Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-01-01
The strensth and sosi'IOn Of Fort samp'


As this is the spot where Captain Ander-
son and his little band are to meet the shock
of South Carolina, since the abandonment Of
Fort Moultrie, we presume our readers win
be interested in the following description of
the defenses oHt
Fort Sumpter is built upon an artificial
island at the entrance of the harbor. The
foundation being Of stone, it must be Of the
strongest nature. That portion of the fort
above the wafer-line is of brick and concrete
of the most solid character. It's plan is a
truncated pentacon, with one side parallel
to the adjoining shore, thus presenting an
angle to the channel. OF the trunoated
angles the eastern, western and northern are
simply formed into Pdn-co8l-pees, while the
other two are formed of two small faces,
making an angle Of about l5o with the sides
Of the pentagon. At each intersection of the
small faces is a sally-poTt The hight of the
parapet above the water-line is sixty feet
On the eastern and western sides are the
barracks fpT the pTiyates, mess hall, kitchen,
&c. Onathe southern side are the official
quarters, which are finished in very hand
some style.
1t is mounted with the heaviest guns of
the United States service, arranged in three
tiers, the two lower being Classmates and
the upper Barbette guns. The Casemate
guns are those which are fired from an en-
brasure in the scarp walls, and are protected
| from the enemys shells by an arched bomb
| proof covering overhead; the Barbette, those
| which fire over the parapet, which exposes
| the cannoniers to the FIRE of the enemy,
although, in this instance, the hight of the
ramparts is so great that there is compare
lively no danger from the shot of an enemy,s
| feet. The armament consists of lao pieces,
| placed in the following order: The heaviest
| guns such as the thirty-two and sixty four
Founders, on the first tier; twenty-four and
thirty-two Founders on the second tier
Columbiads (eight and ten-inoh) and heavy
sea coast mortars on the top of the ramparts
The heaviest pieces are turned toward the
harboT, the lighter toward the land side
which side is further protected by musketry
for which loop-holes are cut in the scarf
wall. The number of each kind of gun I
about thirty sixty-four Founders; the samt
number of thirty-two Founders; forty
twenty-tOur Founders; ten of each caliber o
Columbiad; ten thirteen-inch, and ten ten
inch mortars, capable Of throwing abou
1000 pounds ofshot and 4, 800 pound Of shel
at each discharge.
On the terra parade plain are situated twt
furnaces for heating shot. The magazine
are situated on the inner side of the salll
ports, and contain at present 10000 pound
of POWDER and a proportionate quantity o
shot and she'll The landing TO the Fort
on the southern or land side, and is forme
by wharf projecting toward the shore, an
also extending the length of that face.
This fort would be nearly impregnable
, finished and properly manned. 1t is at pres
ent so far completed that, with little TEN
porary work, it could be made so strong a
to defy an attack by feet of large vessels
Its weakest point Is on the south side, G
which the masonry is not only weaker thar
that of the other sides, but it is not proteete
by any. flank fire, which would sweep th
wharf. Once landed, an entrance may, Q
the present state of the construction, |
: easily made; for the blinds of the lower en-
brasures though six inches In thieknes
may yet be easily blown away, and even
/ this was impossible, scaling-ladders can reac
, those of the second tier, which are not prt
tected in this manner.
This concludes the brief sketch of for
, which is a most perfect specimen of civil an
, military engineering. The whole work hi
been conducted in a manner that reflects tf
=, highest credit upon the engineers. and
I worthy to occupy the prominent positic
that it holds. In conclusion, we take o.
casion to allude to one point of especi
beauty-the construction of the arches
which there, are nearly every variety-tl
: "Full Center" the "Segnent,n Il
' "Groined," the "Askew," and the Gran
pant" and to add, that the walls at their ba
are twelve feet thick, and at the top eig
5 and half feet thick.