The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-30 00:00:00

THE S'3l7:

RN CONFEDERACY,

(Fr( fa the Times' Special Correspondent.)
RICHMOND, Sept. 20.
It is tenuceh to be desired, in the interest of scienti-
fic; military history, that the chronicle of the events
which, sit ice the 10th of July, have accompanied the
relnarkat de siege of Charleston, and of those which
veal intervene between the present date and its pro-
bably remoter termination, should hereafter be given
to the world, under the interpretation of two com-
petent military engineers, writing one from the
Northern, the other from the Southern, point of
view_ The indications at present are, that in wealth
no guns, in the weight of their metal, in the scien-
tific application of militery engineering, in the abun-
dance of resource, wielded both by attack and de-
fence, and in its daration, the siege of Charleston
will tower above all other sieges of modern history
and will point many a moral in the pages of future
Vaubans. It!mrAy be interesting to your readers that
Ifshould briefly recapitulate some of the prominent
incidents which have illustrated the siege during
the present month, and which have at this moment
inclined the balance so strongly in favour of the de-
fenders that, in this mercurial community, anxiety
and uneasiness have ceased to hover over Charleston
harbenee, and have been transferred to the momen-
tous (sperations of Generals Rosencranz and Bragg-
T'ae month opened and found the Federals firmly
planted on Morris Island, under cover of an en-
-Marling fire from the new Ironsides and the seven
Monitors which lay off the island. Their flying
Silp was unweariedly pressed forward until it
egot
r
nearer and nearer to Battery Wagner, which, a
their previous repulse, it would appear that
the
Federals had little stomach again to attack
to
by
as-
sit. But, net satisfied with the approtac
parallels close up to the battery, e Federal
General and Admiral seem to have desired to cap-
ture not only the work itself, which it may be
presumed they thought
was about to be evacuated,
but also all its guns and its garrison. Accord.
ingly, shortly after midnight on the sth instant an
attack by men in boats and launches was directed
against Battery Gregg, which stands at the extreme
northern point of Morris Island, and lies between
Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner. Tne Confede-
rates were not unprepared for the assault, and at the
proper moment two signal rockets were sent up from
Battery Gregg, and iu an instant torrents and hail-
storms of shot and shell were poured from all sides
into Lighthouse Creek, where the enemy was as-
sembling. In a quarter of an hour all was over.
The Federals retired without attempting to land,
and not a little astonished to fiad into what a hor-
nets' neat they had run their heads.
On the night of the 6th the Federal sap was
within a few yards of Battery Wagner, and they
were raising their parapets so high that in a short
time they would have had no difficulty in leaping
into the work, as the French leaped into the Mala-
koff. It became evident to General Beauregard that
the hour for his evacuation of a battery, which had
without injury stood two months of unparalleled
bombardment, was at hand. The Federals had been
swarming along the coast in barges mounted with
howitzers and fie'dneieces, protected by two Moni-
tors; but they were driven off by a well-directed fire
before the embarkation of the Confederates com-
menced. The evacuation itself was skilfully and
successfully conducted. From Batteries Gregg and
Wagner there were brought off 2000 men (200 of
theta wounded), and the only loss sustained was that
of one boat, in which were a lieutenant and six men.
There were left to the enemy a few big guns in Bat-
tery Wagner which were entirely worn out, having
been fired some 1,500 times apiece. The only mis-
carriage was the failure to blow up the works, in
consequence of bad fuzes, which did not explode—.
a failure which will, perhaps, save the Foderals a
few days' labour. The general feeling in Charles-
ton is that the only effect produced by the fall of
these batteries will be to make Fort Sumter hotter
than ever, and to expose the batteries on James
Island towards Shell Point to a more galling
fire. It is interesting, lam told, to hear the
garrisons of these evacuated batteries compare
their experiences. There seems to be a general con-
currence, as to the fact that the new Ironsides was
by far the most formidable of their antagonists on
the water. The fire of the Monitors was little heeded.
Upon the morning of the Bth the Federals, cm-
heldened by the capture of the whole of Morris
Island, and thinking that the turn of their tiset had
now come, opened a very heavy fire from the new
Ironsides and seven Monitors, assisted by several
I'l,Tirl batteries, upon Forts Sumter and Moultrie.
There can be little doubt that, although the bom-
bardment of the 7th of April attracted far more
notice, the bombardment of the Bth of September
was a more formidable affair, and that upon the
latter occasion the Federal ironclads were much
more roughly handled. After an engagement of
about two hours the Ironsides crawled slowly out
of action, with great commotion visible upon her
deck, and was soon followed by the Monitors, some
of which were, as was patent to observers with
powerful glasses, greatly injured. Since that day
up to the present hour none of the 'Monitors have
taken any part in assailing the land batteries, and
there are now only five of these sea monsters, in-
stead of the ordinary seven, visible from St.
Michael's Tower. But the night of the Bth seems
to have been thought by the Federals a favourable
moment for an attempt to take Fort Sumter by
storm, It was believed that the fort was held
Only by a handful of men ; that it was a mass
of
ruins, up which the assailants could climb
e "At difficulty, and that it would, after the
eonee_em
prise:LUil ent of the morning, be taken by sur-
Battery 13111.1' as on the occasion of the assault upon
the launch:aggo; a storm of shot and shell saluted
in-
significant the attacking party. Only an in.
who to the number of Federals landed at the fort,
taken prisoners number of rather more than 100 were
a nephew of Gene'rtealeo\tt the csptured officers being
the best Confederate laleade. It is the opinion of
gingers that Fort Sumter, as
it now stands, siren
taken
by the copious use of
sandbags, can only b,
the garrison holding it continues
assault, and that if
bichitues, as heretofore, to
do its duty, no assault vo
be directed against
it gives much promise
Bueeerae:eimPort Sumter does
not appear to be thought essernistakto the defence of
Charleston ; but, if I am not
pride of
which° determi-
South Carolina is as much engaged inr:ttille
opt!
Massa-
chusetts a
nation to hold the first building
Secession flag in triumph, as is the pride
Sumter pi t.to
engaged in the determination to retake"t
Since the night attack upon Fort
the present hour the vigour of the attackhas -
Nlatbly
abated. No one for a moment doubts that it win
hereafter be resumed, but the indications are that,
in addition to being slightly puzzled as to the beet
method of attack, the Federals are awaiting a fresh
supply of heavy guns. There can be no manner of
doubt that the wear and tear of rifled guns, fired
repeatedly at high elevations, is excessively great.
This circumstance, and the consequent value
of rifled guns, have occasioned a good deal of regret
to be felt in regard to the bursting, upon its first
discharge, of one of the large Blakeley guns.
.re-
cently imported from England, and from which
great things were expected. A great variety of
opinion has been expressed here and in Charleston
in reference to the bursting of this gun, but the
opinion of Captain Brooke appears to be that a re-
cess which exists in the bresch of the gun was in-
!ended bt. Captain Blakcley to act as a gcs chamber,
instead of being (as was, I understand, the case)
filled with gunpowder. It is
scarcely credible
that a gun
of this magnitude and cost should
have beul permitted to leave England
with-
out being subjected to such searching tests as
would at
any rate have forbidden its burstin
on the first discharge. It is not necessary that g I
eshxoteunhslivdeolymocrierctunu latedetate that idle rumours have
n Charleston to the effect
that the gun had burst before
had been filled up with Put.,
but
abaudthat the cracks
is att ryib u t i't is to be hoped
that the mischance
Like in loading the gun, and that bee ottseornlteortimunise-
will attend its twin brother, Which has
not as yet
arrived at Charleston. There seems excellent reason
still
to believe that against iron plating Captain
as
Brooke's large. rifled gun has n;, superior.
--n.y one
of these guns has (if I am not mistaken) been
yet
employed at Charleston, and, in consequence of a
mistake as to its charge, this gun, after a great