Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 4.
Frank Moore, Ed.

A correspondent at Ship Island, Miss., writing April eleventh, gives the following account of this affair:

The Ninth Connecticut regiment arrived very early on the morning of the fourth instant, near Pass Christian, and anchored, waiting for day-light. At about four o'clock in the morning three rebel gunboats — the Oregon, Pamlico, and Carondelet — came down from Lake Borgne, without showing any lights, and opened fire on our gunboats. While the Oregon and Pamlico engaged the New-London and Jackson, the Carondelet (a new boat carrying seven guns) ran within a thousand yards of the Lewis, and commenced firing shells into her. Two of the shells struck the Lewis, one of them passing through the officers' cabin, slightly wounding Capt. Conant, of the Thirty-first Massachusetts, who was present as a volunteer, and the other passing through the smoke-stack. For some little time the Lewis could do nothing to extricate herself from her perilous position, as for some reason, her anchor would not come up. Capt. Jones, the navigator of the steamer, got an axe and cut the cable, and the Lewis swung into a position, where she could bring the two six-pounder steel rifled Sawyer guns that had been placed on her, to bear on the Carondelet. The guns were manned by one section of Capt. Chas. Everett's Sixth Massachusetts battery, and the first shot was fired by Lieut. J. H. Phelps, and struck full in the Carondelet. He and Captain Everett fired ten or twelve shots, two of which certainly struck the rebel steamer and drove her off, and after the troops landed at Pass Christian, they were told that the Carondelet put in at that place in the retreat, and left the pilot who had both legs shot off. The Captain and four of his men were killed by the guns on the Lewis, and the machinery of the Carondelet was badly injured. The Carondelet, supposing that the Lewis was entirely unarmed, expected to have an easy job of sinking her, with her valuable freight of human lives; but when those rifled guns began to speak, the valiant Carondelet left incontinently. In the mean time, the Oregon and Pamlico, and the New-London and Jackson had been blazing away at each other, and kept up the fire for an hour and three quarters, when the rebels made their usual brilliant advance on Fort Pike, the Oregon going off with one wheel, having the other badly injured by the guns of the New-London and Jackson. The New-London received one shot, which slightly splintered her cutwater, and another that cut one of the chains of her davits, but nothing to cripple her in the slightest. A little before noon the Lewis approached the wharf, and as she drew near it was discovered that the end of the pier was covered with a large number of bales of hay, covered with tarpaulin. Smoke was seen to arise from behind the hay, the rebels being engaged in an attempt to burn the pier to prevent the landing of our troops. Capt. Everett threw a few shells from his two rifled guns at the wharf, and the gunboats, seeing the firing from the Lewis, and the smoke arising from behind the hay, supposed the rebels had a battery on the wharf, and consequently they opened a fire on the town. Several of their shot passed through a few houses and demolished considerable property, but injured no one. The Ninth Connecticut regiment then landed, and after leaving a guard at the wharf to protect the Lewis, and, if necessary, to cover the retreat of our troops, the regiment took up the line of march, with the two rifled guns on the right, drawn by a company of soldiers to each. Colonel Cahill, with Major Strong, chief of General Butler's staff, at the head of the main column, Capt. J. H. French, of General Butler's staff, in command of two companies, deployed his men as skirmishers on the right of the road,