The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-07-24

ans Of Congress, by many esiDgs shei aray sse nav
Ulcers that We do not deem pecss.asy W eater M
ss u MAT conwoversy. suffice Il " ssy No. no~th
standing considerable expenditure Of BaSsomes se,si
me influences Of he railroad the locomotive, NE ss&m
ts sn. 81 sns 'I sss sss ~.,
hearts," toe country vas generally sss'hsd vnh Me-
sound views Of roses and Desoec Of tee srsssers sni
Stewart Morris, Dupont, ar II ne navy, ~ho eeins~c
y retutsd the structures upon ass system q vost
ing 70 crtacstons for the security Of gav ssere5y
relieving our fleets from the nksome Guy Of gard ct
10 esiIer aurels upon the broad o;can er frvprr are
na oil conflict.
Since the last great dscuwou % his noot.s qosrsas
we fortunately have had the nsn struggle % sne iss
susssn war, p acncI argument upon the ssnscen, @
oI'incsons WHICH, except nm toe csahsrs I'M are ne
attacks upon the '.forts and cases Of Bon&s0nd
swtsborg, sebas'onol, ~, vere ell siiores-
qna,e 70 resist ship~ the question s srsss ~aa sh1n
be their character and strength The ehjstsrs 81 is5
ray our fort. need no oaser b, 90 large forts and s
guns in open batteries suos,ifuted and al srcns no
resist siege secuted ridiculous rne obec.ors Of 1853
among whom are Leutcnan. Morton, OF the ensinsers.
enppoIed BY the present Secretary Of War denousoe
strongly those Of 1881 "mAsoDry casemssed css,iss"
and Al the co,oplsin smSi area these
works" and Of those having "xnd onx" being ''conrso
ed and weak"
"a ,y,tem of forsnca.Ons, or OF snyh,us eser says
hsjor Bal Dard (Which requires time and riney 70
struct ana which, when constructed ntenaed so bss
for years. must have leIoiisy ordinarily be
obectos Who in the brief space Of sevsn years on shs
orc hand scout the des " land defence entrcy D.
.ouDce our works ~ 700 strong this PARTICULAR and on
the other erucAe these land de, weak And con
tracted."
~ do exactly understand whs, Lauteosnt Nortous
remedy rs for ell these alleged syis.
the objections made ~ the deren, sorts OF 'mssoary
easemased castles are valid, ind supssute IN biz
essay and however Sotcble the obeoloss may be.
something better proposed invented, Ne must be
content with ,hem for shall chow, hereafter that ma
sorry casemated castles have payed great part pre-
serving eeaporscommercAl ana naval depots (he
and proper objects Of coast defence)-from asssrucou
that they have fulfilled completely the objects for winch
"Assopry cssemated castles" in the Baltic ana Black
Seas though inferior 70 those Of coasxuctoc
rest Of the world the French proverb Un CANON tre
raul I'm pdtsseau Ia mer"-(a gun ashore IL worth .
sebsstopo chiefly by us Eve "m.soDry casem~isd cas-
tes sustained on the 18th October, 1884, without
sibe damage, prolonged land bombardmert, and
rurkh ships Of the ine propelled by steam or towed
by tug vessels into positions Of their own
choice. To the allied fleets armament Of about
$500 heavy guns were opposed some $50 Of hight cbre
the forts After tremendous cannonade Of i've hours
aided by the redoubled FIRE Of the siege batteries those
proud squadrons defiant and retired
utterly defeated with burning bulwsrks ridoled by shot
and sbeDs; and 20 terrible the lesson inflicted upon
r.po did these COLOSSAL es dare 70 rus ss
felves into the crater OF that devourng volcano.
Construct, BY about 600 guns, mostly in "masJary
ctsmated csstee" protected the great port and military
and naval depot Of the Baltic and Russian capt.
tai from invasion. For two successive years did the
mighty srnamen!s Of France and England threaten but
they were overswed by the owning array Of cssemAed
csses which presented themselves and declined the
test"
At BomNsund, one single "masonry casemxsed ease"
bid defiance to the allied naval Powers,
admirals concluding wisely tina. dscreton was the bet
ter part a vaor sent home for 10000 French troops
who with few sixteen and thirty TWO FOUNDER guns in
land batteries, speedily reduced the work.
"SweabuTg indeed, suffered; but from distant
bomhardment, which left her Notifications and her
bors intact and only showed the necessity protecting
at greater distance all great depots great ctes.o
There is not single TACT on record IN the history or the
Russian war; or in tna Of the very numerous contests Of
nees versus forts which preceded H. especially during the
iorg struggle Tor supremacy in Europe from 1892
TO 1910, to justify any We'll grounded fear Of the SUI
hcency Of our own works Of oefence to oppose
maritime attacks The capture Of Kinburn, an i'll designed,
badly constructed and dapdated work, apparent
though lot real exception as all candid Students naval
No conclusyon wassvsr ~ sss8vr Hssnasd ,ssI iasy
remarks can be drawn from this contest OF insignificant
works, armed with low csiores aganst such whelm
ing means Of attack here arrsyed unless indeed
il be his "a fact before well known) that for low sites
(sinar 70 The location Of most Of fortiaca-
tons open batteries are the most inefficient OF all Toe
fort Of Knburn surrendered because was preached
not because its defenders far dminshed by their
because the guns and gunuers exposed in all possible
waya, were put hs de cob1, and the calibres in
capable OF doing any great damage TO the vessels at the
Major Barnard having demonstrated in the first part Of
ms able paper that our epen GERS have fully understood
constitute the basis OF system Of Defence proceeds in
the second part show that the Lessons taught recently
by the great Powers of Europe that the
preparations s altogether inadequate necessl-
ties particularly for this commercial capital Of our
country and arsenal Of all the matsrid for successfully
conducting
Our own great maritime places" says he, would
be the points at which alone an European enemy could
hope to strike great blows-New York pre- nnently.
is left undeended, or Is inadequstey defended, e
immense com merce, it's rich depots Of wealth and mill
ary and naval resources, the lives and property it's
Citizens will be- throughout the whole period Of the war;
at an Implying enemys mercy, and the national
will suffer an ndsOe stain BY such Of is
defences must be calculated to gappe with such arma
mens We know and will be brought against it, and
upon the SUCCESS Of the contestmmense quences
perhaps-as at Sebastopol, the issue Of the will
| depend"
in view OF the vast stake at hazard and "euphteued
by previous abors OF the Board Engineers and by the
opinions Of officers Of experience Major Barnard recon.
mends that an enemy's fleet should be held under an
overwhelming fire from its first approaching the outer
bay throughout s whole passage the city by works at
sanoy Hook, Rolner Snoas, West Bank, Coney Island
Staten Island at the Narrows Robbins Reef and perfect
ing the defences Of Governors Bedoes and Ellis islands
Schuyler and the new work for Pa sU fo
the possibility Of q land invasion Long Island
Major Barnard attaches little importance.
"rhe idea Of such danger has nothing whatever of
novelty in It, That the British army actually did land
Grsvesend bay, defeat the Continental forces under
General Washington at Brooklyn and capture New York
we'll known Tina, 10 prevent the repetition Of ouch an
operation during the last large BODY Of militia
vss called out. equally Wen known; and the Liability 70
almost every ocal paper treating Of the defeuces Of
New YORK."
"a landing in the face of such force could spec lily
be concentrated Tor rather, ouch always would be
band IN New York;, an operation Of great risk we'll
great labor, requiring special arrangements
No enemy will ke this courso so long he with bis
fees Tor wi,h vessels specially adapted to the objec)
reach the city and effect HE object without landing.
Wine, therefore, this latter operation open to enemy
while be CAD with his feet the gunboats the oAtpg
batteries HE feet force hs way within rapge Of the
City from his shell guns or curved Ere, the question Of
Danger from land attacks sinks into utter nsgnihcRncen
The works W prevent this latter opecation of great
agntude as have enceavored tn show, requiring large
amounts Of money and much time 70 complete Those
prevent the former Gland attack Of aively
trivial character
tie lsndng upon either shore Of Long Island and
marching on Brocgyp, the fage OF tie dense snd
Ike population OF New Yors with hordes OF New England
volunteers crossing al lnIoees Neck under protection
Of Fort Schuyler ard Wets Point work and New Jer
sey md Pennsylvania rliiis passing the Narrows,
covered by the forts there thus threatening the eueoys
TANKS and retreat TO his sp3, would be operation
tret might well d. mt the bodies ioe bl should
cesssiy to guer5 agapht the earthen
feeworks could be hroep up troops in very
m lps nf hes