The palmetto herald. (Port Royal, S.C.) 1864-1864, July 21, 1864, Image 1
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VOrgBCE I.} POB
THE PALMETTO HERALD
i* rewJNini KY
a W. MASON & CO..
BVERT THURSDAY MORNING.
AT PORT ROYAL. 8. C.
Gfix* car. Mtrehcuxta' Ha* and J\tltnetio Jcaiue
Tar mat
Kittle Oopr Five Cents.
-Out llatulrad Qopiee r....$2 M
R* Annum to uy Addrew tf 00
Payweut iurariably in Advance.
A United, number of ADVERTI8KMKNTO re.
oeived it Twenty-ive Cents per Line. JOB
PRINTING executed neatly and promptly.
THB UlKUtt or THE ALABAMA.
Tke following are additional documents
relating to the great victory over
the pinto Alabama: LBTCtt
rMV iBCBCrm WBLLKS.
Nfir Dr.rA.BT*KKr, July 6, 1804.?
Tour very brief dispatcher, of the 19th
and iHKh ult., informing (be department
that the piratical craft Alabama or No.
*90 had been sunk on the 19th of June,
near meridian, by the Keanarge, under
your command, were this day received.
I congratulate you on your good fortune
In meeting this vessel, which had so long
voided the fastest ships and some of the
moat vigilant and intelligent officers of
the service, and for the ability displayed
In this combat you have the thanks of
the department. Ton will please express
Id the officers and crew of the Ke&rsarge
the satisfaction of the Government at the
victory over a vessel superior In tonnage,
superior in number of guns, and superior
in number of her crew. The battle was
o brief; the vfctoty s?rdfedatvc, and the
comparative results so striking, that the
country will be reminded of the brilliant
Actions of our infant navy, which have
been repeated and illustrated in this engagement.
The AJfthama represented the best
maritime effort of the most skilled English
workshops. Her battery was com*
- - ?-li *-!?a nn 1.,.. ?,.,7
posted O! ine weu-incu m-jwuuucib ui u i
cwt, of the famous 68-pounder of the
British Navy, and of the only successful
rifled 100-pounder yet produced in England
. The crew were generally recruited
in Great Britain, and many of them received
superior training on board Her
JUiesty's gunning ship the'Excellent.
The Keararge is one of the first gun-.
boats built at our Navy-yards, at the
commencement of the rebellion, and
lacks the improvements of vessels now.
under construction. Hie principal guns
her battery had never been
prenou^f tried in an exclusively naval
engag e?*ot yet In one hour you succeeded
in sinking your antagonist, thus
fitly ending her predatory career, and
killed many of her crew, without injury
to the Kearsarge or the loss of a single
life on vou. vessel Oar countrymen
have reason to be satisfied that in this
as In every naval action of this unhappy
war, neither the ships, the guns, nor the
crews have been deteriorated, but that
they the ability and continue the
renown which ever adorn our naval
annals. The
President has signified his intention
to recommend that you receive a
vote of thanks, in order that you may be
advanced to the grade of Commodore,
Lieut.-Commander James 8. Thornton,
the Executive Officer of the Keareargs.
will be recommended to the Senate rot
advancement ten numbers in his grade*,
and you will report to the department
the names of any others of the officers or
crew whose good conduct on the occa...
- - t~l .!
gion entities laem 10 especial memiuu.
Very respectfully,
(Signed,) Oidkox Wellk*,
Sec'yofthe Navy.
Capt John A- Window, U. 8. Navy,
Comwiading U. S. steamer Kearsarge,
4JMN*g? France.
?ialmc
IT ROYAL, S, C? THI
CAFT. WIKSLOW'g STATE ME XT. j
Ctpt. Winslow, of the Kcarsarge, has
addressed a letter to the Daily News, in
which be states that he did not send a?y
challenge, but Senimcs sent a request to
Winslow not to leave, as he would fight
the Kcarsarge, and would oalv occupy a
day or two in preparation. Five days,
however, elapsed before they were com-:
pleted.- Capt. Winslow says that, in defense
of the engines on the outside, the
Keacsargc had 7i stopped" up and down
her sheet chains.- These were stopped
with marline and eye bolts, which ex
tended some twenty "feet. This was done
by the hands of the Kearsarge, The
whole was covered by light {Hank, to
prevent dirt collecting. It was for the
purpose of protecting the engines when
there was no coal in the upper part of thp
bunkers, ss was the case when the action
took place. The toward the
last, hoisted sail to get away, when the
Kearsfcrge was laid across her bows and
wonkl have raked her had she not surrendered,
which she then did by ttymg
to jget her flags down and showing a
white flag over her stern.
The Kearsarge received twenty-eight
shots above and below. The shots were
abaft her mainmast, and two shots which,
cut the 44 chain stops," the shell of which
broke the wood covering. They were
too high to damage the toiler had they
penetrated. The Kearsarge was only
slightly damaged, and it was supposed on
board that the action for hot work had
just commenced when it ended.
a card from an officer of the kearsarge.
Ta tkf Editor of tkt DaibJ Mart :
Sir : I desire to bring to the notta? of
the Yacht Globs of ?mgun4 the conduct
of the commander at the Deerfcound,'
which followed the engagement of the
Alabama and Kearsarge. After the Alabama
had stmrk. and her condition Wat
unknown, her boats were observed to be
lowering, one of which pulled directly to
the Kearsargp. with, an officer and several
wounded men. The officer stated that
the ship had surrendered some time before
the Kearsarge slacked firing, and the
remaining parts of the flag had been hauled
down, and at last a white flag shown,
and requesting that the boats might be
sent to rescue life, as the Alabama was
last sinking.
Immediately the two boats remaining
undlsabled were called away, and his
emergency was so great that the officer
in command of the Alabama's boat was
Eermitted to shove off to assist in this,
umnpe, duty. It was now seen that-the*
Alabama was settling fast. The Captain
nf the Kearnarre immediately hailed the
Deerhound to windward, andf stated her
condition, requesting that hfe would run
down and assist to pick up the men.
The Alabama went down in two minutes
afterward. The Deerhound lowered her
boats, and was active in picking up the
struggling crew, and it was sfen that the
officer who had come on board the Kearsarge
at first to surrender, had gone with
others to the Deerhound, and had shoved
off the boat, leaving a large number of
the Alabama's wounded men struggling
in the water. Shortly afterwara the
Deerhound was seen moving off. and I
reported it to Capt. Winslow. The answer
I received from him was, it was impossible,
the yacht was simply coming
round; no commander could be guilty of
such dastardly conduct, when he bad
been requested and permitted in the
cause of humanity to save the lives of
prisoners, to run off with them. But it
Was true, that Capt Winslow had to regret
that he had not opened his guns on
the Deerhound.
It was afterward discovered that the
Deerhound was a consort ot the Alabama,
V*r*ai twnnirro/1 manir
auu luc ucm iwvitvu xuauj
valuable articles for safe-keeping from
the Alabama. Capt. Winslow maintains
that all persons that the Deerhound took
axe prisoners; and his opinion, from his
\\1 - - x,
* i
Ho ~?t
JRSDAY, JULY 21, 1!
fruiowledgc of Capt. Semmcs, is (hat he is
aoo honorable, whatever the coat, to seek
exemption by an act so dishonorable, and
which would forever exclude all clemency.
Now, Sir, I have not the same
opinion of Capt. Semmcs' honor. We
shall see.?1 am, &c.,
E. M. 8toddari>, Waster.
U. S. 8. Kearsarge, Cherbourg, France,
June 23.
PARLIAMENT DISCC9SKS THE FIGIIT.
* In the House of Commons, June 23,
Sir J. Hay asked the Secretary to the
Admiralty whether the attention of Her
Majesty's Government had been drawn
to the report of mi action which took
place last Sunday between the United
states frigate Kearsarge and the Confederate
ship Alabama; and whether they
had conkdered the report of the Commander-in-Chief
at Devonport on the
preparation for battle of Her Majesty's
jyy-1?aearcn; wncuaer, us iuc i??vianied
report showed that this class of
jhip would not fight her guns with ad- j
vantage, and the first-named report
rtiowed that she would easily be destroyed
in action, Her Maiesty s Government
would continue to Duild ships which
coukI not be expected cither to fight or
swim; and further asked, as the advantage
of guns of large calibre had been'4b
dearly shown in the above-named action,
whether *Her Majesty's Government
would at once obtain a proper supply oflarge
rifled guns for the service ot the
navy.
Lord C. Paget said, in answer to the
questioQ of the honorable and gallant
member, he had to state that the Admiralty
had considered, what he supposed
ererf bhe else had, the action between
jfefi ^earsarge and .the .Alabama, which
took place last Sunday! and which had
nr? T?t<?n?nw whatever tn the nuestinn as '
to the Research. [Hear, hear.] They
fcac likewise considered the report of the
Commander-in-Chief at Devonport. That J
report went to show the fact that there was
not room enough in the Research to work
the guns, in consequence of the funnel
and wheels being within the battery.
They were taking steps to remove these,
which were mere matters of detail?
[hear, hear,]?and he had no reason to
believe that there was any dissatisfaction
with the Research. He was on .board
her a few days ago, when he asked the
Captain, a young, active, intelligent officer,
if he was perfectly satisfied. [Hear,
hear.] With regard to the comparison
drawn by the honorable and gallant
jcnembcr between that vessel and the Ala*
f\a*hano #K<i UamamRIa nn/4 /vollanf
vanity lut uv/ik/iuujv uuu iiout j
Gificer was not aware that the Alabama
was a wooden ship and the Research was
armor-plated, and that therefore there
could be no comparison between them.
With regard to the further question as to
whether the Admiralty would continue
to build ships which could neither fight
nor swim, the Admiralty had no suchlntention.
[Laughter.] What he could
state was that the vessels were undergoing
a fair trial, and he asked for them
fair play. [Cheers.] He asked fair play
for another experimental ship that was
going out in a few days for trial, namely,
the Royal Sovereign, which had been designed
by that talented officer Captain
Coles. [Hear, hear.] He should be
happy to give the house at a later date the
practical results of these trials. As to
the question respecting guns the honorable
and gallant member must be aware
'Mutt the Admiralty were taking steps to
obtain heavy guns. The honorable and
gallant officer was himself present the
other day at Shoeburyness, where the
average weight of shot used was 167
pounds, and the average charge of powder
30 pounds. The heaviest charge was
r a _ j a 1 ! ?1. i
b3 uigu as au jh;uuu?, nhu me v> cigui ui
the shot 800 pounds. They had ordered
a considerable number of 10 1-8 inch
guns, throwing 150-pound shot smooth
bore, and likewise a large number of 7iach
rifled 100-poondere, and the Royal
raid.
2(tA f rm ce
30at# (Five Cent*.
. " ~
Sovereign, the Prince Albert and Minoteur
would go to aea with 12-ton guns,
carrying 101-2 inch shot,
LATE HORTHERM HEWS*
Washington, Saturday. July 9.?To
Maj.-Gen. DL\An official report from
Maj.-Gen. Wallace, just received, states
that a battle took place between the
forces under his command and the rebel
forces at Monocacy to-day, commencing
at 9 o'clock A- M. and continued until
3 P. M.; that our forces were at length
overpowered by the superior numbers of
the enemy ana were lorcea to retreat m
disorder.
He reports that Col. Seward, of the
New York Heavy Artillery, was wounded
and taken prisoner, and that Brigadier
General Tyler was also taken prisoner:
that the enemy's forces numbered at least
twenty thousand, and that our troops behaved
well, but sutfered severe loss. He
is retreating to Baltimore.
Edwin M. Stan to x, Sec. of War.
[From the New York Times, July 10.]
The news this morning concerning the
rebel raid is of a very exciting character,
and develops the fact that the rebel force
is strong enough to njake a formidable
resistance against Baltimore and Washington.
A dispatch from Secretary Stanton.
announces that Gen. Wallace foucht.
the enemy yetterday aiPMinocacy River,
and atter a set ere battle, our forces were
compelled to retreat in disorder, before
the overpowering numbers of the enemy,
whom he estimates to be at least twenty
thousand strong. At last accounts Gen.
Wallace was falling back on Monrovia, a
station several miles east of Monocacy.
Muck eseiUtfftftnt existedJfr. Baltimore last
evening, and the city was being
placed in a thorough detensive order.
me uovernor ana mayor naa issued
proclamations calling on all citizens to
arm themselves and report for duty.
There arc no further developments of
force north of Hagerstown, which place
is now occupied by our cavalry, and the
invasion seems apparently to have come
to an end in that direction. Nothing has
been heard ot Gen. Hunter yet, as to his
j whereabouts or movements.
! Moseby seems to be more ubiquitous
than ever. On Thursday night, he attacked
and defeated a scouting party of
one hundred and fifty, at Aldie, Va.,
under Major Forbes, killing, wounding
and capturing nearly the entirecommand.
He wa? pursued, but to no effect. Yesterday.
afternoon, witlj a small baud of
his followers, he turned up at a picnic,
within six miles of Washington, and, after
dancing with the young ladies, and
devouring the refreshments, they took
their departure, without committing further
damage.
The Cincinnati Times of the 8th says,
II W 1? II A ?. !--J ' -
IT c sumi uui uc suxpriseu uj team mai
Gen. Hunter or Gen. Crooks, whom we
esteem the ablest officer, shall manage to
get in the rear of the rebel raiders, and
capture a portion of them in their retreat
to the locality whence they came.. From
Harper's Ferry there is but one avenue
open to the rebel dominions, and that is
through Front Royal, at the head of the
Luray Valley. The return of Hunter
through Lewlsburgh, if reinforced, would
considerably interfere with the safe move
ments of the rebels on their return."
The fanners in Loudon County, who
are in correspondence with the rebels,
assert that the invading column consists
of three divisions under Gen. Early, numbering
perhaps twenty-five thousand men
all told, and that only one of these divisions
marched through as far as Harper's
Ferry, the rest of the force remaining at
Front Royal.
A very daring and hazardous expedition,
which proved quite successful, was
undertaken by Captain Cushing, of the
United States Navy, in the vicinity of
Wilmington, North Carolina, on the 24th
[COUNTED O.V fOCBTU PAGE.]