Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Ken Perdue.
Attack by Gunboats on Fort Clifton — The Rebs Forced to Retire.
NEW YORK, June 14. — The Herald’s correspondence off Point of Rocks, Appomattox River, Va., June 10, says:
At 8 A. M. on the 9th, the gunboats Commodore Perry and Gen. Putnam opened fire on the rebel Fort Clifton, near Petersburg, Va., which was readily answered by the graybacks. The Commodore Perry lay up the right branch of the river, above Fort Waltham, a distance of between three and four miles from the rebel fort, while the General Putnam, being of lighter draught, ran up the left branch, within one and a half miles of the rebel works, and delivered her fire with such precision as to cause a partial abandonment of their works, but from a masked battery to the right of their main works, an incessant fire was kept upon us until towards noon, when the fire from the gunboats having silenced the guns of the main fort, they directed their fire entirely at this interesting object on the right, which had been a source of great annoyance to us during our engagement with the main battery, but it was evident that the rebels did not relish our mode of doing business, and they retired. The firing from our side continued at intervals throughout the day. No damage was done to the gunboats. The engagement was a splendid affair, and reflects great credit on the officers and men of both vessels.1
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Source:
- Daily Ohio Statesman, June 15, 1864 ↩