The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1852-06-18

range Of thirty yards Ii 10 be scarcely elevated ahoy
The walerline, and will have so much sieadness
give the guns scarcely any motion l. is to be Eeary
equivalent guns on actual battery on shore and what
guns IN actual battery Shore will do in comparison
with guns ahoat, is well known.
LET us fecur again TO the experience OF the present gen.
| eraIion:
"The ntms OF Martello tower va. adopted ia c1nse
quence OF the good defence made bya small ronnd
10 the bay OF Mluelo, 10 Corsica IN the year 1884, which,
although armed with heavy gun only beat oh
two British shipsoi war, Without sustaining any material
injury lrofn their ire.
"Sr Sdnsy Smith, in the Pompey, an eighty qua ship,
The hydra OF th'r,yeigt euns, and another ifigate
ehoed about eight bundled yards from battery Of Two
guns situated on the extremity OF Cape Lociza and
teeed by tower in which fye-and twenty French
soldiers and lieutenant he neoi battle ship and The
irigates hFed successive bfoadsdes till her amnuniiou
was neay expended the battery continually replying, with
slow but destructive eiifct The Pompey, which aon
directed lie fire, mad forty shot in her hu her
carried away, lieutenant midshp,an. and five
men killed. and hirty men wounded Al length, force
PROVING Intellectual neRoation was resof,ed TO- and aer
some hours paey the officer, Corsican and relation Of
Napoleon capituatcd l. then appesred that the carriage
o. one Of the Two guns had failed on the second sho ana
the had been subsequently fred lying the side o.
lne en,oasa'e % 1 50 ,ha, IN act ans rack q az esny
piece oil ordnance
Within our own knowledge upon our own coast, both
IN our revolutionary struggle and during the last
particularly AT Mobile Point and at Sulvan's Island il
shown that single gun shore is worth twenty
FIVE guns OF the same caibre alnat.
But | will refer 10 an occasion which must be within
The memory ol all OF u.s. At the taking OF Vera CiuZ
and many OF these were OF small cabre there being only
one tweny. four pounder and the remainder consisting
twelve sla,een and eighteen Founders, with one eight
pouAder These reduced into twenty tour pounders the
smaIes, size Of guns generally used ship pboald,
the nineteen equivalent 10 twrvc guns.
. The French ships uouated one hundred and eighty
eight 9uns, or computing only one boadsde, ninou -four
The Mexcans permitted the French 10 be towed by
armed steamers into position without moeslng hem and
the hrins commenced on the part oil the as iants f"
refer 10 this aclion because among military men
great msconcepton prevails in regard 10 The affair al Vera
Cruz;
Early in the action, shell from the feet caused the
three OF the nineteen guns The French iea eiahr thon
sand TWO hundred and fifty shot and Shells and, bnt fr the
is nothing for the surrender Of he fort The ex
asserated statements OF injury ipf c:ed The waits by
the engineer ot the expedition, although III, works
built of stone much softer than any used in such works
in the United States,
"Of one hundred and eighty guns found in tie fort
one hundred aud Two We're nor servceabe--tweniy nine
only having been dismouned by the French fire. The
heaviest INJURY was sustained in the batteries where the
explosion took pace-an accident that cannot occur from
like canses in forts. The works of ORDER
old and neglected. and the garrison inexperienced and
ignorant Of military deences No idea OF taxing the place
entertained BY Tho admiral this atacG he designed
to weaken The deisnces soniewha-;o dspnt and annoy
the 2arron preparatory 20 general assant ~ Night u
the culpable, nconceeabe neglect of the Msxuaus
deed urher eHoriS his Oaly sixteen
runs were engaged ia the irht and such ,yas lie in. nj
cheney Of their tic, tha although three Feuch jrigates
struck IN their hIls about hee hundred tmes they
lost but thry-three men in killed aud wounded The
phesenie hued hundred and sixty times, yet
but thirteen hurt Very few, therefore, OF these
Que hundfed and sixty balls could nave passed through her
sides and YET propo zion the guns engaged, the loss
o. the French here ~a upwards OF tour ncs az many
exposed TO the diteet action Of the French broad Sere
dismouned or sllenced which continued TO fire ill the end
bown up. and remainder were on the Opposite
side OF the work, and struck by shot SHELLS whtca had
passed over the walls facing The ships From position
taken by the French, only guns were actually
brought to bear against then, from the Tort
" Had The Msxicans Ihroyu ther powder into the sea-
Or canied Il 10 their barracks and every man, making
piow Of the key, slept through the whole csnnonsde (s
might have been done saey In Their quarters IN the cur
tain casemen,s, the castle 81 Juan Uoa would have
doubt not been as resist the projected assault
as II was when the French first arrived before H."
will read the whole of that account but refer to
u 10 show Tie Importance of guns batteries guns
which are aiioaL The Importance OF building battery
OF Tins kind may be Judged oil by The forces that may be
brought against our harboT deences for, unless force
can be brought against our barbor deences which we
cannot now resist no satisfactory argument be given
why floating batteries should be built bat must also
inform the Senate that within the last six months the
British admiralty have given orders to build more
sailing ships No more sailing ships TO be built, and
larger ingaes into screw ropellers, OF which they have
twenty nne, giving TO them an auxiliary power OF from
tive 10 seven knots. These twenty ships average
each thirty four guns, and burden oi THOUSAND
hundred and four Three OF these ships larger
than the United States ship Pennsylvania and one OF
them carrying hundred guns and beng three thou
sand three hundred tons burden could blow whole
steam navy out OF the water All The machinery OF these
screw prorellers is below the waierue, and therefore
inv vulnerable 10 any but pluDging shot Such the
vessels, armed with iennch shell guns, which will be
brought against our harbors ~ the event oil naval
with either OF the great powers OF Europe.
II u proposed by Mr. Stevens 10 build battery which
shall be shot, ball. and bomb proof against sixty four
pound shot and there will be objection tue adop.
ton OF the amendment OF the senator from Virginia,
10 conform It's resistance 10 any kind OF shot which
may now be used by the navy OF the United States.
There be difficulty in regard to that, because MIR
Stevens tells how the ship is TO be built. To resist
sixty Hour pound shot, IL is TO be built OF boiler plates,
nseled together TO certain thickness and all that IS
necessary rs 10 increase the thickness OF the IN
der to inefease the power OF resistance
will remark that this opposition seems 10 come from
The Navy Department do not mean by this that II comes
from the Secretary OF the Navy Az that department s
administered, the Secretary of the Navy lis
sponslble chief but the business of the department
parceed out 10 naval officers the heads o its several
bureaus. When the honorable from Virginia,
therefore, quotes the adverse opinions of the department
upon this measure il must not be understood 10 come
IRON the chief OF the Naval Department. but from the
naval officers themselves and 10 this resolution which
we propose, we willing TO lei the opinions OF Mr..
Stevens stand side by side with the opinions OF any naval
officer in service
As said before, this proposition comes recommended
TO us not only by some OF the rs naval and military Of
tcers o the age, bat comes from who has made
The greatest improvements in shipbuldng aud IN the ap
plcatlon OF steam 10 vessels and in view OF the n-
nense Importance OF the matter, lf should fail the
$4,000 will be well expended II demonstrate BY
actual trial that II be done, shall have proved
that to be inprscticabe which OF the first military
men OF the have declared TO be important aud pract-
cable.
Mr.. T0UCEY, ! will detain the Senate for few mo-
menls only. must confess that ! am somewhat sur.
prsed at the apparent opposition which exists this body