Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1826-03-07
COMMUNICATIONS.
FOR TIE Eve UIRER.
FORTIFIC CATIONS.

permitted TO make observation or two on the
SUBJECT OF the Notifications of the u. S. which has
engaged the attention of the H. of r.
lhe Chairman OF the Committee of w & Nj
mas attempted to prove the propriety of giving for
tihcations, by the example of N. Orleans the last
war He asks what would have besn the fate OF
the country, if n. o. had fallen? The fate of the
country would not have been half as tai as the
late OF the assailans-lor by the LIST of the follow
ing Dec. their ranks would have been SO thinned.
as 10 nave occasioned their becoming harmless and
IN the vver Or the slave population being In ft,e
condition of that of soms of the districts in the
southern states, humbly conceive and indeed have
iong been convinced that the fewer fortiica,!ans
the oetter-the fewer temptations TO q foreign enc
my, ana the less means OF annoyance in the hands
OF one OF domestic character. On this subject
IL Is only necessary TO appeal TO the Savannah
ana Charleston papers Ito the perpetual Patrol in
the latter city, in addition regular guard cost
ing Szo,Vuo per annum, and, to the following
I" division orders dated Charleston Jan rs, 1926,
Issued by" Major Gen. rownsblood in Obedience
to the command of III. h. the Governor SEE and
count ersgLed" NJ j. Keith, Ass AID Gen. I'd
Division
. In consideration of the exposed and dangerous
situation In which those Islands must be lef if the
militia resident upon them required to attend
review so tar IRON their homes, the roops attached
to COL Rice's { l3th) Regiment, residing upon
Edisto, Wadmalaw, and ST. Johns Islands, shall
mol be required TO assemble, ar the time ordered
tor the review OF raid Regiment at Waterloo
rough
IL fact, the experience Of all the S. States, both
during the revolutionary and the last war, clearly
evinces the almost utter mpossibility OF defending
hese countries IN which there is such a preponde-
rance ola population, of which use has been made
by foreigners during externai war; aud of the means
Oh winch defence, such might be made bv
domestic enemy in either an inf Al ~, al
commoton.
As to n. o. it is not a week since read ma
ragraph from II. o. paper, stating that had the
Mississippi been low in 1918, as in 1925 and 6.
The Tennessee and Kentucky troops could not have
been brought down-and that N. O. must have
fallen. Had the sages who conducted this affair.
regarded the objects OF defence, differently, and
instead OF putting Notifications in the I'd Rank af
Ter the Navy, they had placed interior com,nunica-
ton by land ('' water,'' think they would have
shewn more wisdom; but couple the fact stated in the
II. " paper with the other, that to this hour there
Is no interior communication. and will be evident
that not one dollar should be spent on he forts.
I'LL The roads 10 them SHOULD be nsss-eermanently
psssable
But lock to the history of Charleston. II is as
sailable from the point where Sir FL Clinton attack
ed II, and hitherto this channel, 1.-THE Sono) has
never received the least attention Ibousand Of
dollars have been expended on two Wondering
orick iorts, and thousands more will be spent and
all on place that is inaccessible the back coun-
Try; IN tact, to It's efficient population from the LIST
June, 10 the lot Nov, perfectly baIefu is its
climate, and, which in all The states S. of yir
ginla, will! ever be found their ' cheap defence
le recur also TO the Notifications on Point Com
tort, II Is my humble opinion that they will not be
quite as efhcacious Mr.. Calhoun made out. Sir
II. Clinton, according to Gen. Lee, had an idea
oil the kind and ordered a survey to be taken But
the French fleet was then dormant, and he wa.
apprehensiye the service might be greater 10 the
enemy than 10 himself he abandoned The scheme
(See H Lees Memoirs.)
great noise - made about the Notifications of
n L. and they would make believe that the
Port is impregnsbe. Lord w. Howe made use of
the back road by Long Island-a superior naval
power could, apprehend, still do much-but, not
without the aid of divided or disloyaI people.
and without IL, they dare not approach, even with
10000 trooTs. The money wasted at NJ Y. on
Castle Clinton, has been scsndalous. The ueresi
Tyro in warlte affairs, should have seen the
folly of the scheme. The Engineer who construct
ed il never read of Gibraltar
The new works in N. C. are to the full as obiec-
ionable, as thosein S. Z. and from the same cause
No dollar should be expended on either, ill good
and perfect roads are completed, SO that they may
be at all times easily accessible
But, TO me, the fact appears to be, that to do
every thing to create executive patronage, is the
object Of Congress. No civil school for engineer
ing, is TO be instituted; but the funds of the coun
try are to be entrusted to the Colonels the Majors
&c. Sc. OF the Military Engineers--who belong TO
corps whose object is MS different to chat oil
Civil Engineering, the Poles are asnnder. The
professions are almost distinct in France, Hol-
land and Great Britain as a shoemaker and a EAR
peneT.
But have done with particular applications
| viii now ask he advocates oil .he expensive svs-
TEN, what has been, and is the experience of Eu-
rope, as TO Notifications in general way?
Jomini will tell sou there i the fortified lire of
French Flanders--of the scheidi-of the Rhine
OF the Elbe-of the Oder of the vistula-and.
perhaps of the Nie1nen. Will General Bernard
who is said to have been engaged IN most OF Ma
poleon's wars, name one instance, where any of
these lines wasof real servcei Did they restrain
Louis The 9Th, when his armies penetrated to
Williamstad and he Rhine, and CONQUERED Alsace
and Lorraine? Did they restrain Prussia in her
attacks on Austrian Did they check Dum,ourier
in 1892, or Pichegru in 1874? What obstacle did
all the lines in Germany offer to the uiefortovg
Napoleon What, on the other hand, did the
Allies care for them, when attacking, in their
turn, the falling Napoleon? Did they think of
Vslenciennes, Mons, &c? And did no, Peronne
Ia Pueeiie fall before the arms of Wellington al
most, comparatively speaking, without a blow! III
may be allowed TO give opinion / should saw
that the only Qualifications in a general way, TT
to defend a country, are its population. With
loyal and faithful people to form a rampant, the
country would be invincible-without it, its fort :
hcations would be dreadful only TO its friends and
useful only to It's enemies. Mr.. McLane saws,
" Tor want Of forts, the enemy had been enabled
. blockade the Chesapeake canno, appre-
Wolfe at is great pity Gen. Lincoln's sue
cessors do not state his opinion as the possibility
Of holding Charleston in i7e0 II would, be-