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

THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY,

(Front the Times' 'Special Correspondent.)
RICHMOND, Sept. 20.
It is mgeh to b© desired, in the interest of scien

fic military history, that the chronicle of the events
which, since the 10tH of July, have accompanied the
remarkable siege of Charleston, and of those which
will intervene between the present date and its pro-
bably remoter termination, should hereafter be given
to the word, 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
o; guns, in the weight of their metal, in the scien-
tific application of military engineering, in the abun-
dance of resource, wielded both by attack and de-
fence, and in its duration, the siege of Charleston
will tower above all other sieges of modern history
and v, ill point many a moral in the pages of future
Vaubans. kinay be interesting to your readers that
I'Aould 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-
finders that, in this mercurial community, anxiety
and uneasiness have ceased to hover over Charleston
harbour, and have been transferred to the momen-
tous operations of Generals Rosencranz and Bragg.
The month opened and found the Federals firmly
planted on Morris Island,. under cover of an en-
filading fire from the new Ironsides and the seven
Monitors which lay off the island.
sap was unweariedly pressed forward
'Their
rl
flay 1 e got g
nearer and nearer to Battery Wagner, which, after
their previous repulse, it would appear that the
Federals had little stomach again to attack by as-
sault. But, not satisfied with the approach to their
parallels close up to the battery, the 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
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. The Confede-
rates were not unprepared for the assault, and at the
proper moment two signal rockets were sent up from
Battery Gregg, and in 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 find into what a hor-
nets' nest 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'd-pieces, 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
auxessfully conducted. From Batteries Gregg and
Wagner there were brought off 2,000 men (200 o

them 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 Federals 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, em-
boldened by the capture of the whole of Morris

Island, and thinking that the turn of their fleet had
now come, opened a very heavy fire from the new
Ironsides and seven Monitors, assisted by several
land 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 soo❑ 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.
Nliehael'o 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
'nlY by a handful of men ; that it was a mass
of ruins, up which the assailants could climb
without difficulty, and that it would, after the
prise.bombardmenttat of the morning, be taken by sur-
, as on the occasion of the assault upon
Battery Bre
the ;hunchesggi a storm of shot and shell saluted
the attacking party. Only an in-
significantnumbernumb of Federals landed at the fort,
who to the
among
of rather more than 100 were
taken prisonerss—
a nephew of Genet the captured officers being
a Nle.ade. It is the opinion of
the best Confederate engineers that Fort Sumter, as
it now stands, strengthenedtak by the copious use of
sandbags, can only 13,0
it
continues,
assault, and that if
the garrison holding
which can
as heretofore, to
do its duty, no assault Nv
n be directed against
it gives much promise of sueace:
Fort Sumter does
not appear to be thought essen%
if I
am
not tllo the defence of
Charleston ; but,
the mistaken, the pride of
South Carolina is as much engaged in
determi-
nation to hold the first building va.
Massa-
planted a
Sumter
rke it.
Secession flag in triumph, i
as .s the priedi:
chusetts engaged in the determination to retake
Niusrbl to
Since the night attack upon Fort
the present hour the vigour of the attackhas
abated. No one for a moment doubts that it will
hereafter be resumed, but the indications are that,
in addition to being slightly puzzled as to the
best
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-
eeBB.which exists in the beech of the gun was in-
tended by Captain Blakeley to act as a gas chamber,
joste,td of being (as was, I understand, the case)
1111" with gunpowder. It is scarcely credible
that a
have bgt:ilia of this magnitude and cost should
g subjected
to leave England with-
oat being permitted
r to such searching tests as
would at
have forbidden its bursting
on the first disete
should do It is not necessary that I
moreetuhiaaartgaiate that idle rumours have
extensively circulated in
Charleston to the effect
that the gun had burst before, and that the cracks
had been filled up with putttty,bbut it is to be hoped
that the mischance
the
gun,l
and that
to some mis-
take in loading
, whicht hat better fortune
will attend its twin brother,
t.n reasong
Only has not as yet
arrived at Charleston. There seems excellentl
still to believe that against iron
plating Captain
Brooke's large rifled gun has no stiperior, one
of these guns has (if I am not mistcaokneene)lbneeenneeasoyfet
employed at Charleston, and, in
mistake as to its charge, this gab, after a great