INTERIOR VIEW OF THE FIRST SIX TRAVERSES ON THE SEA-FACc OF FORT FISHER. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.
hen the Secretary of the Navy , Mr. Welles,recognizing the importance of closing theport of Wilmington , urged upon President Lincolnto direct a cooperation of the army, General Grantwas requested to supply the necessary force fromthe troops about Richmond . As Port Fisher laywithin the territorial jurisdiction of General Butler,commanding the Department of Virginia and NorthCarolina, the troops were detailed from his com-mand, and in the first attack Butler, with GeneralWeitzel in immediate command of the troops, hadcontrol of the land operations. The naval com-mand of the expedition having been declinedby Admiral Farragut , on account of ill-health,Rear-Admiral Porter, who had so successfullycooperated with the army in opening the Mis-sissippi , was selected, and was allowed to bringwith him five of his officers, of whom the writerwas one, being detailed for the command of thegun-boat Huron. The Atlantic and Gulf coastsbeing almost entirely in our possession, the NavyDepartment was able to concentrate before FortFisher a larger force than had ever before assem-bled under one command in the history of theAmerican navy — a total of nearly 60 vessels [seep. 662], of which five were iron-elads, includingthe New Ironsides, besides the three largest of oursteam-frigates, viz., the Minnesota, Colorado , andWabash,. The fleet arrived in sight of the fort onthe morning of December 20th.
A novel feature of this first attack was the ex-plosion of a powder-boat near the fort on the nightof December 23d. The vessel was the Louisiana ,an old gun-boat no longer serviceable. The moresanguine believed that Fort Fisher, with its garri-son, guns, and equipment, would be leveled to theground, while others were equally certain it wouldprove a fizzle. Commander A. C. Rhind, with acrew of volunteers, successfully performed theperilous duty, and, applying the match at midnight,the crew rowed safely away to the Wilderness, a
swift gun-boat, in waiting. The whole fleet hav-ing moved off shore, under low steam, awaited theresult in anxiety. A glare on the horizon and adull report were the indications that the floatingmine had been sprung. In the morning, when thefleet steamed in, all eyes were toward the fort.There it was, as grim as ever, apparently unin-jured, wifh its flag floating as defiantly as before.In these days, with better electrical appliances,the explosion could have been made more nearlyinstantaneous, but I doubt if the general resultwould have been different.
The powder-boat proving an ignominious failure,the fleet stood in toward the fort in close order ofdivisions, the iron-clads leading. At 11:30 thesignal was thrown out from the flag-ship Malvern :“Engage the enemy.” The Ironsides, followed by
j The total number of guns and howitzers in the fleet was over 600, and the total weight of projectilesat a single discharge of all the guns (both broadsides) was over 22 tons.— Editors.