University of South Carolina Libraries
V THE S" E? SOUTH. JOS. H. SEARS, ?jJitor and Proprietor. PORT ROYAL, SATURDAY, DEC. _5. 1863. The New South can be obtained of the following persons: J. C. Alexander, P. M., Beaufort. J. W. Allen, P. M., St. Augustine, Fla. W. C. Morrill, P. M. L. It. Brooks, 39tWlL Vols. E. D. Doolittle, Vol. Engineers. Wm. Mason, 52d Pa. Vols. Sergt C. S. Gay, Co. M. 1st Mass. Cavalry. Regiments will please send in their orders the arly part of the week. Siege Operations Before Charleston. The people at the North possess a sanguine temperament, and indulge in hopes relative to the suppression of this Rebellion that are very creditable to their natures if not to their military judgment. They have always anticipated too much ; always looked for success too early, and always demanded more than is reasonable from the commanders of our different military departments. Ever}' body, (Mrs. Grundy included) expected a very pleasant campaign when McClelT.iN started for the peninsula ; everybody, (John Smith besides) counted each new commander of the Army of the Potomac as " the coming man and all the world, (including the Tongo islands 1 believed that Vicksburg would fall as soon as Grxnt began his first parallel. In brief our military operations were to be of "the high-pressure order"?we had only to map out campaignsstart formidable expeditions?make a few tactical manoeuvres and the.Itebs would skedaddle?the Eebellion ?< melt into thin air. Anil like the baseless fabric of a vision Leave not a rack behind." We know at this late day exactly how the Peninsula campaign terminated ; we know how multitudinous?stretching out almost " to the crack of doom"?have been the commanders of that . .. . i .1 mi r.i.o tT>-i- ? gallant DUI uwaicu -<uuijr Ui iuc fuiuuiuc ; we know also how long a period it required to capture the Confederate stronghold in the South "West And our friends in the North have yet to learn that all military operations require adequate time for their acatmplishmznt. The plans of Gen. Gillmore are now patent to every intelligent military observer. It was first : to effect a lodgement on the South East side of < Morris Island, where the enemy was already pos- 1 ted and which he was strongly fortifying. Second, i to besiege and reduce Fort Wagner, by which all ! the works on Cummings Point would necessarily ] * .4 inni'i+aVtli'foil Third tf? rfdnr?p "Fori Sum. ! ?au luwiivwwij ****** ? ?-> ? - - ? '^"**4ter, (from the positions gained.) so that the irou- ] clad fleet could remove the obstructions in the channel, then go up the harbor and capture or J destroy rebellious Charleston. This was the plan 1 of attack?this was whai Gen*. Gillmore promised ?this was all that the Government asked or ex. pected from our small but heroic besieging army. Have not the objects of Gen. Gillmore been j tuccessfully and fully accomplished ? Has not ur gallant army?a mere subsidiary force?done its work and done it well ? "We do not profess to be military writers or ? ?"i." -1 i. ?i. i ii :i_ ii military cruics ; we uu uut sueu*. nuiuuruy on this matter; nor do we intend to review the i brilliant operations on Morris Island ; the glori-! t ous victory of Jnly 10th, v.*hen we obtained a foot- 1 hold on the extremity of that desolate drift of the ] ocean ; of the day-dawn attack of the 11th, (to j carry Wagner,) lead by the lamented and chival- : rous Gen. Steoxo ; nor of the terrible and san- ' gninary storming assault of the ISih, in which we were repulsed with severe loss, but which added new fame and imperishable glory to our arms. Then followed the siege of Wagner ; the laborious work in trench and parallel; the masterly engineering art; the fifty odd days of bombarding the enemy's works, and his timd expulsion on the Otli of September ; followed up by three months' continuous pounding of Sumter, with rilled Pnrrotts and sea-coast mortars, and ending in the demolition of that famous citadel of Rebellion. When the iron-coated lieet of Admiral Parlgrex?in which are the proudest and noblest hearts in the American navy?does a duty now incumbent upon it, and which the people of the North have a right to expect and which the Government ought to demand, then will be ample time to criticise the merits or demerits of the besieging land and naval forces"*' before Charleston." The obstructions in the channel arc now understood, and no matter how real or imaginary they may he. it certainly is no duty of the army to remove 41 " ? * v. 1 J .j.. _ /-i mem?Vic army iuis wrewy am? us amy ; \jrzx. Gillmore has accomplished all that ho promised, aud when the history of this besieging army is written, the world will be astonished at the Herculean labor performed by our troops, as well as the masterly genius that surmounted all obstacles and achieved success when ordinary abilities would have met with inevitable fiiilure. All Higst.?Our excellent Provost Marshal General, Lieut.-Col. Mall, has the art of haul-ing every good thing into his j>ossession; even from the sea, the air, and the earth, aud may be from the bowels of the groat globe itself. Consequently he has recently detailed Lieut. Alexander 1\ Ne.vjxax, of the Engineer Corps, as Assistant Provost Marshal, and a more judicious appoint ment has never bee^ made in this Department. Lieut. Newman is an accomplished gentleman and an efficient officer; in brief, 44 a proper man as one shall see in a summer's day." Headquarters on Folly Island, is now 44all right." Bsig.-Gen. T. \Y. Sherman.?Tho first commander of the ''Department of the South," is at his home in Newport, It. L His leg has so far healed tha* ho will soon be able to wear the artificial one now being made for him in New York. He was at the Metropolitan Hotel when the Arago left, and our Mr. S. prevailed on him to set l ? "d?. . ?v?? v? ' r- t>1 flrt ^ *r?t a la l(j Diaui iv.?i ixiw x mot wxtc lit llai> bad taken for many years. "We hojje to have copies of it for sale by the next steamer. We are making an effort to get some pictures of ever}' General who has ever been connected with the Department The Steamer Boston belonging to this department is on the dry dock at Jersey City undergoing ^uite extensive repairs. Several of her plank near the keel were completely honey-combed by worms, and it is a wonder she ever lived to get North. Her timber, however, arc perfectly sound. She has a frame stronger than many ol the ocean steamers. It will take a mon'li to complete repairs on lier. V?~e have in our office a piece taken from her keel, showing the havoc mads by those rascally little timber eaters. ?Our press gave out Monday, and we were fearful we should be compelled to suspend the publication for a week or so. Mr. McGregor f Chief of the machinery department; and an irtist in mechanical matters, came tit our aid promptly, and put it in "order, much to our gratiication, for which he has our cordial thanks. "Peculiar" by Epes Sargent ?Broken Col jmns, The Rejected Wife liavo been received Hid for sale at our store. Anthony & Co., of 'sew York, are printing for us photographs of Dc Pont, Shebman, Seyaioub, Teiuiy, IIa ltine, and other notables. Teaxspoetatiox to and rr.oM toe Depaptmsst or the South.?We havo been permitted by Major S. Van Vliet, Chief Quartermaster, N. Y., to copy for publication the following note : Washington, ]). C., I October 20th, 18C3. ) Major S. Ta.'t VHct, ChUf Qnurtcrmayter, Xcic J*< I told yen (see my telegram a few days since in answer to an inquiry from you,) that Gen. Gill; more bad the same authority to grant passes to : persous to come into the Department of the South, that Gen. Saxton had. No passes however, covering transportation are valid without the special j approval in each case of the Secretary of War. j The rule of -the Department is, not to considc t | applications for passes to go to the Department : of the South or North Carolina, on the govem: incnt transports, unless previously approved by i the depot commanders. 1. ? in anl-amm aaaa. ... 1 i jua^u^uuuo Uiu.n iu t.vv.tiay viwts aau Y'.'jjr i rare. J as. A. H\r.pin, Ass't. Adj't. Gen. The Quartermaster also informed us that all i persons in government employ, other than sol; diers returning to the Department of the South, j after leave of absence, would be charged $20,00 ! for transportation. All citizens going on govern! ment transports would bo charged the same j amount unless otherwise stated on their pass from i the Secretary of War. S. tX Qj[ Tho following circumstances occurred in this neighborhood sometime ago, and there are probably many hero who recollect it, although the principal has since retired to the shades of private life. At ft certain post in tins department, garrisoned at the time by a regiment from tho Empire State, ! who have since made thcmselvs famous by gallant I deeds, a soldier was taken ill, and unfortunately I died; the commanding officer anxious to impress on his companions arms the exemplary character of their comrftde, issued an eulogistic order, which was read before the regiment at their evening parade. After recounting his various merits, it closed with the following sentence* " The God of Battles rriil give him a soldier's rest," "By order of Lt Col. N. Y. V., 9 ! Commanding Post.' It is to be hoped that the order was obeyed and, that the deceased soldier secured the desired rest. [FOR THE SEW SOUTH.] FORT PULASKI. All quiet, safe and right. Hope stands cheerfully seeking to see the right wing of the Department " go in" to Charleston, which will be dona in due time. Meanwhile the chivalry are having a sweat. Query ? Is not the Confederacy in the condition of old Prometheus,?fast hound by the Fates while the vulture of slavery is eating out its vitals ? Oa the evening of the first instant our sentinelj discovered about ten o'clock, a number of strange , lights on the islands of the north bank of the river. I Soon the gunboat May Fiercer (we suppose) sent | up a rocket from her beat in Skull Creek. At once our boys had orders and opened our columi biads in the north water battery. Having flew the compliments over the river and pronounced their challenge in emphatic terms to the night-walking or nicht skulkins traitors. IIow quickly such "taps" extinguished the lights! The "rebs" ^ choose darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Whether any *' contraband" keel " leaped at stars and fastened in the mud," as yet deponent saith not Let the chivalry send down i their cotton. 3D. B. I. H. ABTlLLERT. Dec. 2, 1863. ?T\e are under many obligations, to Purser f t r - ? r / it . T? ?? JL-lt ^1-.. \??rm Jic ji.anu.3 01 mc suuon, lor iuu vi iai? I York paper*. 1. . '