Wait...I'm supposed to close something once the fire gets going...

Haven't been on here for at least a year or so. We have a VC Vigilant that's keeping us nice and warm. she did a good job of heating the house after Sandy last year.
So I've been reading some posts regarding this stove and I see people saying that once the fire gets going to close the damper. Isn't that what lets the smoke etc out to the chimney? We don't have the manual (surprisingly since every single thing in this house was filed pretty neatly in a box) and the local fireman who does my cleanings/inspections was the one who showed me how to use it. I know the 2 air intakes ( though i just really discovered the smaller one for the back of the firebox in the past year).
I've had this stove going for days on end, proudly but now I think I may not be doing something right.
Thanks fellow burners

Well well...upon getting the manual from Kenster( thank you so much for that!), I now understand the workings of my stove. I just cleared the ash from yesterday and now see things in there I didn't know about-including the fact that there's a front piece I can remove for easy cleaning of said ash. And now I get the shutting of the damper when it's hot. It's a whole new ball game now! Can't wait for my next fire later today!
This forum is so informative and helpful. Thanks for the input!

Sorry- dropped out of sight for a bit. The stove works like a charm now that I fully understand how things work. The guy who cleaned our chimney when we first moved in showed me how to use it but of course didn't know the details of this stove. The top down starting method works like a charm! Every time I start a fire I always make the remark of how great this is!
I thought I was going to be done with burning last week since it was getting nicer out ( NW NJ) but winter is still here I guess
Thanks everyone!