The Kingwood chronicle. [volume] (Kingwood, Va. [W. Va.]) 1861-1861, 1861-04-20

Once landed, anentrance may, at the pres
ent state Of the construction, be easily made,
for the blinds fthe lower embrasures, though
six inches ii thickness, may yet Be easily
blown away and even if this was impossible,
scaling ladders can reach those Of the second
tier, which are not protected in this manner
The work is designed for an armament Of
one hundred and forty pieces Of ordnance Of
all calibres. Two tiers of the guns are under
bombproof cascmates and the third or upper
tier open, or, inmilitary parlance, eu bnrbette;
the lower tier for forty-two FOUNDER paixhan
gnns the second tier for eight and ten-inch
coumbiads, for throwing solid OF hollow shot;
and the upper tier for mortars and Twenty four
pound guns The full armament Of the fort,
however, had not arrived there when Major
Anderson took possession; but since its occu-
pancy by the present garrison no efforts have
been spared to place the work in an efficient
state Of defense, b. mounting all the available
guns and placing them in salient points As
we before remarked, the full armament Of the
fort is not in position, as only seventy five Of
the one hundred and forty guns required fort
among that number, nine of them commanding
Fort Moultrie, which IS within easy range,
and the other two pointing towards Castle
Pinckney, which IS well out Of range Some Of
the columbiads the most effective weapon for
siege or defensive operations are not noun
ted -Four Of the thirty-two FOUNDER barbette
guns are on pivot carriages which give them
the entire range Of the horizon, and Others
grees. In addition 70 these weightier prepa-
rations for defense, the walls are pierced every
where for muskets, CT which there are endless
numbers ready and loaded The magazine
contains seven hundred barrels Of gunpowder
and an ample supply Of shots, powder and
shells for one years siege and a large amount
Of miscellaneous artillery stores. The garr-
son is amply supplied with water from artii-
cial wells, which are supplied with the fre
quent showers Of rain In defensive or
strategctical point of view Fort Sumter radi-
ateS is fire through all the channels from the
sea approach to Charleston. and has full
sweep Of range in its rear O. city side. The
fort is sufficiently out OF range from 4 land ar
tillery attack, 50 that all apprehensions for
preaching it from that source may be put at
rest, unless by guns OF superior calibre The
maximum range OF the guns from Sumter is
three miles; but for accurate firing, sufficient
to hull vessel, the distance would require to
be reduced one half of that figure The war
garrison Of the fort IS six hundred men, but
only seventy nine Of that number are within
its walls, with the laborers- 100 all told. as
follows
Officers, 8; Band, Is; Artilerists, IS
Laborers, 80 Total 100
The embrazures for musketry on the side
Of the work exposed to the fire Of the batter
les of Cummings Point and Fort johnson
have been filled with solid tagging, filled III
with lead, and are now bali and bomb-proof,
adding materially to the strength Of the work
Inside, the magazine and hospital have been
protected by stone trayerses, and the parade
cleared
CUMMINGS POINT IRON BATTERY.
The nearest land to Fort Sumter. is Cum
mings' Point. On this point is erected the
celebrated railroad iron battery 1t consists
Of heavy frame work Of yellow pine logs
The roof is Of the same material, over which
doyetailcd bars Of railroad IRON Of the I pat
tern are laid from top to bottom-all Of which
is rveted down in the most secure manner I
thirty degrees There are three portfolios,
which open and close with iron shutters Of
the heaviest description When open the
muzzles Of the columbads fill up the space
completely. The recoil Of the gun enables
the shutters to be closed instantly It Is as
serted. Oh high military authority, that this
inclined plane will cffeetually resist guns Of
the heaviest callibre-first because no shot I
can strike it except at an obtuse angle, which
would cause the ball to glance second, be-
cause its power Of relstence is sufficient to
withstand the fall Of the heaviest shells !
The columbiad guns. with which this novel
battery Is equipped. pear on the south wall
of Sumter, the line Of fire being On an angle /
of about thirty-tive degrees This is not, Of
course, considered favorable for preaching
but owing to the fact that the wall is loop
holed for musketry throughout the entire
length, which of course weakens it a great
deal effect Of shot upon it would, we think
even at the distance Of l.l5O yards, effect
breach withing reasonable time. The work
is il charge Of several companies Of the reg
ular army of the Confederate States. IF en-
ployed to reduce Fort Sumter, this battery
will prove quite formidable.
FORT JOHNSON
H. IL, l