The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1847-02-03
From nc. Londo dor Dail Yc1os,
y SAN y u AIN DsULLpA

H Sail - 3, uaH M - Ojioa. ~ Is aXtfemendoug
plaeesif at all well manned. No wonilef
htlad hell held out SO long. Had II not been
Tor. t,i the raging of The yel low fever wiihia
Mexicnntwouldn ne ser ha ve Ia i 81 Il without
naval force very superio 10 III & sone illey
then possessed, though tiiey have never
since had any force comparable 10 tiiiat one.
he outer walls Of The fortress are s. foF
Immense thickness upwards of twelve
feet, and in the positions most ex b osed,
The walls are seventeen or eighteen feet IN
ldePthlof said white stone. .is a very
porous and rather soft stone SO that. balls
do not spli, or crack 5itaso much as 'tfitesy
quietly embed themselves. These outer
walls have batteries all around: Tie guns
are well planted, with. Here and iieret y 81
neat corner for d mortnr. = Tie innet wills
are 80 constructed. that IL the. outer waIls
are gained itwould: sill Be atfa Slaughter
Gus expense to. the beseigeer tifths, gatiri.s
son were atall competent to vioiil lie m.
selves OF their position. ss3 ~, ~
We entered the fortress from, below al
The principal gate, which 5:was ofs ettfedl
strengthened very skilfuily contriyeti; 1ap,l
then went along stone passn ge, which
mad seyefal gatcways,S and scunniDgfy stle q
devised marrow passes, with high stionia
walls on each side. This was terminated
by a canal, or moat, with "a tdraw.britlge
over it. We next arrived at flights Of
stuirs, and passing up several vault.like Il s.
cents, we gained the toplof the, grand bat
teries. The general character islic is that
ofgreat strength, aud plenty Of room is
III. They mounted ,I20 long "a
Founders, all Of brass. They were for The
most part, in excellent condition. TIE ne
70 ,nf IL, a.
in such good order as tlie guns. The
powder magazines were each literally a
ldry stone well, plugged at the top with
lblankets,taId having a round metal Tia ov-
ersll,e monlfl'thal opened upon the batter.
1--WE next descended to the inner works.
and gained the secondary walls by cir
cultous route. Besides the necessity to.
the besiegcrs of having guides who well
Know every turn f'the works, the excite
ment ana smoke are q most ceriainto pro-
duce confusion, in which the voice or
presence Of the guides would be lost, nnd
the party dashng onward might only arr
rive ata dead wall, gap hooking out upon
the sea, or the mouth ofaa twenty-four
poundcr.-The circuiious route OF our de-
scent from the upper 10 the lower range
Of walls was entirely exposed to their bat.
teries, tho guns erinning at US oil the way,
like so many black tusks, as we traversed
stone causeways and narrow passes.
| Whole regiments might here be raket
down, after they had conquered The outer
walls. But the chances or war are nj nu-
merous; and one imperfcc,ion in The erca-
test power Gf otherwise perfect) may rem
der 1t innpplicabIe, and perhaps ridiculous.
On arriving al their inner batteries, we
found The guns in wretcheh condition.
they were no better than Chinese effect
'calculated' to strike terror into the mind.
but one may imagine how very angry
The subtle architect ofihis formidable cas-.
tie woul! have been, could he have seen
his excellent arrangements for the safe and
nearly certain destruction of the assailants
thus rendered abortive.
I'VE now descended very wide and
steep Hight Of stone stuirs which led down
into the grand castle square. or little town.
as one might almost call it. Wo entered
at the bottom through stone gatcways, (,be
architect had never missed an onnUrt,,ni,v
for giving The bcsicgcd protection in re-
treating, and time 10 rallv,7 and found ou,
selves in large open square enclosed on
all sides by very lofty walls, the lower par,
of which displayed doors and entrances in.
10 barracks. guard houses and shops Of va.
rious kinds for the sale Of such articles as
II garrison would need. The Governors
house is at The farther end. II was gen.
uine soldiers lodgment, and very bare of
all ornament, except those Of war, for il
was riddlcd all over with tho marks Of shot
and shell. Its strong covered balcony, in
tended TO serve as q protection both from
The broiling sun and the fall Of fmissiles,
was in'many places torn in long gnps. All
The towers and buildings Of any elevation
had been knocked about and 'tIefaced by
The shot and shells from Vera Cruz, previ-
Gus TO The surrender Of the castle. But
lie mutilations aud distinctions did not
materially affect the strength Of the place.
Very few Of The guns had been dislodged;
even the outer batteries were not injured
so us to render them ineffective, with the
exception ola gap Of ruins in one or two
places. There is about miles breadth Of
sea running between San Juan d 'Ulloa and
the town OF Vera Cruz. lss ,iy
"How strongly and. skilfully this fortress
is protected by art the reader has now some
idea; but San Juan d'UlIoa is equally pro,
tected by nature; for, while the defences Of
art which | have briefly described are chief
ly devoted to the side and angle fucing the
i ltOWD, those nnU lcu which fn re Tho main n