Transcription
U.S.S. Susquehanna
At Anchor — Two miles off Fort Gordon, Hatteras Inlet
August 20xx’th 1861–
My dear Father —--
So much has occurred / since mailing my hasty scrawl off “Capes of Virginia” / That I hardly know where to begin, what to say / and what to leave unsaid. Doubtless long ere / This epistle reaches you - you will [^ have] read flaming / sensation accounts of the “Hatteras Inlet” fight, / but as all such account are of a necessity / distorted in a manner so that an eye witness / would not recognize even the principal / incidents of the affair in question, I will / attempt to a hurried letter the contents / devoted in great measure in detailing / what I myself was witness too –
To begin -
On the morning of the 28th inst / we made land a little to the [S’a?] of / Cape Hatteras, about 10 A.M. saw several / Ships of war, about whose upper spaces / (all we could see of the ships) curled huge / bodies of smoke _ About 11 A.M. we / made out that the above mentioned / vessels were engaged in a heavy / cannonade _ what they were firing at / no one could imagine, not even our / Captain, some thinking it was ‘ general / Target practice”, and others believing that / we were engaging some shore batteries, / in a little while this latter surmise / was proved to be correct as we could /
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A field work and a fortification on / shore, returning the fire of our ships _ / Now all was excitement - The drum + fife / beat to Quarters and at a few minutes before / 12 M. we were hotly engaged in the / action ourselves _ not liking my position / in the ward room, I crawled out on the / spar deck through an [after?] cuddy hatch, / which was open, and placing myself / on an empty arm chest with a fine / glass in my hand, in the rear of our / “After Pivot Gun” was spectator to as / grand a bombardment as was ever seen / on our Coast. The “Minnesota”, “Wabash” / “Cumberland”, “[Panner?, “Harriet Lane”, / “Monticello”, and several small gunboats, / with the “Susquehanna” far inside / of them all were Keeping up a / constant fire of shell upon the / [page torn]-’s batteries. About 2 P.M. The enemy / hauled down the secession flag and hoisted / the stars and stripes, we ceased firing, and / gave three cheers, imagining that they / confessed themselves whipped, but not / so, as we shortly discovered as upon sending / thro small gun boats to assist the / three hundred men we had on shore / the in taking possession of the fortifications; / The large Fort (a regularly built Fort) / fired several shots at the our boats, doing / them some damage, and at the same / time hoisted their flag. It seems that / hoisting our Colors was a mere ruse, / in order That they might safely transfer / their men from the battery to the fort _
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(distant apart, about ¼ of a mile), upon / discovering this treachery we re-opened our / fire and Kept it up for until about five / oclock P.M. I have forgotten to mention / that we discovered on the “sound” side of / the Fort several steamboats evidently laden / with reinforcements for the enemy, but / afraid to land them in face of our fire. / At [dark] we hauled off shore and [h–?] to / about ten miles from land - In the morning, / in company with the fleet we took up / our position, again much nearer to the / enemy than any other vessel, and only / distant from the Fort about 1 ¼ miles, we / came to anchor (for the first time) and only / used our three large Pivot Guns. The [??] / now was fearful, shell after shell / in quick succession falling in the fort, / tearing everything within reach into atoms, / filling the air with fragments of stone, / wood, mortar and canvas (there were tents / in the fort. The sight was indeed grand. / Some forty shell were thrown at our / ship some overreaching but the greater / number falling short. We opened fire / at 8 A.M. and it was 11.30 A.M. The [page torn]-emy / hoisted a white flag, and as the did / so the steamboats in the “sound” (Pa–lieu?] / made every effort possible to reach the / forts before our men (soldiers from Fortress / Monroe + mariners from the Squadron) could / take them prisoners _ but this was not to be, as we at once opened our fire on / the steamboats making them turn their / course and in company with the several
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Schooners, leave for the interior.
We now sent our small gun boats around though the ‘Inlet’ to the rear of the Fort / The ‘Harriet Lane’ attempting to enter the / fort sound grounded on a bar, and we / all fear she is a total loss. /
The report today is that enemy (now all / prisoners) were six hundred strong, commanded / [nearly?] altogether by ex - U.S. navy officers / Commodore Barron being in Charge. The reason / of our receiving no damage was that so / incessantly did we throw our shell into / the fort that the enemy did not have / sufficient time to train their guns. So / said Com’dre Barron to our Captain this / morning _ We will now take charge / of this part of the Coast and soon will / make an attack on “Beaufort” _ continue / to write _ direct to Hampton Roads as I / last told you _ NO time to say more, / as the “Minnesoate” sails shortly for the / “roads” and will carry our mail - This / being written in the greatest possible / you must excuse all errors _
An abundance of love to dear Mother, / [page torn] yourself Grandfather, Aunts / + Kind regards to all enquiring friends
I remain
Ever your affect
Son
Washie
P.S. Twelve Killed on Their side ) none on ours) fort / severely wounded _ many more slightly, and / “they say” five hundred prisoners. The fort mounted / 26 guns _ the battery [five] - All of which were dismounted by / our fireTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
