The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1847-02-03
! From Re London Daily; lve,uoss.t g 2
s. 3 SAN JUaN DsULEoA s.ss 5t Fl

Uf Tho erinihalion Of The IVA with Spai5
al q niserable remains of ttieir Saarr:
son hnd been sent off 10. fHayanna, Won Won
win two com mpanions ovcrsto lie ciaissile 81
SAM uan 'UlIon. III is a 5iremensl oua
plalcE.esif at all well manned. No wonder
Valad i! heid ont SO long. Had ii not be en-
Tor t'i. The raging OF Tho yellow. fever w,iihin,
IT'S walls and the Want OF provisions. ,hs,
Lex .xsica.swonld never have TAX sn itwithournl
nayal force ery dperiorto the :one they
then possessed, though they have never
since htd 90 my forco comparable TO Tia ont
"f|he outer ,yallsof The fortress are IL 81 oI
immense, ~, thlck uPwards OF twelve
feet, and in the positions mos, i exnosed.
ftIo walls are seventeen n or ejghiee s fe.t 9;n
dePthof solid white stone. ia a l9,;si., = q.
porous and rather soft stone, sosthntT. ba AL
do not split or crack isiso much "a ,ti;;ay
lquieily embed themselves. These outer
lwalls have batteries all around: ihes guns
are well planted, with here and ,here =,
neat corner for a mortar. Tie ;nhne Z W lis
are so2coDstructcd that II the outer " Iii
are gained it2would sill be alta Slaughter
Gus expense to. The beseig ers, ifsths patrl..
son were at all competent, TO void Tie nj!
Iselves Of their position. fit sssss .si:; i5s
f., we entered the fortress from below al
fthe principal Hgate,$ whicIi saas 1of9atesdt
ss!rengti,'and very; skiIfuily contrived; and
ihenEWent along q stone passag ge, swffch
mad several gateways,& and 'cunningly de-
devised marrow passes, with high Stone
walls on each side. This was terminated
by canal, or moat, with 'tlraw.bri;lgea
over IT.. We next arrived al fiahts of
stalrs, and passing up Psevcralvault-like as
| cents, we gained the topfof the grand bat,
terles. The general characteristic is that [
ofsgrent s.reng lh, aud plenty Of room io
|work.sih. They mounted 100 long "a
Founders, all of brass. they were for the
most part, in excellent condition. iie
mortars were large ca libre, thou1y Il i,ot
in such good order as lie guns. The
powder magazines were each literally a
ldry stone we'll ], plugged at the top win
|blankets,Sand having a round metal lid ov.-
er The mouIlrthal opened upon the batter
| les. gia5G. - ,4.s3If7 s51!El 81 fg9iy
"We next descended 10 theiinner works.
and gained the secondary waiiss by, a 4 cir.
cullous route. Besides The necessity Ia
the bseesiegers Of having guides who well
Know every turn ot the works, the excite
'nent and smoke are almost ceriain TO pro
duce confusion, III which the voice or
presence OF the guides would be lost, and
'ne party dashing onward might only orr
rive at q dead wall, gap looking out npon
me sea, or the mouth ofAa tweniy-four
Pounder.-The crcuiious route Of our de-
scent from the upper 10 the lower range
OF walls was entirely exposed to their bat.
tcries, the guns grinning at us all The way.
NE SO many black tusks, us we traversed
stone canseways md narrow passes.
Whole regiments might here be raketl
down, after they had conquered the outer
waits. Bnt the chances Of war are nu-
tnerous; and one imperfec,ion in the grea-
test power (f otherwise perfect) mny rem
ncr Il 'nnpplicable, and perhaps ridiculous.
oh arriving nj their inner batteries, we
found ihe guns in awretched condition.
They were no better Than il Chinese effect
calculated To strike terror into the mind.
But one nuy imugine how very angry
lie subtle architect this formidable cas-.
tie would have been, could he have seen
ms excellent arrangements Cor the sa fe and
| nearly certain destruction Of the nssailants
thus rendered aborlive.
we now descended very wide and
steep flight OF stone stuirs which led down
ihto the grand castle square. or little town.
as one might almost call il. We entered
at me bottom through stone gateways, E,he
nrchitect had never missed an opportunity
lor giving The bcsicgcd protection in re.
'rennng' anu time TO rally,] and found our
selves in large open square enclosed on
all sides by very lofty wills, The lower r part
of which displayed doors and entrances in!
10 barracks, guard houses and shops Of va.
rious kinds for the sale Of such articles as
garrison would heed. The Goyernor,s
house is al the farther end. L, was gen.
uine soldier's. lodgment, and very bare Of
all ornament. except those Of war, for i,
was riddlcd all over with tho marks OF sho,
and shell. Its strong covered balcony, in
tended TO serve as protection both from
the broi!ing sun and the fall Of missiles,
was in muny places torn in long gaps. All
The towers and buildings Of any elevation
had been knocked about md defaced hy
the sho, and shells from Vera Cruz, preyi.
Gus to the surrender Of the castle. Blu,
The mulilu'ions and distinctions did not
materially affect the strength Of the place.
Very few Of The guns had been dislodg ed;
even the outer batteries were not injured
SO as to render them ineffective, with the
exception ola gap of ruins in one or two
places. There is abouta miles breadth OF
seq running between San Juan d'Ulloa and
the town Of Veru Cruz. sLf Il
"How strongly and skilfully this fortress
IS protected by art the reader hasnow some
idea; but San Juan d'Ulloa Ia equally, pro