by regular approaches. Among the difficulties to be confronted was the narrowness of the neck of dry land along which those approaches must be carried: the fort covering the entire width of the island where it stood; whereas, at the point where we commenced to run our parallels, it is but a third, and at a point still nearer the fort, is but a tenth so wide. The faces of the fort were mutually defensive, and it was provided with a sluice gate for retaining in its ditch the water admitted at the highest tides. The problem was complicated by the cross-fire from Sumter, Cumming's Point, and several heavy batteries on James island. Its garrison could at all times be readily supplied and rëenforced from Charleston; while the besiegers were embarrassed, and their operations retarded, by the knowledge that they might at any moment be assailed without notice by a force of twice or thrice their strength, suddenly concentrated by railroad from the Rebel armies in any part of the Confederacy. were established so soon as might be: their guns being trained partly upon Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg behind it, and partly upon Fort Sumter: fire being opened on the latter, at a distance of two miles, from two 8-inch and five 100-pounder rifled Parrotts. Meantime, a breaching battery of two 200-pounder rifled Parrotts and two 80-pounder Whitworths, likewise intended for Fort Sumter, had been established by Col. Serrell in the first parallel, which was manned by Admiral Dahlgren from the navy, under Captain Foxhall A. Parker; and which, in one week" of service, made a decided change in the physiognomy of that obstinate structure. Com'r Geo. W. Rodgers, of the Catskill, was killed. Still other breaching batteries were simultaneously established on the left, 800 yards farther from Sumter, which participated in the bombardment of that fort, and contributed to its measurable success. All these extensive and difficult works were of course pushed forward mainly under the cover of darkness, which did not cause an intermission of the enemy's fire, but materially interfered with the accuracy of his aim. The advancing over deep sand and mounting, under fire, of the great guns employed in these operations, was a most arduous labor, taxing the strength as well as patience and courage of all engaged. Within five days after the bloody repulse of the 18th, a row of inclined palisading had been stretched across the island, some 200 yards in advance of our front, with every added precaution against a sortie that experience suggested, a bomb-proof magazine constructed, and a first parallel opened, with 8 siege and field-guns and 10 siege mortars in position, beside three Requa batteries' of riflebarrels, designed mainly for defensive service if needed. And now "a second parallel was opened, 600 yards in advance of the first, in which heavy breaching batteries Col. Serrell to make the requisite ex Gen. Gillmore had long since" resolved to establish a battery in the marsh westward of Morris island, at a point whence he believed it practicable to reach the wharves and shipping of Charleston, and had directed THE SWAMP ANGEL OPENS ON CHARLESTON. aminations. The marsh here was a bed of soft, black mud, 16 to 18 feet deep, overgrown with reeds and grass, traversed by tortuous, sluggish watercourses, and overflowed at high tide. Here, at a point midway between Morris and James islands, fully five miles from the lower end of Charleston, on a capacious and substantial platform of logs, placed directly on the surface of the marsh, but strengthened, beneath its gun platform, by piles, driven through the mud into the solid sand below-the rectangular space inclosed by them being filled in with sand-was established the 'Marsh Battery; mounting a single 8-inch rifled Parrott, named by the soldiers 'the Swamp Angel.' Protected by a sand-bag parapet and epaulement, it was soon made ready to transmit the compliments of the besiegers to the heart of the Rebellion. 479 demolished by our shot. Yet Gillmore ceased firing on the 23d, because he considered, and reported to Halleck, that Fort Sumter, as an offensive work, was now practically demolished: its barbette guns being mainly dismounted; its stately and solid walls reduced to a heap of unsightly ruins, whence most of the guns were gradually withdrawn by night, because no longer capable of effective service upon or within its walls; and its garrison of artillerists exchanged for one mainly of infantry, who were tolerably safe in the bomb-proofs covered by its sheltering ruins, but capable neither of impeding our approaches to Wagner nor offering formidable resistance to our iron-clads. Gillmore now expected the ironclads to force their way into the inner harbor and up to the city, which he deemed no longer defensible against our naval force; but Dahlgren did not concur in this opinion of the feasibility of such an enterprise, and it was not attempted. When all was ready, fire was opened" with shot and shell, from twelve batteries of heavy guns, on Sumter, Wagner, and the Cumming's Point batteries, but mainly on Sum- Gillmore, having completed" his ter-the breaching guns being served arrangements for opening fire from with great care and deliberation- 'the Swamp Angel,' summoned Beauthe distance of our batteries from regard to abandon Morris island and Sumter varying from 3,428 to 4,290 Sumter, on penalty of the bombardyards, or from two to two and a half ment of Charleston. Receiving no miles. Those in the second parallel reply, he fired a few shots from that were exposed to a galling fire from battery, and desisted. Beauregard Wagner, which, though somewhat im- thereupon complained that no reapeded by a cross-fire from our iron- sonable notice was given of this clads, at times caused a partial sus- opening on an inhabited city; addpension of our bombardment; while ing that he was absent from his post a heavy north-easter, raging on two when Gillmore's message was redays," seriously affected the accuracy ceived there. Gillmore could not of our fire at distant Sumter; which see how he was blamable for this abthe Rebels were constantly strength-sence, and insisted that he had done ening by sand-bags so fast as it was nothing contrary to the laws of war. The high tides raised by the storm aforesaid partially filled our works, washing down parapets and impeding our operations as well as destroying our approaches; yet a fourth parallel was soon established," barely 300 yards from Wagner, and only 100 from a sheltering ridge in its front, from behind which Rebel sharp-shooters had seriously impeded our working parties and defied efforts to expel them by infantry, as they afterward did" to dislodge them by mortarfiring. But Gen. Terry was now directed to take it with the bayonet, and did so whereupon our fifth parallel was established behind it, only 240 yards from Wagner. Here, the dry part of the island is but 25 yards wide and barely two feet high: high tides sweeping across in rough weather to the marsh behind it. Henceforward, the ground was filled with torpedo mines; in spite of which, a rude trench had been pushed forward, by daybreak of the 27th, to within 100 yards of the fort. Yet here the progress of the besiegers was checked. The fire of Wagner, concentring from its extended front on this narrow sand-spit at close range, was necessarily most ef fective; that of the James island batteries was steadily increasing in volume and accuracy; to push the sap by day was death to all engaged in it; while a bright harvest-moon rendered it all but equally hazardous by night. It became necessary to silence the fort utterly by an overpowering curved fire from siege and Coehorn mortars, at the same time attempting to breach the bomb-proof by a fire of rifled guns at close range; thus expelling the garrison from its Aug. 26. 62 Night of Aug. 21. 63 64 only available shelter. To this end, all the light mortars were brought to the front, and placed in battery; the capacity of the fifth parallel and advanced trenches for sharp-shooters was greatly enlarged and improved; the rifled guns in the left breaching batteries were trained upon the fort; and powerful calcium lights prepared to assist the operations of our cannoniers and sharp-shooters, while blinding those of the enemy. The New Ironsides, Capt. Rowan, also moved up and set to work, during the daylight, on the obstinate fortress. All being ready, our batteries rëopened in full chorus: the New Ironsides pouring in an eight-gun broadside of 11-inch shells against the parapet, whence they dropped nearly vertically, exploding within or over the fort; while calcium lights turned night into day, blinding the garrison, and rendering visible to the besiegers every thing connected with the fort. This proved too much for the besieged, who were compelled to seek and abide in the shelter of their bomb-proof, leaving our sappers free to push forward their work until they were so close to the fort that the fire of the James island batteries, which had become their chief annoyance, could only be rendered effective at the peril of friends and foes alike. And now the sap was pushed with vigor, and in entire disregard of the enemy: the workers off duty mounting the parapets of their works to take a survey of the ground; until, a little after dark," the sap was pushed by the south face of the fort, leaving it on their left, crowning the crest of the counterscarp near the flank of the east or sea front, com**Sept. 5, at daybreak. 6 Sept. 6. DAHLGREN'S LUCKLESS ATTACK ON SUMTER. pletely masking all the guns in the work, save those on this flank, and removing a row of long pikes which had been planted at the foot of the counterscarp as an impediment to assault. to Gen. Gillmore directed Gen. Terry assault in three columns at 9 A. M.; that being the hour of ebb tide, which gave the broadest. beach whereon to advance the assaulting columns; but, by midnight, it was discovered that the garrison were escaping; and with such celerity did they move that we took but 70 prisoners. They left 18 guns in Wagner and 7 in Battery Gregg. Though 122,300 pounds of metal had been hurled at it at short range from breaching guns-none of them less than a 100-pounder-within the last two days, the bomb-proof of the former was found substantially intact, and capable of sheltering 1,500 men. Sand was fully proved to possess a power of protracted resistance to the power of heavy ordnance far surpassing that of brick or stone. 481. to the parapet; but found the slope far steeper and its ascent more difficult than they appeared when viewed from a distance through a field-glass. The garrison, under Maj. S. Elliot, proved exceedingly wide awake, and at once commenced firing and throwing hand-grenades; while, at a signal given by them, the Rebel batteries on every side but the offing opened a terrific fire, whereby our three boats were soon torn to pieces, and those they had borne to the fortsome 200 in number-either killed, wounded, or compelled to surrender. The killed and wounded were about 80; while 121 were taken prisoners. The residue of the expedition drew off unhurt. No life was lost on the side of the defense. Gen. Gillmore's 'Swamp Angel' had rather alarmed than injured the Charlestonians-no person having been harmed by its fire, though several shells had reached and exploded in the lower part of their city, and one had entered a warehouse, and, exploding there, done considerable damage to its walls and contents. The 'Swamp Angel,' being fired at a considerable elevation, with a charge of 16 pounds of powder, impelling a projectile weighing 150 pounds, burst at its 36th discharge. But now Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg were transformed and strengthened, while other works were erected on that end of the island, armed with mortars and heavy rifled guns, a full mile nearer to Charleston than the 'Marsh Battery,' and of course far more effective for the bombardment of that city, a full half of which was henceforth under fire, and 6o Sept. 7. During the night of the 8th, a flotilla of 25 to 30 row-boats, from Admiral Dahlgren's fleet, led by Com'r Stephens of the Patapsco, attempted to carry Fort Sumter by assault, whereof no notice was given to, and of course no cooperation invited from, Gen. Gillmore. The boats, having been towed nearly to the fort, were cast off and made their way to the ragged walls of the old, inveterate obstacle to our progress, whereon the crews of three of them, led by Com'r Williams, Lt Remey, and Ensign Porter, debarked, and attempted to clamber up the ruins VOL. II.-31 was, after some casualties, abandoned | been inconsiderately left open-complete the record of notable events in this department for the year 1863. by most of its inhabitants, who either moved farther up, or left altogether: while many of the buildings, including some of the most substantial and costly edifices, suffered severely. Blockade-running-which had long been a source of activity, importance, and profit to 'the cradle of Secession,' in spite of all the gunboats, ironclads, &c., that could lie off her bar, rëenforced by the 'stone fleet'-succumbed to and was broken up by the terrible missiles of Gillmore, though sped by guns mounted fully four miles from her wharves. In North Carolina, little of moment occurred in 1863. Gen. D. H. Hill attempted to retake Newbern on the first anniversary" of its recovery to the Union: attacking, with 20 guns, an unfinished earthwork north of the Neuse: but that work was firmly held by the 92d New York until rëenforced; when its assailants drew off with little loss. Hill next demonstrated" against Washington, N. C.: erecting batteries at Rodman's and Hill's Points, below the town, which commanded the navigation of Pamlico river and isolated the place. But Gen. Foster had meantime arrived: finding a garrison of 1,200 men, with two gunboats and an armed transport under Com'r R. Renshaw; while the de Meantime, Sumter, though still a volcano, was a volcano asleep-her guns mainly dismantled, her garrison hidden in her inmost recesses. At length, upon advices that the enemy was remounting some guns on her south-east face, Gillmore reopened" on that face from his heavy rifled guns in Wagner and Gregg, crum-fenses were well placed and in good bling it speedily into ruins, which sloped from the summit of the breach to the level of the surrounding water. Thereafter, a slow and irregular fire from Cumming's Point was maintained for weeks, or till nearly the close of the year; when, all prospect of a penetration of the harbor by the iron-clads being over, and no object seeming to justify a continuance of the fire, it was suspended, or thence-days being ended, it was understood forth mainly directed against Charles-on our side that an order to assault ton alone. condition. Hill had here his corps, estimated by Foster at 20,000 strong, with 50 guns. But he paused three days before assaulting; which precious time was well improved by the garrison in strengthening and perfecting their works-Foster peremptorily refusing to allow any espionage of his doings under the pretense of summoning him to surrender. Those was given, but not obeyed-our works being deemed too strong to justify the risk. Hill now commenced a siege in due form; mounting guns on the several ridges commanding the town, with one on Rodman's Point, across the river; our small force posted there being easily |