Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-01-21
NJ Ner FxpedIfinn.


csive 6 visit from a formidable expedition,
is tOlerably certain. On Saturday two
new irOu-clsds, the Nahant and the Wee
hawken, together with two irst-clsss wool
en- war ships, the Lackawanna and the
IrOquois, left NeK4 York for some Southern
port. A few days since, three other iron
elads left Northern ports, and it is sup
posed that su viii rendezvous at some COM
mon point, giving force Of i've iron-clads
and two other war ships It is hoped that
Charleston is the point aimed at, and that
Fort Sumter will be called on to pay re-
spect to these turreted combatants, whose
15ineh guns throw ball weighing 45O
pounds with force equal to nine hundred
tons. Be sure that something viii be done
when these get into play. 1t is not un-
likely that General Foster will appear be-
fore Wilmington simultaneously with the
approach upon Charleston Of this feet,
thus cutting off the channel of northern
reinforcement to the accursed city.
No act Of the war would cause more
general satisfaction throughout the loyal
North than the conquest Of Charleston and
the appointment of General Ben Butler as
its executive officer. That is just the field
for him; by all means give the PalmettOes
g taste Of that beast, Butler"
The statement that Fort Sumter has been
completely encased by the rebels in rail-
rosd iron has already appeared. The au-
thority for it is letter published in the
New York Sunday Mercury, from an ofti-
Ger on board the revenue cutter Bibb, "
ing off Charleston The writer relates that
he was recently sent by his Captain in
command Of small boat, on dark and
drizzly night to reconnOiter Charleston
harbOr, for the purpose Of ascertaining
whether certain vessel had slipped the
blockade or not. He pulled silently into
the harbOr, Tenturing clear around Fort
Sumter, and prosecuted long search for
the vessel without success. The rest Of
the story we give in his own words;
HBefore leaving the vicinity of the re-
doubtable rebel stronghold, however,
thought I would hazard one peep at it
through my bulls eye. 1 accordingly put
the boat quite near the fort and drew the
slide of my lantern, as the Irishman let
off his gun, faisy. I of course directed
the light as low as possible, and kept 1t
nearly even with the water-line.
"When it rested upon the walls Of the
fort I discovered something that looked
very different from the masonry had ex-
pected TO see. The fort looked as if it had
been iron-plated. My curiosity was fully
aroused by this time, and determined to
make furthur investigations. There were
no signs Of life in the fort, and I was
quite certain that the sentinels would not
expose themselves much on such night
The swash Of the waves drowned the
creaking of the oars in the oar locks, and,
by being careful with the lantern, thought
we could escape discovery. / lnowran the
boat right under the shadow Of the fort
keeping just far enongh away to avoid be-
ing dashed against it. could now see
by occasional flashes Of the lantern, that,
as had expected at first, the whole fort
was encased in a suit ofiron srmor. Par
allel bars of railroad iron traYersed this
iron coating, perpendieularly, from the
base to the upper line. The port holes
were protected by massive projections of
the same material, presenting acute an
giles at every side. The srmor would Of
fer q very serious resistance to the AGO
FOUNDERS even when the many angles
did not cause them to diverge,
and send them spinning off in another di-
rection like so many peas.
"The clever Beauregard has evidently
not been idle since his occupation Of this
port, and it is to him that we owe this
formidable arrangement. Without this
barrier, have no doubt that Fort Sum
ter could have been toppled over by our
heavy guns as easily as one brushes down
a card castle with his hand. It will be
a hard tussla though, now, to get up to
Charleston, even if we succeed in getting
there at all, which do not hold probable,
for, from what have seen, regard Sum-
ter as perfectly impregnsble. You might
as well batter the Rock Of Gibraltar as at
tack it.
"Full Of my discovery, now made my
way back to the ship as soon as possible,
and arriving there, communicated it to
the Captain. He has probably advised
the Navy Department Of it ere this, so
that there is no necessity ofyour keeping
the matter a secret"