Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-06-04

provided with Terandshs fscinv ne SoI,,h ~ g -uo
possible. The trees give the streets the an IS :
boulevard. and the town has somehow or other
"Reminiscences of the Hague about it which Icannot
explain or account for satisfactorily. Tha hasS.
quarters are in q large airy public buildlno onco
/ devoted TO an insurance companyis Operations ~
to the accommodation of the public fire comnanes
There was no guard at the door; officers and pri-
Yates were passing to and fro in the hail. part Of
which was cut off by canvass screens, 30 to form
rooms for the departments Of the Horse Guards o.
| South Carolina. Into one of these we turned and
! found the desks occupied by officers in uniform
writing dispatches and copying documents with all
| the abandon which distinguishes the true soldier
when he can get at printed forms and Government
stationary. In another moment we were ushereC
INFO smaller room, and were presented to the Gen
| eral. who was also seated at his desk.
Any one accustomed to soldiers can readily de.
| tect the "real article from the counterfeit and
| when Gen. Beauregard stood up to welcome US, il
was patent that he was a man capable of greater
things than taking Sumter. He is a squarely built
lean man, Of about forty years of age, with broad
shoulders, and legs made to fit" horse; of middle
| height, and his head is covered with thick hair,
| cropped close, and showing the bumps. which are
reflective and combative, with true Gallo air at
the back of the skull the forehead broad and well
developed, projects somewhat over the kten, eager
dark eyes the face is very thin, with very high
cheek bones, we'll shaped nose, slightly equiline
and large, rigid, and sharply cut mouth set above
full fighting chin. In the event of any important
operations taking place the name of this officer will
feel assured be heard often enough to be nv ex.
cuse for this little sketch Of his outward man. He
| was good enough to detail his chief engineer officer
| to go with me over the works, and found in Ma
| jor Whiting most able guide and agreeable com
4 anton.
| 1t is scarcely worth while to waste time in de-
scribing the position of Charleston. 1t lies as low
as Venice the look Of which il rather effects from
distance, with long sandy islands stretching out
| to close up the approaches, and lagunes cutting
into the msrshy shores. On a sandy island and spit
! on the left hand shore, stands Fort Moultrie On
the Southern side, another sandy island, are the
liees of the batteries which, probably, were most
dangerous. from their proximity and position. TO
the unprotected face of Sumter. The fort itself is
built In the hdeway, on a rocky point, which has
| been increased by artificial deposits OF granite
| chips.
Embarked, with a few additions to our original
party, on board small steamer called the Lady
Davis, we first proceeded to Morris Island about
81 miles from Charleston. Our steamer was filed
with commissariat stores for the troops Of whom
600 were said to be encamped among the sand
hills. Any one who has ever been at Southport or
has seen the dunes about Dunkirk or Calais will
have good idea of the place. Our landing was
opposed by agusrd of stout volunteers with crossed
firelocks; but they satisfied by the Generals
authority, snd proceeded, ankle deep in the soft
white sand to visit the batteries which played of
the landward face of Sumter. They are made of
sand bags for the most part well placed in the sand
lulS, ROOQ LraFeESeS anu well protected maya
zines, the embrasures being faced with palmetto
logs which do not splinter when struck by shot. IL
did not however, require much Investigation to
show that these works would be greatly injured by
a fire of vertical and horizontal shells from the
fort and that the distance of their armament would
render it difficult to breach the solid walls which
were opposed to them at upward of LOO yards
away. However, there were two powerful mortar
batteries, which could have done great damage if
they were well served, and have made the terre-
LII 81 ooEN
unless the mortars were injured.
Tie civilians and mllitiamen set greater store on
the iron battery at Cummings Point, which is the
part of the island to the forts but the fire of
heavy guns would have soon destroyed their conf
dence. II consists of yellow pine logs placed as
vertical upwrights The roof of the same mate
rial slopes from the top of the uprghts to the sand
facing the enemy; over it are doyetailed bars of
railroad iron, of the pattern, from top bottom
all riveted down in the most secure manner. On
the front the railroad iron roof and incline present
al angle Of about thirty degrees. There three
port holes, with iron shutters When opened By
the action of lever the muzzles Of the columbiads
fill up the space completely. The columbiad guns
with which this battery is equipped bear the
south wall of Sumter at an angle. The inclined
side Of the battery has been struck by six shot the
effect of two of which is enough to demonstrate
that the fire of the guns bdrbete would have been
destructive. The columbiad is a kind of Dahlgren
that is, piece of ordnance very thick in the
breach, and lightened of gradually from the trun-
mons to the muzzle. The platforms were rather
light but the carriages were solid and well made,
and the eleTatiDg screws or bitches of the guns
were of good order. The mertsrs are of various
caliBres and descriptions, mostly S-inch, and 10
inch, and it is said there seventeen of them in
position and working against the fort, and that
thirty five from time to time directed against
1t. Shot and shell appeared to be abundant enough.
The works all small detached batteries with
sand bag merlons, and open at the gorge, and they
extend for four miles along the shore OF the island
The camps are pitched most irregularly between
the sandhills-tents of all shapes and Sizes in the
fashion called higgedy here and there in
knots and groups, IN a way that would drive an
Indian Quartermaster general mad. Bones of beef
and mutton, champagne AMI vine bottles obstruet-
ed the approaches which were of nature to afict
DR.. Sutherland and Sir John Mcneil most bitterly,
and to suggest the reflection that the army which
so utterly neglected sanitary regulations could not
long exist as soon the sun gained full power.
They say, however, the men not sickly, and |
that these sandhllls the most healthy spots
about Charleston. The were occupied as soldiers
generally are when they have nothing 10 dO-lOGng
ing or lying on the straw and plank carpets, smok
ing, reading, sleeping. The owners of the tents
give them various names. of which THE Lions
Den," The Tigers Lair" "The Eagles Nest
MARS Delight" are fair specimens, and these are
done in black on the white calico. In one which
we visited the hospital inmates busily engag
ed il brewing claret up, and Bordeaux, lemons, su
gar ice, and champagne, and salads were IN abund
ance, and at the end of the tent was a bar where
ANYTHING else IN reason could be had for the asking
though water not so plentiful. At of the
batteries, the great object Of attraction a gun
made on Capt. Blakelys principle, by Messrs. Faw
cett, Preston Co., of Liverpool, which only |
put in battery the day before the fire opened and
the effect of which the masonry ia said to have
been very powerful 1t is a twelve pSunder-the |
same which was tried last year, thiDk-and bears |
q brass plate with the inscription, Presented TO
South Carolina by one of Der citizens 1t Is re-
markable enough that the vessel which carried 1t
lay in the midst of the United States war vessels at
the mouth of the harbor.
Having satisfied curiosity as well as time and
a sandstOrm permitted, got into row-boat and |
proceeded to Sumter. At distance the fort bears
some resemblance to Fort Paul, at Sebastopol. 1t |
is a truncated pentagon, with three faces armed !
that which is toward Morris Island being consider
ed safe from attack as the work only intended
to resist an approach from the sea. It is said to
have cost altogether more than 100000 sterling. |
The walls are Of solid brick and concrete masonry
built close to the edge of the water so feet high
and from to IL feet in thickness and carry three
tiers of guns on the North East and west. Its
weakest point is on the South side, where the ma
sonry is not protected by any snk fire to sweep the
wharf The work is designed for an armament of
40 pieces of ordinance of all cahbres. Two tiers
are under bona proof easements, and the third CT
upper tier is bdTbote; the lower tier is intended
for 42.poundeF paIxhan guns; the second tier for
eiQh. and ten-iRch coumbiads for throwing solid or
hollow shot and the upper tier for mortarS and
guns; but only IS are now mounted, Eleven paix-
han guns among the nuuaheT, nine Of them I'M
manding Fort Aoultrie. Some Of the eolumbiads
are not mounted. Hour of the 92-pounder bdrbetts
guns are OF piyat carriages, and others have weep
of $50 degrees The walls are pierced everywhere
far musketry. The magazine contains several hun
dred barrels OF gunpowder, and a supply Of shot,
powder and shells. The garrlsol was amply sup
piled with water from sr.Iacial wells. The war
garrison of the fort Ought to be at least GOO men,
but only 79 were within its wall with laborers-1OY
all told-at the time of the attack
The walls of the fort are dented on all sides by |
shot marks, but IN no instance was any approach |
made to breach. and the greatest damage, at one
of the anges on the south face did not extend more
than two feet into the masonry, which is OF very
fna brick. The parspet ia, of course, damsgeo,
but the casemats embrssures are unlnlured- Oh
landing at the wharf we perceived thss tne granite
eopiagS had suffered more than the srickwork, and !