The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-02-20
The Americans nj Cnutou.

vessels In the attack on the forts at Canton, be.
ginning With recapitulation of the forts taken:
Lsfs bank lower fort, 3s guns; Howquas f,rt,
on the north end of Wampoa Island. 4s guns; Ma
Al guns-totai les guns
The gentleman who kindly furnished the above
account, mentions the following officers with great
praise Commander Foote, of the Portsmouth;
COMMANDED Bell, OF the San Jacinto: and Com
mander Smith, of the Levxnt; also. Lieuts. Lewis,
Watmoush, Guteiie, Davenport, English. Carter.
and Simpson, In charge Of boats; also. Belknapp,
with Adams and Shepsri, mas ers. in charge of
the neld peces-caGed in the American service
howitzsrs,-and Capt. Sims and Lieuts. Kirkland
and Tyler, in command of the marines.
The ships suffered very little damage. The Le-
want had her main stay shot away, and one of her
guns damaged, by shot striking it il the
muzzle
previously taken by the English, who had salts
ned themselves, however. with spiking the guns
aud leaving them. The Chinese subsequently re-
fortified them
letter in the Boston Post also mentions tie
gallant conduct Of Lieut.. Macomb, of the Ports.
month; Lieut. Colcoressis, Of the Levant who led
an attacking party, and Assistant Surgeons Van
Aandt, of the Portsmouth, and Daniels, of the San
Jacinto.
A correspondent of the New York Times says:
was surprised to see the terrible effect of the
sn't and shell from the two sbips which visit to
ine Iig's exhioned. The massive granite wa Ills of
tne nrst tort, which was within a range of leo
yards OF the Portsmouth on the 16h ult were
shattered, overtbrown, aud, in some Instances
pulveilzed to powder as fl ne as -four The accu
racy OF the firing, too, was most admirable. The
eho,ssh.es t: OF the fe5s are provided with doors
hned with iron, which are closed while the gums
are run IN ard being loaded-one Of the Sc doors /
notced penetrated by shot in three places The
saen ourst very perfectly. and into very small
pieees' as the forts were crowded with Chinese
thry must have suffered q fearful loss All the
buildings inside of the walls were unroofsd and
torn TO pieces by the explc siops The enemy
conid stand, with comparative ease the solid shot
OF tne Levant but the rotten shot" of the '.black
assi,, as tney have styled the Portsmouth, and
also tne shei and shrapnel from the efficient how
itzers were altogether intolerable Had the Ports
mouth been equipped with less efficient battery
man Tue one which She carries she could
hardly nave sustained the raI id and accurate fire
OF the four forts as she did on Sunday the 10Th
She fired on that day alone no less than two hur
dred and thirty shells; and the total weight of the
iron and powder which she threw during the seye.
raj engagements was about eighteen tons.
TACT hss come.to light, since my last letter
was mailed which accounts for the unprecedented
skill and accuracy with which the guns of the
Chinese were handled. The French frigata sy-
bile when she arrived this station three years
ago, had lost large number Of her crew by some
very fatal epidemic, and in order to supply their
place she shipped hundred and twenty Chinese,
who remained with her till about two months ago,
when she was ordered home and they were dis
charged. These men, with all the advantages of
strict and proracted French discipline and
tralhing, were in the forts, employing their supe-
rior skill and courage in working their powerful
guns, and the fact of their presence must have en-
ooidened Their counfrymen to a resistance more
pertinaeous and effective than they would other
wise have dared to offer.
Of the explosion so fatal TO our countrymep, the
same correspondent, says:
A mine had been prepared-the powder deposi-
ted and the train laid. Lieutenant Beknap who
was supeIintend!Dg it. had gone away for mo.
lnent IN order TO direct the removal of a heavy
gun upon the mouth of the mine, when one of the
workmen carelessly struck the steel pointed end
oi nis crowoar against stone, upon which the
train was laid. Asmight have been expected it
struck nfe ana spark communicated to The DOW.
der The man who was using the crowbar "a
seaman from he Portsmouth) aud another seamen
from the same ship were blown 10 pieces, and
Their arms and legs and mangled bodies scattered
Ia ah directions. A bOatiwains mate from the San
Jacinto was also Instantly killed. Two men from
tue portsmouth and seven from the Levant were
-w"unded-most of them severely, though il is be
h=Ved they viii all rtcoTer. Lieutenant Bell
knaps OF cape " as narrow one. lie was return
Ing and was within few feet of The mine when
the explosion took place.
The f,llowiug is the list of the killed and the
wounded of the crews of the San .Jsciuto. and
Portsmouth and Levant during the capture and
destruction Of the forts:
San Jacinfo-Kil ed-Edward Mullen, 'coxswsin;
James hoag land, carpenters mate; VIM MsckUn
seaman Alfred Turner, coxswan; Jas Gibsoo, boat
swans mate. wounded smith Benjamin, ordina.
ry seaman; las McGreevy, seaman; John Brow sea-
man; William Johnson, coxswap Thomas Robin
SOP, ordinsry seaman; r. B. Petro !andsman; John
Mltchei'; qIdlnaIy seaman; John Stanton. ordinary
seamani VIM Vanhoutea spprsntice boz; Thomas
Pant sny, coal hesver; Nicholas Dillon coal heayer
A. Mcintosh, captain forecastle.
Portsmouth - Killed lewis Hetzel, apprentice
ooy' 1hoInhs Grouse, apprentice boy; Chas Beam,
seaman; Eaward Hughes. seaman. Wounded. Pat.
Tlek melvlne, private marine; Thomas Gaynor ordi.
ceporal n srines; Rics'd Crosby, ordinary seaman;
marine
Lerant KILLED Edward Riley ordinary ..aman.
Wounoed Earl Ep gsh, lieut. severe couiusion;
Jonathan Murray, bOa,swain's mate severely; John
Russell, ordinary seaman, do ; VIM. Boyce, marine,
slightly.
The mails by the Europa, al Boston. contain
some few additional matters of interest from China
The followng is an extract from the circular of the
American house of A. Heard & Co., dated Hang
Kong, December 13:
Admiral Seymour has stated in a dspatch In
Sir John Bowring that having command of the
river defences, he has no other operation in imme
d ate contemplation beyond the maintenance ee of his
Government to determine whether the present on.
portunity shall be made available to enforce IN.
treaty stipuations which the Canton Government
have been hitherto allowed to invade with impu.
nifty.
The condition of the country. around Canton
is described as being most alarming, as, owing to
the withdrawal OF troops for the defence of the
city the various districts overrun with lawless
bands. Food is becoming scarce and dear, and
the rebels are gaining adherents fast"
A int 20
dated Singapore, December %. says:
"Tae foreign factories were all burnt down bv
the Chinese on the Is h inst. The British fleet
had in consequence renewed the bombardment
Of the city
A letter from D. n spoouer Esq, to the Boz
ton Exchange News Room, da:ed Hong Kong,
Dec Is, says:
'The u. s steamer Levant Is near the facto>
ries The San Jaeinto Gag ship Ia a. Whan-
poa. The Portsmouth is At Hong Kong, bound TO
Shaugbae. Our officers and men have exhibited
the greatest gsllantry and skill in the engagements
with the Barrier FORTS and on guard duty si Cam
ton. None of the officers of the squadron were
wounded In the recent engagements
Admiral Seymour sends to the Admiralty dis.
patch dated At Canton, Dec a. from which We
take the following statement with reference to the
operations Of the American naval force:
"The American ships of war completed the de-
molition of the Barrier forts On the 9th, anddrop>
psd down to Whampoa. These forts we're Of
enormous strength and solidiiy, being entirely