Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-12-22
The Forts ia Charleston TVarb,r.


In order to give the reader some idea of Fort
Moutrie and the other fortificatons in this harbor
| will state briefly their location They are three
in number, namely. Fort Moutrie, Fort Sumter,
and Castle Pinckney. the Fort Is on Sullivan's
Island, which is principally within the corporate
limits of the City of Charleston This island is
separated from the main land by narrow channel,
which sometimes at low tide may be forded. though
1t would be very unmllitary thing fOran attacking
| party to rely on this method of approach. 1t is
precisely here that that the bridge spoken ola is
clearly foreseen, will be wanted and it is said that
the means OF supplying the want is in conside
rabe state of forw1rdnesS though the results thus
far have not been altogether satisfactory. Fort
MOutrie is the seward side of the island nearly
a mile distant from this channel, that its pas
sage would be measuraby 'in the face of an enemy"
and directly should the commanding officer erect
batteries at the point of landing, which, however, is
not certain to he done Suyans Islands, quite thick
ly built up, generally with wooden tenements. and
horse railroad trayeTses the whole distance. The
Fort itself extensive work well provided wthcv
everything Its guns are many Of them, of the
largest and best description, and nearly the recent
improvements in explosives have been introduced, in
the of which the men are well drilled Indeed,
| may state with confidence that the officers and
men at Moultrie very much excel in this particular
Recenty-within the last ten days-a trench has
been dug around the entire Fort, and. without going
into minute detail twill be enough say that every
thing is being done necessary to place the work
in the best possible condition of defense. She
has recently received six months provisions What
is wanting in men will in measure be made up by
discipline and completeness of deathdealing APP
pontments. The distance between Fort Moultrie
and the city is about three miles.
Castle Pinckney stands in the harbor, wholly sur
rounded by water which cannot be bridged readily,
between MOultrie and the city and can be operated
on only by heavy guns 1t mounts large number
of heavy guns, and has recently been very much
strengthened In 1882, Gen. Scott did much to
strengthen this position, and most of the works
IL. m 4Nwnn nfn
limited number of men has for the last two weeks
been engaged in rendering the fertilization of
really formidable character. Like Fort Moultrlc,
it only wants men.
Fort Sumter rises out of the water further down
the harbor, about 3! miles from the city nearly
abreast of and not over mile from Moultrie 1t
not only commands both the other forts but is be
lieved the city could be eectuay shelled from it.
1t is Thoroughly appointed with all the larger deScrip
tion of guns. 0utwardly it resembles the round,
yellow fort Governors Island, though larger. 1t
is thoroughly bOmbprOOt and believed to be i'm
pregnable 10 anything likely to be brought to bear
against it. Though out at sea- it has a fine well of
fresh water. For some time past upward of 100
men, most of them mechanics, have been actively |
engaged in placing the guns in order The effect OF
Capt Forbess efforts plainly visible, to the
unprofessional eye. There have heretofore been
more soldiers than were necessary to act keepers
Moderately well garrlsoned, Sumter would prove |
an ugly customer to Charleston and its surroundings
should 1t ever come to that One would suppose |
that it would not be difficult for when driven
out of Moultre, if supplied with boats to pull
to Sumter. and in a very brief space of time make
it hot work for the captOrs 10 Moultrie
The United States Arsenal is at the west side of |
the City of Charleston. In it stored upward Of
10000 stands of arms and corresponding amount |
of ammunition and other appointments of war, eX-
cepting large guns. 1t is now guarded, uominally,
by a military corps of Charleston, whose services
the Government accepted to protect it from the
mob 1t was an expert movement, peaceful cap
ture 1t viii continue to be thus guarded Till the
time arrives for making of the extensive mill
taFy stOre-house against the Federal government,
which in this, as in many other things, has been
outwitted by the nullifiers