New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-04-24
FROM wAsnINGTCE.
Opinion 81 Foreign Omeers Concerning nc
Attack upou Charleston.

OpIni0n % Foreign OGioers Concerning me
Attack upon Charleston.
Fros IN Occasional Correspondent
The conversation and remarks Of the few IeIfO"7
who were present at the attack upon o"''s''' -
A. vel az the opinions Of military eru''' ~ "
rrove tie zane thing: the incompetence " 'o'
mesus and the inadeQuacy Of the MONITORS W u"
take Gpele-hsuded the reduction o. tle iolu'7'.s
.,,;oh d.f.,d the entrance Of tat oty, and 10 -.
a. N.,,l,,as According 10 The tsinony on
srre Fu-oneou officers who have Witnessed seteT,
p eifort of intelligence, however Se", Nouii 'e'e
heer ALE 20 supply the deficiency OF orr material
az war 10 that alone, ana 10, 70 'i's "ao' 0i aVny
~ die commardirE oiicer, who 6ad 10 use su n ma
~ ant 10 BIN, the ilsnece-s of the eN-
.al;,or rnst be atllb1ttd. As Il ias 5een sa,H by
t,sI oorrespopdenfs who WitBe seed the fight, Adj
- Du Pop rs well az his staff officers were by
No. ms satisfied that the Instruments with wbirh
thsy had been prov led would JUS lly pubhc eXpe'.
,s,;o,, IL YVES an experiment., and they have htea
t1 victims Of IT, but that experiment does not dam
ace IN the least degree tier capacity ar officers. and
sl LEES their gallsntry il only all cts the c0nstruc-
tors of the vessels sent TO Admiral On POnt and Tie
rsruLation OF those WHO gave the order OF attack
without previously providing our navy with proper
means Of carrying Il through successfully,
Ii Is seldom that IN such expeditions az these the
invading party confines lie means Of attack excfn-
rvelY 70 the Navy Department The army, and
sspetially tbe land artillery ought to participate IN
and IT is by their combined efforts that success Is
CHAINED. No fortress, in ancient or modern times,
hs5 been rsdHced without the assistance OF lana
baiteriee previously established shore under The
protection OF the Navy. AlgieIs, Bomhrslhd,
Kinburn, all the goat fOrtiiCsuODs recently taken
BY Europe an armies, were taken by the oOm-
binel forces of and md sea. lie II not then TO oe
wondered at that no preparation mad been made 70
avail ourselves Of the ten thousand gadpt men who'
aud.r command Of Gen. Hunter STOOD fllent spec
tators of the fight powerlSss to render the slightest
sssistapce Had these men been put on lrOn-cIad
trapsports on the deck Of which they might have
used their artillery, and, had point OF landing been
assigned TO them there can lie 10 doubt that The re-
puIt of the exIediton would have been very differ
sut. II IL by no means impossible that we might
have secured on shore a permanent footboid and
have established base Of operations Tor tue suocs s.
fol reduction OF their sIongholds.
INDEPENDENTLY of the cooperation OF the land
forces of which we We're deprived, we might have
added 70 the efRciency,of the Monitors by strength
.nug them with some raced batteries such az are
bull IN England aud France for the segs OF cities
These batteries shaped as HsIbosts and are pro-
yIded with two rows Of guns, twenty -hVe or thlfty
Oh each SIDE and clad all over win lron' lhey are
moved by sleam-pOwer, snd the portfolios are be-
low deck az foot or a foot and bali above water
The presence Of a few engines OF war OF that de-
Hcripiiou would have sensbly modified the result oil
the fight inasmuch as the NUMBER OF our guns
tbirty.lwo in all was not Sufficient TO batter down
the heavy walls behind which the Rebels were
blddea. ,., q,
Had all tbese conditions OF success been fulfilled
We might have taken, if not Charleston, Ct least
some Of the batteries and forte commanding lts en-
trance an advantage which would have allowed us
70 hem them 10 sud take the city by storm or famine
Az things staud now, the whole expedition is 10 be
remodeled and commenced again Oh new basis.
The question lemains whether the Rebels will not
avail themselves Of this delay to perfect their means
Of defense, and to provide themselves with the
newlyinvented explosive shell, which, according "
accounts we have from England aud France, can
burst any plate however thick, produce stremendous
EXPLOSION aud set the vessel on hie. 1hese Shells
winch have been recently tried a. Viucennes and
Woolwieh, weighs 2S6 pounds. They are made OF
iron. and are loaded inside with eleven pounds Of
explosive powder. They are thrown by 3OQpound
ers the charge Of which is IS pounds Of common
powder TIE velocity Of this shell 10 $50 feet u
second. II is believed that ship when receives
single one in her hall must sink III few minutes.
There is hardly any dtubt that the blockaderun-
ners which get into Charleston hsrbor a, average
Of two a day, wi J carry abundance Of these new
missiles which will be still more dangerous 10 our
hOuitOrs than the shot which recently disabled
them. The best way 10 couuteract their effect Ia to
sfeei laudng somewhere within range Of he forts
aLd establish eaIthworks, against which they have
proved to be harmless. Until this 10 done, and hoRI
ing batteries constructed, oil attempts against
Charleston viii be Of doubtful success If not dis
tstrous 70 our arms.