The Abingdon Virginian. [volume] (Abingdon [Va.]) 1849-1883, 1863-04-10
The Siege Of Charleston.

The Siege of Charleston.
Preparations for the AHack-Hoso 1t sciU b
Mandged- Works of the Monitors and Raft
--Dispos1 Of the 10,pedoes-zAe coatsde
rate Defsnces.
Especial CORES. of the Phila. Press.)
HILTON HEAD, March %, 1868. I
when this letter reaches you the attack, BY
our entire feet, upon the hot-bed of the rebel.
Hon, will hare fairly commenced.
There can be no harm now in giving you
some account Of the great preparations for the
attack and investment, and the cause OF the
various delays.
THE DELAY.
The prime cause Of the delay of the attack
on Charleston has not been with the army, as
many suppose, for it has been said from the
highest authority that the troops have been
waiting the word from the admiral; nor has
the delay heen caused by the weather alone,
but the presence in Charleston harbor of the
torpedoes with which, it has been proved,
Monitors, unassisted, are unable to cope.
REMOVING TIE DISTRACTIONS.
But Capt. Ericsson, Of New York, has de.
vised q plan by which this difficulty is obviat-
ed, and has already sent down four Of these
machines, three of which were lost 10 gale
Of wind; while the remaining one, with diff.
Guilty, the steamer Ericsson has safely towed
into Port Royal harbor. It may be ofinterest
to describe the principle on which these are
constructed.
An iron frame, foated to the waters edge
By iron sponsuns. is pushed ahead Of the Mo-
niter, as she runs in. Its length, from the
bow Of the Monitor. is from 20 to 30 feet. An
aperture is made next to the vessel Of the
shape Of her bows, intended to receive it. The
breadth of the Construction Remover as it
Is called. Is II feet. From each side of the
extremity a strong iron bar or shaft runs
down also IL feet. the Monitor drawing but
from 3 to 10 feet Of water, thus rendering il
impossible for any torpedoes nyer which this
obstruction Remuver" passes to injure the
vessel.
A number Of Iron bars are used, not only
to form network So as to either push for
ward or explode every torpedo less than twelve
feet under water, but also to strengthen and
steady the masts. At the bottun a heavy
tie.bnr unites these two vertical rods, upon
which rests the percussion torpedo containing
several hundred pounds Of powder. Above
this il a hammer which catches in spring no
stiff as to require two men to set it, but cor.
,trncted s.r that the lever which protrudes in
'front.', forming the handle or other end of the
hammer, will ca,lse the spring to give with
little pressure. This il to renanve "piles."
The experiments made npon this machine
in the North have demonstrated the fact that
It is a complete success, and an amount of
powder greater than has ever been proposed
Tor any torpedo before caused no injury to
the vessel, and indeed did not disturb any Of
he ties Of the obstruction renover." 1t will
,e readily seen that under no circumstances
IAN any strain he given to the Monitor, for
upposing the apparatus +, be destroyed,Sas
t fuats independently of the Monitor, sup
writing itself, the worst that can happen is its
Dss.
THE "MoNIToR" FLEET.
It will be granted by even the most san
JUNE that with the experience Of the Mon
aux staring Admiral Dupunt in the face it |
would have been criminal folly to send Mo-
litors unprepared to meet what these arrange
nents are devised to overcome. The Moni. |
ors engaged in this attack are 40 follows:
Tho Passsic. Capt. Drayton the Patapsco,
,apt Armand; the Weehawken, Capt. Deans;
he Nahant, Capt Fairfax. of Trent memory;
he Nantasket, Capt. Geo. Rodgers; and the
dontauk, Capt. Worden, the hero Of the iron
LAD warfare. 1t is but fair to remark that
apt. Worden, though it has been his lot to
ee rough experience with Monitors, is enthu-
iastic in his belief in their efficacy.
The keokuk ia also booked for the affair
n addition to these is the iron frigate New
Commodore Turner which has
cen flagship to the Charleston blockading
Get for month past Her armament con-
iats af ENtrtenn II inch eyrps and f,r,o ON