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THE ARMY BEFORE CHARLESTON IN 1863.

Tlie condition of tlie work, as it appeared to us after six days’ bombard-ment, is thus described by General J. W. Turner, chief of artillery:

“ The fire upon the gorge had by the morning of the 23d succeeded in destroying every gunupon its parapet, and as far as could be observed had disabled or dismounted all the gunsupon the parapet of the two faces looking toward the city which it had taken in reverse. Theparapet and rampart of the gorge were for nearly the entire length of the face completelydemolished, and in places everything was swept off down to the arches, the debris forming anaccessible ramp to the top of the ruins.

“ The demolition of the fort at the close of this day’s firing (August 23d) was complete so faras its offensive powers were considered. Every gun upon the parapet was either dismounted orseriously damaged. The parapet could be seen in many places both on the sea and channel facescompletely torn away from the terre-plcin. The place, in fine, was a ruin, and effectually disabledfor any immediate defense of the harbor of Charleston . Having accomplished the end pro-posed, orders were accordingly issued on the evening of the 23d for the tiring to cease, havingbeen continuously sustained for seven days. There had been thrown 5009 projectiles, of whichabout one-lialf had struck the fort.”

Colonel Alfred Rliett, C. S. A., commanding Fort Sumter, reports, August24th, “One 11-inch Dahlgren, east face, the only gun serviceable”; and onSeptember 1st, “We have not a gun en barbette that can be fired; only onegun and casemate.”

General Stephen Elliott, C. S. A., writes as follows:

“ When I assumed command of Fort Sumter on the 4th of September, 1803, there were noguns in position except one 32-pounder in one of the north-west casemates. This gun wasmerely used for firing at sunset, and was not intended for any other purpose. Early in OctoberI mounted in the north-east casemates two 10-inch Columbiads and one 7-inch rifle. In Janu-ary one 8-inch and two 7-inch rifles were mounted in the north-west casemates.”

The seven days’ service of the breaching batteries, ending August 23d, leftFort Sumter in the condition of a mere infantry outpost, without the powerto fire a gun heavier than a musket, alike incapable of annoying our ap-proaches to Battery Wagner, or of indicting injury upon the fleet. In thiscondition it remained for about six weeks. A desultory fire was kept up toprevent repairs, and on the 30tli of August another severe cannonade wasopened and continued for two days at the request of the admiral command-ing, who contemplated entering the inner harbor on the 31st. Some timebefore this the enemy began to remove the armament of Fort Sumter bynight, and many of its guns were soon mounted in other parts of the harbor.

During the progress of the operations thus briefly outlined, the navy hadmost cordially cooperated whenever and wherever their aid could best be ren-dered. The service of the monitors was notably efficient in subduing the fireof Battery Wagner, which at times not only seriously retarded the labors ofthe sappers, but threatened the destruction of some of the most advanced ofthe breaching guns. While the breaching of Fort Sumter was still in progress,active work was resumed on the approaches to Battery Wagner by pushingthe full sap from the left of the third parallel. Meanwhile the spring-tides hadcome with easterly winds, flooding the trenches to the depth of two feet andwashing down the parapets. The progress of the sap was hotly contestedwith both artillery and sharp-shooters. The latter had taken possession of a