The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-08-25

trees, aud the stone wall aud the rail fence,
| with their heaps Of dead, were once mere at
| rest. the last forever
I Affairs AT Charleston.
/ The Charleston correspondent Of the
| Mobile Tribune, writing from that city.
gives the following account of an excur.
sion in the harbor. during the lombard
ment:
At 9o'clock last night accompanied Gen.
Ripley III MS barge IN company with Capt.
Ross, Of the Austrian army, to make an in
speciion of the forts. We first visited Sum
ter, three and a half miles from the city, and
| found the garrison actively employed in pro-
tecting the walls by piiing tiers Of sand tags
in the inside, some 20 feet thick, the walls Of
the fort being six feet thick, thus making an
| obstruction Of brick aud sand of 2G feet to
resist the eneniy's shot: The men seemed in
the best Of spirits, and from the jolly mirth
which prevailed, 0ne would have supposed
| that tLey were enjoying ffolic. In the cen
| ire OF the fort was large mortar, which
every how and then threw its she'll through
| the air wlirln@ over the eneIny's works on
Morris Island. We were entertained ut the
!, quarters OF Col. Khett, who is iii command
| OF the fort, and who expresses every conf
| ienee of its being able to stand any assault
from the enemy. The quarters of the officers
| and men are very comfortable, and are roomv
and well ventilated.
We next pulled over TO Cumhins Point,
| at Battery Gregg, which is ! 800 wards from
Sumter, on Morris Island While crossing
| from the fort, the shell OF Sumter whizzed
over our heads, while occasional shells from
| the enemy's works were seen to burst over
| Battery Wagner. 1t was a starlight night,
and but a light wind prevailed. We soou
| landed at the beach, there being but little
surf, and walked up through the sand 10 The
! officers quarters. Here we found all quiet,
and procured three horses to ride down to
| Battery Wagner, which is about three quar-
| ters Of a mile down the beach, being 900
| yards from Sumter, in an air line, aud AZ
| miles from the city The ride along the surf
was very pleasant, and had it been moonlight
| would have afforded us q fine sea view. We
passed several water line batteries nld found
the island strongly pickctted, being frequent
| ly hailed before woarrived at the fort.
| The entrance to Wagner reminds one of
| the descriptions of robberssRaves, which he
! read Cf in his boyhOod. Entering narrow
passage from the north side, you pass through
| the centre of the bastious of the work, which
| is supported by immense timbers and raiters,
| covered over with earth and sand some 70
! feet thick. The interior Of tlework is call
| ed the bOmbprOof, where the quarters of
| the men and officers are and the magazines,
| &c. The garrison was all alive, batHe-lan-
| IcfnS were D3SSlUs 10 anu ITO, dflu tuC InCI
were cheerful and i'll good spirits. We were
received by Col. George Z. Harrison, of the
ed Georgia, acting Brgadier, commanding
| the forces on Morris Island, and were pre-
sentcd to Captain Chichester, Chief of Ar
| tillcry; Captain Hill, Chief Of Ordnance; :;
Lieut.. &. NJ. Blunt, A. A e., and Lieut.. West
| Cohen, of Col HarrisonS, staff all efficient
| aud most gallant officers. From the centre
| of the battery weasccnded pair Of steps to
| the east bastion or sea face of the battery,
| over the glacis to the rampafs and parapets.
| From this point we watched with considera-
| bic interest the bursting of the shell from
| Sumter over the enemys works. Our pick
| cts were about $50 yards from the cnemys,
| aud Il detachment was Acng sent out nj the
| time to relieve them. For prudential reasons
1 am not permitted to give your readers
| IN ore perfect description of the works. III is
| very close in the bombproof, but the men
| frequently sleep outside, except when heavy
| shellng ls progressing The enemy's ad-
| vance line is now within $50 yards Of Wag
| ncr Taking leave Of our friends we mount
| ed our horses and rode back to Cumnlins
| Point, Wagner shortly after opening on the
| enemy. ReGaininG our boat we had quiet
! sull back To the city. where we arrived At )
| A. NJ, this morning, the shell OF Sumter, on
| our way, occasionally playing over u.s.
/ mentioned the ilct i'll previous letter
that, in the agreement for the exchange of
prisoners that took place after the stOrming
| Of Battery Wagner, no reference was made
| to the negro prisoners OF the 54th Massachu-
| sets regiment, and that nonc.Of them were
included in the exchange. As we had by far
the advantage rs to numbers the Federal
| General (FOdgcs) who conducted the ex-
change On the part of the enemy, though
fully aware that we held a number Of the
negro regiment prisoners, made 30 aliusion
TO them whatever, knowing fun well that
We did not recognize them as prisoners Of
| war, and that We had refused to do SO, or
even to recognize a flag of truce accompa-
MED by white officer commanding negro
| regiment.
Last week, however, Gen. Gilmore ad-
dressed note to Gen. Beauregard, OF most
| Objectionable character, charging him with
bad faith in not having sent back tue negro
| prisoners, and making demand Tor them,
| threatening, at the same time, to put IN exc
| cufion the rc;aliatOry proclamation OF Lin
| coin, OF the Both July last, declaring that lie
| win execute rebel soldier for every Yankee,
white or black, killed in violation of the laws
of war @, and put at hard labor on the pub
lie works a rebel for every negro sold or de-
| tanned in slavery. | learn that Gen. Btaure-
| gard has made very digniied and severe
reply 10 this most impudent demand, show
| ing the want of good faith to be entirely on
the part OF Gen. Gilmore, who could not
| plead ignorance either of President Dayiss
| proclamation OF the act Of the Confederate
Congress on this subject. The negro prison
ers will most certainly not be given up, and
the issue is therefore directly made on This
point between ietwo belligerenis. The re-
suit is, rs before stated, the war must be
come one Of e1teTnsiadtton, and hereafter
there will lie no more exchanging of prison
ere.
The Charleston Mercury, Of Friday
last, says:
The missiles OF these Parrott guns, which
are distant about two miles aud five eighths
7 from Sumter, are two hundred pound bolts,
eight inches in diameter, and two feet IN
| length, having fiat heads vi chilled IRON
Shells, also of The same dlnunsiohs, are
thrown. Up to Thursday Night about Two
thousand five hundred Of these missiles had
struck the work The damage inflicted has,
OF course, been considerable. Previous 20
Wednesday all the guns on the south face
were disabled The garrison are still full ol
courage.
A TciegIaphie Report of Morgan
Raid--My ystifyins the Northern Op-
orators.
| g. w Ellsworth, the telegraph opera
4 tor who travelled with Morgan portion
| .c ~. Nh, l. .rt.rcly " ana tn1taua cir