Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-04-16

aud draw up the chains 10 which tho tor.
pedo ertpncls we're atpched. Why the raft not
anchored when cob uose ius cad Of being voluntarily
thrown into the hands OF the rebels do not know
MOVEMENTS OF THE MILITARY
About eight thousand troops landed by Gen Hun.
ter in the Stone simultaneously with the appearance Of
fleet before Charleston. so soon, however Admiral
Dupont abandoned the naval these troops were
withdrawn, and returned to Port Royal. The troops
landed Seabrook Island at the mouth Of the Edisto
have also been taken back to Port Royal
On tho 9Th instant Gen Saxton the river steamer
George Washington, with Capt Bragg OF the Third Rhode
Island regiment, and about fifty of company A. on
reconnaissance the river from Beaufort When about
eight miles from Beaufort masked battery
steamer the first ball going through her boiler and the
second exploding her magazine Seven men were killed
and fifteen wounded. The steamer caught fire and was
burnt though the survivors succeeded 10 making their
escape bringing in all their wounded but two, who
the next day sent in under flag Of truce There had pre-
viousy been considerable of panic at Beaufort and this
added fury to the fame many OF the md leaving by
the hrst conveyance The troops from Stone and Ed to
Royal, and confidence is again restored
POSITION OF THE FLEET on FRIDAY
AT sunset of Friday the 10th Instant the feet SIN
lying of Charleston bar and the Ironsides the Montauk
Weehawken, Catskill, Nahant, Nantucket and Passaic
were holding their positions 10 line of battle along the
shore of Morris Island the leading vesse being es than
two miles from Fort Sumter They had id in that pc
ston since the fight Tuesday The Patapsco left on
Wednesday for Port Royal The delay Of The remainder
of the feet at Charleston for the purpose Of destroying
the Keokuk The had been rather rough the work
Friday and it hoped that it would be accomplished
Saturday The rebel and steamers on the look
out, come down around Sumter every few hours Some
OF them represented being quite formidable looking
affairs They seemed all to be built with roofs after the
Merrimac model One of these is the gunboat Isaac r.
Smith recently captured in the Stno and ched the
Stono by the rebels.
THE LAND FoRCRa.
The army correspondent of the New York Times, writ
ing from Stone under date of saturday last the IIh
instant, Gays:
The military portion Of the expedition against Charles.
ton under Major Gen. Hunter after experiencing disap
pOlntment which you well imagine, is under
ders to return to Hilton Head aud these troops have
been eagerly waiting to perform thu secondary part Of tax
ing possession of such batteries that the navy might
duce 1t would be to close this record of the
cessfu movement without giving them word Of common
dation
That they have done nothing independent of The navy
is neither the fault Of their leader Of themselves Con-
temptbly few in numbers-so few that it would be diff.
cult to convince the rebels of the weakness of the
force, and yet comprising every available that nd
be Withdrawn from other points IN the departmental
would have been sheer madness Gen Hunter attempt
independently The most Insignificant work in this di
rection.
"The division of Gen Ferry was however placed on
shore and for the last week has occupied Coles and Folly
Islands Extended have been made that
show the enemy has left nothing undone to strengthen his
defences against the approach of En force having this
point its base On James Island, where d aster
took last summer there three strong parallels
of earthwOrks, commanding the entire length Morris
Island and precluding the possibility of 10 ding force
there Johns Island, also, the southern bank If the
StonO, brstes with the bayonrts of at least ten thousand
men and the approach BY way Of Wahpoo Creek is also
strongly fortified.
Tomorrow troops will all be at Hilton Head, and
we shall await anxousy the next move whatever it may
be- The op-clads still in the position they took after
Tuesdays fight The Ironsdes get the
until the next of high tides aud the Monitors until
then will keep her company About next Thursday. pro-
badly they will return to Port Royal from the Of
their discontinue"
OFFICIAL VIEWS OF THE RESULTS.
special Washington despatch to the New York Even
ing Poet states that there lack Of faith 10 the Mon.
tors at the Navy Department and among authorities
here On the contrary the Monitors proved to be in
vulnerable to the heaviest guns But ves,e ronclad
or otherwise pass BY Fort Sumter within easy she'll
ing distance of Charleston while the Instructions remain
in the channel Admiral Dupont needs methiag which
can remove the obsructons before be can shell Charles
ton Whether the attack will be renewed upon the
deences u Charleston does not yet to be settled but
1t Is not probable that it for some weeks
despatch from the Navy Department dated at near
midnight Of Monday, the 18th instant says:
Inc REGARD tue result oil THIS
lmnary bombardnens decisive essentially discourage
ing The ability Of the Monitors 10 Withstand the unpara
eed concentrated fire Of the batteries in har
Dor is considered to have been demon as nowith
standing the time they under fire they were not es
sehtaly materially injured The distractions in the
harbor must in way be removed before the attempt
to reach the city be successfully renewed 1t s be-
eved that this be done within comparatively brief
time aud that by cooperative land and naval attack the
city be taken. The careful the pub
shed accounts and the official reports received are Of
much more cheerful aud hopeful state Of mind.
There are some scientific here, however, who re-
gard the experiment in Charetton harbor demonsra
ton not only Of the nvulnersby Of the Monitors but also
OF their inefcency for offensive purposes unless the num-
Der OF their guns be made proporonae guns
they have to encounter 1t held that the CONTEST shows
that the rebels have guns above tenDch English
(Whwoths o. aud seventy poadrs Of their own oonstruo-
ton 1hese pierced the Keokuk because was supposed
that from the popularity Of her formturs shape-sbe
could readily turn off shot Hence her shield was not al
together of IRON
The Department has tn believe that the guns of
the lron-cadg did serious damage TO the forts The IF
een-nch guns readily handled board vessels and
the range Is obtained effectively by guns OF smaller
cabre One Of the ffteeninch Dahlgren guns has been
subjected to test Of over five hundred discharges without
any damage thus far"