, 1865-02-26
CHARLESTON. :
Full Detailsof the Occupation
by Our Troops.
The Great tx plosion
Gen Gillmore's Reception.
A Glance at the City and a Talk
With the Citizens.
Lively Scattering Of the Chiyalry
ITEMS ARID TNCIrESNTs.
The Great Explosion
Lively Scattering Of the Chiyalry
ITEMS ARID TNCrnEsars.
CONDITION OF FORT SUMTER,

/ \AAAAEetSA HA9 4Abk Inc 4JQnefl
gave orders to run to Hull's Dny, which Il
about twenty-five miles North of Charleston,
and the intermediate base Of operations for {
| force OF Gil .more's troops undor thu command
Of General Potter. We passed the light.sbip
of Polt Royal bar, and headed NORTH, skim.
ming along at eleven Knots, over restless
sea to which the newly-risen half Of the old
moon gave . faded, dccaying brlllilnce,
! About o'clock In the morning We passed to
| Windward Of the hcct off Charleston theIr
| many lights rocking softly in the dead hours,
making 1hc ha1 Dor seem populous, rs indeed
It has long been, and Winking from twilight
! to dawn with a patient, "we.can-wait" ali at
| the invisible and darkcned rebel city at whose
gateway they have licked up so much mid.
night oil There were the low monitors.
oozlly unqulct, far up town,ds Sumter in q
conytrgent cluster OF Six, their iron snouts
roofing ngainsi the ebb.tide. To .hcir rear,
grove Of srars near Morris Island,
At the bar the light-ship Haired with its two
blazing eyes upon dozen companions-pro-
| pe,!ers and hu2boats-its glare combining
With the rusty radiancc Of TITO moon on ths
mnny, Wrinkllng acres Of water Of which 1t
Fsas The center, and touching the upturncd
scarps cf tho. waves with yarp.sh that
brought ont the ancncss Of their gloom, and
the deep jet Of their color. L milo or
Two TO tue north was another group Of steam
ers, asleep, but stripped for race after tile
blockade.runncrs tllAt creep In over the bar
there, and run under the GUNS OF Suliivnn
lslund. On each ycssel several quiet lanterns
were burning, and the still illumination re.
minded me Of tue sick.loom, as / thought Of
VIVA visible. should have listened for II the =
death-tick had I known how vcry sick
Charleston was at that moment. as IT Inv
cmptily hugging its spit oseand, and lis,eninS
ior the last time as Confederate city, to he
IDLE swash Of the water against its beggarly
4 <f&.
were stealthily ttapspiring there ut that ms,.
nle1lt. when al1 that Is jgnoble and depraycd
In the human gnmut Of passion Tns sonn;lrd
IN large city, In that interval when il law
like cast-otf 1rifle for somebody to stoopapd
p.ck up as II 81 IN moody stnpor, plucked
1t had given shelter, though never SO humble
ns II 6wooned through long night, in which
1t had no law but the bludgeon md the strur
g!cl's bnyonct, NO municipal existence, and
worst Of all, no past to be proud OF, aud no
future, save that which the conqucror might
accord. knew nothing Of This as the IicIts
Of The fleet g glled out Of the lcld OF vision,
though ! bclicyed 1Im1y it wis near at hand.
With this grateful conviction turned in.
About nine O'Clock this morning VIC mn M
into Bulls Bay, threading the gunboats and
transports collected there. Tho morning was
fresh md buoyant and the sea so lovely that
could understand NIL the sImiles (which ia
strong larguaEc) that have been drawn from
It's breezy brill'ance Of q bright morning,
Gen. Potter boarded us for IN interview with
the commanding General, during tho pro-
gress Of which the rest Of us wcro Gu. iously
studying, with naked eye aud field glass. q
dense, higla:rcachcd column Of smoke which
hung steadily In tho horizon to tue soutl-
west, not unlike family shaded cumulus-
cloud, whose thick puts Of white have in
places TRANSMISSION OF lcad-colo1cd vapo.. It
tose very slowly to IN immense height, and
drifted of impcrceptibly towurds The East.
Qnc surmiscd that latge pile Of cotton was
burning about ten miles from the coast: auoth
Gr that Charleston was being Moacotred. 4 third
limited ut woods aflrc. Good Judges of dis
lance declared tho Moscow business Imposs,-
blc-Charlcston was twenty five miles away;
and again, the column Of smoke was too
white to issue from burning buildings.
While We were gazing and specializing, pass-
ing the hcld-giass from hand to hand, O
mighty explosion occurred. Through tue very
broad and arroNy. .ered to the heavens, spread.
ing, as It's speed upward decreased, tnton par-
acuutc. with distinct column reaching back
to earth. "Thnt gfows more and more like
palmctto tree" somebody remarked. Alter
the fire, whether Of cotton, forest or city,
Nns nlote thnn twice ten miles distant, tue
report hocmtd upon our ear, aud gradually
The air drawn palmetto tree grew blurred and
thalclcss. GIN. Gilmore ordered tho exact,
EAlI06iUu W UE L. IL was
done; The charts consulted-thc direction
was directly that Of Charleston and hastily
giving lis orders for the operations under
Gtn: Potter-Nlich were, presume, to push
to Charleston II be could-hc ordered hi5
boat to rim TO stono Inlet, where he might
{the General was not included, ofcoursc, ,lwere
inclined to think that Fort Moultric OF Fort
Sumter had uccu blown up, just possibly by
accident, most probably W design.
AS We ran down from Bulls bay, every eve
was bent upon tho eloud Of smoke, growing
An hours run brought the spires Of Charles
Ton plainly in yiew, aud Us we stt amed down
to crcss the bar, 1t didn't take long to see
that the fire 7rds in Charleston surely. GILL
more stood with his glass glued to bis tncc,
scanning every object In the harbor whc3c
material and his minds eye not many months
ago. when he :ayc impulson to the series Of
ingenious combinations whose fruits werc
pretty valuable ut the moment whereof
write. ~ never saw our monitors so near
Sumter BEFORE" entd he, but our aag is not
means ~ From the upper part Of the city
the smoke still rose In dense volumes, but
seemed to grow no larger. The shipping of
the bar and the monitors hud their large
Tags flying This Was significant, but vague
y SO.
We crossed the bar and ran along to where
the eye could reach we'll up the harbor. We
thought for d moment TINT VIC caught q
glimpse Of our flag on Sumter, but Us the yes
sci swung around, we saw the flag in question
on Fott Wagner, beyond: These moments
were the most exciting have spent with the
army, freught as they were with some aus-
pense, rs 10 tic size Of the agreeable news
wrapped up in that little claradc, wherein
burning town. unwontcd tcmcrity OF iron
clads, md display Of bunting, signifying .
closed members. General Gilmore was tho
first 10 give the solution. "Chaslrston Is
| ours,n sa1d he briefly, and without external
emotion. II SIC Admiral Dahlgrcn's flag-
sh'p way beyond the forts, heading for the
back ard forth on the deck, softly whistling
! q sort of Sebastian Bachfuguc, characterized
| by not much mir to speak Of, and IN Irregular
| rythm, but Just as expressive oi the whistler g
state Of mind as Il 1t had been divided into
bars, scanned By thost profound in thu deyci-
opment Of emotional melody, and labeled
| allegro or t!suee. There was poetic propricty
! in General Gilmore bring In command Of the
Department Of the South just then. That he
enjoyed 1t, can readily believe, though am
still puzzled to know how he conceaied his
exhtla1alton SO completely.
/ Our flag, MS VIC pushed toward Sumter, was
discovered atloat above Fort Moultric, but
| etlanEe to say, none hnd been raised over the
former, though NC could now discern ma
,,nc or two standing on Its iron-scarred bat
Elements. The omission was probably due to
tho TACT that either flag or bonte wc,e not nt
land, and WIS accidental; but poetic proprf.
ty was upper1nost ngain, .as General Gilmore
hastily ordered a boat to be ready md q 1as
to be produced. The 1ng mas forthcoming,
hook, close BY, and directed that it 10 lashsd
TO an oar. THIS done. the fas was fastened
to the boat-hook half Of the staff and placed
In the boat ready. for lowering. Pcrhap:
some poetic propriety attached to the flag
staff, 80 purely cmblematic Of the navy. i
entirely on the untcscrycd generosity Of tht
army, which had in few days carried thcst
forts, against which the whole feet Of mailed
monstc1s had not a1niced to prevail. Let u:
not forget Which army i wss elthes-t1e Dc
content to do tho marching, tho planning
and the fighting, leaving 10 others the lag
raising the dtspatch.writing, and the salvo
Of victory.
: We wcrc soon in wbat had lately becn tn
debatnblc waters, going straight TO Charles
ton, ut the ratc of thirteen knots an hour
through the region where, advancing tha
many Inches few days before, WIS success
fully 1csisted. The monitors 1ay 50 nca
mnnncd, the artiller!s1s might harc amusc'
the1ntclves BY knocking the sailors shirts o.
The nes with muskctry, provided they wcr
not disposed to serve grape and canister. "
passed them, and were thcncc!orth. In IN
known waters, where our pilot could on1
rely on his general notion OF the harbor, mi
: where the less one's mind dwelt upon torpe
docs, the more comfortable flame Of mind b
, enjoy ed. Abreast Of Sumter, whose ragge
portions were visible In every detail, ii
! boat in readiness YVES lowered, and tbs fla,
i was inlrustcd to Captain Henry II. Bragg
Aide-de- Camp On Glllmose's stafi-a youn!
man whose 1oyable traits rs gentleman at
nicely matched by the best qualities Of th
soldi.r-aceoupani.d by two oarsmen and