The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1851-07-12
FIFTEEN CENTS A WEEK. N
Tho Talcott Court Martial.

Tho C0ntraet.-The curious calculations which
follow, appear in the Richmond (Va.) Dispatch.
continuation of the history of the circumstances
and charges which General Talcott, chief of the
ordnance bureau, has been arraigned before the
Court Martial now sitting in Washington:
n Big Contyact-The enormous quantity of
projectes which by the Carmichael contract, were
to have been delivered at Old Point, has been the
subject Of much speculation, and the question has
been very generally asked, what upon earth was
the occasion for making many for fortfca-
ton We have been led into some speculations on
the subject which we give for what they are WORTH
DR.. Carmichael engaged to deliver 500 tons Of
shot and Shells that is to say, 1,120000 pounds of
those projectiles. Now let suppose all this iron
made up into nine pound shot, we should then have
124,4 shot Of that description. The French
army that fought the great battle Of Borodino, in
advance Of Moscow, in September, 1912, was,
according to General Gourgaud, 10000 strong,
and had 400 field pieces. According to Napoleon.
it fired, on that day, 10000 cannon shot, and
allowing the Russians to have fred as many, we
have 10000 for the two Allowing these field
pieces to have been all nine FOUNDERS, we find that
the weight of shot fired that day $4,000
pounds or 241 tons, that is to say, not quite half
as much as this contract calls for The metal,
then, if made into nine pound shot, was Sufficient
to have fought two such battles that of Borodino,
which Allison thinks, with the exception perhaps
Oh SndlOnS, was the DlOOuleSt ever fOught IN Eu-
rope! Very nearly 100000 men were put hoys de
combat.
Again. we have seen it stated, that 40, 900 can
non shot were fired in the battle Of Waterloo by
both sides. This contract would have fought the
battle of Waterloo three times
At the battle of the Nile, Nelson's squadron
numbered 13 ships of the line and fifty gun ship.
One of these struck \ shoa and did not get into
action. The ships that fought were twelve line of
battle ships, all 74's; really carrying IA guns, and
not 80 or 100 74's of the present day do. These
twelve 74's with the so gun ship carried 93s guns.
The French had one ship of 100, one OF so, II OF
IA, and four frigates of 49, in all 1174 guns. The
two fleets together, then carried 2l12 guns. We
will suppose one-half of these guns to have been 80
Founders, and the other half a. and that they fired
the same number Of shot. In order to have
exhausted all the metal used up in this contract,
they must have fired fraction above forty thousand
shot In order to have gotten rid of forty thousand
shot, they must have fired at least on an averag e,
forty broad sides piece. As not more than half
were engaged at time, and as the main part of the
fight was in a very few hours, this can hardly
be This contract then would have fought the
battle of the Nile at least once probably more than
once.
Five hundred tons of 80 pound shot, make 35, 900
shot Of that calibre. With that quantity of shot,
Old Point and the Rip Raps could sink all the
navy Of England, and think little Of the job