Nearly three weeks passed before all the vessels of the expedition were brought in safety through the swash to anchorage within the inlet. Though the severity of the storm had threatened the destruction of the entire armada, and occasioned the deepest gloom and anxiety in the minds of thousands of loyal friends at home, the brave and skillful commanders were never despondent, and met the new dangers of each day with hopeful energy and perseverance. Eight vessels of various sizes were cast away or foundered in the storm, though but few lives were lost. Colonel J. W. Allen and Surgeon T. S. Weller, of the Ninth New Jersey, were drowned from a small boat while on a noble mission to relieve a suffering crew. Many of the large transports were grounded in attempting to pass inside the inlet. From the necessity of lightening them, vast quantities of property were lost or thrown overboard. An expedition beset with such difficulties, all overcome by indomitable perseverance, has seldom been recorded in the history of any country. CAPTURE OF ROANOKE ISLAND. FEBRUARY 8, 1862. After a detention of three weeks in sight of Hatteras Inlet, occasioned by the severity of the storm, and the difficulty of piloting the heavily-laden vessels through the inlet, the expedition received sailing orders on the 4th of February, and proceeded on the next day to the point of attack. The fleet anchored on the night of February 5, about ten miles below the southern point of Roanoke Island, from whence they again weighed anchor at eight o’clock on the morning of the 6th. A storm retarded their progress, and they remained over night without passing through Roanoke Inlet to Croatan Sound. At ten o’clock on the morning of the 7th, the gunboats, under the lead of the Flag-officer’s ship, moved forward, and were soon inside the narrow passage leading into Croatan Sound, known as Roanoke Inlet. The mainland juts eastward, forming a point of marshy land at the southern extremity of Croatan Sound, which is the only navigable water leading past Roanoke Island. A small island forms the eastern boundary of the channel, while the western shore is a low marshy point. Following Commodore Goldsborough’s squadron were the gunboats of the coast division, all of which passed through without interruption.