DEFENSES OF HAMPTON ROADS AND GOSPORT NAVY-YARD-Continued. forming an artificial foundation with stone of random sizes, unloaded upon a 10-foot shoal selected as the site of the work. When the scarp wall and piers had reached a height to include the lintels of the lower tier of embrasures settlement began, and work was stopped after piling a quantity of stone upon the walls sufficient to bring upon the foundation a pressure somewhat exceeding that of the finished work. The work of construction was resumed in 1858, and when it was suspended 52 casemates of the lower tier, with iron-throated embrasures, were finished and ready for the guns. On the second tier the scarp wall and piers of those portions of the work bearing on the channel had reached nearly to the height of the embrasure lintels, the embrasure irons had been set, and the floors of most of the casemates paved. the gorge faces very little work had been done. On It is designed to modify this important work so that it may receive the heaviest modern rifled guns, protected by impenetrable iron armor. The work to be done, which will require several years for its execution, cannot be left until the near approach of war, and a liberal appropriation for it is urgently recommended. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason. Appropriation asked for next fiscal year.. $150,000 00 DEFENSES OF BEAUFORT HARBOR, NORTH CAROLINA. Fort Macon, Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This barbette work, commenced in 1826, is situated at the mouth of the harbor, on the south side, and defends the approach thereto from the sea. More than twenty years ago five short spur jetties, formed of stone of random sizes, and extending a little beyond the low-water mark, were built to the east and south of the fort, for the security of the site. Until quite recently they thoroughly subserved their purpose. The two on the left or inner end of the line have settled so that their shore ends are at the low-water level. The next two have apparently remained intact, while the outer one (No. 5) has altogether disappeared from sight. A storm which occurred in August, 1879, produced such extensive changes in the vicinity of the fort that recourse was had to a board sand-catch, with a view, if possible, of restoring the beach to its former area and height. The results have been satisfactory, and the sand is gradually accumulating in several localities where most needed. Quite recently a spring tide of unusual height swept away a consid erable portion of the sand hills that had been formed between the spur jetties Nos. 2 and 3, and left the shore ends of Nos. 1 and 2 exposed. It is now considered necessary to extend jetties Nos. 1, 2, and 3 by means of log mattresses, covered with riprap stone. This will be done during the present fiscal year with funds allotted from the appropriation for the preservation and repair of fortifications. A project for adapting this work to the requirements of modern defense is under consideration. No appropriation was made for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883. DEFENSES OF WILMINGTON. Fort Caswell, mouth of Cape Fear River, North Carolina, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.--This barbette work, commenced in 1826, covers the entrance into Cape Fear River, and hence the water approach to the city of Wilmington, and constitutes the only defense of that locality. Upon its evacuation by the Confederate forces in January, 1865, immediately after the fall of Fort Fisher, an attempt was made to blow it up. All the scarp-wall of the southeast face was overturned by a mine exploded in the scarp-gallery of that face; a portion of the scarp-wall of the north and west fronts was so badly shattered by the explosion of a magazine on the covered way near northwest salient that it will have to be rebuilt, and the citadel on the parade of the work was burned. There is now neither armament nor quarters for a garrison at the place. The subject of its modification is now under consideration. DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON. Fort Moultrie, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work is located on Sullivan's Island, and co-operates with Fort Sumter in defending the water approach from the sea to the city and harbor of Charleston. It is an eartben barbette work, and was commenced in 1841. The completion of the work comprises the construction of eleven permanent gun-platforms and breast-height walls, bonnets on the traverses, a portion of the masonry and all the earth covering of the bomb-proof shelter, the postern gallery, a part of the earth covering of the magazines, and an earthen cover face on the channel front. Nothing was done at this place during the last fiscal year beyond placing a wooden covering on the principal magazine, cleaning up the grounds in and about the fort, and making some slight repairs to the fort-keeper's house. Every one of the nine wooden platforms for 15-inch guns in the fort contains some more or less rotten members, which should be removed and replaced by sound timbers to render the platforms fit for service. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason. Appropriation asked for next fiscal year $50,000 00 Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work is located on a shoal on the south side of the entrance into the harbor, and its guns, crossing their fire with those of Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, command the only channel of approach thereto practicable for vessels of war. Its construction was begun in 1829, and was nearly finished, although still wanting most of its armament, when, in April, 1861, it was captured by the Confederate forces. It was held by them until February 18, 1865. The reconstruction of the work with the view of adapting it to the conditions of modern defense was begun in 1870, and is now well advanced. Of the barbette gun-platforms required, eight have been laid. DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON-Continued. Three of these eight are permanent, and five are of timber, four of the latter being occupied by two 15-inch guns and two 200-pounder Parrott rifles. By replacing two platforms on the southeast face now occupied by light guns with heavy platforms, timber for which has already been provided, the work would be ready for its barbette armament. Eight casemates on the northwest face are ready for the guns, except the traverse circles, and the nine casemates on the northeast face, one in the pan coupe between the northeast and north faces, and one adjacent thereto on the north face (eleven in all) are armed. The completion of this work comprises the construction of seven permanent gun-platforms and their breast-height walls, placing bonnets on the traverses, most of the earthwork on the gorge face and the parades and magazines adjacent thereto, the arrangement of a room for torpedo defense, and the repair and extension of the wharf and other matters of detail. In the gale of August 27, 1881, some damage was done to the parapet upon the southeast face, and the remaining portion of the wharf was entirely torn away. At the height of the tide the water was three feet deep in the parade. During the last fiscal year the parapet was repaired, and some filling done at the temporary breast-height wall on the northeast and southeast faces. The storage magazine was covered with marsh grass to protect the concrete. A new wharf was built, about 350 feet in length, and steamers can now land at the fort. A few members in each of the five wooden platforms for 15-inch guns at this fort are rotten and should be replaced; all the other timbers remain sound. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortifica- $50,000 00 Fort Johnson, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This old work, situated on James Island, a little more than 14 miles west of Fort Sumter, should constitute one of the inner works in the system of defense for this locality. It is a fort only in name, having neither armament nor magazines, but only some irregular mounds of earth, representing what remains of the battery found there at the close of the civil war. The project for reconstructing this old work contemplates making it a battery for heavy guns and sea-coast mortars. Timber platforms for the mortars have been procured. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason. Appropriation asked for next fiscal year.... $20,000 00 Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work, situated on Shute's Folly Island, about one mile east of the city of Charleston, is one of the interior works in the system of defense of the harbor. The work was DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON-Continued. commenced in 1829. In its present condition it is useless for defensive purposes, and is now in charge of the Light-House Board for lighthouse purposes. An expenditure of about $10,000 will be required to adapt this work to the reception of an armament. No appropriation was made for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883. DEFENSES OF SAVANNAH. Fort Jackson, Savannah River, Georgia, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work, commenced in 1842, is situated about four miles from the city of Savannah, and forms the inner line of defense for that city. Modifications of this work, approved January 11, 1870, so as to fit it for the reception of heavy guns, were commenced in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873, but they were suspended some years since for want of appropriations. The heavy gale of August 27, 1881, caused some damage at this work. The bridge across the ditch was carried away and the doors to the main entrance blown down. The necessary repairs have been made. The four wooden platforms for 15-inch guns at this fort are rotten and unserviceable. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason. Appropriation asked for next fiscal year.. $10,000 00 Fort Pulaski, mouth of Savannah River, Georgia, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, commenced in 1829, is located on Cockspur Island, covers the ship-channel leading from Tybee Roads into the Savannah River, and constitutes the principal defense of the city of Savannah against naval attack. From 1872 to 1875 the work of remodeling the demilune was carried on at intervals and nearly completed. Its gun-platforms were built of timber, and two 15-inch guns were mounted on the north face. All these platforms are more or less decayed. Nothing has been done as yet toward making the required modifications of the main work except to lay the foundations of nearly all the piers for extending the casemates on the north face. As at other places on the Southern Atlantic coast, the gale of August 27, 1881, was here rather destructive. The fortkeeper's house was demolished, the shops and other buildings belonging to the Engineer Department were destroyed, the bridges leading to the fort and demilune carried away, and twenty-one wooden casemate fronts torn off their hinges, and some broken. The parade was overflowed 23 feet deep, and the cisterns were filled with salt water. The wharf was also injured to some extent. The bridges were replaced by temporary structures, casemate quarters prepared for the fortkeeper, the cisterns cleared out, and the wharf suf ficiently prepared for use. The seven wooden platforms for 15-inch guns in the deimlune are practically unserviceable. Each of them contains a large proportion of DEFENSES OF SAVANNAH-Continued. rotten timbers; the oaken pintle blocks are nearly all thoroughly decayed. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason. Appropriation asked for next fiscal year.. $75,000 00 New fort on Tybee Island, mouth of Savannah River, Georgia, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-Plans have been prepared for defensive earthen works to be constructed on the north point of Tybee Island, for the double purpose of preventing the occupation of Tybee Roads by hostile vessels and defending the channel of approach to the Savannah River. The land necessary for the work was acquired by the United States in 1875. For several years past the northeast end of Tybee Island has been washing away. The heavy gale towards the end of August, 1881, aggravated the evil, and considerably cut away the shore of the gov ernment property. The depth of water over the bar at the entrance to Tybee Roads was liable to be reduced by the sand removed from this portion of the shore and by the enlargement of the throat of the harbor. For the protection of this shore three substantial spur-jetties, composed of log mattresses overlaid with brush and covered with rip rap, stone were constructed during the last fiscal year. Their shore ends are placed near the high-water line of spring tides, and their heads project beyond the low-water line. Spur No. 2, the central jetty, is located near the old martello tower; its length is 590 feet. No. 1, 1,000 feet west of it, was made 750 feet long; and spur No. 3, 1,650 feet east of No. 2, is 650 feet long. They were completed at the end of the last fiscal year, and they are already beginning to show good effects. It seems to be advisable, however, to build another jetty west of No. 1. No appropriation for their construction has yet been made. Appropriation asked for next fiscal year... DEFENSES OF CUMBERLAND sound. $50,000 00 Fort Clinch, Amelia Island, Florida, in charge of Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, commenced in 1847, defends the entrance into Cumberland Sound, and is in an unfinished condition. A plan for modifying the work has been prepared by the Board of Engineers for Fortifications, which contemplates an armament of rifled guns and the construction of an exterior earthen battery for 12-inch rifled guns. The work of roofing over the five tower-bastions, fixing new leaders to quarters, boarding up windows, doors, and embrasures, repairing roof on barracks, &c., for protection against the weather, which was in progress on June 30, 1881, was completed during the last fiscal year. A new roof was also put on the building near the sallyport designed for a guard-house and office. The five spur-jetties, designed for protecting the site of Fort Clinch, the construction of which was begun toward the latter part of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, were completed. The severe gales of August and September, 1881, somewhat damaged the most westerly jetty. To the west of that spur the beach has been |