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

TEE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY,

(From the Timo' Special Correspondent.)
RICHMOND, Sept. 20.

It is much to be desired, in the interest of scienti-
fic mil itary history, that the chronicle of the events
whit' a, since the 10th of July, have accompanied the
rem' rrkable siege of Charleston, and of those which
will intervene between the present date and its pro-
brAla ly 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
07 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 will point many a moral in the pages of future
Vaubans. Itimay 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
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. Their flying
sap was unweariedly pressed forward until it got
r
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 l
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. 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
eu3cessfully conducted. From Batteries Gregg and
Wagner there were brought off 2,000 men (200 of
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 us to the fact that the new Ironsides was
by far the most formidable of their antagonists on
the wuter. The fire of the Monitoru 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 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
°lll3' by a handful of men; that it was a mass
rsio, up which the assailants could climb
Zottathb(l_o_t_ difficulty, and that it would, after the
prise,
"(litment of the morning, be taken by sur-
Battery IT' as on the occasion of the assault upon
the launee :g, a storm of shot and shell saluted
significa7tellof the attacking party. Only an in-
who to then amber of Federals landed at the fort,
taken prisoners tier of rather more than 100 were
a nephew of Generoattiong the captured officers being
the best Confederate Meade. It is the opinion of
it now stands, strengthened
that Fort Sumter, as
sandbags, can only b ened by the copious use of
taken
the garrison holding it can by assault, and that if
Unties, as heretofore, to
do its duty, no assault which cau
it gives much promise elf /niece be directed against
Fort Samter does
not appear to be thought essensit:
• to the defence of
Charleston ; but, if I am not
the pride of
South Carolina is as much eeillguiagtackde.n,
in the determi-
planted a
sn:ctei
sosnionto
flag
goldin ttbreiumfirpsht,bausilids
ng
ofMassa-
ithe p„-Idehe
in the determination to
ch use t ts engaged
retake it.
Since the night attack upon Fort gum
vigour of theattackh r lap to
the present hour the
abated. that it
No one for a moment doubts will
hereafter that
indications are that,
=
hereafter be resumed, but the
the beatslightly puzzled as to
in addition to being beat
method of attack, the Federals are awaiting a fresh
supply of heavy guns. b
There can
.e 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
NI- guns re-
diecharge, of one of the large Blaae-
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-
tended by Captain Blakeley to act as a gas 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 been permitted to leave England with-
out being subjected
would at any
iageto such searching tests as
rate, have forbidden its bursting
on the first
discharge. It is not necessary that I
should do more
taartist.ate that idle rumours have
extensively circulated
in Charleston to the effect
that the gun had burst
before, and that the cracks
With Putty, but it is to be hoped
that the mischance is attributable to some mis-
Hie in loading the gun, and
that better fortune
will attend its twin brother, Neil;
ch has not as yet
arrived at Charleston. There seems excellent reason
still to believe that against iron plating
Captain
Brooke's largo rifled gun has no superior. onlyoyneet
of these guns has (if I am not mistaken) been as
employed at Charleston, and, in consequence
of a
mistake as to its charge, this gun, after a great