THE DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON.

9

though he was an able artillery officer, I knew that he possessed but scantknowledge, and no experience, of military engineering. My best and almostonly assistant for planning the construction of batteries and making theselection of the sites on which they were to be erected was Major D. B. Harris,the chief engineer of the department, on whom I placed the utmost reliance,and who always thoroughly understood and entered into my views. It is anerror to state, as I am informed one or two writers have done, even in SouthCarolina , that the erection of batteries along the shores of the inner harbor,and in the city of Charleston itself, was due to what has been termed theuntiring zeal, forethought, and engineering ability of Greneral Ripley. Myletters of instruction and my official orders to Greneral Ripley, from hisarrival in my department up to the time of my leaving it in April, 1864, con-clusively show that those batteries were all planned and located by me, andthat I passed upon all questions relative not only to their armament, buteven to the caliber of the guns that were to be placed in them.

My fear was that an attack upon Sumter might be attempted at night.One or two monitors, I thought, during a dark night could approach the fortwithin easy range, and open fire upon its weakest face with almost certainunpunity. Sumter, even at night, could be sufficiently seen by the monitorsto be seriously damaged by their fire; whereas the monitors, being very lowm the water, could only be visible from the fort by the flash of their guns.To guard against such an attempt of the enemy, on the 1st of March I wroteto Commodore Ingraham:

“ I must therefore request that the Confederate steamer Stono should take her position as aguard-boat, in advance of the forts as far as practicable, to-night, and thereafter every nightfor the present.” •

I also caused a train of cars to be held in readiness at the PocotaligoStation, to bring such reenforcements as might be drawn from the militarydistrict [lying between the Ashepoo and Savannah rivers] commanded byGeneral W. S. Walker.

On the 28th of February the enemy attacked Fort McAllister with an

‘ The enemy may also establish land rifled andMortar batteries on the sand-hills along the sea-* tore of Morris Island, at the distance of from one0 two miles from Sumter. He might possiblysend one or more monitors during the night to. e a position in the small channel north of Cum-jning’s Point, within close range, to batter downle gorge of Sumter and endeavor to blow up the’Uagazines.

That mode of attack, being the one most to bea Pprehended, should be guarded against as well as®ur limited means will permit—first, by trans-piring as many heavy rifled guns as can be sparedto m the other faces of the fort to the gorge, angle,a nd face already referred to; and the Brooke’si ed gun now on its way here from Richmondust likewise be put there, substituting in itsP ace at Port Johnson the ten-inch gun now ex-pected from that city, so locating it as to fireO'Ward Morris Island when required; secondly, aVOL. iv. 2

strong field-work should be thrown up as soon assufficient labor can be procured on Cumming’sPoint, open in the gorge toward Port Sumter — toact, besides, as a kind of traverse to this work fromthe lire of the batteries located by the enemyalong the sea-shore of Morris Island. The Cum-ming’s Point battery should be armed with theheaviest and longest-ranged guns we may be ableto obtain for that purpose.

“ The introduction of heavy rifled guns andiron-clad steamers in the attack of masonry fortshas greatly changed the condition of the problemapplicable to Port Sumter when it was built,and we must now use the few and imperfectmeans at our command to increase its defensivefeatures as far as practicable. The chief engineersof this department and of the State will be orderedto report to you at once, to confer with you, so asto carry out the views expressed by me in thisletter.”