Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-07-17


Tho Here Of Fort Pulaaili.--soIae Account
! Of the BsmbnFdment.
: Brig. Gen. Q. A. Gilmore, who planned
the bombardmont Of Fort Pulaski, and com
manded the operations by which the redue-
ton Of that celebrated rebel work was effect
Cd, was at the Weddell House yesterday, and
departed last evening to visit friends in LO-
rain county. Gen. Gilmore is an Ohioan,
and entered tho Military Academy at West
Point from Lorain in ls45. The class num-
bered eighty, Of whom forty-threo, the usual
proportion, graduated IN ls4s, the subject Of
this notice standing at the head of his class.
In that class were General Park, now with
Burnside, General Sexton, and General Dun
can, tho latter a native Of Ohio, who Joined
the rebels at the beginning of the war, and
commanded Fort jackson, near New Orleans,
when it fell before our oOnquering feet.
AT tho opening Of the rebellion Gen. Gill
more was in New York, acting as CONNER
cial Agent of the Engineering Department
of the Army, In October Gov. Dennison
applied to have him appointed Brigadier
General, but the President declined because
he had already assigned him to the position
Of Chief Military Engineer Of the Expedi-
tionRry Corps, then being formed for opera
tions on the Atlantic coast. At the end Of
october the expedition sailed Gen. Gill
more was present at the bombardment Of
Port Royal, which occurred November 7th.
On the lst Of December he submitted the de-
tailsof projec, for reducing Fort Pulaski,
which were approved by Gen. t. W. sher-
man and the authorities at Washington. In
the meantime, ho superintended the work Of
erecting batteries on Savannah River to cut
of Fort Pulaski from Savannah. The guns
for those batteries we're dragged across the
marshes, threo-quartsrs Of mile, by night,
the marshes being submerged in water. The
enemy's gunboats were lying in the river,
but the operation Of conveying the guns was
carried on 50 stealthily it was not discovered.
When the ordnance for reducing Fort Pulas-
ki arrived he was assigned to the command
Of the operations against that work in the
double capacity Of Chief Military Engineer
and commanding officer of the forces, with
the rank Of Brigadier General Of Volun-
tOers, in which rank, by the way, he was
confirmed in April last. His force consisted
of 1000 men. The batteries, eleven in num-
Der, were erected on Tybee Island, which is
but marsh on the south side of the Fort.
Corduroy roads had to be built, the men
working only at night. In the day time the
enemy's batteries threw frequent shells, but
only one Of our men was killed by them Pre-
Tious to the bombardment. When the guns
arrived they had to be landed in the serf and
transported over the corduroy roads to the
batteries at night. Horses could not be en-
ployed, and it required ESQ men to remove
one of the heaviest pieces, which weighed
eight and a half tons. It was two and q
half miles to the batteries, and the labor of
moving the guns was immense. They were
swung to sling carts and drawn by drag
ropes. Tho nearest battery was one mile
from the Fogt, and the fsrtherest two miles.
The guns were sixteen in number, consisting
Of heavy 13-inch mortars and heavy riAed
guns, James and PARROTS. Information
being received of a contemplated sOrtee from
Savannah for the purpose Of driving them
away from the batteries, our force was in
creased a day or two before the lombard
ment, to 5,OOO men, brought from Hilton
Head and elsewhere, The rebel force in
Fort Pulaski was 400 in command of Colonel
oImsted, of the 1st Georgia. The force at
Savannah was estimated at between fifteen
and twenty thousand. The bombardment
commenced on the morning of the 10th of
| April, and at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of
the following day the fort was preached, and
the white flag hoisted. Fifty feet of the
wall, which was ~ feet thick, was broken
down and so much damage inflicted that it
became necessary to take down one hundred
feet when the fort was repaired. The fort
had forty y-nine guns, Of which twenty bore
on our batteries.
The result Of the bombardment of Fort
Pulaski was a simple triumph of rife cannon
over masonry, and was the first attempt ever
made to breach at any distance over 500
/ yards, that being ths distaace at which We'll
lingtOn operated for a similar purpose in the
Peninsular War. Gen. Gilmore was allowed
to carry out his project as an experiment in
scientific warfare, although not one Of his
senior officers believed that it would be sue
cessful. Gen. Gilmore staked his reputation
as Military Engineer upon the result and
won, demonstrating a new fact in the science
Of gunuery, and winning just renOWn. The
immediate cause of the surrender Of the Fort
was the fact that the magazine lay on the
other side of the Fort in a direct line with
the breach made by our batteries. Gen.
Gilmore has prepared detailed account Of
the bombardment, which will be published
next month. The achievement did not at
the time attract the attention it deserved, as
events crowded so fast upon the public mind
a. to nearly obliterate all but the very latest
sensation.
Soon after the fall of Pulaski, Gen. Gill
more was taken with the swamp fever.
brought on by his exertions and exposure
and came North in the middle of May. He
has been at West Point since, where his fam
lily reside, recruiting his health. He i.
nearly convalescent, and win soon be in act
i've service again without doubt. Ohio may
well be proud of so worthy a son as Genera
Quincy Adams Gilmore.
I, - pa.,- -, ,--f, n ~,