Pictorial history of the war for the Union, volume 2 (of 2) : $b A complete and reliable history of the war from its commencement to its close ... together with a complete chronological analysis of the warStephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
History
Pictorial history of the war for the Union, volume 2 (of 2) : $b A complete and reliable history of the war from its commencement to its close ... together with a complete chronological analysis of the war
Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
On the 10th of January, the land forces, under command of General
McClernand, and the flotilla, under Admiral Porter, ascended the river,
and the former disembarked with a view of surrounding the work. During
the night, the gunboats fired a few shots at the work, and in the
morning, the troops being in position, the work commenced in earnest.
The _New York Herald_ correspondent thus describes the attack:
THE BOMBARDMENT.
It was five minutes past one when the gunboats Baron DeKalb, Cincinnati,
and Louisville, all iron-clads, steamed up to within about three hundred
yards of the fort, and opened fire upon it. As soon as the gunboats hove
in sight, and before they fired a shot, the fort opened on them. On a
sort of sandy beach, by the bend in the river, the rebels had erected
several targets, which were to assist them in aiming at the gunboats.
Barricades had also been placed in the river opposite the fort; but the
high water had washed part of them away and left the channel open. The
bombardment increased in rapidity as other vessels of the squadron came
into position. It took some time to get good range of the casemated guns
and the barbette gun on the fort. The Baron DeKalb had orders from the
Admiral to fire at the right hand casemate, the Louisville at the middle
one, and the Cincinnati at the great 9-inch Dahlgren gun _en barbette_.
In half an hour after the bombardment commenced the casemates were
struck by the shell from the gunboats. When the range was obtained, the
shells from the gunboats struck the guns in the fort almost every shot,
until every one was silenced and smashed. The Cincinnati fired shrapnell
at first, and cleared the crew away from the 9-inch Dahlgren gun on the
parapet, when the Baron De Kalb broke off the muzzle with a 10-inch
shot. The Lexington, light draught, Lieutenant-Commander James W. Shirk,
moved up at two o’clock, and with her rifled guns replied to the Parrott
rifled guns in the fort, while the Rattler, Lieutenant-Commander Walter
Smith, and the Gilde, Lieutenant-Commander Woodworth, threw in
shrapnell, and in company with the ram Monarch, Colonel Charles E.
Ellet, of the army, commanding, pushed up close to the fort. Each of the
gunboats silenced the gun it was instructed to fire at about the same
time. At twenty minutes past two all the heavy smooth bore and rifled
guns in the fort were most effectually silenced. The Black Hawk,
Lieutenant-Commander K. R. Breese, the Admiral’s flagship, steamed up
and took part in the fight. The Admiral himself, with his secretary,
Doctor Heap, was in the little tug which was all the time screaming and
dancing about among the gunboats, directing and superintending the
fight.
THE LAND ATTACK.
The first gun from the fleet was the signal for the soldiers to move,
and Morgan and Sherman immediately pushed forward their men, and were
met by a fierce fire from the rebel works.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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