380 



FORTIFICATIONS. 



FOSTER, STEPHEN C. 



range, yet withstood with but slight injury the 

 first assault of the squadron, which concentrated 

 upon it a fire of 539 guns; and though it might 

 have been silenced by the fire of the fleet at 

 the second bombardment, would hardly have 

 been captured but for the feint of a seaward 

 attack, which called off the attention of the gar- 

 rison from the actual assault by Terry's force. 



From these and other trials of the compara- 

 tive powers of resistance of masonry and earth- 

 work fortifications, the ablest engineers of the 

 country have come to the conclusion that the 

 best material for fortifications in general is a 

 pure quartz sand with natural slopes ; and that 

 where the batteries of fortifications are much ex- 

 posed or can be approached within short range, 

 they should be protected by heavy iron plating. 



Major-General Gillmore, who ranks as one 

 of the highest authorities on this subject, re- 

 gards the erection of revolving iron turrets in 

 the centre of the channels of approach to large 

 cities as a very desirable addition to their means 

 of harbor defence, as combining the advantages 

 of long range and wide field of fire. 



While there has been so marked a revolution 

 in the minds of military men in regard to the 

 subject of permanent fortifications, a change 

 almost as marked has taken place in regard to 

 the method of giving or receiving battle. Here- 

 tofore, when two armies have been opposed to 

 each other in the field, and neither of them dis- 

 posed to take advantage of the defences of a 

 fortified town, they have met each other on the 

 open plain or slope of hillside or valley without 

 fortification, and the fortunes of the day have 

 often been decided by a dashing charge of cav- 

 alry or the sudden assault of infantry with the 

 bayonet. Such was the case in the earlier bat- 

 tles of the present war ; but the troops on both 

 sides have learned that a barricade even of the 

 rudest character will stop many of the balls, 

 shot, and shell which are sent on an errand of 

 destruction toward them, and at every halt for 

 the night or for a few hours the men, before 

 attending to any other duty, run up barricades 

 of rails which they cover with earth, and thus 

 protect themselves in part from a sweeping 

 assault like those at Shiloh and at Stone Eiver, 

 which would destroy or capture thousands. 

 The primary barricade is thrown up with won- 

 derful rapidity, and is tolerably complete within 

 five or ten minutes. If not immediately as- 

 saulted, the men proceed to perfect it by digging 

 a trench inside and throwing the earth outside, 

 thus making the protection greater ; by felling 

 the trees and undergrowth in front and arrang- 

 ing it as an abatis ; by palisades and wire en- 

 tanglements, and by placing heavy logs on the 

 top of the barricades for protection to the sharp- 

 shooters. During General Sherman's cam- 

 paigns from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and from 

 that city to Savannah, as well as in General 

 Grant's campaigns in Virginia, these temporary 

 fortifications were constantly erected ; and in 

 General Sherman's report of the Atlanta cam- 

 paign he says of this practice : " The skill and 



rapidity with which our men construct them is 

 wonderful, and is something new in the art of 

 war." 



Though but remotely connected with the sub- 

 ject of fortifications, yet as pertaining to the mat- 

 ter of coast defences, the introduction of station- 

 ary torpedoes as a subaqueous protection merits 

 attention. In no previous war have they been 

 used to the same extent as in this. Various 

 forms have been devised, and the contrivances 

 for exploding them at the right moment for de- 

 stroying the vessels which approached them, 

 have displayed a rare ingenuity. Though con- 

 siderable injury has been done by them, five or 

 six vessels having been destroyed, yet they can- 

 not, on the whole, be regarded as successful, as 

 not one in five hundred, and perhaps hardly ono 

 in one thousand, have accomplished the purpose 

 for which they were designed. Their use as a 

 means of harbor defence seems to be conceded 

 as justifiable by all military authorities ; and if 

 they can be made more certainly effective, they 

 will form a very formidable addition to the means 

 of protection to the approaches to large cities. 



FOSTER, STEPHEN 0., an American song- 

 writer and musical composer, born in Pitts- 

 burg, Pennsylvania, July 4th, 1826, died in 

 New York City, January 13th, 1864. When 

 seven years of age he exhibited musical preco- 

 city enough to learn to play the flageolet well 

 without instruction, and as he grew older he 

 mastered most of the other musical instru- 

 ments, but never sought or attained renown as 

 a performer. He had studied music very thor- 

 oughly, and was familiar with the works of 

 Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He was also 

 a proficient in French and German, painted 

 well, and, though a man of extreme modesty 

 and a retiring disposition, possessed extensive 

 and general intellectual culture. His taste in 

 the composition of music was for simple, sweet, 

 and unpretending melodies, and his earlier 

 songs and airs were mostly for the negro min- 

 strels, then so popular in this country. 



George Willig, the Baltimore music pub- 

 lisher, published his first song in 1842. It was 

 called " Open thy Lattice, Love," and was 

 followed by " Old Uncle Ned" and " Oh ! Su- 

 sanna," which were issued by Peters of Cin- 

 cinnati. Then appeared " Louisiana Belle," 

 " Nelly was a Lady," " Camptown Races," 

 "My Old Kentucky Home," "Massa's in the 

 Cold, Cold Ground," "Nelly Ely," "Oh, Boys, 

 Carry Me 'Long," " Old Folks at Home," and 

 others. With these Foster established his repu- 

 tation as a writer of negro minstrelsy, and at the 

 same time made considerable money, his New 

 York publishers, Firth, Pond & Co., paying him 

 over $15,000 on "Old Folks at Home" alone 

 the most profitable piece of music ever publish- 

 ed in this country. E. P. Christy paid Foster 

 five hundred dollars for the privilege of having 

 his name printed on one edition of this song. 



During the past ten years Foster's composi 

 tions were of a more sentimental and refined 

 character. He dropped the burlesque negro 



