The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-09-09
THE SIEGE Of CHARLESTON.

The Charleston correspondent OF the
Baltimore An,erican, writing on the 3lst
ult, gives some particulars Of u
NAVAL DEMONSTRATION FRUSTRATED.
At o'clock on Tuesday night. with tie
moon shining brightly and every prospect of
q most prOpitiouS season, the Admiral ac-
companicd by his staff, left tle flagship and
raised his pcnnant on the monitor Weehaw
ken, all the preparations having been made
during the day for a demonstration on the
city OF Charleston.
Al . O'Clock at night tho feet moved up
the channel, followed by the lronsides ami
the sunboats Mahaska and Ottawa. The
moon was then obscurel by clouds. and the
atmosphere getting hazy, with high wind,
the change in the weather was almcst instal-
taneous, aud in few minutes it became
spuaIy, and before 10 O'clock there was quite
a gale Of wind from the northeast, which
rendered il necessary for the fleet to come to
anchor within i mile of Sumter. From 10
to l3 o'clock we had squalls in rapid success
sion, when steady rain, with strong north
east wind, set in and continued until day
light, when the wind suddenly changed To
the west, the clouds cleared away, and by s
o'clock we had calm sea and Il thorough
abatement of the storm.
The Admiral continued in the vicinity oi
Sumter until , O'Clock without being dis
| covered by the enemy, when he gave an or
der fo retire, too much time having been
| lost, aud the weather being too rluptopitious
! for the prosecution of the enterprise. AS
| the vessels turned to leave three shots were
| fired at the fatapsco from Fort Moultrie, ali
| Of which missed their mark.
CONDITION or SUMTER.
The shelln9 OF Fort Sumter had been dis
continued for nearly week, it beins, regard
l l.n f..Sf E.,yt.t
| heen topplca from its parapet week ago by
Gen. Gillmoro's $50 pound Parrott. On Sat
| ur,lay. however, the rebels were observed to
| bring to Sumter q schooner load of cotton,
and to be bnsily engaged in building ira
verses with them on the only corner OF the
narapet which seemed to be uninjured. just
| after sunset on Saturday evening II became
| evident that they had mounted gun there,
| two shots having been fired from 1t appa-
rently to obtain the channel range.
There being still some show OF life III sum
| fer. it was determined by Gen. Gilmore to
again open his siege guns upon it, and Sun
! day morning the Naval battery, now undcs
| command of Lieut.. Reamy, and the siu
| ponnd Parrott, recommended the lombard
| ment. They continued all day Ga Sunday,
| and resumed the work again this morning,
having caused the disappearance OF both the
| traverscs and the gun, and Still iurther dis-
| figured the mass of ruins.
The appearance of Sumter today is that OF
| a vast ruin The rear wall is crumbl,ng
| mass OF debris. The wall facing the sea,
| which presented sucha beautiful and inaJes
tic appearance, with not less than forty clear
| ly.dctnpa portfolios, has had its face SO
| thoroughly cut up and excofiated, ana lis
apertures so multiplied, that. 1t has an air
pcarance through the glass OF broken and
| disiieured mud wall. The rarapet ON all
l i,, frlS
NAV now be regarded as no longer existing.
| Its ,,ap has been shot away q dozen times
1 Int as often replaced, and now small rebel
emblem floats OH the corner towards tht
| e;tv A sutficiency Of men are left IN some
Of lis dilapi.iated crevicCst to replace 1t when
ever II is cut down. How soon the Old iias
| viii be placed on the ruins depends, III :
| great measure, on the weather ana !ne sue
cess Of tue contemplated navai operations
.nn CilImore has silenced the bulldog OF
one side of the gate to Charleston, ana ths
navy is now expected to encounter the olhc
and force its way through the Obstruetion'
placed in It's way. That these obstruction
have been greatly multiplied, and are daill
and hourly yincreased aud dstrengthened, thef'
can be no doubt.
INCREASE OF THE MONITOR FLEET.
On Sunday morning steamer was ou
served hcadlng towards the bar from VI
i North, having something scarcely visible /
4 tow. 1t was watched with much intefeS'
and was soon discovered 70 PC moniao., ..o - :,
Lchigh. Captain Brys0u, which had been g
pected for some days. 4 rough sea was prs
vnllln9. but she cut loose from bar cOnvo
md moved about until &v0 O'Clock III tn
i eyonlng. when the tide serving ehe cain
scroes The bar md Joined her colleagues .
ffOnt of AOg1is Island, making six now read
| or the conatcs