The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-16
c1rrF OF CHARLESTON.
M DAYS WHEN THE BAR
sI0'- noR WAS BLoOKADED.

=, Johnson IhO
-za of Fort Sumter.
rom, the Ne,O York Times.
1sToN. S. c., &July Although
OAHi. saveu years have elapsed since Fort
t"0u" and the entire system of earthworEs
SUM- ..,,ories surrounding Charleston were
HD1 .nated by the confederate troops one
e7a..I hare today at almost every turn OF
neS's -aat men who figured eonspicuously
tn' srbont that long 4-year period OF de-
tp'O'e Tbsy we're engineers, artillerists,
ien'.i of7oers and what not in those days OF
slsD' nss Rbeu every able bodied male In and
1oo. CHARLESTON wore the gray, though the
AOy- .o- would never recognize them in the
S'' 's,s,onsl men, merchants and others
,.t vbom he may happen at this late date
20 come in contact a..
o,a NJ the most pleasing features TO the
Uno ~ the North Atlantic squadron dur
omV .ho recent visit of Admiral Gherardt
ing we We nort was the marked courteousness
70 iT sosrtv welcome of these former com
~ soldiers. The North Atlantic heee
sO9,1+escered almost entirely by men who
WASH was 18th the service siuce the close of the
en'o hut to these gallant defenders OF
%"al,laston the fact remained the same that
,l1 ware the descendants of the mon they
tu,y still warmer reception to in those
9svaof the early sixties.
Tsnt Silas Casey, commanding the Dig
i,pr NAwark. was one of the few Of Ads
I'll Gherardis officers who had seen ser vice
L M charleston. On one occasion of the
l po,S visit Capt. Casey was standing on
w. INNER deck of the revenue cutter Nor
III snrrouuded by a party Of prominent
oil 20 mn n
cits from the fleet, when as the Morrill,
Sosrad the Sullivan's Island shore the cap
tain remarked:
Ut was lust about here in ga that l one
avaninq got q particularly hot reception
rom Battery Bee. was serving on, a gun
bost At the time, and, following blockade
rnnner in too far, we suddenly found that
Bes had US in range. One she'll from Bee
landed on our decks and killed outright five
man. wounded seven more and dismounted
a Uun. It was little too hot and as We
were no match for Bee we cleared out as
nuick as we could"
~ remember the occasion very vel, re-
marked tall, handsome man standing in
the group, "for on the night in question
happened to be temporarily in command or
Rec, In fact, not being altogether satisfied
with the first two or three shots fired at you
sighted the gun myself, the projectile
from which ! could plainly see landed on
your decks. The piece was an Singh Co
iumbisd."
The speaker was Capt. c. Inglesby of
Charleston, now city attorney, and an Off
Ger who served with merit in Fort Sumter.
In view Of the measures contemplated by
the war department. in early insulating q
modern system of defense for Charleston
harbor, the Times correspondent has OBJ
tanned many views of the defensive posi-
blities Of this important city from men who
ranked high in the confederate engineer
corps In general, the ideas advanced are
in keeping with the principles being followed
by the United States engineers having
charge Of such defense OF the confederate
is perhaps, next to Gen. Beauregard best
qualified to speak on this subject. 1t was
Mai Johnson who was instructed by Beau
regard with the engineering defense of Fort
Sumter throughout nearly the entire four
years Of terrific bombardment-an engineer
Ing feat which has justified johnson being
considered on both sides little short of the
Todleben of this country.
Night after night. month in and month
out, through a period when over $1,000
shells from the most powerful ordnance Of
the day were hurled from Gillmores batter
les and the union feet into Fort Sumter,
twas johnson who, during the hours Of
darkness, directed the repairs and the erec-
ton Of new shelter against the fire of the
following day.
An erroneous impression exists in the
north that the more Sumter crumbled down
under the effects of the union fire the
stronger the place became. AS a matter Of
fact, had not material been nightly carried
to the fort from Charleston the place would
have fallen at an early date Nothing short
Of the filing up of breaches and the erec-
ton of new boom proofs in place of those
destroyed during the days fire enabled the
garrison to obtain shelter.
The Times correspondent found Mai.
johnson, now rector of st. Philips Bpisco-
pal church of Charleston, living quietly in
aquaint portion of this old city. Though
now doctor OF divinity, he is still in every
respect the soldier. In appearance he is
aman OF commanding presence, standing
over six feet in hight aud magnlfcently
proportioned. His broad forehead, clear,
piercing eyes and thoughtful expression I'M
press the stranger at the first glance.
ut is fast approaching thirty years since
the war closed" said Maj. Johnson, land
IN the Interim the features attending the
defense OF Charleston have been viewed by
me in aspects altogether different than those
Ionce held. Yet at this late day | cannot
see how the general liues of defense outlined
by us in 1861 con be much improved upon.
!hold now, as l did then, that the key to
Charleston is by way of James Island, en-
terlng bS Stone inlet from the sea. One of
the most egregious errors made by US in
the defense Of Charleston was the evacua-
qon Of Coles Island. The battery on Coles
Nland had complete command over the
eatrance to Stono inlet, yet, without au-
taorlty this position was abandoned and
Tae defense OF Stono river intrusted to Fort
Temoerton and two batteries on Johns
Island. No sooner did we withdraw from
ooies Island than Stone inlet was seized
Hnu The operations instituted thenceforth
against Morris Island.
Following the Coles Island error, we
MADE second bad blunder in not detecting
.ne erection Of the federal batteries for the
securing lof Light House inlet, and the op-
pO'I9g OF all attempts to obtain a footing
" norris Island. AS 1t was, we had only
9o. mere handful of men TO oppose the
,saeral crossing of Light House inlet. Had
, tSe te1eral troops pushed on that day when
o r1sy Rrst crossed they could have swept US
~ cummings Point. and Wagner and
egg would have been theirs.
It, Norris Island, d" said Mai. johnson later,
duTVer possessed strategic Importance, nor
nO! oeAeve 1t does to-day, though l can
oss the present plan of the engineer
Eoa .ers TO establish works there to be liz
Wi with the desire TO hold the enemy
~ ~ tt ~ a distance. Morris Island is bound
bo..aau 30 soon as cut of by Gordon OF
SUos grounding Cummings Point"
nniaAing OK the artillery work Of the
Son r,V ~. soldiers on Morris Island, Maj. John
ot h oeclared that after the first few weeks