Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-05-30
cavalry, and they are not accustomed to act in
concert and in large bodies.


GENERAL DEAUREGARD.
Yesterday morning l waited on Gen. Beau
| regard, who is commanding the forces of South
Carolina. His aids-de-camp-Mr. Manning,
Mr.. Chestnut, Mr.. Porcher Miles and Colonel
Lucas-accOmpanied me. Of these the former
has been Governor of his State; the next has
been Senator; the third member of Con-
gress. They are all volunteers, and are gen.
| tlemen of position in the State; and the fact
that they are not only content but gratifed to
| act as aides to the professional soldier is the
| best proof Of the reality of the spirit which
| animates the class they represent Mr.. Lucas
| is a gentleman of the State, who is acting as
| aide-de-camp to Governor Pickens. Passing
| through the dense crowd which, talking, smo-
king and reading newspapers, fills the large
hall of the Mills House, we emerge on the dirty
| street, sufficiently broad and lined with trees
protected by wooden sheathings at the base
The houses, not very lofty, are clean and spa
cious, and provided with verandshs facing the
| south as far as possible. The trees give the
| streets the air of a boulevard, and the town
| has somehow or other reminiscence of the
Hague about it, which / csnnet explain or ac-
| count for satisfactorily. The headquarters are
| in large, airy public building, once devoted
to an insurance cOmpany's operations or to the
accommodation Of the public fire companies
There was no guard at the door; officers and
privates were passing to and fro in the hail.
part OF which was cut off by canvas screens, so
as to form rooms for the departments of the
Horse Guards of South Carolina Into one of
these We turned, and found the desks occupied
by othcers 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 sta
tionery. In another moment we were ushered
into asmaller room, and presented to the Gen
cral, who was seated at his desk. ANY one ac-
customed to soldiers can readilysdetect the
"real article" from the counterfeit and when
Gen. Beauregard stood up to welcome US, it
was patent he was man capable of greater
things than taking Sumter. He is a 50 uarely-
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 re-
f1ectlve and combative, with a true Gallo air
at the back of the skull; the forehead, broad
and well developed, projects somewhat over
the keen, eager dark eyes; the face is very
thin, with very high cheek bones, a we'll
shaped nose, slightly aquiline, and large,
rlgid, sharply cut mouth, set above a full
lighting chin. In The event of any important
operations taking place, the name of this Off
Ger viii, i feel assured, be heard often enough
to De my excuse 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 Major Whiting a
most able guide and agreeable companion.
VISIT TO THE BATTERIES
Embarked, with few additions to our orig
inal party, on board a 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 1900 were said to be
encamped among the sand hills Any enc
VINO has ever been at Southport, or has seen
the dunes about Dunkirk or Calais, will have
good idea Of the place. Our landing wa.
opposed by guard Of stout volunteers, with
crossed frelOcks; but they were satisfied with
by the Generals authority and we proceeded,
ankle-deep in the soft white sand, to visit the
batteries which played on the landward face
OF Sumter. They are made of sand bags for
the most part, we'll placed in the sand bills,
with good trayerses and well protected mag.
azlnes, the embrssures being faced with pal
metto logs, which do not splinter when struck
by shot. 1t did not, however, require much
Investigation to show that these works would
be greatly injured by fire of vertical and
horizontal she'll 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 upwards of ! 200 Yards
away. However, there were two powerful
mortar batteries, which could have done great
damage if they were we'll served, and have
made the terreplein and parade of the fort
complete "shell trap" unless the mortars were
injured. The civilians and militiamen set
greater store on the Iron Battery at Cum
nings' Point which is the part of the island
nearest the fort, but the FIRE of heavy guns
would soon have DESTROYED their confidence
1t consists Of yellow pine logs placed as yer-
tical uprights. The roof, of the same mate
rial, slopes from the top Of the uprights to the
sand facing the enemy; over il are dovetailed
bars Of railrord iron, of the pattern, from
top to bottom, all rivetted down in the most
secure manner.
On the front the railroad iron roof and in.
cline present an angle of thirty degrees There
are three portfolios with iron shutters. When
opened by the action Of a lever, the muzzles
OF the columbiads fill up the space com pletely.
The coiumbiad guns with which this battery
is equipped, bear on the south wall of Sumter
at an angle The inclined side of the battery
has been struck by ak shot, the effect of two
OF which Is enough to demonstrate that the
hre OF the guns en- bdrbette would have been
destructive. The columbiad is a kind of
Dahlgren-thst is, a piece Of ordnance very
thick In the breech, and lightened off pradu-
ally from the trunnions to the muzzle The
platforms were rather light, but the carriages
were solid and we'll made, and the eleyatfpg
screws or bitches Of the guns were in good
order The mortars are Of various calibers
and descriptions, mostly S-inch and IO-inch
and 1t is said there were II of them in position
and working against the fort, and that IS guns
were frem time to time directed against it.
Shot and she'll appeared to be abundant
enough. The works are 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 sand
hills-tents Of all shapes and sizes, in the
fashion called higgledy-piggledy, hi here and
there In knets and groups, in a way that would
drive an Indian quartermaster general mad.
Bones Of beef and mutton, Champagne and
wine bottles obstructed the approaches, which
were Of q nature to affect Dr. Sutherland and
Sir John McNeill most bitterly, and to suggest
the rejection that the army which so utterly
neglected sanitary regulations could not long
exist as soon as the sun gained full power.
They say, however, the men are not sickly,
and that these sand hills are the most healthy
spots about Charleston.
FORT SUMTER.
Having satisfied our curiosity as we'll as time
and a sandst0rm permitted, we got into a row
boat and proceeded to Sumter. At distance
the fort bears some resemblance to Fort Paul,
at Sebastopol. II is q truucated pentagon,
with three faces armed-that which is towards