, 1861-06-27

.1E6HACoLAs Iay To-
TIE REBEL BATTERIES.
I do cot think ttat any number OF words
can give good idea Of long line Of detached
tain1y found stronger reasons than ever for
dtBt1usting the extraordinary statements
which appear in the American journals In ref
ereuce to military matters, particularly on
their Own eide Of the question Instead Of
hundreds Of guns there arc only ten. They
are mostly Of sma1 caliber, and The gun car
risges are old and t1nsound, or new md ruaely
made. There are only five "heavy" GUNS IL
all the works, but the mortar batteries, three
In number, of which one is unfinished, will
prove very damaging, although they will only
all lsandbag and eazthworks, with The exception
Of Fort Barrsncas. They are made after ali
sorts Of ways, oad are Of very different degrees
Of efficiency, In some the magazines will
come to speedy destruction; In others they
are we'll made Some are OF the finest white
Eand, and will blind the gunners, or be blown
hardly trarersed others again arc very spac-
ious and well constructed The embrasures
arc ueually made Of eandbags covered with
raw hide TO EaTe the cotton bags from the ef-
feet Of fire Of their OWL guns. was amused
TO observe that most Of these works had gal
lerics In the rear, generally in counexion With
called t:rattoles," and which are intended as
ehelterto the men at the guns, In case Of shells
falling inside the battery. They may prove to
have very different result, and are certainly
not so desirable In military point of view as
good traversca- 4 ruah for the ratho1e :"
will not be very dignifed or improving to the
morale every time bomb hurtles over them !;
and assaredly the damage to the magazines
will be enormous If the fire from Pickens Is
accurnte and well sustained. Several Of the
batteries were not finished, and the men who
tnght to have been working we're lying under
the shade OF trees, sleeping OF smoking
lo1g-lmhed, lcng bearded fellowB, in flannel
shirts and E1onched hats, unifor1nless in all
saEe bright we'll Kept arms and 'resolute pur-
pose. We went along slowly from one bat
tcry to the other. visited nine altogether,
not including Fort BaTances, ind there are
three otherr, amorg which Is Fort McR3e.
Perhaps there may be fifty guns Of sorts in
position for atont three miles along line ex-
rege dittaace being ~ miles. The mortar
batteries are well placed among brushwood,
quite ont Of view Of the tort, at distances va
lying from 500 to 2 500 yards, and the NOR
tals are, generally Of callbers corresponding
nearly With our1O inch pieces. Several Of tha
Cun-batttries are put on the level Of the beach
Others lave more command, and one is pa1tic,
ular}y veil pllced, close to the White Light
Ecrse, or raised plateau which dominates
The sandy strip that runs ont to Fort McRae
OF the latter have already spoken. Fort Bar.
rancas is an old furt-I behave Of Spanish con.
st1uction, with . very meager tracc-a plain
curtain lace toward the sea, protected by a
dry ditch and m outWork. in which, however,
there are no gune.
There is q d1awb1idge in the rear Of the
work, which is simple parat!elogram show
ing twelve guns mounted e.. 1drDttte On the
seq face. The walls are Of brick, and the guns
are protected By brick mer1ons Of sand-bsgs.
| The ole advantage Of the fort Is in its posi-.
ton; 1t almost looks down into the casemateaa
| Of PicEeDs, opposite at its weakest point, and
| the guns are weak, and there are only three
| pieces mounted which eau do much mischief
| While Waa looking round there was an en-.
tertainipg dispute going On between two
men, whom I believe to have been two off
| GERS, % to the work to be done, and heard
| the inferior intimate pretty broadly his con
/ viction that his chief did not know his OWE
business In reference to some orders ho va:
conveying.
The amount Of ammunition which eaw diG
not appear to me to be at all sufficient for ont
days moderate firing, and many Of the sho
were roughly cast and had deep 1auges from
the moulds In their e1dcs, very destructive tt
the guns as well as to aecuracy. In the real
Of the batteries, among the pine woods and II
deep brush, are three Irregular camps, which
to the best Of my belief, would not contain
more than o,1co men: There are probahl!
yard and the suburbs, md there are also, an
informed, $500 at Peleacola, but doubt ex
cetdipg1y that there are as many rs {, 600 men
all told, Of effective strength under the com
mand Of Gen, Bragg.