The New York Herald Newspaper, May 4, 1862, Page 1

THE NEW YORK HERALD. NO. 9368. IMPORTANT FROW NORTH CAROLINA. The Great Success of Major. General Burnside’s Expedition. THE FALL OF FORT MACON. eet INTERESTING DETAILS OF THAT EVENT. The Walls Pierced by the Parrott Rifled Thirty-Pounders, Fifteen Guns Digmounted or Disabled on the Fort. NAMES OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED. Operations of the Blockading Fleet. The Final Demand for the Surrender. TERMS OF CAPITULATION. Appearance of the Fort After the Fight. INCIDENTS, HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES, GLORY, &e., &e., &e. Our Special Army Correspondence. Buavyorr, N. 0., April,27, 1862. Fort Macon is “repossessed!” From the windows of She room in which I write the Stars and Stripes are to be Been waving proudly oa the. flagataf which for over a year has borne the tri-barred embelm of the revolting Btates. Colonei White, the officer commanding the garri’ eon, refusing the final demand te surrender, eur Batteries opened Gre on the following morning, the 25th, and after a bombardment of over ten hours Fert Macon hoisted the white fiag. THE PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS. ‘The uecessity of maintaining secresy in regard to tails of our operations for the reduction of Fort Macon» has prevented me from giving you ere this any account of what has been dono to that end in the way of batteries on the island in the rear of the fort. Now that the obligation of concealment ts removed, a brief descrip- tion of the works erected by our forees may not be in- appropriate as a preface to the story of the fail of Fert Macon. My previous tetters have told you of the landing of our troops on Bogue Banks (or the“ spit’), the occupa- tion by them, some four weeks ago, of a point about tive miles iu tho rear of the fort, and the gradual advanee of our pickets and the retreat of those of the encmy to within @ limit of less than a mile from its walls. The rebels were thus held in check while, under the cover o the sand hills which dot the spit,” gradually the work of constructing the batteries went forward. The men ‘worked by day, while teams and wagons at night drew the materials four miles, by a most cireuitous route, In the heavy sand. The operations wore conducted by General Parke, and to'him and the forces composing his @ommand are due tho successful carrying out of the Plans for the reduction of the stronghold in which the rebels had thought to withstand the march of our vic- orious arms in North Carolina, As soon as the ground selected for tho erection of the Datterios had been cleared from tho Intrusionof the enemy, by the unremitting and laborious picket duty of the Foarth Rhode Island, Fifth Rhode Island and Eighth Connecticut regiments, Captain Williamson, topographi- @al engineor of Gereral Burnside’s staff, surveyed the ‘vicimity for the purpose of ascertaining the most desira- dle pincos for the location of the battertes. In this duty he was assisted by Licutenant Flagler, ordnance officer of General Burnside's staff; Captain Morris, Company C., First United States Artillery (regulars); Lieutenant Prouty, Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers (acting assistant ordnance officer), aud Captain Ammon, of Tery 1, Third New York Artillery. ‘The site for the first battery (of four ten inch mertars) ‘was chosen under the cover of a large sand hill, near the edge of the marshes which line the northern side of the * spit,” Gistant 1,400 yards from the fort. The working Of this battery was particularly allotted to Lieutenant Flagler, by whose name {t was known during tho siege, though he devoted himself generally to the erection aud ‘working of all three. This battery was manned bye Portion of ‘battery I, Third New York Artillery. ‘The next'battery was placed one hundred yards in ad- ‘vance,and nearly in the centre of the island. It was Duilt and worked by Captain Lewis 0. Morris, ably assisted by Lieutenants Gowan and Pol- feck. Ite armament was three long thirty pound Siege Parrott guns, rifled. The shot used in this battery was of a novel character. Each projectile ‘was made of solid cast iron, conically shaped, with a Diunt point some three inches in diamet and the more @apecial object of the battery was to dismount the guns onthefort, For this object the flat impinging surfac Of the shot was peculiarly adapted. as it was {ess liable to glance, a fault common with sharp pointed shot. ‘The next and last battery was that of four cight inch ‘Mortars. It was located one hundred yards further on, Ortwelve hundred yards from the fort, under a sand bill near the beach. It was in charge of Lieutenant Prouty, and manned by a detachment of Battery [, Third New York artitiery. In addition to the above, rifle pits had been dug in va- rious parte of the ‘‘spit,’’on the flanks and infront of ‘the battery, in which our pickets were posted to repel @ny sortie waich the enomy might make. The batteries @gain were connected with each other by trenches sunk 4n the sand an'l skirting the hills, Communication was hus kept open between the various positions by this ‘means, while they also served as a protoction to the ckete and reliefs sent from fone ypoint to another uring the progress of the bombardment. ‘The siege train employed for the reduction of the fert, it will be seen, embraced only eleven piscer—four ten- inch mortars, four eight-inch mortars and three siego Guns. Io view of the work accomplished , the facts them Gelvos will tell how admirably and effectively the batte- Pies were mauaged. It entored into the plan originally ;tohave batterion at the woaterly of Beaufort and , 0 Shackleford banks, om the opposito shore of the inlet, @e that the fort would be surrounded in a remicircle. ath their fire and that of the gandoate and blockading ‘Boek, the fort would have been @ target for shot and ‘Nueli from all points of the compass, But thay were not evecied, an the investment was doomed eufficiently com. plete for the opening of the bombardment. fad the fort made © protracted resistance their construction would bmg been occasioned as a moans to ite epoedier reduc. Justice to the men whe have performed this wor! Povly impela me te presevt, ina intic table, Mavis je principal ofieers, and the dosignations of the regi, battalions and companias engaged :— i dier Genoral John @. Parke, co Ordnagice OMicer, Lisutenant.. W. Faget Acting sistant’ Ordnaioo OMlcer, Lien it Prey Coprpan~yP, Fike regimaat United Bhsten ‘arviiery” WATERS .& SON, 4—Captain Morrie’ battery of three sloge thirty-pounder Parrots guns, thirteen hundred yards from the fort. B—Lieutenant Flagler’s battery of four ten-inob mortars, fourteen hundred yards from the fort. ‘ht-inch mortars, twelve hundred yards from the fort. C—Lieutenant Prouty’s battery of four Captain Lewis 0. M Lieutenants Gowan and Pollock. ttery 1, Third regiment New York artillery, Captain Ammosa. Lieutenants Thomas and Keleey. ae Connecticut Volunteers, Major Appleman com- ing. Fourth Rh land Volunteers, Colonel Rodman: wn Rhode Island Volunteers (battalion), Major right. These troops made application to take the fort by storm. THE FINAL DEMAND FOR THE SURRENDER OF THE FORT. Goneral Burnside arrived hereon Weduesday tast, with the flagship Alice Price and the floating batterios Rocket, Grenade and Shrapnel. The latter were armed with long thirty-pound Parrott siege guns, and are pro- tected with cotton and bay bales. With the guaboat Ellis, which ja armed with a hundred-pounder, and under the command of Captain Franklia, they constituted tho bombarding vessels, from the direction of Core Sound. Ybey were in the North river, @ amall stream to the eastward of Beaufort, and distant about two miles from the fort. 4 FLAG OF TRUCE. In the afternoon General Burnside sent the gunboat Ellis, with “a white at ber fore and the Stars and Stripes at her stern, for the purpose of communicating with the fort. Leaving her anchorage she glided out into the channe! which runs along by Shackleford Banks, to the northeast of the inlet, and there came to anchor. A small boat was lowered away, and Captain Biggs, Q yermaster on General Burnside’s staff, after the hoisting of a white flag in the bow, proceeded on, and was met halt way by asail boat, which came from the fort under a similar flag. The meeting was watched with the greatest Intorest, and the inhabitants of Beaufort thronged the wharves and windows to view the proceedings. With our glasses we could perceive that the garrison was as fully interested. Bhe soldiers crowded the ramparts and the slope and beach around the fort. THE SUMMONS TO SURRENDER, ‘The rebdel officer sent out to meet the flag of truce was Captain Stephen D. Pool. He was accompanied by some half dozen others, officers and privates. After the greet. ing, which was of @ most courteous nature, Captain Biggs communicated the summons from Genoral Rurnside to Colonel White, demanding the surrender of the fort, ou the same terms granted subsequent to its voluntary ca- pitulation, Captain Pool returned with the message, and from the lengthy period of his absence at the fort it was evident that the summons to surrender was under con- siderable deliberation. Towards nightfall the sailboat again put off and returned to where Captain Biggs await. edit. The reply was that Colonel White bad refused to surrender, and intended dofending the fort as best ho could, Before the parties separated, however, an under- standing wa: ‘4 that the opposing commanders would have a personal interview with each other in the morn- ing. The Ellie thon roturned to her anchorage in the river and the sailboat went back to the fort, The inter- view bad lasted until after dark. INTERVIEW BETWEEN GENERAL BURNSIDE AND COLO- NEL WHITS. Accordingly, at an oarly Lour on the,following (Thurs- day) morning, the Alice Price, under a flag of truce, pro- ceeded to the spot where the Filie bad inaugurated the meeting of the day before. Genoral Burnside descended into his gig, and reaching the half-way ground in the channel, landed and went ashore. The sailboat again left the fort, and he was soon joined upon the beach by Colonel White. The moeting was, of course, militarily courteous, The subject of the summons to surrender coming up, the latter said that he bad been placed in command of the fort for the purpose of holding it, and jntended defending it to the best of hie ability, He promised that he would oot fire on this town—a piece of information which, when subsequently made known here, quieted the fears of ite inhabitante—end asked as & favor that the garrison might be allowed to send letters to their friends and families in Beaufort, Generai Burn. side granted the request—en the eondition, of course, that such letters would be unsealed and subject to the supervision of Major Allen, Military Goy. ernor, The previous attempts to hold a corres. pondence by moans of littie boats, shingles, boards and the like, wei without the consent or knowledge of Colonel White, and General Burnside as. sured him that bad the garrisou desired at any time to send letters thoy might have done so upon the conditions already mentioned. During the interview Captain Biggs, who accompanied General Burnside, was warmly greeted by the Colonel. They were clesemates at West Point not many years ago. Lieut, Flagler, the ordsance officer of General Hurnside’s staff, is also a clasomate of Colonel White, The resent stirring nows from the Nord, of the battle at Corinth, the surrender of Fort Pulaski ad the operations of General MuCiellan, was ale known tohim, much to his surprige, With ite consvlatory in fluences upon bie mind, the interview terminated, and | the stipulating porties separated fo return to their re. spective positions, CRIPEWA BLOCKADING. ————= - STAT GEOR ” DAY LIOBT ~ THE CAPTURE OF FORT MACON SHACKLFEOR® OlD TOPSAIL N Cc Cc s Ee ey a SS INLET Or alA THE SIGNAL TO OPEN FIRE. Lieutenants Smith and Schiachter, the signa! officer on board the Alice Prio®, under the orders of General Burnside, immediately transmitted word to ‘ Open fire at once.’ The message was received by the officer here, Lieutenant Wait, telegraphed to Morehead City, thence to Carolina City, and thenos across Bogue Sound to Ger i Parke, who, from bis headquarters, sent the orders down to the batteries. Twas in the tem-inch mortar battery (Licuteuant Flag- ler's) whon tue erdor came, aad a thrill of excitemont ran through all. The troops were disposed as safely as possible under the cover of the sand bills; the gunners took their places, the magazines were opened, aud we awaited with anxiety the commencement of the bom. bardmont. But we were doomed to disappointment for that afternoon. The siege gun battery of Captain Morris was not quite realy. The earth before the embrasures was to be cut away, and such an undertaking could only ‘be accomplished under the cover ef darkness. 4s it was Geemed best to have all the batteries open fire together, the beginning of the bombardment was postponed until ‘the following morning. A MAIL FROM THE FORT. Daring the afternoon the sailboat was again observed to leave the fort, with a white flag flying. It steered to. wards Beaufort, and when half way was mot by another sent from here containing Major Allen, Captain Neill, of General Reno’s staff; Lieutenant Fricker, Commandant of the signal corps, aud other officers. Its object was the delivery of a mail in accordance with tho permission of Genoral Burnside, The lettors were taken charge of by Major Allen, and by him oxamined at bis hoadquarters. Accompany ing was the followiug:— LETTER FROM COLONEL WHITR. Fort Macon, April 24, 1862. Orricen Commanpixa Forces at Beavvort:— nd a number of communica- ing to the garrison to icinity. Also one di. ond an opportunity, would pl re if you will deliver aud forward. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, |. J. WHITE, Colonel Commanding. Captain 3, D. Pool will bear this note. The lotters were addressed to wives, brothers, sisters, and other rolatives and friends, and were superscribed with the words ‘Per flag of truce.” Their tone gave clue to the foelings of the garrison. Some were hopeful, others despondent, and many @ farewell was couched in language which showed that the writer thought he was taking 4 final leave of his friends. All united in thanks to General Burnside for his kindness in permit- ting the corrospondence. The style of stationery used gave evidence that the fort was somewhat destitute of the better class of writing appliances. Tho envelopes were mostly of brown p ‘er, and the letters of loaves from notebooks, flyleaves, &c. Some old envelopes of an academy here, with a picture of the building and a Union fing on top, were employed; but, of course, the fag was scratched over or erased. The letters, after examina, tion, were distributed, and permission was given to reply to them by a flag of trnce. THE BOMBARDMENT. At fifteen minutes bofore six o'clock on the following morning our batteries opened fire, and the thunder of the stege guns and mortars woke the drowsy denizens of Beaufort from their slumbers, The iumates of the fort, too, seemed heavy with sleep, and for half an hour eur batteries kept firing without @ response. The startled nentries on ite ramparts quickly communicated the alarm when the first shot whistled over their heads, (the attack had not been looked for at #0 early an hour), the corpora) of the guard rapidly aroused the sleeping garrison, and in ashort time the parapets, sallyport and terrapieins be- camo alive with human beings. Springing to their places in the requisite detachments, they manned the cumbrous guns and the fort began to return the fire, ‘The atmosphere was clear,the morning beautiful, the breoze from tho southeast stiff and fresh, all conspiring to enhance the grandeur of the scene. The noise of the ‘explosions wae terrific. Window frames shook, houses trembled, and even the waters of the Sound seemed to raffle with each shock. ‘The firing on either side was for some time wild and in- effective, The bursting shells filed the air with wroaths of emoke, or toesed the sand and water in fountain like columns, The solid shot from our battories ricochetted along the urface of the water beyond the fort—those from the enemy glanced harmlessly from one eand hill to another. But gradually the range on either side was attained with increasing accuracy, and the deadly mis slow Dagan to strike frequently ant more frequently in the vicinity of the hostile positions, Se the work wont on until midday, when the territle fire of #ur batterion became distinetly visible in its results During the forenoon the eight-inch mortar battery of Lieutenant Provty bore off the palm of markmanship. Ite shebs fell with regularity and precision into the fort, Aud at cadh explosion Wo rod dirt and gand of the giaciey slopes, famparts, para and terreploins wero dashed inwecloud many feet into the air, The fagstat, with itm defiant colors floating at top, was at times completely obscured in the smoke and dust which rose with the bursting of the missiles. The ten-inch mortar battery was not so succesaful im the morning. The ebells from it burst beyond or high in air over the fort, scattering the fragments of iron farand wide into the water, splash: ingit Up with little fountains of rpray. This want of suc- cass wat owing to the slight nature of tho timbers used in thé trayerfes. Beans for eight-inch mortars had been supplied, and the concus- sion from the much weightior metal of the ton-inch mortars first started and then broke tho tim- bers, until the battery was almostfunmanngeable. With & most creditable perseverance and eueryy, howover, the defect was so remedied that Lieutenant Flagler was enabled to continue the firing without interruption, aud in the afternoon the battery played with an effect that | was evidenced In the fecrepsed fire from the fort. The shells, too, had been purposely loaded with an unusual quantity of powder, in order to make their explosion all the more terrifying to the doomed garrison, and the pris- oners subsequently stated that it was impossible for them to tell whother shells wete exploding or their own guns discharging, such was the loudness and shock of the re- port. The battery of Parrott guns under command of Captain Morris, in the mean time, was keeping np an incessant fre upon the ramperts, The difficulty of obtaining accu rate rango was for some time experienced, and the shots either went over the fort, ricocheting across the water towards Shackleford Banks, or fell short and buried tbomse in the sand and glacis on ite westerly sido, But the range grew better with every shot, and from twelve o'clock until the close of the fight Captain Mor. ris seldom failed to plant those terrible conical balls ‘among the guns, on the edges of the ramparts and against the walls. The latter ¢ pierced in 4wo places, the balls passing through into the casemates , from which their unceremonious visit hastily expelled the occupants, Wherever these shots struck they tore through with foree that hurled fragments of iron, particles of brick, etones, grace sods and sand bage about in every direc- tion. Many of the rebels were knocked down senseless by the flying sods. When it je considered that the wa! of the fort were protected by the slopes of the glac' the accuracy of the firing from the Parrott battory will be perceived. That part of the walls just protruding above the ramparts of the glacis was the only target presented whereat to aim for the purpose of penotrating the casemates. About two o'clock Major Allen went out ina sinall boat under « flag of truce to return the letters written io reply to those received the day before. Tho men in the fort eeemed too busy to attend, and the boat, after stand- ing on and off in the vicinity of Shark Shoal Point, re- turned. The boat subsequently went out (at the time that @ signal for a cessation of hostilities was hoisted by the fort) and delivered them. Many of the letters contained exhortations and entreaties to officers and sol- diere to prevail upon Colonel White to surrender the place without resistance. Others exhibited more pluck ov the part of the feminine correspondents. They be- sought their friends to fight a little while and then sur render, to show that they were not cowards. It must be said that the rebels exhibited considerable bravery. They worked at the guns until the only available ones were dismounted or disabled. A movement was set on foot among the ladies of Beaufort to have @ petition signed by them and sent to Colonel White, imploring him to capitulate; but, owing to the brief time allowed for the roturn of the mail, it did not become general enough to secure anything like combined action. Several wanted to send over flowers and bouquets, but all articles wore interdicted save letters. ‘Tho precision attained by the practice of the forenoon’ and the facility of loading and Oring, which even the ex” perience of « few hours had given, were now evidenced in the successful results of each shot from our batteries end in the almost incessant nature of the discharges: ‘The seene assumed ite grandest aspect after two o'elo A flagh and a pulf of smoke betokened @ dischargs; an in- terval elapsed, which terminated with the report of the piece; then came the sonorous hum of the shell as it flew throngh the air; another puff of smoke soon followed by a second report, and the deadly missile had exploded. With our glasses we could distinctly see every manceu. yre in the fort, Their look-out was esconced bobind » pile of sind bags upon tho ramparts, and wo almost fau- cied we could hear him ojaculate the word * Down!’’ as he marked the approach of every shot, Its effect was like magic, Aa he himecif disappeared, down out of sight wont tho orowd of men around the guns, te reappear again when the shot had stopped on and accom them crossed within our lines and were captured, while others continued to rush up and dows in the sand, scared away alternately by the fring from the fort and tho Gr- ing from our batteries. Little remains to tell of the bombardment. The gar rison bad et first responded with some seven or eight guna, exclusive of carronades, which were made to serve the purpose of mortars. The squads of gunners could be observed passing about, alternating with the pieces as they became hot under the discharges. Gradually their fre slackened,to four, thea vo three, and then totwoguas. Our shot and shell wero doing their duty, and subsequent examination showed that fiftcen guns were dismounted or dienbled on the fort. And now, how fared it with our gallant fellows in the batteries? To those who worked the mortars the mat- ter was entirely new, and to Captain Ammon’s men, of the Third New York artillory, tho greatest praise is due for their cool and unflinching conduct in this thoir firet experience under fire, The exposed nature of Captain Morris’ battery of siege gug drew upon it almost the entire fire of the fort, and shot and shell rained around it. The injury sustained by the battery was the temporary dismounting of one of the guns by a thirty two pound solid shot, which came through the em- brasure and carried off a wheel. Another carriage was in readiness, and the gun was soon remounted. Another of the guns was slightly dented by a solid shot, which struck the reinforce or band around the breech, and then glanced off. The sand bags in all the batteries were disturbed more or less by the concus- sions, and (bo embrasures of the three-gun battery were bogrimmed and black with powder, Eleven hundred shots in all were fired on our side, and of these five bun- dred and sixty struck the fort, Lieut. Gowan had a nar- row escape here. A pice of sheil tore through the flannel of his blonse uniform, almost grazing the fiesb. Captain Pell, Aid-de-Camp to General Burnside, who rendered valuable assistance in the working of the ten-inch mor- tar battery, also narrowly escaped death, While looking over the parapet be perceived « shot coming, and imme- diately “ducked” {nto the pit. The shot, a thirty-two pounder, struck and passed through the embankme! had three inches of bis head, burying him up with sand. THR SIGNAL CORPS. Much praise ig due to Licutenant Fricker and his as- sivtant signal officers, Lieutenants Wait, Andrews, Sclachter, Smith, Barrett, Lyon, Bradley, Palmer, Lang and Marsh, for their assiduity in keeping wp commauni- cation between the different positions of our forces and fleet. From Beaufort the result of each shot from the batteries was distinctly visible, and the signal corps with their telegraph of fiags guided the firing, and by their efforts contributed ota little to the attainment of accurate range. A SINGULAR COINCIDENCE. ‘The bombardment of Fort Macon took place on Friday, ‘Tho battles of Roanoke and Newbern also took place ou Friday. Friday is considered by some an unlucky day, and no doubt It is to the rebels when Geveral Burnside encounters them. A HEROIC SAILOR, Conspicuous in the battle was Jimmy Judge sailor from the frigate Roanoke, who was doing a little ighting on his own hook. He took in charge @ small howitzer for the protection of our flanks from any sortie of the enemy, but finding that they wore not likely to make any demonstration of that kind, abandoned it, and dur ing the rest of the day assisted in the working of the mortare. TH® SHIPS GONDAR AND ALLIANCE, found here upon the arrival of our troops, with clearances from Liverpool, and since detained, kept the English fing hoisted thronghout the fight. It was alloged that signals were made at night from these vessels to the fort ; 80, to prevent any recurrence of such doings while the pombardment was proceeding, both captains were ar- rested and kept under guard until assurances were re- ceived of future neutrality of conduct, THR UNION LOSS, Happily, the carnage attendant upon this victory is not extersive, Our loss is as follow: KILLED. William Dart (of Conestoga, N. ¥.), Battery I, Third New York artillery, He was upon the parapet of the top-inen mortar battery, driving heme a pointing stake when a shell burst near bim, one of the fragments tear. ing open his breast, larcerating him io a horrible manner, and exposing his lungs, heart and entrails. WouNDED. Sergoant Hines, Company C, First United Statos artil- lorys soverely’, but not dangerously, by a spent thirty-two pound solid ehot; and one private of the same company (slightly), whose name [ have not ascertained, plished ite errand, The men wore working like boavers, | To accomplish thin the rebels fired 260 thirty-two und one indivilual in A white sbirt attracted partieuia | pound hells, 200 ten-inch shells, 160 eight-inch shells, attention on account of hie industry. A number of herve | four percussion § (ried), 166 twenty-four pound and cows that were browsing On (he groan wid) the | shette, 600 solid # nd about 8,000 pounds of powder, fort when (he Yiring commenced, & coming torrie t at A NIGHT IN THE BATTERIK® AND TRENCHES, the voixe, had dashed away down thy some of | In their cagerness to be in nd the close, the reporters PRICE THREE CENTS. ha! crossed over from Boo ufort during the afternoon in @ ail boat, and landing on the ** spit’? went up in the rear of the batteries, Night overtook us just as we reached the ten-inch mortar batte-y; but it did not prevent us from extending our research s in pursuit of those items 8) nece*sary to the welfare and happiners of anews paper correspondent, and we steadily pushed on to the advancod pits ond trenches, The place, the time, the occasion, all conspired to imbue feelings not precisely deseribable, yet partaking of adeep awe, To your right a stealthy sentinel was lurking beneath the cover uf @ sand bill; to your left a file of the relieving ¢ passing noigelossly along through the trenches #t | the pickets; in front rose the dark outlines of the fort, | and gazing behind no stranger would imagine that those undulating hills of sand and little knelis of cedar and Drush teemed with masses of soldiers, gleaming bayo- nets, bristling cannon and grim mortars, To the gouth- ward we could make out the forms of tho block- ading fleet at anchor; to the northward a chain of bri'liant lights betokened thot the signal eorps were communicating with their torches between the different stations, Satisfying or appetite for informa tion, we returned to the ten-inch mortar battery, where we were received by Captain Ammon, who kindly pro- vided us with some additinal blankets, to make our stay for tho night as comfortable as possible. Selecting then for our bed the top of the epaulement of the bat tery—midway between the grim mortars, (which seemed | tousthrongh the darkness like monster black toads) and the remains of the gallant artillerymau who had falion in the fight, and whose form was laid gently down in a hollow in the sand and covered with a bianket—the reportorial corps stretched themselves to sleop. At mid night a sense of cold and chilliness awoke us to the reality that a drizzling rain was penetrating our blankets, and would soon reach ourskins. Rousing ourselyes, wo started with astonishment at the flashimg of lanterns, the muftled noise of spades digging the sand, and the sight of men, teams and wagons. It was son exp'ained. Tho disturbed sand bags and sods were being replaced, the mortar traverses repaired and ammunition arriving. ‘They were getting the battery in readiness for the next day, should the bombardment recommence; but euch was the silence with which the work was going on it failed to disturb our slumbers, though it almort may bo said that the sand beneath our couch had been moved. Constructing @ temporary awning of boards, which served to shed the rain off our heads. and feat, we slept again. THE OPERATIONS OF THE NAVY. As searcely a fight of any importance takes place with- out the aid of our naval vessels, #0 in this case they shared tho honor of ro‘aking Fort Macon from the hands of the rebels, although, owing to the roughness of the weather on the afternoon of the engagement, and the fact of the fort being reduced in one day, or rather part of @ day, they wore unable to do all the execution that they would have done had they the time. However, they may rest satisfied that what they did do was well done, and deserves to be spoken of in the highest manner. ‘The firing from our batteries on the land was com- meneed at about six o’elock in the morning, and forsome time it was thonght “that the blockading flect would not enter inte the fight; but at about eight o'clock there was a atir observed among the vessels outside, and they began to approach the fort. The excitement then be- camo fntense, and all eyes were turned on the ships as they ran in nearer. At nine o'clock « eignal was made from the flagship of Commander Samuel Lockwood, who had his headquarters on board the steamor Daylight, for the vessels to open fire on tho fort, and the signal was hardly given before the steamers State of Georgia, Chippewa, Daylight, and the bark Gemsbok, formed a kind of a curve around the fort, and in a few minutes the whito smoke was percep- tible rising from their sides as they discharged their shot towards the fort. It was a most boautiful sight to see those versels hanging their positions as thoy thundered away at the rebel stronghold, shot after shot was thrown inside the wails, and the splendid firing of the fleet was fully ap preciated by all—the rebels themselves speaking of it afie: they were released from the prison they had een confined in for so long. The bark Gemsbok was particularly noticed for her graceful appearance as she manceuvered with ber sails all set, depending upoo her own powers of locomotion, and leaving the steamers perfectly free in their movements, Sho delivered her broadsides with regularity; but, preferring to be sta- tionary, sho let her anchor go after @ short time, aud thus beoame a fair target for the guns of the fort. For. tunately, she received no injury except some of ber light rigging being cut, although the enemy's balls were flying about her pretty briskly, The steamers, of course, were chabled to move quickly in every direction, | aud as they came broadside to the fort, the smoke curling up from their sides, followed by the report of their guns, told how well they were executing their portion of the work. As they continued fring they increased rapiily in the number of good shots; and, after the Mgut was all over,a walk through the fort fully demonstrated the fearful effect produced by the shot and shell from our fleet, The fort replied with some enirit to the firing of the navy, and so far succesded to senda ball through the flagship Daylight, wounding two of the engineers, but inflicting no injury of any consequence to the vessel. The gunuers of the fort were very particular in watching for opportunities to get two or more of our vessels tu Jive, when they would fire very rapidly. Between en and twelve o'clock & southerly wind prevailed,and rendered the #ea eo rough outside that ie was utterly impossible for the vessels to keep up their well directed fire, as the pitching and tossing rondered such athingas an accurate aim out of the question. Conrequently, the vessels put out further to rea ond stopped the firing, as they supposed, until the next day; Dut their services were then unnecessary, as Col. While bad made a virtue of vecessity and given up the fort to ite rightful owners. One of the shut from our vessels, instead of entering the fort, as was, no doubt, intended, struck on a marsh or place called Bird Iskund Shoa], about midway between Beaufort and the fort, and ite Sying visit eo frightened the inhabitants of Beaufort, who had filled every place where they gould see the fort, that many of them deserted their poste, thinking tha! ao order bad been given to destroy the town, and it war some time before confidence was fully restored, and tle people were much pleased when the fleet ceased (iring. In addition to the above named vessels, we had the gunboat Ellis and thee floating batteries— Greunde, Grapeshot and Shrapnel—that had been Drought down from Newbern, and stationed ip the North river, The batteries carried each two of the famous thirty-pound Farrott guns, ano those were protected by bundles of wet hay and bales of cotton, 80 arranged as to catch the enemy’s baile before they reached the guns, These batteries were towed down the river shortly after the blockading fleet had retired, and were iuteuded to take their place, but owing to the narrowness of the channel, and the difficulty of tho range, they wore compelied to withdraw after remaining there a short time, The Siirapoel, Captain Nicholls, was unable to do any execution, and what firing was done was by the Grenade, under the com: mand of Lieutenant Baxter, She made tome very good shots, but had to cease for the reason given above. The gunboat Elits was of no use whatever, as sho carries one 100-pounder, which was not eonsidered by any menu safe; and as se did not go withia range, he was nct used ut all, and the land batteries did the closing up portion of by yy received by the feet during the bombard. ment may be enumerated as follows jun boat Day Nght, as | before mentioned, received @ shot from tho fort, which passed through her, entering the wardroom and chief officor’s cabin, breaking the steps and ladder and lodging on the port side of the steamer, It aleo broke the Diowitig engine, Fugene J. Ward, one of tho assistant onginoers, had bis !6ft arm Droken just above the wrist, but it did not prevent bim from paying a visit to (he fort afer its surrender, One of the eplinters also struck Charies P. Morgan, another of the assistant engiveers, dot without inflictiog any serious injary. One ball passed through the flag of the etenmer State of Georgia, and the rigging of the bark Gemebok was | gomewhat cut wp. With there exceptions the verselt came off with fying colors, afler having indicted \wenty tines the damage upon the fort thet they shemesives sultered ‘Aiter the surrender, and while the General sad bis ata were resting themesives, the Alice Price (CONTINUED ON BSL PAGE