The New York herald., 1865-01-02


The Wilmington ARssr-whe is Respon-
sisle Ear the Fsilurcs
There arises from the smoke and din of the
terrific bonlbardment Of Fort Fisher of Christ
mas Eve and Christmas Day-the most terrific
of which We have any records question AZ TO
who is responsible for the failure that resulted.
General Butler has written letter to Admiral
Porter, in which he alleges that the lombard
ment was non-e1ective, and that the works,
remaining substantially intact were too strong
to carry by direct assault Admiral Porter re-
plies by assuming the truthfulness Of certain
statements made by the General In his letter,
that q few soldiers entered the works, captured
. flag, shot an orderly, rihed his body Of de-
spatches and rode his horse away, and al with
out encountering any resistance, and argues
therefrom that the work was substantially
silenced, and that where four men could safely
60 and accomplish SO much as many men as
could be obtained might have gone. In plain
terms, the Admiral's argument is that no asssult
was necessary. The naval bombardment had
driven the rebel garrison to the shelter Of the
bombproofs with which the fort aboundsd, and
all that remained for the army to do was to
march in and take possession of the work and
secure the prisoners, who were already Gagged.
1t seems to us that the Admiral has altogether
the best Of the question. s. 7'
One fact Is conspicuous in the controversy
that has arisen out Of this aflAir-the navy had
completely silenced the guns Of the fort This
d admitted on all hands. Now. If such was
really the case, the part assigned b the navy
was fully accomplished. Certainly 1t was not
to be expected that great ftigates, monitors
and gunboats could make an assault upon q
land fertilization, occupy and possess It That
Is the work Of an army. Thnt ia the. por-
ton Of the work attempted at Fort
Fisher which General Butler undertook
to do. The naval feet had only to
silence the guns, and thus open the way for the
assault That work was fully accomplished.
Therefore the navy cannot be held responsible
for the failure. The army did not make the
assault when the guns were silcnced, notwith-
standing sufficient force was upon the beach.
Therefore the army failed Of accomplishing it's
part. Why it failed is another matter in rela-
ton to which more light would be very accept
able. We shall probably have it when General
Butler makes his report
If this reasoning be correct, 1t certainly is
irrelevant to drag other matters into the ques-
ton at issue. For instance, it has no relevancy
to the main question whether Admiral Porter
the Wilmington blockade, or whether he
has made nothing. II he has made the,
amount which some claim he has made, he
has been very fortunate, and we congratu-
late him on his good success The Admirals
share Of prize money is one-twentieth Of one
half of the net proceeds of all prizes cap
ured. Two hundred thousand dollars at this
rate would represent eight millions Of dollars
as the net value Of prizes captured under his
Such a vast amount certainly
speaks loudly in praise Of the stringency Of the
blockade which Admiral Porter has established
of the harbor Of Wilmington. He has had
command Of that squadron about three months.
It would require the capture of one blockade
runner daily during all this time u make up
that sum. We repeat, II his share Of the prize
money amount to the sum stated, the blockade
Of Wilmington Is of such degree Of effective
ness as has never before been attained in the
blockade Of any port, and eluding 1t must be
very losing enterprise to the parties engaged
Not even the British government, much less the
British mercantile community or the rebel
leaders, or both combined, can afford to carry
on business in the face Of such tremendous
losses. a 08f nH.
But all this story Of the fabulous sums made
by naval officers by leaving rebel port open
Is mere bosh. II is ungenerous to an arm Of
he service, which, in it's field Of operations,
and considering the means the ADMINISTRATION
has placed at its disposal, and making allow
ance for the somnolency Of Its patriarchal head,
has done as much towards the subjugation Of the
rebellion as has the army. II Is ungenerous,
after the arduous campaigns and glorious
Of Admiral Porter in opening up
the Mississippi river, and particularly on the
heel Of his terrible bombardment Of Fort Fisher,
in which the power Of the navy was exhausted
under his leadership and direction and its part
to ipsinuate sordid motives to
him as the cause Of the lack Of success. We
believe such motives influence no officer of
either arm Of the service less than they do Ad-
miral Porter; and we believe, moreover, that no
ono more sincerely regrets that Wilmington is
not to-day in our possession than he. This is
evident from the fact that he was The first to
commence the attack and the last TO leave II,
and that he only retired from the work when all
cooperation had been withdrawn from him,
and he had apparently exhausted his ingenuity
in the attempt to protract the effort to wrest
the position from the enemy.
RAILROAD AND STEAMBOAT AccDENrs.-There
were moro people killed and wounded by rail-
road accidents last year than in any preceding
year since 1854. One hundred and forty acci-
dents occurred; four hundred and four lives