September 22, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/22/2011
War-date partial Union naval Autograph Letter, with great sketch and account of the Bombardment of Fort Jackson, 4pp. folio, from the USS John Griffiths, April 19, 1862, with good content it reads in part: "...I have been on this vessel since yesterday morning. The Beale is some distance astern. The captain, his clerk, & myself came up here very early on this vessel being towed up by the Miami. We fired all day yesterday from about 7 am until sunset. The accompanying diagram will illustrate the first days positions. As soon as we opened fire the rebels returned it their fire being directed in a great measure at few gunboats of which the Iroquois was the chief...The vessels on the other side were of the second division. One man was killed on a vessel of the first division. Several shot stuck near, I think may be excused for sailing unpleasantly near to us. I can assure you that the sound of the approaching hostile shot is by no means a pleasant one and produces an intense desire to become smaller. I am a happy to be able to state that your correspondent was enabled to keep his head up straight when some of his neighbors didn't. I own up however to dodging once. The fire of the rebels soon slackened and by two oclock no gun was fired toward us through shot struck occasionally farther up river...The first part of the time the Iroquois and a few other gunboats were firing but in the afternoon the 'bummer' had it all to themselves. The beauty of this sort of fighting is that you dont see what you are firing at. Capt. Brown of this vessel was up in the main crosstrees all day. He had a board with sights on it which he brought parallel to the right on the mortar and then having by directions to man, at the helm or by the bow & stern lines brought his sight to bear on the fort gave the word. I guess his vessel fired more shots than any other. She fired 68. I dont suppose however that the whole flotilla put more than one in twenty of their shots into the fort. The Sarah Bruen , two vessels astern of us is said to have made the best firing...I suppose that the rebels could not see us at all owing to our position & disguise but that the shot which fell near us, were merely for the large vessels which be beyond us...I went up to the crosstrees yesterday afternoon and could see the shell strike but it was very difficult to make out the fort. I could see the flagstaff & flag though...In the afternoon we go the news of the capture of the Merrimac & Norfolk Navy Yard...[4/20/62]During the day yesterday the Oneida and some of the gunboats went up toward the forest and were fired at very briskly, the shot and shell striking all around them. The Oneida was hit once injuring one of her gun carriages and wounding five men..." More. About very good condition. The USS John Griffith, under Acting Master Henry Brown, was in the 3rd Division commanded by her old skipper, Lt. Breese, who placed his schooners along the western bank of the river just below the lower limit of Fort Jackson's fire. John Griffith pressed the attack with great vigor, leading the ships of her division on 4 days of the weeklong bombardment which continued until Farragut had succeeded in fighting his mighty fleet past the forts to capture New Orleans in one of the war's most daring and strategically significant operations. This bold stroke deprived the South of her largest and wealthiest city, tightened the Union blockade, and gave promise of restoring the entire Mississippi Valley to the Union. When he was barely beyond the forts, Farragut paused to bury his dead, repair his ships, and dash off a note of thanks to Porter for the help of the mortars: "You supported us most nobly."
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