The new South. (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867, November 07, 1863, Image 1
Vol. 2, No. 8." PORT ROYAL S. C, SATURDAY,NOVEMBER 6,1863, - Price Five Cents.?
THE NEW SOUTH.
Published every Saturday Morning by
JOS. H. SEAES, Editor and Proprietor.
Price : Five Cents Per Copy.
Advertisements, fifty cents a line, each insertion.
Terms: invariably cash.
OFFICE: Phoenix Building, Union S.qnare.
My Sword-Song.
Day in, (lay out, through the long campaign,
I march In my place in the rants;
And whether it shine, or whether it rain,
My pood sword cheerily clanks.
It clanks and clangs in a lordly way,
Like the ring of an armed heel;
And tliis is the song which, day by day.
It sings with its lips of stcoL
" O, friend from whom, an hundred times,
I have felt the steadfast grip
^ Of the all rc-nouncing love, that climbs
The heights of fellowship?
Are you tired with treading the weary miles?
Arc you hunt with your blooding limbs?
TV% rnn tnmnnr WV Oyp ftm nVlrn nmile.a.
And the sound of the olden hymns ?
" lias your heart grown weak since the radlent
hour, _ -
"? " When yon leaped; with a single bound,
Frojn your dreaming case to the sovereign power.
Of a living soul world-crowned ?
Behold! th? aloes of sacrifioo
Are b tier lau any wine;
Afid the bloody sweat of a cause like this,
Is an agony divine.
Under the wail of the trampled world,
A-moaning for its dead sons;
OvAr the bellowing thunders hurled
From the throats of wrathful guns;
Abovo the roar of tho plunging liue,
Tliat rocks witli tho fury of Holl?
Runs the Absolute Voice?O, Earth of mine,
re patient, for all Is well."
Tims rings my sword to my soul; and I?
Albeit the way is long,
And black clouds thicken athwart the skyStill
keep my spirit strong.
For whether I live, or whether I lie.
On tho red field ghastly and stark,
Beyond the carnage I shall dosery
God shining across tho dark.
Ex-Orpeult, 8ft'i III Vol
Siege Operations Against Fort Wagner.
H'Ua l?Avf Wominr AA^oidmnnrr flm
1I1U y?X X WIV vx'M.nuvtiu^ wav
character of the ground over which Ihe approaches
were made, marshy ou one si.lo and subject to
l>c overflowed by high tides; the narrow front for
the development of the parallels and zigzags; and
tho heavy tire to which tho besiegers were subjected
without being able to reply to it by counter
batteries, forms a memorablo epoch in the engineer's
art, and pros cuts a lesson fruitful in results.
Morris Island, tho site of Forts Wagner and
Gregg, is but a narrow ridgo of sand, formed by
successive accumulations from the beach, running
along tho entranco to Charleston Harbor. This
ridge slopes from the shore inwards, terminating
in the salt-water marshes intersected by narrow
nrl,;*!, lirt fj? tllA WCst of it. TllO W*idtll Of
tho portion disposals for the trenches in no
point exceeds 225 yards, whilst in others it narrows
to '25 yards at high tide.
Tho plan of attack, it is now known, proposed
by General Gjllmors, was: To effect a lodgement
on tho south sido of Morris Island, which it
was known that tho enemy was then strongly
fortifying. 2d. To besiego and reduce Fort
Wagner, by whieh all tho works on Cummings
Point would necessarily fall. 3d. From the positions
thus gained, to reduce Fort Sumter. 4th.
The vessels of war to remove th* obstructions at *
the entrance of tho harbor and i?ach the city by
running by the works on Sullivan's Island.
The first point was effected by the diversion
made on tho Stono, which drew toff half the enemy's
forces from Morris Island, ?ud rendered its
capture by surprise comparatively Woodless. This
was done July 10th.
It is known that two assaults '.n Fort "Wagner
were unsuccessful, though the triops making it ]
were on tho brink of effecting thefr object Those
failures led to a modification of'<*Jeneval Gillmoke's
plan, which was to effect tye reduction or
d2moiitiou or .t'ort SQmtcr, from waion au annoyin?
fiio was kept np on his trenches ov&r Fort
Wagner, before advancing on th&iitter work, tho I
fire of which he expected to keep down from destructive
effects by his mortar batteries and tho
iron-clads of the Navy.
Having effected this important object, the approaches
and other works against Fort Wagner
were more easily pushed forward. Armed with
seventeen heavy guns, well flanked, with a wet
ditch, a bomb-proof for its garrisofl that resisted
the heaviest shells, approachable only in front
over tho narrow sand ridge which narrows down
to 25 yards in width just in front of tho work,
guarded on the east by the sea and on tho west
by Vincent's Creek and the marsh from surprise,
seen in reverse by Battery Gregg and thirty guns
on Sullivan's Island, in flank by the batteries on
James'Island; whilst ail tho ground in advanco
of it is swept at ono point or another by all its
guns, a inoro (liilicult problem fins seldom, u ever,
been presented for tho solatia of '.L: engineer
than it3 reduction ; certainly nono in modern
time3.
In spite of these obstacles ; in spite of tho shifting
sand under him, over which the tide swept
more than once during his advances ; in spjto of
the succor and relief of the garrison from Charleston,
with which their communications'were free,
General Gxllmoke addressed himself to his task
with that preparedness for every eventuality and
that tenacity which are characteristic traits of his
character.
Tho first parallel and the batteries in it wcro
ready on July 18th, and tho fire was opened at
1,350 yards several hours prior to tho assault on
that day. The second parallel wa3 opened by the
flying sap on the '23d July at 750 yards from the
1 1a 4-1*/% rvmnoinol rlofonclvn linn \ri\Q
IIMUT, WiW lliiliiu luu uvivaumiv 44lav,
well secured from sorties, and contained the
broaching batteries afterwards used against Sumter.
The third parallel, at 150 yards, was made
by the flying sap also, on August 9th, and beyond
this point tho trenches were sometimes pushed
forward by the flying sap, sometimes by tho full
sap, as opportunity demanded. The fourth parallel,
at about 300 yards, was made on the 22d
and 22d August. The fifth parallel, at 200 yards,
on a ridgo wrosted from the enemy, August 2Gth.
Beyond this point tho approaches were simply
zigzags, making very acute angles with each
other, as there was not front enough for a parallel.
In this emergency new means and redoubled
oSorts were cjilled for, and General Girlmore was
equal to it He moved to the Wront all his light
mortars, enlarged the positions for his sharpshooters,
obtained the cooperation of the Ironsides
l>y day, usod powerful calcium lights to blind the
enemy by night, opened fire with as many heavy
guns "to his rear as he conld without danger to his
men in tin* trenches, thus essaying to keep tho
garrison confiuod to their bomb-proof, and to
broach this through a breach in tho work. Theso
measures wero inaugurated on the morning of
September 5th, and for forty-two hours one who
was present writes : " Tho spectacle was magnificently
grand, even sublime." Tho Fort was
** ' rni? ??wava in fKoirluMTlll.
81101)1. Xlit} 1 l^uii nuv luiuiuiuiu wvu
proof, and the work went on in safety except from
tho batteries on J tunes' Island. Tlio men moved
abont in the trenches, even sat on their parapets,
and hunted torpedoes, at which they had become
as skillful as rat-catchers at scenting out rat-holos.
, Tho connterscarp of the work was crowned on tho
night of September Cth, and some formidable ob.
stractions in tho ditch removed. JA.11 being now
; ready for an assault, tho ordor fcjr it was givon ;
but seeing tho hopelessness of their position, tho
enemy evacuated just in time to avoid the result
This ia a triumph of American military science
and skill of which the nation may well be proud,
and General Gillhoke, in the reduction of Fort
Pulaski, the demolition of Sumter, and tho capture
of Wagner, has fairly earned the title of
PoUorcrtts.?Army <t* Navy Journal
m 1
T>?1%^. tVrvtm I r CrtnAfOOIVJ Tn
iVfciUJLilJ V AJiU Jl' ZiUXiitAiJ ?JUV/Wi?7^o* AM
a loading articlo on the Amorican Campaign the
London Army and Navy Gazette s*ys :
"It is rmo of fho chrrr j-teftatliia ofihr. war in
America that the Confederates win nearly all the
battles, and the Federals all the substantial sue-*
cesser Take tho eampaign'in the Southwost ;
Bidhey Johnston, and Beauregard won half
battle at Shiloh, but the next day they were forced
to relinquish the samo ground, and a few weeks
afterwards Beauregard had to evacuate Coriuth.
Bragg, outmarching Bnell, penetrated into Kentucky,
but being outmarched and headed, ho had
to fight at Pcrryville. He claimed tho victory,
and what were tho fruits? Tho evacuation of
Kentucky by the Confederates. Bragg reappoarcd
at Murfreesboro. Roseerans assailed him there,
and beat him by mere obstinacy. Tho Confederates
claimed a victory because they captured guns,
but Bragg, victorious, fell back behind the Duck
river, liosecrans advanced this summer, and by
adroit manoeuvring turned first one flank and then
the other of the strongest positions. Bragg took
up and fortified for months Tullahoma and Chat
tanooga. When Rosecrans was across tlio Tennessee,
Bragg, reinforced from the four winds?
'rem Lee and 'oiinrion?turns and fights, end
and wins a rough-and-tumble fight in the Georgian
Highlands. He catches Rosecrans shifting
his fine army from his right hand to his left, and
inflicts a deep wound upon this army, and hurls
it back towards the Tennessee. Four days pass
away, and Rosecrans is not dislodged from Chattanooga,
the real bone of contention. Bragg had
made a supreme effort Tho telegrams supplied
to the Richmond papers furnish ample proof that
some of tho best men and even the best generals
from Lee's army?even fcongstreet, Hood Hill?
wero with him. He had won two combats, yet
four days elapsed andjie had dono nothing. So
far as appears he might havo moved upon Bridgeport
and compelled Rosecrans to cross tho river
and hasten to place himself between Bragg and
Nashville. He might havo so placed his army as
to cut off Burnside, or compel him to cross tho
Tennessee and hasten back to Kentucky. He
1 ' 1 1 - " - 1 ? -? XT?Th a ofohn trot
flftve ITICd IlilUlIlL'I UilllK'* JL iiu Dionv ?n?n
immense and would have justified risk, for if tbo
Federals receive reinforcements they will hold
Chattanooga forever. But up to the 25th of September
Bragg seems to have done nothing at a?'.
Was it that lie was hit hard himself, or that Lu
hesitated between the projects submitted to him,
or that he was waiting the effect of some cavalry
demonstration in the rear of the Federal army ?
Whatever the cause, it is clear that there was
inactivity in the Confederate camp, when success
and tho interests of the Confederacy required
vigor.
Lo the Poor. Rehee.?"When wo talk of tho
liirrh nrices ofcverv article of common consump
tion in the northern states, we of conrso speak
comparatively. But in order to understand what
high prices really arc, let us place tho rates wo
are paying alongside of those paid by our " south
era brethren" : Corn meal scarce at ton dollars
per bushel; pork goes for two dollars and
twenty cents per pound ; brown sugar for two
dollars and eighty cents, and New Orleans molasses
for fifteon dollars a gallon ; coffee sells for
from soven to nine dollars per pound, butter for
four dollars, and salt for sixty cents.
?Confederate money having become practical1
?? MfttwAlAoo Qrvnft* Pomlinn ofncmmi
I V WUl lillU^, U liaaiClt'DO ^JVUUi viuvmii*
proposes to dispense with money altogether.
Thi3 plan is very simple, and seems to bo abont
the only alternative left to the Confederacy, if it
means to exist much longer. IIo would have the
Confederate government take possession of all tho
provisions and supplies in tho South, keep what
it wants fo5 its armies, and distribute the balance
among tlnf people.
I