTER.

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its way; but easily driving the ene- | ed, supporting 3 guns, and night commy, who burned bridges, &c., before ing on, he, too, retreated to his boats; it, and soon made another stand in a burning bridges behind him. There wood behind a burned bridge, whence was some pursuit notwithstanding; they were expelled by flanking, and but the gunboats were ugly customstill pursued nearly to Pocotaligo; ers, and were not seriously molested. where the Rebels, under Gen. Walk- When the tide had risen, they floated; er, opened heavily with artillery from and Barton returned with them, una swamp behind a creek. Our cais- molested, to Port Royal. sons being far behind, our guns were soon without a cartridge, and none to be had nearer than ten miles. Night was coming on; and Brannan -aware that his 4,000 men were no match for all that the railroad would bring speedily from Charleston and from Savannah to assail them-wisely took the back track to Mackay's landing; where he at once embarked" and returned to Hilton Head,

Our loss in this expedition was not far from 300. Walker reports his at 14 killed, 102 wounded, 9 missing; but this does not include the losses at Coosawhatchie.

The river Ogeechee, rising in the heart of eastern Georgia, after a generally S. E. course of some 200 miles, usually parallel with the lower half of the Savannah, and, for the last 40 Meantime, Col. Barton, with 400 miles, very near it, falls into Ossabaw men, the gunboats Patroon and Mar- sound, some 10 miles S. W. of Savanblehead, and the little steamboat nah. A few miles up the Ogeechee, Planter, had gone up the Coosaw- the Rebels had constructed a strong hatchie nearly to the village of that earthwork known as Fort McAllisname-the gunboats getting aground ter, in a bend of the stream, enabling two or three miles below, and the it to rake any vessel which should Planter about a mile below. Hav- attempt to pass it. A row of heavy ing debarked his men, Barton pushed piles across the channel, with some on, and encountered a train filled torpedoes in the river below, renwith reenforcements sent to the dered ascent at once difficult and enemy from Savannah, under Maj. perilous. The steamer Nashville lay Harrison, 11th Georgia-Gen. W. S. under the protection of these works; Walker, commanding in Brannan's having long watched an opportunity front, having telegraphed both ways to run out to sea laden with cotton; for all the men that could be spared disappointed in this, by the vigilance him. This train was fired on while of our cruisers, she was unladen, fitted in motion, and considerable loss in- up as a war vessel, and again watched flicted; Maj. Harrison being among her opportunity to run out-not bethe killed. The greater number es- ing so easily stopped now as formercaped to the woods and joined the ly. Com'r Worden, who was watchdefenders of the village and railroad ing her, in the iron-clad Montauk, bridge, against whom Barton now at length discovered" that she had advanced; but, finding himself large- got aground, just above the fort, and, ly outnumbered by men strongly post-at daylight next morning, went up,

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backed by the Seneca, Wissahickon, proach nearer than 1,200 yards; the

and Dawn, to attempt her destruction. He found her still aground; and, by disregarding torpedoes and the fire of the fort, was able to steam within 1,200 yards of her; and, by experiment, soon had her exact range, and was peppering her with 11 and 15-inch shells; while his consortsforbidden a near approach by the narrowness of the channel-fired at her from positions farther down the stream. Twenty minutes thereafter, she had been set on fire by shells which exploded within her, and flames were seen to burst from every quarter; at 9:20 A. M., her large pivot gun forward was exploded by the heat; at 9:40, her smoke-stack went overboard; and at 9:55, her magazine exploded, shattering her into worthless fragments. Meantime, the fort kept firing away at the Montauk, striking her five times, but doing no damage; and a torpedo which exploded beneath her, as she steamed down the river, accomplished very little. Our other vessels received no harm.

We lost no men.

Com. Dupont, encouraged by this cheap success, now resolved to give the fort itself a trial: to which end, the iron-clads Passaic, Capt. Drayton, Patapsco, Montauk, Ericsson, and Nahant, with three mortarschooners, steamed " up the Ogeechee, and opened fire: the Passaic leading, the rest following, and all firing at the fort at the shortest range they could severally attain. But the obstructions proved insuperable, and forbade the Passaic to ap

33 March 3.

"The Savannah Republican, March 12, says: "Considerable havoc was made in the sandbanks in the fort; and the quarters of the men were almost entirely demolished. *** Inside

other iron-clads being, of course, farther off, and the schooners farther still. Thus placed, the Passaic, Patapsco, and Nahant, opened fire; and it was kept up, with one or two intervals, from 8 A. M. to 4 P. M., and by the mortar-schooners every 15 minutes thenceforth till next morning; when Capt. Drayton-who had dropped down the river out of range at nightfall-went up again and took a look at the enemy's works; finding them so substantial and effective that he concluded to waste no more good cartridges upon them, and came away under a double salute of shells and yells. His 15-inch shells, each weighing 345 pounds, had dismounted one of their 9 great guns, and taken a wheel from another; but no man had been killed, and but one wounded on either side. Captain Drayton, while standing behind the turret of his 'Monitor,' had received a mere scratch from a splinter of shell, and the Rebel loss was swelled to 3 wounded by an accident after the fight; but an enormous expenditure of ammunition on either side had effected nothing of moment. Our shells often tore up the sand to a depth of ten feet, clouding the air with it; but it descended nearly into its former position;" even the embrasures of the Rebel battery were but moderately damaged. Our vessels saved their ammunition by let ting Fort McAllister alone thereafter.

The National steamboat Isaac Smith, having been sent " up Stono

the fort, and to the rear of it for half a mile, the earth was dug up into immense pits and gullies by the enemy's shell and shot." [It sees a Providence in the saving of Confederate life.]

36 Jan. 30, 1863.

RAID OF REBEL IRON-CLADS FROM CHARLESTON. 465

river on a reconnoissance, went seven miles above Legaréville without getting sight or sound of an enemy; but, when 6 miles on her way back, was opened upon in a bend by three masked batteries, which had not been observed before, and thereby speedily crippled and captured. The Com. McDonough went to her assistance; but arrived too late, and could do nothing. Several months thereafter, the Rebels attempted to run the Isaac Smith out of Charleston harbor; when she was sunk" by the gunboat Wissahickon.

if she would, forthwith attacked the Keystone State, Capt. Leroy; lodging a shell in her forehold, which set her on fire. Leroy sheered off, until the fire was got under; when, having a full head of steam, he attempted to run his assailant down; but, as he approached at full speed, another shot was sped through both his vessel's steam-chests, utterly disabling her; ten rifled shells striking her, and two of them bursting on her quarter-deck.

By this time, it was growing light, and our fleet had been thoroughly aroused. The Augusta, Quaker City, Memphis, and Housatonic, went in; the Memphis taking in tow the Keystone State-which had one-fourth of her crew disabled, mainly by scalding-and drawing her out of the enemy's fire; when the Rebel gunboats turned homeward, and took refuge behind the shoals in the Swash channel; thence making their way back to Charleston, and issuing there a bulletin declaring the blockade raised and the port open;" the British consul at Charleston and the commander of H. B. M. ship Petrel corroborating the statement; and the foreign consuls in the Confederacy were officially notified of the alleged fact in a circular from J. P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of State,

The morning after their capture of the Smith was signalized by the Charleston Rebels by a far bolder and more significant exploit. At 4 A. M., favored by a thick haze, their iron-clads Palmetto State, Capt. D. N. Ingraham, and Chicora, Com'r Tucker, with three steamboats as tenders, stole upon our blockading fleet, lying off the bar, while the Powhatan and the Canandaigua, our two largest men of war, were at Port Royal, coaling; and, first nearing the Mercedita, Capt. Stellwagen, the Palmetto State ran into her amidships with full force, and fired into her side at close range a 7-inch shell, which passed through her condenser and steam-drum, blowing a hole through her farther side, scalding several of her men, and completely" for the information of such vessels disabling her. Stellwagen, unable either to fight or fly, surrendered. The Palmetto, leaving her to sink

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of your nation as may choose to carry on commerce with the now open port of Charleston." The "vessels" thus respectively of the Confederate States naval and land forces in this quarter, do hereby formally declare the blockade by the United States of the said city of Charleston, South Carolina, to be raised by a superior force of the Confederate States from and after this 31st day of January,

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invited did not attempt to profit by the opportunity thus afforded them, but continued to steal into and out of that harbor during the darkest nights and in the most clandestine, insidious manner. None of our vessels were sunk or lost-the Mercedita having been deserted by her captors, who never put a man on board-being clearly no prize. She had but 3 men killed and 4 wounded; the Keystone had 20 killed-mainly by scalding-and 20 wounded.

to their appointed rendezvous in the mouth of the North Edisto river, half way to Charleston harbor; where they were all finally assembled,” awaiting the conditions of wind and tide deemed most favorable. A calm, clear night," following a full moon, proffered the awaited conjuncture; and Com. Dupont steamed" in full force up to the harbor bar; shifting there his pennant from the gunboat James Adger to the stately, mailed 'Ironsides,' in which he proposed to direct and share in the bombardment. By 9 A. M. next day, his fleet had all crossed the bar, and was in line along the east shore of Morris island, head

of rifled great guns that had ever yet tested the defensive resources of naval warfare.

The iron-clads thus pitted against the tremendous ordnance of Fort Sumter and her satellites were the following:

Gen. Foster, commanding the 18th corps in North Carolina, having been ordered to South Carolina, to cöoperate with Com. Dupont in an attacking toward the most formidable array on Charleston, steamed" from Beaufort, N. C., with 12,000 excellent troops, landing them at Hilton Head; whence-finding Com. Dupont not yet ready-he ran up to Fortress Monroe in quest of siege-guns. Gen. Hunter-to whom Foster's advent had been a complete surprise-thereupon took command of Foster's men, broke up his corps organization, and -this exercise of authority being demurred to-ordered Foster's staff out of his department. Foster thereupon obtained authority from Gen. Halleck to return to his own department, leaving his 12,000 men to serve as a reenforcement to Gen. Hunter; under whose auspices, in conjunction with Com. Dupont, the contemplated attack was now to be made. Halleck's sending of Foster into Hunter's department without notice to the latter has not been explained.

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1. Weehawken, Capt. John Rodgers;
2. Passaic, Capt. Percival Drayton;
3. Montauk, Com'r John L. Worden;
4. Patapsco, Com'r Daniel Aminen;
5. New Ironsides, Com'r Thos. Turner;
6. Catskill, Com'r Geo. W. Rodgers;
7. Nantucket, Com'r Donald M. Fairfax;
8. Nahant, Com'r John Downes;

9. Keokuk, Lt.-Com'r Alex. C. Rhind; with the gunboats Canandaigua, Unadilla, Housatonic, Wissahickon, and Huron in reserve, below the bar, ready to support the iron-clads should they attack the batteries on Morris island.

The day was bright, bland, and warm-like one of the finest of the later days of a Northern May-the air of midday flashing with the wings of countless butterflies-though a slight haze or smoke in the morning so obscured remoter objects that the landmarks relied on to give bearings 41 April 6.

40

April 5.

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in the difficult navigation (for vessels of heavy draft) of these intricate channels were indistinguishable, and the advance thereby postponed till a gentle northern breeze cleared the sky. But, as ebb-tide came at 11 A. M., and the bar being safely passed-that was deemed the stage of water best fitted to the steering of those clumsy alligators-it is not probable that our plans were seriously deranged by this circumstance.

Let us improve this pause to glance at the scene, as it imprinted tself on the mind of an observer," scanning it through a powerful field

glass from the Coast Survey steamboat Bibb, lying in the Swash channel, three miles below Sumter :

"We are, this moment, looking directly "p into the harbor and the city, which lies in the vista beyond-its wharves and ships, houses and steeples, standing out in the background like a picture. Steeples and roofs are crowded with spectators; the neighboring shores are lined with onlookers, just as when, now two years ago, less two days, the same spectators stood on the same

coignes of vantage to see, in the same harbor, another bombardment, while another flag from that which now flaunts in our floated from the walls of Sumter. "We are facing Fort Sumter, and looking directly up the harbor. We have, accordingly, Sullivan's island on our right, and

eyes,

Morris island on our left. These two isl

ands end each in curved points of land, and,

"Mr. William Swinton, correspondent of The New York Times.

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