, 1861-06-27

FORT TICETEH,
Col. Harvey Brown received NE with every
expression Of politeness and courtesy. He Is
q tall, spa:e, so}dier}y- looking man, with q
lace indicative Of great resolution and energy,
as well e Of sagsacity and kindness, and his
attachment to the Union was probably one Of
the reasons Of llss It moral from the command
Of Fort Hamilton, New York, to the charge
Of this very important fort He has been
loIg In the service, ard he belonged to the
f}Iat elaaa Of graduates who passed at West
Point dfter Its establishment in 1878 Alter
short AID very interesting conversation, he
procet ded to show me the works, and we
mounted upon the parapet, accompanied by
Captain Berry, and went over I'll the defenses.
Fort PickeDs has regular Fashioned trace, in
outline IN oblique snd rather narrow parallel
ogram, with the obtusc angles facing the aea
al one side and Tue land at The other. The
acute angle, at which the bastion toward the
enemy's batteries is situated, is tho weakest
part Of the work but It vas built for sea de.
fense, us l have already observed, and tho
trace was prolonged to obtain the greatest
amount oi fire on the sea approaches. The
c1ekt Of the parapet is covered with very solid
and Eell-mede mc;lcns Of heavy sandbags,
but one face, and the gorge Of the bastion, are
exposed tC an tnd1adlng fire from Fort Nc
Rae, which the colonel said he intended to
guard against If he got time, All the guns
seemed in good order, the carriages being
well ccastructed, but they are mostly Of what
are considered small callhers nova days, be.
iry S2lcu1ders, with some 42-poanders and
24pounders.
There are, however, four heavy columbiads,
which cc1Ena2d the enemy's works on
several points reiy completely. It struck me
1hat the bastion guns we're rather crowded.
But, even In Its present state, tho defensive
preparations are most creditable to the OIL
GERS, who have had only three weeks to do the
SY,rneuSa ornour$ cf ypnrE hef0re TIA The
brick copings have been removed from the
Iarapets, and strong eandbag traTerses have
been constructed to cover the gunner5, In ad.
dition to the "rat-hoIes at the bastions.
More heavy guns are expected, which, with
the did Of . few more mortars, will enable the
6ut regular siege on the land side, and 50
lopg Is the fleet covers the narrow neck OF the
leland with ite guns, it Ia not possible for the
confcdtratee to effect . 1odgment+
armed, it could infiict great damage on Pick:
erB; but it is neither one nor the other, aud
the United States officers are confident that
they will speedily render It quite uutenable
The bo4ches d 5es, of the fort may be put down
at 40, including the available pieces in tn
easemates, which sweep the a dacn ana =. =.
hardest brick, Of nine feet thickness in manl
places, and the crest Of the parapets on Wnlcl
| The merlons and trnverses rest are OF tuEt
From the Halls 1s q splendid view OF the Who'll
| position, and found my conpantone perfect,
well acquainted with the strength and locus
the greater psrt Of the enem5's works. U
| course held my peaee, but I was amused 8
their accuracy, tThere are the quarters Of on
friend. General Bragg" "There Is one OF thei
best batteries Just beside the lighthouse" Th
tall chimney Of the Warrington Navy 1ar
was smoking away lustily. The Colonel callc
my attention to it-"Do you see that Sir
They are casting shot there The sole re2so
for their 'forbea1ance' is that Navy Yart
They know full well that If they open gu
upon us VIC will lay that yard aud all the Wor
In ruins" Captain Vodges subsequently 9.
| pressed SONG uneasinees on po!ns IS
which cou]d hare relieved his mind very e
fectualIy. He had seen something which !e
him to apprezend that the Confederates had
strong int1enehed camp IN rear Of taear Work Re
Their upon wae enabled TO perceive tn
strong intention to hand aud cany Il
enemy's position. Why, otherwise, d
You care about M intrenched camp, most g
ceIlent engineerf But now may tell II
!. ! thst there Is no int1enched camp a. ol, at
| that your vigilant eve, elr, merely detect,
Confederates have In some places thrown :
he soft eand in front Of their camps, Whi'
would cover man up to the knee OF stomac
' and are cutie useless ~ breastwork. II to
, thoucht q landing probable, 1t Is unparaonat
{ In them to neglect such protection. The
fur1oMs are quite straight, and even til
are deepened the assailants hare merely
J march round them, - they extend tor Ror
only forty or fifty yards. and have no danl
4 emy have mortar batteries, hut they think t
? 5nside Of the fort will not bo easily hit, i
: thFy gs1d nothing to show TINT they Wcro
!. uu.tnted with the position of the mortazs-