FORT SUMTER, S.C., February 17, 1861.
General Jos. G. TOTTEN,
Chief Engineer U. S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
GENERAL: Everything is quiet, and there are no evidences of the presence of many troops around us, nor of military preparation. The assumption of all questions relating to forts, arsenals, &c., by the Congress of the Southern Confederacy appears to have placed a sudden check upon the military enterprise of the South Carolinians. The only operation performed yesterday was the firing of three shots from the iron bomb-proof battery on Cummings Point, apparently for the purpose of trying the embrasure shutters. These shutters appear to be of iron, and are arranged like a trap-door, with a hinge at the upper edge, so that two men can open it—having, probably, a counterpoise in the interior.
I think these batteries can be destroyed by our fire by concentrating it upon one embrasure at a time, and aiming at the embrasure itself.
I cannot yet determine what is being done at Fort Moultrie. In addition to the sand bags, which raises the sole of the exterior about two feet, the whole embrasure is filled with a large bag of wool or cotton.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.