The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-12-20

The Apprehension ui oinlcuity WIN Ehs'"""
IL rcrcasing tho public interest on tho euhjcct
n our coas ind frontier dsfsncos, which had
already been excited by tho circulN Of hr. |
SEWARD calling attention 70 Tho matter. 1t /
must he confessed tha. they st1 net In the Goa |
dion which might bo desroi. Even our own
hmbor. tho most important point along the
whole limo Of coast is not ytt prepared 20 do
clare itself impreRnabls. But stries Of de.
fences on tho largest scale were somo time since
projected, and arc now far advance toward
completion, 10 that wo shall in tirno have our
city adequately protected by woths mounting
nliosothera thousand guns Of The mos APP
proved plttoins.
Yet evea nov, ihoro aro some little pbilicl,S
in the way Of hostile feet, which may di,
poso M to sloop quietly in our hel', though
John Bull sbould rf'.o TO 10 appeofcd,
resolve TO have our hearts blood. At candy
Hook ia strong battery some OF whose guns
can easily throw hundred pound 7hol two
miles This passed, Fort Richmond ani Fort
Hamilton prefcbt a front Of fifty guat stand
ing in tho way Of progross. and further On arc
Fort Lafayette and Fptl Tompkns, the latter
with the two impor aat batteries, IIulsIn Nnd
Morton, near it, ready 20 turn tho fife Of al |, ih
$50 guns upon an onomy's vessel before thoy
came within range Of Port Columbus, Castle
William az the South Battery, all on Govcn5r''
Island. Fort rompkins on Staten bland ~ be-
ing replaced by a barboltc battery, AID al.
| ditonal battorios arc 10 ba constr cod nlo1g
| the bluG TO the south Of Fort IIimil -. Fort
Wood or Bodlocs Island has platforms FOR
twenty-five eight inch columbi,l-, AMI Is pic
| pared to receive It's armament.
Tic entrance from the Sound into the Kist
River il defended by Fort Schuy Tor, which can
accommodate full war garrison in ~ case
mates. 1t is now ree,i ying It's arm ,mcnt. All
Of tho above forts are receiving as last ns po,si-
hlc, tho most approved pattern Of long range
gums in place Of their old armament.
Along the coast south Of us wo have but few
points TO protect. Philadelphia Is do'enici by
$50 guns in Fort Mnn aud Fort Delaware tho
latter Of which is not wholly completed. Bdt-
moro has one fort -Mcllonry-in most eiI5ct-
i've condition, and another-Forl Ctrroll--in
process Of construction. Fort Madison, at An
unpolis Is not yet completed, but Fort Monroe
and tho Notifications on the Rip Rap, at the
entrance Of Chesapeake Bay, are able to prevent
ccess TO both il and Baltimore and Washing
| ipn.
Along the New England coast are completed
Notifications, at Portland Boston, Newport, X.
and New London, Conn. Othors are pro.
i'ctod, or already in process Of corstruc!lon AT
Passport and Wiscassct, Me-, Portsmouth, N.
H., Now Bedford, Mass, and Now Haven,
Conn. Additional fortiica,ons arc also to be
built at Portland and Boston, which latter place
is now defended 10y about 800 guns.
But 1t 10 in tho defence Of our northern frontier
that we arc most deficient, and energetic efforts
should at once bo mado by tho northern tier of
states to remedy this deficiency. Before all
others, New York has a duty in this matter
| Authorities agree that tho ST. lawrence above
Quebec, which divides Va from Canada, is tho
key Of active operations between tho United
States and tho British provinces. During ii
campaigns, from the days Of Indian warfare un
Ill now, this has been field of bloody STRIFE
4, but with all tho lessons we learned here il Il
not yet adequately guarded. We have FORTH
cations al Phttshurg Reu9c's Point, Ticonds
| roPa and Crown Point, and Others arc projected
/
SicKott = uafOor aud Oswnpo, "u' ~ mo NJ
agara River Fasi Niagara at ia roJth and
| Fort Porter near Buffalo.
On the Michigan frontier W. have Fort
/ Wayne, at Detroit, Fort st. Clair, near Tia,
mouth Of st Clair River and tho barracks al
Macknaw and Fort Brady at the Sault s.. Ma
RE. Further 10 the West arc Indifferent Fort
at Prairie du Chen, Wisconsin, and yariou
points in MinnOlo ta, Nebraska and Dlco,a.
A large number Of those frontier fertilization
are without armaments, which will not probabl,
he supplied until tho emergency shall dcmanC
il. Some Of them are worth little except to b,
occupied by Garrisons as a base of operations.
This summary examination of our frontier DO
fences will serve to chow how much roniaits Il
be dore to put our country in that condition Of
dcierco which is the best security we can have
,ainst an uuprovoked attack from England OF
any other power.