The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-04-26
The Distractions IN the Savannah and
Charleston Rivers.

lLc savannah anu charleston RIVERS
from q captured prisoner who has re-
Gently taken the oath Of alleriauce
Our informant, as the time Of the break
ing out Of the war, lived in Co uub q
). g., and under the excitement and
pressure Of the moment Joined the rebel
forces at Fort MouitUe, where he re-
NAMED for two months and then went
70 Morris Island There he was station
cd Unt;l sumter. was captured. and in
June, 1851, left with the LIST Regiment
South Carolina Infantry, Colonel Maxy
Gregg (sinco killed. for Virginia. Sub
seqUentiy he Joined the Wise Legion
stationed in Western Virginia, and upon
being discharged from that command
Joined the lst Regiment South Carolina
Artillery, Col. Calhoun, stationed at
Fort sumter, Charleston, where he was
IN April last, when that iCrtidcalion
was Uombarded 10y FarTlgut- At the
time Uf the bombardmeuJ Col Rheit
was III command, Col Calhoun having
been kiL,d in @ duel by Col Rhett
During The bombardment there were
five companies in the fort, averaging
about ser nty men each The number
of guns IN the fort, including mortars.
was l03. During the bombaldmert
upward Of one hundred men were
killed and wounded Fifteen men
were killed at the explosion Of the
magazine on the southwest corner OF
the fort, facing the City Of Charleston
The fort ut the present time Is a perfect
mass OF ruins, only five guns remaining
mounted and IN a condition 10 be
worked AT the time our informant
left Charleston garrison Of two com
panies was still keps IN the ruins Of the
Tort These We're relieved every fort
night By way Of the north side They
arc proPisI0ned from day to day 10y
means OF small boats from Charleston.
10y way Of Mount Pleasant and SulIi-
vans Island. Fort Johnston, on James
Island, $ Jiii in the rebel hands. contains
u large guns, l-inch columbiads, while
III the oUJwOgks there are three bate
ries numbering about eight guns each,
mostly of small ca.iber. On the we-.
end OF Suiliyan's Island there are three
batteries of about five guns each; al
FCIJ MOuluic, on the same island, there
are 81 guns and mOrtsrs; Battery Bee,
on the East OF Mouitrie, mounts ) guns.
There are tTO other batteries mount
ing from four To five aule o.,uh. From
the rear Of FcIt AuulLGe 10 41Ouut
Pleasant there Is q bridge constructed
Tor the purpose Of transporting troops,
ammunition and subsistence TO the bat
teries on Suliivaus Island Beside
these Notifications there are Fort Rip
ley, Castle PiclEney, and very styoug
battery on the city wharf Fort biVlc,
Is about q mile and q Laifir IN Sumter,
and half mile from Fort Johnston i,
IS built in the center OF the river and
mounts fourteen heavy guns Castle
P.czuey is between ple-ua!I and three
quarters OF milo from the Cl,y,
and mounts ave or six suns most Y
52pouud rifles The battery on tu-
wharf Is strongly protected Uy mur.Ius.
and mounts eight large guns Iu ro
gard TO the distractions, there gu.
lhirty-two torpedUes laid on "a Gir,c.
line in the Charleston River, from Fort
Johnston to Mount Pleasant, the en-
tire width OF tho harbor They con-
sist of common beer barrels, sautd ia
and outside, and fastened together by
q cable 10 the bottom Some OF them
contain GJJ aud 40 pounds OF powder
The lanyards which are attached TO
the center OF these viliainous insuu-
meut5 are screwed into the end ID
each barrel, and so arranged uesr ,h-
surface tAa- they viii explode the toll
peio with Is pounds Of pressure from
anything coming ia contact with them.
At the front Of Fort Ripley there are
-Jiles driven across the river 90 prevent
vessels from passing that point From
SuIu-er 10 Cumming Point and oGlis-
vans Island there arc JoIpeuOg5 s.uil-
lar 90 Che above laid across the river.
Beside these there are logs chained to-
es.Aer across Tie river mostly from
Fort Johnston to Sull.yau5 Island
Nearly all the stesP.es iu the city bad
been taken down four weeks AGO, when
our informant Left Charleston 10 PIE
vent our forces from obtaining any par
tiyUlar range A great poFs.Cu OF tie
CITY, from the wharf 20 the Meeting
Street, has been battered down by the
fleet There are now no residents iU
that locality.
In regard TO the Instructions I'm Sa-
vaunah River, from TLuudcrJolt Bat
terry % Warsaw Sound, tLe E,Lflsha G.
lad down live oak ioes and timber,
from S-.ddevay River TO TIE marsh
opposite At place called the SIS
t-rs, three little islands ttclow ICr
uer focks) IN the middle of t.lc river,
tho EeOeI5 have sunk hal.-ar5 fo1Deag.s
extending from Wilmington Island 10
the Sisters, and thence 70 SEiddeway
Battery Iuey are little larger than
lager beer barrels, and charged with
powder and illuminate, and VIII explode
On slight pressure. Beside these. there
are Others IN the Savannah River, lu re
gard u which ouc informant is not
thoroughly posted. Our Informant says.
within the last nine months, All Of tEe
British subjects unable % take out So
writ OF LaD. as corpus, have been COM
scjptcu. an other foreigners have
yeeu forced into tAe ranks al taa point
Of the h5yCueL Tie general oe-ir.
among tic middle and laaorile cia-se.
who ls1ye been Imprisoned is cor peace
IS many oil their families arc Oh the
verge IL starvation and tIey cannot
ge- our of tAs aIuy to cultivate d.
I4uC.-E J. I..tHa.. Z.h