The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-08-09
LETTER FROM GEN. BEAyREGA


New ORLEANS. July %, 1874.
DsdT 0casSM Il Thank you for the fIatt.rn
7tslcls I'D the fschmund Whig OF the l4tb ms
Iear t6es your friendship makes you appr. Cat
r.;i;t any ne lew qualities may possess as
Iafy es3neef; to be compared to Tod,eben
would have been honor enough. n is trna ~
ne nad reeouECes st SebasfopoI which we had M
as Cnariosto1s where at times It was very dtt;cnI
paooMe zen powder and shot for our bat
swsit;no ~: - 80 g remain silent many week
wIS 49, supply of ammunition At othe
"mes beAS cut Of coal and unable to procur.
my 70 Keep - the casting Of projectles. it be
came necessary 70 cut down (reiuctanty1 !. an,
o. 81. nose maS1hcent old live oaks along ia.
charcoal 1of our furnaces.
.1HkAn, anwsly after having assumed command
WChSrlessen, called on the Confederate States
VAT department for a certain number OF heay,
kunss ~ a,eh OOlumbiads and rlfied incl
OOinmnads, 70 oppose those terrible monitor.
re knew 90 little Of, but which were said to be
Irresistible N their attacks. was informed thai
n0ne could pooably be spared for my department
40 t tba C .I and Georgia and that should
then called On the Ordnance Department ! -, rifle
snd band some q inch az pounders) and few
. mon C0nmbiads we had in the forts about
.nar9 snt, to my utter dismay, l was
answered mai the had neither bands nor ma
chinery with which to do the work Thus thrown
On my own Resources, determined to have 1t
done Dy two private founders in the city, then
almost unemployed.
Fortunately. they belonged to two very ener-
9euc ana euter nislng gentlemen. who agreed IT,
DO the work at once, ii would furuisl, Them
with the machinery and the bands Alter con.
siderable trouble these were procured, and. in a
rev month& was able to chang the armament
70 repel TIE fret attack of Admiral Dun mt in
April, 1854 mM0 with seven m IN tors the NV
AonAdee ana several wooden vessels Ill armed
WITH the heaviest ordnance ion known.
One o. the monitors tthe keokuk, double
surreted,) was sunk and four Of the others were
badly damaged
Thus, yOu perceive. that with energy and per-
severance many difficl es which app, a. al fir Z
0Sht insurn Mntabr, eau be owe com
During visit made last winter wan some O..
my former associates in the U. S. Corps of E =
gineers to NE forts ON the Mississippi River de-
Iending thB 0iy, was surpr .sed to SEE that ex-
ceptlng neavler armament and few more TIA
verses, no important changes have been made to
snese WORKS. Inc experience of the late war
seems thus lar to have suggested to that body of
able ofncerH no new system to meet the dtstruc-
ave effects d heavy guns i'll Ton-clad ships. The
iatter, 1emg m0veabie can generally se,ect their
point OF aetack, and by concentrating their fire
successivoly Oh the weakest ones, these can be
uenced and passage obtained
Neither did l observe any mechanical arrange
ment for sravcrsing heavy guns to keep them
pointed ON moveable objects. had the honor OF
recommending very simple one to the U. s.
Ordnance Department, i'll 1854 but it WAS not
copied, 'sas tine Department was not aware oil
any difficulty in traversing heavy guns"
In July, 1861, had corresponding arrange
ment designed by Major Yates Of the list south
Carolina Regular Artiiler applied to all my
heavy guns At Char es.On and Savannah, and it
contributed greatly to the succt ssiu defense OF
the former city ,. doubling at least the efficiency
Of those guns
My system Of defense is different from the one
which now prevails. Mitnout entering int, de-
tails, may say that would oDstruct thorough y.
wherever practicable, the channel or river VITA
boating booMs, continuous or detached; tor
pedOes OF various klnts rope Instructions, etc,
lighted st night by calcium ightsl, placed
near ~ possible t. my batteries; the guns the
latter, Intended specially for the d Tense Of the
obstruces ~ would be entirely Prot cteI from
batteries would be pro ected from land attack by
proper Bystem Of works, which would require a
large army to vest and regular slege to cap
ture. 1t u evident that the eneny'- fleet could
not pass up the river or into the harbor without
having rem wed the obs ructions. which c.,u.d
not be done before having taken the batteries
and fOrts. This would give time, tsp cially in u
country like ours. to accumulate such an army
and other means OF IT lief as would defy the most
powerfui naval expedition.
! his system Substituting field rifles and Ma
pOleOn guns fr heavier arlliament) proposed
- tho Confederate g Vcrnnlent the last Year Of
OF our late struggle, to c. mmand any proper
ssreach" Ut the N ssissippi River, to enable our
Trans Mississippi forces to cross over to the as
sistaDce Vi the Cis- mississippi armies, then b.
ing Overpoweied But the dlsorganized condi-
ton Of our AFFAIRS prevented the plan from being
carried into effect.
In February, II g., before leaving New Orleans
for Montgomery, ut the Gull Of the Confederate
Government, left with the Military Commas
sione,s If Louisiana the plans and estimate Of
floating b Wm, "eslgned 10 be anchored across |
the river between FIrts Jackson d st. Phi lip. |
It was ~ 10 made Of two sections, stationary
and the Otler movable, 50 MS to be forced open
by any undue accum liatiOu OF tlflft-aOOd above |
it. Amer the passage Of the latter, it wa' IT, be
fatus, under 4 b. ,mb-pr shelter IN the river
bank. THIS plaPl Was not "arried ont, bat a
single bNm was strtcheu across the riv r. Mt
long after lts con structlOn, the drlf-MoOt Com
accommodating against 1t, and during
storm it gave way, leav Z The river open to til,
passage 1t the Federal fleet. which son avai.ed
Itself OT the favorable opportunity.
But better plan t. Ourtruct rapid streams |
liable to bring down driltwood, is to use syrte -
Of floating b,Oms made III the shape OF FAM
armed at it's argest extremity with to,pcdoes .
be exptd d by cOncns>Ion) placen SIX a "a eiglt
feet below tue surfx 1T the water. by anch r.
ing several ruws of tn No fall-lke b",ns III
'' quingunx order acr 'ss the stream or ch IN eel
hey would allow tie free passage OF ui1fyWo ,I |
between Them, and Of friendly sscls i'll day
The use Of torpcdocs is destined in my hum
BILE opinion. to change completely the en- "f
naval W0I13rO. ~ Ucu SccbolS FL III De LII NC icI-
tectly impenetrabt t. hot above wafer an IL
dered b the same time corre-pondinsy u
wieldy in action, thoy will become an easy prey
10 small but swift torpedo boats, almost entire.y
submerged, leaving nothing visible. especially at
night, but Z sh0t-proof deck.
While 1t hsi le&tam in 1868 and 1864. made
Ievera deterniiscd efforts to have one or more OF
|hcee trpede b 'ats built Ivy our Navy Depart
nent, expr ssng nv perfect confidence IL their
.ficepcy fr lie tr0yiny or dispensing the Federal
aeet then bockading at port. but my eft rts
renamed unsucccs-ful. Through he ent rprise,
however, Of atcw private citizens Of Charleston
I small c,gsr-.r,at shout twenty feet long was
pullt AID armed with one t.r,'edo according t.
he Ian # Capt. FIR n i. D. Lee, If t"e c.. d.
rate states z .ileer It was pl se'l un Ter the
command Of Ii ut. Glassel, C"nfedcrai" states
navy with crew of tnrce men. Tn stea ia
mt II the hxrbor one evening to attack The most
ormdab!e II onr antagonists. the New lrnll--d =.
md by 10 At night they had disabled it for the
emainder Of the var, without expert nri x any
oss on their part. except ,ha' tw" Of their mum
,er w-r.. accidentally Captured but finally ex
hanged after several months captivity.