The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1865-03-01
Capture Of Charleston.
Rebels Evaruate en the I7th

ASebels Evarnafe on the E7th
The Cry ON FIRE-TERaIBrE FIX
PLosIoN = SEVERAL HUNDRED CITI-
zENs KILLxp--A LARGE AMOUNT OF
CoTToN BURNED = The OLD FLAG
| FLOATS OVER SUMTER.
NHw YoRK, Feb 2l-The steamship
Fulton. Captain Noleton. from Port Roya
and Charleston Bar February Is, at
p. NJ, arrived this morning. Purse
John McManus furnishes US with IT,
following memoranda:
Charleston was evacuated by the enemN
on the night of the 11th. leaving th'
several forti6 -atons uninj lred, beside
geo guns, which they spike /. The cvar-
uation was first discovered 1T Fort Men
Itrie. In the msrHing at 10 o'clock, par
of the trseps stationed at james islam
crossed over in boats, and teok possessio,
of the city without opposition. The ul.
per part of the city is on lire
Previous to The enemy evacuating, the.
fred the upper part o: the city, by whic"
$1,000 bales of cotton were burned, and it
lis supposed that before the fire could be
subdued thirds of the city will be
destroyed A fearful explosion occurred
in the Wilmington depet-cause unknown
by which several hundred citizens lost
their lives. The building was used for
Icemmissary purposes, and situated in the
upper part Of the city.
Admiral Dah!gren was the frst to run
up to the city, where he arrived at about
2 o'clock Gen. Gilmore followed soon
after, and had an interview with General
Ichsnelfng, he being the first general
officer in the city, and fer the present in
eemnand.
The remains of two ireB -clads were
found, which the enemy destroyed by
blowing them up previous to the evacua-
ten. The blockade runner Cyrene, just
arrived from Nassau, fell into eur hands,
and two others were expected to run in on
the night of the 18th.
The first flag ever Sumter was raised
by Capt Henry NJ Bragg, A. D. Z. on
Gen. Gilmore's staff.
Houses in the lower part of the city
were completely riddled by our shst and
shell. The wealthy part of the pepula-
tien have deserted the city, and now all
that remains are the poorer classes, who
are suffering from want Of food.
A movement had been made by the
force under Gen. Hatch, which resulted
in the capture. of six pieces of artillery
The Tribunes correspondent, who ar
rived by the Fulton. gives the following
acceuut:
/ CHARLESTON HAKBoR, Feb. 1S-Ear-
tly last evening Brig. Gen. Schimmil
,fannig, commanding the Northern dis
t-ict, Department Of the South, discover
ed sene indications which led him to be-
lieve that the rebels were about to evac-
aate Charleston and its defenses, and he
accordingly ordered his pickets and picket
boats to keep a bright look cut and re-
port Immediately any movement en- the
part Of the enemy.
About half-psst 3 this morning ter
rife explosion took place in Charleston,
which shook every ship in the harbor and
OF the bar, and almost simultaneous with
the explosion, flames broke out and could
be diiinctIy seen in different parts Of the
city. It appears the irst explosion took
place at the Wilmington depot, the fire
frsm which rapidly communicated with
the adjacent buildings causing general
confagration of all dwelling houses in
the vicinity, and It was whilst the unfer-
tunate inhabitants were trying te extin-
guish this FIRE that the severe explosion
took place, which resulted 81 ,iisastrously
lcausing terrible loss of life amongst the
women and children, who are represented
as having been horribly mutilated.
About six o'clock this morning Genera,
Schimmilrannig moved his forces and oc-
cupied the city aud its def,nses The
formidable earthworks on James Island
were found Abandoned, and tie guns spik
ed At 8 o'clock this morning detach
ment was sent to take possess on ef Fort
Sumter, and raise the g & which Gen
Anderson hauled down nearly four years
ago. At 8 O'Clock the flag was raised
amidst deafeaing cheers.
As fast as forces could be thrown inte
the city they we're set to work to pu. cut
the FIRE, which, up to the time of leaving,
was raging furiously in different parts Of
the city; old men, women and children
rushing frantically to and fro in agony ol
despair at the loss of their homes, and
the killing and mutilating of their friends
j 1t is impossible to estimate the amount
of cotton destroyed by the rebels. Sew
eral thousand balos were collected in diff
ferent parts of the city and set on FIRE
almost simultaneously, with all the hes
pitfalls, depots and warehouses. There is
no doubt bat the rebels intended to burn
the city to the ground, despite the mise
ry it would entail en- thousands of We
men, children and old men, of which class
the inhabitants of Charleston is new al
most entirely composed. It was the
epinisn of Gen. ,Gilmore's staff that in
all probability two-thirds of the city
would be destroyed before the FIRE could
be extinguished with the imperfect means
fer subduing it at hand.
The last er rear guard Of the rebels
left Charleston at clock A. NJ. this
morning, and there are various rumors
and conjectures as to their destination
but the prevalent opinion is that they in !.
tend concentrating in the vicinity of Flor.
enee, to whichA point they have railroad
csmmunicatisn with Charleston, unless il
has been recently destroyed by the expe-
dit;nu cant - Rail-. R.y Sa~o..l H..