Delaware State journal and statesman., 1863-03-24
The FORMER sieres Of charIe.ton.

The Former sieges of Charleston.
As the siege of Charleston will soon be COM
mehced by our forces under command Ut General
Hunter, history Of the 10 mer ges Of the
same city, by British troops during the Revolu-
ti9hary war may not b. unnier stag;
iii the beginning Of June, l716, the whole of
the British fleet, under Admiral Slr Peter Park
tr, anchored off Cnnrestln Bar. Previous to
their arrival the city had adopted means Of
jefense, and works were erected on Sullivnn's
Island, mounted with thirty pieces Of cannon, in
u very advantageous situation tor annoying ships
~ their advance TO The town. The militia Of the
province assembled in great numbers for the dc.
Tense Of the capital, aided By severpl Confidential
regiments, and the whole were commanded by
Gen Lee On the 2Sth Of June the Bristol aud
Experiment, each carrying fifty guns, supported
Ny several smaller ships, had with some diff
Guilty crossed the bar, aud advanced TO the at
tuck Of the fort GU Sulyan's Island constructed
entirely Of palmetto
furious eaInonade now commenced from the
shipping, which was returned with equal fury,
aud with more effect, from the fort. The ships
were almost torn to pieces, and the slaughter was
frightful. Firing did not cease till evening,
when tue ships slipped their catles aud Withdrew
from the scene of action Tue Acieon, Of 81
guns, having ian aground, wBs deserted and set
90 fire. Captain Norris of the Bristol, received
a mortal wound. Captain Scott, Of the Exneri-
ment, and Lord William Campbell late Governor
vi the colony, who now served as II volunteer GU
board the fleet, were dangerously wounded, with
more than 800 men OF the crews VI these two
ships only The design on Charleston was. after
this disaster, abandoned, aud Sir Peter Parker
| Immediately SAILED for New York Six days
subsequent to this unsuccessful attempted to
suhjugate Charleston, the Declaration OF indie
prndence was promulgated
On the first af April, 1880 the British troops,
under Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, broke ground at
the distance Of about 100 yards in front OF tie
American lines, which. though 10 more than
field works, the English commander treated with
three parallels, and male his advance ciroum
specify. The place was defended by General
Lincoln, with numerous garrison. On the
Nth Of April, the second parallel being com-
pleted. terms Of cafiuntiOn were proposed on
condition of the defenders being allowed 10 with
draw. an offer which ihc besiegers declined.
The third parallel WINS carried in IL few days, aud
preparations were made for Hu assault General
lincoln, on being informed by his engiuec rs
that the lines were no longer defensbe, con-
scented to surrender the city TN the terms Urigi-
nally proposed by Sir Henry Clinton, in couse.
quence Of which about 5000 men, consisting nf
continental troops, MALTA and sailors. became
|
the following year the royal army at Yorktown
were placed in similar condition, Lord COrnwas
being forced to propose terms OF captulation IN
October 1881. The honor of marching out with
colors flying, which had been refused To General
Lincoln oil his giving up Charleston, was now
refused 10 Lord CORVALLIS, and General Lincoln
was appointed to receive the submission Of the
army at Yorktown, precisely in the same way as
his own had been conducted eighteen months
before.
MOVING A PosT HoLE.-The follow
ing experience in fence building of O
gentleman farmer at Stubenyille, Ohio j,
given in the Editors Drawer of IIarper's
.uagdsiac:
He was very exact man, and, as il
often the case with such, irritable. lit
owned quite ine farm about mile from
town, part of which, along the road that
ran by it, was open. lie concluded t,
fence it in, and hired Dutchman to as
sist in the work Accordingly he wen
out and marked the place where ever,
post-hole was to be dug, SO that there
might be no mistake. In a day or two
the DutchmaD informed him that ever,
thing was ready for setting the posts
For the distance of some two hundred
yards or more of the holes all appeared tC
be dug in the exact spot indicated Blu
suddenly they came upon one that wa
three or four feet out of the line, and wha
made the blunder more aggravating was
that the original mark was still in til
4 place where the hole should have beer
plainly to be seen.
The old gentleman broke out in a trad
of indignation against the Dutchmar
"You fool, you what in the name {
common sense did you dig that hole wa
out there for 7" etc,
His anger, however, appeared to max
J. no impression whatever upon the Drawn
Dutchman, who walked round and rount
II the hole, gazing at it with apparently tn
y most amazing establishment, and at lai
& broke out with, "Vell l would shoost lik
= to know aClo moced dat post-dols out fro,
q de biace Uere puts him :"
The anger of the Dutchman's employC
vanished in an Instant and the old gen
y tleman, when telling this story himsel
. was accustomed to say that he felt pei
G tectly satilied when the Dutchman assure
T. him that he could easily move the pos
= hole back.