The ,special correspondent of the Tines has at length -reached
Charleston, and we shall therefore obtain some accurate intelligence from the South. His first letter adds little to our knowledge of political facts, but Mr. Russell considers the men of the 'South phy- sically good soldiers, a point on which he is well qualified to judge. He praises General Beauregard also, and reports plenty of materiel in Southern hands. He adds that Major Anderson was miserably equipped for defence. " His guns were without screws, scales, or tangents, so that his elevations were managed by rude wedges of deal, and his scales marked in chalk on the breech of the guns, and his distances and bearings scratched in the same way on the side of the embrasures. He bad not a single fuse for his shells, and he tried in vain to improvise them by filling pieces of 'bora:bout pine with caked gunpowder. His cartridges were out, and he was compelled to detail some of his few men to make them out of shirts, stockings, and jackets. He had not a single mortar, and he was compelled to the desperate expedient of planting long guns in the ground at an angle of forty-five degrees, for whichhe could find no shell, as he had no fuses which could be fired with safety. He had no sheers to mount his guns, and chance alone enabled him to do so by drifting some large logs down with the tide against Sumter. Finally, he not even one engine to put out a fire in quarters." President Lincoln still confines himself to preparation, the twenty days' notice allowed to illegal combinations not expiring till the 5th of May. These preparations are, however, sufficiently formidable. Forty thousand volunteers have been enlisted for three years, in addition to seventy.five thousand enrolled without reference to time, and the regular army raised to twenty-five thousand men. Lists have been opened for eighteen thousand sailors, and the States are voting new forces every day. Vermont, for example, asked for a regiment, raises five, and expresses her determination to raise her force to twenty thousand men. The troops from New York, in Washington, or on the march, amount to eleven thousand, and the forces are thus distributed: "Of the troops that have been called out thus far, eigh- teen thousand are already in Washington, two thousand are at Anna- polis, three thousand are between Havre de Grace and Annapolis, four thousand are on their way through Maryland from Pennsylvania, and two thousand who left New York on the 29th of April are at sea." The eighteen thousand men in New York include the district militia, who are not very reliable, sonic marines, and about ten thousand volunteers. The road throughAnnapolis is to be held by troops and Baltimore coerced into conceding a right of way. This resolve clears the road between the North and. Washington, and allows the enthu- siasm of the Free States full scope. This enthusiasm is in no degree abated, and shows itself not only in contributions of men, but money. The gifts already amount to more than eleven millions of dollars, in- Chiding three millions voted by New York, and the same sum by Pennsylvania. There is, however, some want of arms, and agents have been sent to purchase them in Europe, and also of small steamers. The information about the fleet is exceedingly imperfect, but the President is collecting transports, and has already, secured fifty vessels of all sizes. Maryland, alarmed at the prospect of be- coming a battle-field, will not, it is said, secede. `Ile Legislature has resolved to appeal to the people, and the vote will probably be for neutrality. Western Virginia also offers to support the Union, and the President has ordered arms to be furnished to its population. The ports of North Carolina and Virginia have been blockaded, it is said, effectually, but there are great doubts on this point. The Southern ports, Charleston perhaps excepted, are certainly not blockaded, and the Northern -papers express fears for their trade. On the other hand, the Southern Congress assembled at Mont- gomery on the 29th April, and Mr. Davis published his first Mes- sage. In it he announces that the departments down to the Post- office are nearly organized, and that all classes exhibit the strongest patriotism. The Confederacy seeks no aggrandizement at the ex- pense of the Free 'States, but will resist any effort to subjugate her to the last. No reliable intelligence has reached this country of the movements of Southern troops, but the Governor of Virginia has .warned the minute men not to move out without orders, and great .efforts are being made to arm the population. The President has, however, warned the Governor that Southern troops must not pass Richmond., Fort Pickens has been reinforced without difficulty cr resistance.
Previous page
