Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-09-05

idle at home. Capt. Childs soon had
the Beery Bros. and Harris foundry,
and as much other skilled labor as
possible, hard at work, making new
carriages, rammers, sponges, shot,
shell, tangent sights, and every other
article indispensably necessary to a
proper equipment of the fortifcation.
Hon. VIM. s. Ashe procured for us,
| from South Carolina, some forty thou
sand pounds Of powder Keith, the
polite and indefatigible, created a
transportation department and kept
| up brisk communication with our
sources of supplies merchants, farm
| ers and ''the committee sent down
untold quantities of bacon, -four, old
hams, &c, and the ladies, ever thought
full, furnished us lots of flannel cart
ridge bags, of uncertain pattern and
| irregular sizes!
Nor were the boys Indifferent to
ther exercises:
While some drilled on the beach,
others practiced ut the great guns, and
still others learned to man the sally
port, to train the easement swivels.
and to defend at the loopholes.
Capt. Wlnder labored without ceas-
ing at his sandbags, devising, contriv-
ing, creating, till traverses, &C., arose
to his satisfaction.
And the ordnance officer, with a de-
tailed squad, tested shell and sawed
fuses-and busted himself preparing
cartridges for small guns as well as
columbiads. Yes, ktruly those were
busy days-and as they are recalled
after the lapse of SO many dreary
years, they wear the green garb of
pleasure. Not that we were. Indifferent
to the consequences of our action, but
our hearts were in our work. Too
well, some Of us knew aud appreciated
that We were rebels, levying war
against the United States without the
sanction of our State sovereignty and
understood with clearness what would
be the calamity of disaster. such
thoughts nerved us only to greater
exertions. In those days, we were
continually apprehensive of attack,
and feared particularly a coup dc main
ut night. Our defenceless condition
invited an early recapture of the Fort,
and We thought it not impossible to
meet the enemy in the deadly
breach at any hour after night fall.
Regularly a strong force picketed the
beach for miles, and with almost
equal regularity ; at first came back
reports to the citadel of "boats APP
preaching" lights in the breakers"
enemy landing" &c. ; nor at times
could the inexperienced soldiers be
kept from firing wildlyat the phospho-
resence that displayed itself as the
breakers rolled on the hard and sandy
beach-and on some occasions the firing
would be continued, until the garrison
who were ont the Iui yirc, were painfully
certain that the hour of deaths rev
elry had at length arrived. But event
ually, by dint of drill-''false alarms
some ngeniously planned by our watch
ful Colonel-others the offspring of
genuine error, and by the teachings
of experience, our ardent patriots be-
came steady soldiers-and settled
down to an earnest discharge of their
duties like veterans in the cause
Indeed, 1t was Il matter of pleasant
surprise to witness the progress of oar
citizen-garrison in all the various du-
ties that devolved upon them. Well
did they sustain the reputation of
their noble forefathers, whose con-
duct in 1777 made the Yankee General
Schuyler desire more Southern troops
for his Northern operations-'..tor the
Sotheyn peopic huri5ag q greater
spirit of discipline and subO1 1dination
might introducc it among the Eastern
people," Ir. Washington, volume III,
page %.
About the 25th of May the writer's
connection with Caswell was tempo
rarily severed. But so forward had
become our defences, even then the
fort had war like appearance-wa
prepared to throw hot shot from two
furnaces admirably arranged by
Childs, and defied the attack of any
ordinary fleet of wooden Vessels; while
the earthwork, traverses, &c, erected
by Winder, Radcliffe &, Bolles, afforded
all the protection our grrrison needed
from the missiles of an enemy.
As an illustration of our condiction,
| may cite that on learning of the Sc
cession Ordinance Of May Goth, We
fired national salute of 90 guns, al!
ready for action and for the most
part mounted on new carriages of Will
mington manufacture.