, 1863-09-09

va n,
eral Hunter WINS In command Of the land
forces, With orders to cooperate As II
AZ possible with the feet. But Dupon
would not deign to accept the aid of III,
army. He wanted to harvest all the rlory o,
the capture himself He refused to listen tc
re Pians 70 Or act On OF ths snggestlons Of Gen
at grmdstone, gave the batteries one butt,
hurt bis head, ret1eated, and thereafter Der.
another gun.
assault that haye not seen In print, espe-
cially in regard to Gen. Hunter, who has been
ehnmefnlly treated. When Dupont reached
Port Royal, the War Department sent Gen.
Hunter orders to cooperate with him in the
proposed attack After several delays, the
ircn clads steamed up to Charleston harbor,
strong, who landed on Folly Island. At that
time Battery Wagner was comparatively weak
in men and guns, and Fort Gregg at Cum
mIDg's Point was also weak as compared with
its present condition. Gen. Hunter laid be-
fore Admiral Dupont his plan Of q combined
It ack, viz: That the army should land on
Morris Island under protection Of the guns Of
the fleet, and proceed to the assault Of Fort
Wagner, after first shel1ing it vigorously with
his great Pa11ott 100 and 200.ponnder riio
guns. and other heavy ordnance, aided BY the
fleet, until It was well breached and silenced,
when Gen: Hunte5 engaged to capture It BY
he could have taken it is proven By the drst
when It was double as n; stronsiy;
manned; yet Gilmore's men scaled the
wallis, and IL properly supported would
have held it. As soon as Wagner was taken,
should steam in slose under the walls Of Sum
ter, SO close that the upper tier OF guns,
which we're the 1nrgest and most Formidable
inthe fortress, could not be depressed enough
to ttrike the iron clads. At this short range
the monster eleven and fifteen inch balls Of
Of Sumter at every discharge. Al long range
they are Ineffective, as the guns will not bear
sufficient powder to give them the requisite
velocity. Gen. Hunter also urged Admiral
Dupont to anchor his iron clads eaaetly in Ina
lttHeen Sumter ased !Aoatltrfe. In that case
monitors wonld strike Sumter aud every
snot fired by the latter missing the iron-clads
would be sure to hit Moultrie. By thus
means the rebel batteries would help to de-
etruy each other. But AdmiIpl- Dupont
spurned this common eenso advice. and
the harbor could concentrate Its fire upon
them without the slightest danger or injury to
each other. He also moved at just such dis.
tance from Sumter as best to enable that for,
tzeee 70 stf1Ke aiS EesseiA WIN plqng1ng lire
70 rom Y powerful baroette upper uet) guns:
the army, but pitched In head-loDg, and got
whipped. After that Dupont wan:ed to do
nothing more. He refused to renew the at-
tack on any plan, refused to assist the land
force, retueed to coyer proposed landing on
Morris Island, but su1kilY steamed away.
To the urgent entreaty and arguments OF
Gen. Hunters Chief -oEStatf to 70 on with
the tiege, he answered ina rage that *thc
would be id If be should fire another
shot.a And shortly Afterwards he
sailed to Port Royal. Nothing more
was attempted; Els time after that
that Of his ssstaff' and retaincrs in abusing
the Administration and curBine the aAboli.
tionitts." His surroundings are essentialiy
Copperhead. -
After the failure Of this hluudering attack,
Gen. Hunter WAS tied down to eufurced fnac,
tiyity. Els orders were perempto1y to % do
nothing except to Cooperate Htth Dnpont.
who III turn Bas resolntely bent on Soinr,
nothing. Gen Hunter wrote repeatei]lT to
the War Department for permission to open
campaign u Georgia. He cha1sd and fEet-
Will, ia 1sY} sn1endi5 soldiers ythont e,,nie1,,
,aa..+ Tsr, ,in1, r1anar enRioy.
ta;I n which thev cpnid rorI !" imnnaasa aay
yantsge: Finally t6s involuntary idlsness
IN hh var ont
eside1t " ~ ns re'sTa @ hpo 5n neag ne
pont. and let him striFe a hiow that " WoD'd
seud confederation into the heart of Z o 'ths
enemy. He drew M 4 p1an nf n camn.sg1
which in brfet waa n fellows. First n 80 -,
poetd to send his army at or near nepgysr
Georgia, and then march into the Interior Of
The State. Second. He asked the War De-
partment to send him a few more reeinoents
and euuinmente arms and saddles az 4hra.,
or four thousand cavalry; two OF three more
batteries Of light field aftillery Third. Al
the old musktfs that could possibly be ann red.
that would shoot, with which be could % '6 ann
The contrabands. Fourth. He asked for sim
ilar powers as those conferred on Gen. G
TLou1ap. to organize and officer regiments ~
black soldiers. This in brief WAS the dian.
Gen. Hunter pointed out to the War De.
partment, that when In southern Georgia his
army would be in section where 75 per cent,
of the population were slayes; where there
were few rebel soldiers to combat; where
there was an open, fertile, unexhausted coun-
try; where horses and mules could be got in
any number, BY which means be could mount
bis 1hlte infantry; Whete contrabands At for
enas tens o %bo y o
poseai pi. 70 AT ann af ann o1t1cer With the utmost
faploity' ana employ IN Go1quering and gar
neo61ng lae countlEa Mt1tbh!4 b1 eipcnis q Less
thaa t"o nunan1 s1s.sceLsSs(.1.l6 a1aeon,
0eo1k.!, sAe!e - ~ 6lost tpopu1AtAou G4cetaiuR
oEe ml!1on, 15o,UvV o. whom are able. bodied
men, NJ and H4lmg 10 pear arms tor the
Union cause. II Ras N th1s inviting region
Ten. dunter proposed 70 operate Here be
could stT1Ae me feoels oloW IN ne v1tals
ff9m thle ne1o ao coula capt1re Char!eston
ano eaSahnan from Ine !ano elae- Al ne
asked M % vas 1ae consent ana cooperation OF
t9e Mar Degal.ment. gaaen. ne wanted onI 1ew
aoalloha! WINE t1oGPs. Hise LIN alns. an,
munl4on aoa accon.l y. eusnts, a anu ne gngaged
20 20 mug men snousa ~ 4ee tnein ID deo1g1a,
eo4ln CaIo1n3 ana A4apa1na.
was there anything unfeasonsole IN Gen.
Hnntef,s feqnee1 Anything imPfaencabie
IN bis plan And II rot, why Tas he retnsed!
But the fact Is, his plan was not only rejected,
but he Was hluself removed from command
OF the Department. Gen. Glllmore, his jun
ior in ,ronk, replaced him. Hunter was re-
lleyed without assignment OF cause. No vio-
lation Of orders was alleged. It wAs admitted |
that he had done his duty misunderstanding |
to the limited means at his command and the |
restrictions Of his Instructions. .He was the |
first General to organize black men as SOL |
diers. he broke The Ice and showed how
easy It could be done, md what CAPT. /
tai soldiers they would make. |
And get, strange to say, that up to the day he
1eft the Department Of South Carolina,
the Government had not given him permits
sion to raise negro troops nor had It denied
him such authority. It simply winked or
ut what he Was doing. He could |
get no "fnstructions'' on The subject. The t
Officers he appointed for the black regiments