Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-09-07
BURNING CITIES.
Grants Attempt to Blow up Will
mingtOn.
A Pet t"Experimenf'' of Butler. UIys-
ses and Porter.

A Pet "Experiment'' of Butler. UIys
ses and Porter.
Correspondence Of the st. Louis Republican.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 30.-It so happens
that Gen. Grant was the alder and abetter
if not the originator of a splan" of as equal
ly dark nature IS the rebels projected. The
fact that his "operation" was against the
South will not alter the phase. The result
with success attendant upon the work,
would have been more criminal in Grants
case. He would have sacrificed innocent
children and helpless women; the rebels
aimed only at the destruction of property.
A few letters from agents are the only eyi-
dence to inculpate the rebels: the plan OF
Grant is substantisted by his own sworn
testimony. If that be doubted, other mill
tary officials swear similarly. The rebels
intended TO burn Northern cities; Grant
discussed the feasibility of blo,cing up South
ern towns.
This brilliant idea and novel species of
warfare originated in the fertile brain OF
Benjamin +. Butler. An explosion of gun
powder which happened in England about
that time aroused his faculties, and proved
the inception of a plan to blow up South
ern seaports. Mechanically inclined be
made q calculation of the explosive power
of gunpowder. According to his estimate
1.-TWO hundred tons of gunpowdsr exploded
would create a pressure OF twenty-five
tons to the square inch, and all around
would be affected as by tor
nado." This much gained, Butler CON-
municated his discovery to Grant. Grant
testifies that Butler singled out Charleston
as the objective point, probably as revenge
for his failure to secure the nomination OF
jeff Davis in the convention held there in
1860. This, however, was abandoned and
Wilmington, N. c., was selected for the ex-
pertinent. This was the birth of the "Fort
Fisher expedition" A boat was loaded with
two hundred and Fifty tons ofpowder. Grant
furnished an escort composed OF seven
thousand soldiers, and Admiral Porter sup
piled the naval power. Butler, ofhclously
NOT officially-assumed command. An
invited guest, in the person OF Col. Com
stock, of Grants staff, was taken along to
enjoy the scene of misery. As the "Gen-
eralH was not so much of sailor as
soldier he 0took sick" That was one Of
the alleged causes for failure.
Butler testiies, that, "Porter told Gen.
Weitzel and Col. Comstock that be thought
the explosion would knock down Whining
ton and Smithville," and he adds, 81 am
still of the opinion that if it had been ex-
ploded properly it would have answered
the purpose" Admiral Porter also testified
that, 81 thought it would bring down a
number of houses in Wilmington and
SmithviIle. / thought the conclusion
would be so great that il would be likely to
tumble down some OF them," and he adds,
from a conviction of having violated mo-
raj duty, 81 remarked that the Inhabitants
at SmithVille would be certainly injured"
Butler explains the failure thus: sit was
in ended to ignite all the powder at once
by putting instantaneous fuse (gomes)
among the bags of powder. But all these
contrivances failed of operation. The pow
der caught on fire at one end of the boat
and blew itself into the air and water by
piecemeal, bags of bowder being seen to
explode in the air. 1t was proposed to eX-
plode all the powder at once. This was
vital to the success of the experiment, but
that was not DONE" The bungling of those
in charge, therefore, was the cause of the
failure to "knock down Wilmington aid
Smithville."
The expected wholesale destruction may
be gathered from the following letter by Ad-
miral Porter: General: | think We will
be able to blow up the vessel by tomorrow
night. In talking with the engineers some
of them suggested that even at 25 miles the
explosion might affect the boilers Of steam
ers and make them explode, if heavy steam
was carried; and l would advise before the
explosion takes place the steam be run
down as low as possible, aud the fires
drawn" The result of this warning was
that the "blockaders" went out to sea
short distance, and Butler remained at
Beaufort, 70 miles away.
By the rules of civilized warfare it is usual
to give at least "a hours notice to an enemy
before city is destroyed. This is one Of
the safeguards for the women and children
and non-combatants. That Gen. Grant
did not give this notice will be seen from
the following: Admiral Porter: "When
can you be ready with our little expert
ment? Time is valuable from the news we
get. Benjamin F. Butler" The comment
of Butler on this is, "we did not talk about
our little experiment in plain terms much,
lest it should leak out; as surprise and Sc
crecy were of the first importance"
After the failure of the expedition Grant
undertook to belittle the plan. He says in
his Fort Fisher report: 81 am inclined to
ascribe the delay which has cost US so dear
ly to an experiment" "An experiment."
says Butler on oath, "which he approve
of and advised as well as any Of the rest Of
u.s."
Southern men will now see the difference
of the hostility of Grant from the hostility
of Greeley. Northern men can now judge
of the crime of Grant while they are in
dignant at the attempts of the Radicals to
malign the character of Greeley through
the agency of "rebel archives" PHILo.