The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-24 00:00:00

WHAT IS DOING AT CHERBOURG.

A writer in a contemporary says :—I see by the
debates in Parliament, reports of which reach me
daily, that England is talking and thinking of little
else than fortifications and volunteering. Anything
pertaining to these topics or to French matters of
that ilk appears to excite very general and not un-
natural interest. It is, however, not with the
motive of interesting, but with a desire simply to
inform, that I write these few lines. For two weeks
past I have resided behind those stupendous forti-
fications which make Cherbourg alike the marvel
of the empire and the wonder of the world. Daily
perambulations over forts, piers, docks, and break-
water have familiarised me with the doings—mili-
tary and otherwise—of this great naval station;
land some of your readers may perhaps like to know
the position in which things stand. To use the
words of a marine officer with whom I spoke the
other day," we are surprisingly, quiet in Cherbourg,
sir, but that doesn't show our weakness." I have
, counted all the warships in the docks. Of these,
I numbering in all 15, only one, the Arcole, is equip-
ped and ready ,for active service, and while I write
this vessel is cruising in the Rade, experimenting
with some newly-invented machinery, preparatory
to leaving the port. They say she is " natant pour
la Syne," but my information on this point is not
authentic. The Arcole, as you may be aware, is of
second rank only, and carries 90 guns. The re-
maining naval force here consists solely of second or
lower rate vessels, and not one of these is armed,
though it is said that two days' notice would suffice
to place them all upon a war footing. We have in
the arsenal arms and ammunition, rifled guns and
conical ball included, sufficient to supply the entire
navy of the empire. The armoury alone contains
30,000 stand of arms. At present we have few
troops in Cherbourg. The infantry of the Line
numbers about 1,560, and the Marines upwards of
3,000, but I need not say that, if occasion required,
50,000 men from the stations of the interior could
with facility be collected in the town before to-mor-
row's sunset. The Marines, from what I have seen
of them, are an inferior sat of men, badly selected,
and lacking both that activity and solidity which
characterize our British tars. Even the inhabitants
of the town are apt to indulge in contrasts un-
favourable to the Marines when they see half a
dozen English merchant sailors pass by. That
great marine tersoe (es foreigners imagine), La
Normandie, is, speaking temporarily, a good year
from completion. She hee not only to be coated
with iron plates, but between her decks there is an
immense amount of carpentering yet to do, and not
one of her masts 44 fixed or ready for fixing. I can-
not give an opinion as to her nearing ire a heavy
sea, This, of course, will depend upon the thick-
ness of her plates and the amount of ironwork in
her interior; but I am assured by naval men here
who have given some attention to the capabilities
of La Normandie that she 'sill be perfectly
manageable in rough weather. They express
doubts, too, as to the vessel ever being able to
do much damage in battering, and some officers
of the Marine have informed me that there is
no intention of fixing any steel blade or
pointed horn to her prow. She will be armed
with the new rifled cannon, but this circumstance,
added to the fact that the plates are to render her
ball-proof, will be quite sufficient to make her an
ugly opponent. The Normandie exceeds only by a
few yards the length of the Arcole, and her lines
are extremely sharp and symmetrical. Altogether
she appears at the first glance not adaptable to rough
eervice, but on close inspection the stranger cannot
fail to be much impressed with the great strength
and care with which every inch of her planks is
knitted togeiher. In the dockyards, access to which
is only to be obtained by a written pass from the
office of the Por.`, Admiral or personal introduction
by an officer of the marine, there is no perceptible
activity. The great steam hammers, rivalling in
power those in the fourderies in South Stafford-
shire, are mostly silent, and when I last visited the
extensive workshops only one was in operation.
The only department where you find an appearance
of pressing business is the plank-cutting hall, which,
like all the port establishments, is constructed on a
vast scale. But one vessel is on the slips, and the
three other sheds, whose gigantic proportions and
massive masonry strike the visitor with wonder, are
totally deserted. There appeared to be somewhere
about 1,000 men working in the dockyard in the
various departments, and, in passing, it may into-
reet your readers to learn that upwards of 9,500
men are receiving daily or monthly pay from the
Government in the dockyards, forts, and offices
of Cherbourg. The ouvriers in the dockyard
and arsenal commence work at half-past seven
a.m., dine on the spot at half-past 12, and leave in
the evening shortly before 7. The Digue, or break-
water, that magnificent and marvellous construc-
tion, reposes in silent majesty nearly two miles away
from the shore. I visited it yesterday. As you ap-
proach the long white line of granite, which at in-
tervals is relieved by tower forts bristling with
guns, its dimensions become most impoeing, and
while walking through the vaulted corridors of the
largest fort, it is with diffieulty that you can ima-
gine you are on a breakwater situated in an angry
sea, full 65 feet deep at low water. There were only
about 20 men, including several officers, on guard,
but there are spacious barracks within each of the
four great forts, posse' sing accommodation for seve•
ral hundreds of men. The walls of the Digue forts
arc of inconceivable thickness, and, indeed, it is said
by some old " Cherbourgeois" who know the history
of this work from the beginning, that it would have
been well to have spent more time and care upon an
artificial foundation upon which so stapendous a
weight of stone was placed. I met an old Marine
pensioner on' the Digue, who showed me through
the barracks ; a veritable " Pickwickian" in face
and form. He showed me, with pride, the Napoleon
Helena medal, with the great Emperor's " last
thoughts" written thereon, and said he had been
kept prisoner at Plymouth in the last war. I re-
marked that English prison fare had not severely
injured his health, and the sturdy old veteran re-;
plied that he had had good fare, and been better
treated than he could have expected, but that the
English gave him only rations " for an ordinary
man," and it was of this that he complained. " You
will not make me prisoner again, Monsieur," he
jocosely added, pointing to the fort in whose Hercu-
lean protection he stood. I may mention that there
are very nearly 100 guns in position on the Digue;
but, counting th e cannon of the forts, there are
altogether more than 300 pieces. Of this number
not one is rifled. The lengthening of the breakwater
at the east end is in rapid progress, and also some
extensive additions are being made to one of the
forts on the west. .dpropos of new undertakings
at Cherbourg, another huge battery is being
.con-
structed on the west, midway between the Digue
and Fort Querqueville ; but the foundation, or
artificial isle, is far from completion. I cannot say
whether this will add to the impregnability of the
station. My opinion is that Cherbourg, as a defen-
sive port, is compact and formidable enough, and
needs no further increase of strength. The Arm-
strong and Whitworth guns,whatever damage their
long-ranging shot might do to the shipping in the
docks and the material in the arsenal, would as-
suredly be harmless against those Titanic works,
the granite brows of which frown defiance from
every point.
This morning, in presence of the Port Admiral
and several military and naval officers, some experi-
ments took place with the cannon on the break-
water to test the accuracy and length of range, but
I have not had an opportunity of ascertaining the
results or the precise nature of the experiments.
The thunder of the repeated discharges has per•
fectly astonished the natives, who, though accus-
tomed daily to hear salutes from the military
port, are at a loss to account for the " noises loud
and ruinous" which have boomed over Cherbourg
all the morning from the seaward,
In conclusion, I may state that there is positively
nothing, or next to nothing, doing in this great
stronghold. There are no war preparations ; nothing
but daily reviews of the troops in the redoubts, or
reviews of the Marines in the grounds of the long
naval easerne, which lies " many a rood extending"
behind the huge Napoleon dock. Neither is the
talk here of war. Every evening I dine with a
dozen jovial, good-humoured officers, who are all
ready to say a word in favour of England, French
soldiers though they be, and the general theme of
table conversation over their Bordeaux and nuts is
not as to when the fleet will receive orders to
assemble in the Manche
for a French campaign in
Albion, but as to the excellency of the music played
the yesternight in the Place d'Arnies, in view of.
the forts and the great sea, for the amusement of
the good citizens and their English or German
guests.

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