At half past twelve the whole fleet was in motion; but almost immediately a raft attached to the Weehawken became disarranged, and nearly an hour was consumed in putting it to rights. The fleet then moved forward again, and passed the works on Morris Island which remained perfectly silent. In stately majesty the fleet moved on, till within range of the fire of Fort Sumter and the batteries upon Sullivan’s Island, but still the same ominous silence continued; not a sound broke the stillness of the listening air, and the unbroken quiet was growing into suspense that was painful. But scarcely had that feeling of suspense time to manifest itself, when all around was clamor, and a noise that equalled the loudest thunder, burst with a deafening uproar on the ear. At precisely four minutes past three o’clock, a terrific fire burst from Fort Sumter upon the Union fleet. The Weehawken, being the leading vessel, was of course the first to receive the enemy’s fire, but instead of moving forward as the rest of the fleet moved up toward her, she was seen to come to a dead halt, just between Sumter and Moultrie! It was impossible to those who were eagerly, anxiously looking on, to assign any reason for such a halt. But very soon the cause became startlingly apparent. The enemy had thrown a strong hawser, floating on beer casks, across the river; upon this hawser, nets, lines, and catlets, strung with torpedoes, were hung, and should the vessel run into it, she would immediately become entangled, be deprived of her motive power, and so be left at the mercy of the current, to drift straight into the hands of the rebels. To attempt this danger was not to be thought of, and all attention was turned toward the left hand channel, to see what could be done between Sumter and Cummings’ Point. But this was found to be still more impassable. A row of piles, rising ten feet above the water, and extending the whole distance across the channel, blockaded the passage; and on further observation, it was discovered that another row of piles stretched across the middle ground between Forts Ripley and Johnson. This did not compass the whole passage, but left an opening for the fleet, which was the most dangerous of all the entanglements for its destruction. Beneath the water in that passage was a torpedo of enormous size, containing five thousand pounds of gunpowder. Beyond this the three rebel iron-clads were drawn up in line of battle. Thus again did the enemy display his wonderful tact and ability in protecting the northwest face of Sumter, which they well knew to be its weakest point. It was impossible to carry out the first intentions with regard to the action of the National fleet; and it only remained to put the vessels in the most advantageous positions which circumstances would admit. To add to all the other embarrassments attending the movements of the Union iron-clads, the flagship caught in the tideway, and became, for the