Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-03-01
FORT 6UMTE r.

FORT SUMTER.
The reports about Fort Sumter from day
to day, run about after this fashion
/. Fort Sumter is TO be attacked and taken
tomorrow.
2. Fort Sumter is no; to be attacked till
the 4th Of March.
5. The Southern confe3eracy having con-
troll of the business, South Carolina is kept
from an instant attack on Fort Sumter--at
which the South Carolina forces at Charles
ton are greatly enraged, and it is all that
Gov. Pickens can do to keep them quiet.
They call him an old fogy, and threaten to
attack it in spite of him.
4. Maj. Anders on has now got the fort
ready to resist all attacks. The Cotton States
combined have not force enough to take it.
5. Fort Sumter is now completely invest
ed by batteries Of immense power. When
the attack begins 3 concentrated fire will
make breach in the wall within an hour or
two at the longest, and the fort will then be
carried by assault if il costs thousands Of
lives
6. The floating bomb-proof battery for the
attack Of Fort Sumter is now complete. 1t
can carry 800 men completely protected from
the guns Of fort Sumter, and can be placed
within pistol SHOT Of the walls Its guns
will soon make & hole through the walls Of
the fort, and its sharp shooters will pick of
every man Of Major Anderson's little CON-
mari as fast as ,,cy show their heads.
:. The famous floating battery Construct
ing at such an enormous waste Of Labor and
money for tie attack on Fort Sumter is moth
ing but slaughter pen. If an attempt is
made to bring il near the fort, Maj. Ander-
son VIII tear 1t to pieces and send to the bot
tJm al the men on it IN half an hour.
s. There is no possibility Of reinforcing
Fort Sumter. 1t could have been done once,
but the time is gone by.
Q. Only let it become certain that a re-
enforcement is absolutely necessary, and there
are military and naval officers ready to effect
it, by means which it will not DO to make
public, but which are sure, if employed.
10. Au attack on Fort Sumter is to be
expected any day. The Southern COnfeder-
acy gay it must not he deferred. Jefferson
Davis is T. take command Of the attack in
person.
Il. Mr.. Tyler wants to know of the Pres
ident. fit IS true that Fort Sumter has been !
reinforced.
2. President Buchanan says in reply, |
he docs not know but rather thinks not
l3. Mr.. Buchanan has assurances from re- !
liable sources that Fort Sumter will not be
attacked during lis term OF ofEce
Il. The story thai some ladies carried
supplies into Fort Sumter, concealed under
their hoop-skirts Is qalAoritatiuely denied. 1t
ali grew out Of one ladys having roll Of
rags IN her reticule for the use Of the
wounded.
Is. President Buchanan called on Mr..
Tyler, in much anxiety to know what this
visit OF JEFF DAVIS to Charleston means.
l6. Mr.. Tyler is happy to inform Mr..
Buchanan that JEFF. Davis mission to
Charleston is wholly one of peace. He be-
lieves in peaceful secession, and Mr.. Tyler is
at the head of the Peace Conference. and
Mr.. Buchanan may rest in peace. If any
trouble comes it will be AFTER his official life
is over how it will be with Fort Sumter
after Mr.. Lincolns inaugural is delivered
can be better known then than it is now. A
special Cabinet meeting has just been held
on account OF the exciting news; SO much is
Beyond dispute.
Later. The Cabinet meeting was called
for another purpose entirely, and had not E
word to say about Fort Sumter
&c, &c, &c.
Though there seems to be no end to the
contradictory rumors about the condition :
and prospects of Fort Sumter and its garrison, !
some points are painfully free from all IN q
certainty. The garrison is Very small indeed,
compared with what it ought to be for the
defence Of so large fortress and through
the culpable implication Of President Bu-
cnanan IN Floyd's infamous treachery. it was
lett without reinforcement, when By prompt
ac.icn on the part of Government, il might '
have been Reinforced with little difficulty
and slight danger. The hasty effort to re-
Ieve 1t By means Of the Star Of the West. as
government proceeding, was contemplate. o
on'c' the rTetence, by implication, that all v
'oinss were to remain substantially unchanc- b
Sd I'll the difficulties between the United G
States Government and SouthCarolina might l.
perchance, be adjusted without bloodsbed .,
Government did nothing to save IT'D the South A
Carolina rebels have done erery hing in their