Today in History:

775 Series I Volume VI- Serial 6 - Fort Pulaski - New Orleans

Page 775 Chapter XVI. CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.-CONFEDERATE.

a work with two 32s and two companies of men. These works extend from swamp to swamp on either side of the bayous.

At First Livingston are four companies (about 300 men), with one rifled 32, one 8-inch columbiad, seven 24s, and two flank howitzers (24s), with four 12-pounders on the land side. Should this work be passed, all the inlets converge at the Little Temple, where a work is just finished, where I shall put two 32s and 100 men.

On the Mississippi, Forst Jackson and Saint Philip are in good order and garrisoned by ten companies-nearly 1,000 men. They are armed as follows:

Fort Jackson: six 42-pounders, nine 32-pounders, two 32-pounder rifles, sixteen 32-pounders, three 8-inch columbiads, one 10-inch columbiad, one 10-inch and two 8-inch mortars, with two 48-pounder and ten 24-pounder howitzers.

Fort Saint Philip: six 42-pounders, nine 32-pounders, twenty-two 24-pounders, four 8-inch columbiads, one 8-inch and one 10-inch mortar, and three field guns.

Between the forts the river is completely obstructed by a raft of logs securely chained to both banks and held by fifteen large anchors weighing from 2,500 to 4,000 pounds each, and laid in 25 fathoms of water with 60 fathoms of strong chain. This raft is a complete obstruction, and has an enfilading fire from Fort Jackson and a direct fire from Saint Philip.

Between the forts the river is completely obstructed by a raft of logs securely chained to both banks and held by fifteen large anchors weighing from 2,500 to 4,000 pounds each, and laid in 25 fathoms of water with 60 fathoms of strong chain. This raft is a complete obstruction, and has an enfilading fire form Fort Jackson and a direct fire from Saint Philip.

On the Lake Borge side we have, first, a work 1 mile back from Proctorsville, with six guns (two 31s and four 24s), with 100 men. They can be re-enforced from the city by the Mexican Gulf Railroad. I have contracted for a telegraph line from here to the work, to be paid for by the city.

At Tower Dupre there is one large company, with five 24-pounders. The adjoining bayou has been obstructed by piles. At Battery Bienvenue I have 100 men, with 24-pounders.

Fort Macomb is garrisoned by three companies (250 men), and armed with four 42s, one 8-inch columbiad, twenty-one 24-pounders,a nd four howitzers (24s). The live-oak grove, which grew within 300 yards of the fort and offered a secure approach for the enemy, I have had felled at a cost of $1,000, of which the State paid half and city half.

Fort Pike has a garrison of 350 men, and the following armament: Four 42s, one 9-inch and one 8-inch gun, two 32-pounder rifled guns, twenty 24-pounders, and five 24-pounder flank howitzers. I have had logs cut and chains and anchors bought, to obstruct the channel both at Forts Macomb and Pike. I have also contracted to shoal the mouths of West and East Pearl Rivers to 4 feet by sinking obstructions. I keep a regiment and a field battery in advance,a t Bay Saint Louis and Pass Christian, and have made a depot of 15,000 rations at Gainesville, in case they are driven back suddenly from the coast by a large force of the enemy.

The foregoing comprises the exterior line, with which I am in communication by telegraph to Berwick Bay, Fort Jackson, Fort Macomgb, and Fort Pike. Instructors have been sent to the various forts requiring it, and the garrisons are all quite proficient in the drill of the seacoast gun.

The interior line, as you will observe on the map, composes, with the intervening swamps, a complete continuous line around the city, including Algiers within its limits. It is almost entirely finished. Ten 32s are mounted on the line below the barracks, at its junction with the


Page 775 Chapter XVI. CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.-CONFEDERATE.