, 1861-05-30


CINCINNATI AND CHICAGO AIR LINE
710a.m. 1904 N.
7z6p. N. 600F. m-
Fcrt Sumter after the Bombardment.
From the Providence JournaLJ
The gentleman who favored Us with so in
teresting letters from Charleston, furnishes
us the following description Of Fort Sumter
rs Inst seen.
The interest attached to Fort Sumter, a1d
the conflicting accounts OF Its damaged condi-
tion, induced me to make every e1ertion to
Wait 1t. Accordingly the first favorable op-
portunity found me In company with about
one hundred other c1cursion1sts, Oh board the
little steamer Coffee, bound to the renowned
Sumter, and other points Of interest in the
hz5boE: As r re- peasSd % the %fortFess, all syss
view the effects Of the shot. AS re came up
from the westward, the effects we1o not visf.
Bile, until We had passed around to the north
side, fronting Fort Moultie, and the Mount
Fleasant and Su1liTan's Island batteries. Here
the impression of,each shot was plainly visit
Bile, penetrating the brick wall TO the depth Of
two or three bricks. At one point, apparently
Of the wall WAS mnch injured, fully two feet
being knocked of.
Proceeding around to the eastward, the
northeastern angle showed but few marks, it
being but partially exposed. Tnc southeast
and eouth sides, fronting rs they did, the Nor
1is Island batteries, were terribly battered,
though not permanently damaged. One port
hole was struck by two OF three bills, ana It's
edges badly broken, somewhat enlarging the
aperture, but the Injury did not extend to the
inner wall The parapet and loopholes which
protected the wharf, were somewhat though
not materially dansged, by balls striking and
crunbling the edges. Altogether, the damage
10 ii a}riH AE
severity and duration Of the attack, and the
heavy ordnance used asninst It, the heavy
s;xsy-tour pound balls only penetrating the
outer brick wall, while beyond 1t were from
five to ten feet Of concrete which age had
made nearly as permanent as solid rock.
Our steamer camc slowly to the wharf, a
well constructed pier, In front Of the main
entrance, and directly opposite to the iron
battery on Morris Island. The stones in
many parts Of the wharf had been taken up.
showing the course Of the train Of powder
which Anderson had laid, aud by which he
might have blown up hundreds had q storm
ing party attempted 70 land on bis wharf As
of, hut were told by the sentinel that We were
not allowed TO land, but while he was parle5-
Eg with one or two, the rest pushed on to tile
Main entrance Of the tort, but we're there ef-
Iectualiy stopped BY the sentinel stationed at
the door. Seeing the impossibflity Of enter
ing there, walked around the fort until I
came to IN open port hole, through which I
managed to enter, and was allowed to Falk
about without mo1estation.
TIE first impression was that Of utter ruin,
and det olation. Heaps CT broken brick, stone
and mortar, lay scattered about In utter con
fEsicn. The walls Of the officers quarters,
were not only riddled by the balls and shells,
burned out, leaving bnt the bars and shatter-
ID walls Of what had been previously nne
b.ick dwellings. From their construction I
I'm constrainld d to believe that they were ney-
CT intended to sustain bombardment. Ifso,
future engineers must certainly learn lesson
from 1t. About one hundred laborcrs were
employed removing the damaged walls, all OF
tirely remodelcd and rebuilt, or else the case.
mates must be fitted up and occupied as
quarters.
As The quarters extended from the SOUTH
eaet to the southwest side, they received the
fire from the Srl1iran's leland batteries, con
comparatively uninjured, though two or three
t1at we're exposed were neatly demolished.
Proceeding around the interior of the fort,
VIC reached the casemates on the east side.
Though these we're not directly exposed, vet
the fluctuations and broken bricks in The
walls showed The effect Of the bursting bombs,
while occasionally IN arch Of the upper case
mates Was broken In. The lower ca5emates at
tie northeast angle, where Anderson main
tained Lis fire the longest, were bnt slightly
damaged Nor we're, indeed, the lower case
mates on the north side much injured, al.
though they were exposed to the severe fire
Of the Morris Island batteries The second
or upper tier Of casemates seemed to take tho
fury of the cannonaGing, many being entirely
destroyed ond nearly all Of them will have to
There we're no guns mounted On the second
!ieE, and those mounted On the upper tier we're
the heaviest, and indeed the only ones that
were capable Of throwing shells, From their
position they were much exposed to the fire
from all quarters, and consequently many Of
them were dismounted. One heavy Gun was
oism0uDted while apparently In the VetF act
Of being fired, the bali striking it diagonally
ocross The muzzlei breaking portion Of, and
60 twisting the gun as to make it impossible
to draw The heavy charge Of grapeshot with
which it was loaded. Tie west wall and case
mates not being exposed, Of course received
20 material damage.
The yard, OF inner enclosure, contains a
fpacc OF tTo OF more acres, well covered with
:he rcmalns Of the demolished buildings. A
l4rgc furnace for heating shot vas on the cast
the heaEJ ten-inch columbind, fixed in post
tion pcintirg towards Castle Pinckney. A
row OF heavy guns which lad nerer been used
were lyiug On the ground Four eight-inch
coiEmblads had been mounted, for wnnt Of a
better carriage, over heavy log, the butts
firmly planted in the ground, while the muz
z!ts were pointed toTard Norris Island. For
some reason they were never used
The remnant Of the flag staff, about twenty
ty-fiye feet, WAS etiu remaining, it's top shat-
tered by the balls. Near It was raised thc reb.
els staff, effxed to q heavy derrick, which had
been formerly used for mounting cannon.
In the centre OF the yard Was the grave Of
roor Doyle, who was unfortunately killed
while sslutiug his eouutry's flag On the evacu-
alton Of the fort The spot Is marked by
plain board with m inscription giving his
name ard age, and the manner Of his death.
On his grave Were placed bomb-shell, can
non ball, some grape shot, and other muni-
uons Of war, emblematical Of his pursuits and
reminding one Of his last days.
The fort WAS garEisoncd By about two hun
dred regular soldiers, under the command Of
Colonel Halinquist. They were mostly Irish
men, ard by their appearance and manners, I
ehould judge them ID be Of the lowest class.
Some Of the casemates had been fitted up
roughly for them, but their situation Was any
thing but comfortable.
As the steamboats, bell warned me of her
approaching departure, I Was under the neces-
sisy Of closing my Eisit.