It would be interesting to quote the opinion of Lord Wolseley as to the value of the study of the siege of Charleston in its tactical features as compared with the siege of Sebastopol and other great naval attacks. All the world wondered at the marvellous success of the blockade-runners, and the pages of history may be searched in vain for greater heroism than that displayed by Glassell, Dixon and others who first proved to the world the value of the torpedo in naval warfare; but let two sets of figures suffice: GENERAL SUMMARY FORT SUMTER, FEBRUARY 1, 1865. Total number of projectiles fired against it 46,053 Total weight in tons of metal thrown (estimate) 3,500 Total number of days under three great bombardments 117 Total number of days under eight minor bombardments 40 Total number of days under fire, steady and desultory 280 Total number of casualties (52 killed, 267 wounded) 319 [Illustration: THE ATTACK ON CHARLESTON BY THE FEDERAL IRONCLAD FLEET, APRIL 7, 1863.] Charleston with a white population of 24,000 furnished twenty-three companies of infantry, eleven of artillery and eight of cavalry to the Confederate armies. The comments of a British officer and of two officers who served in the Federal army as to the extraordinary defence of Charleston are submitted;--for one born and reared in sight of Fort Sumter, and as a child carried away from the city to escape the shells from the “Swamp Angel” on Morris Island, cannot write of his people _sine ira et studio_. Col. H. Wemyss Feilden, colonel and chief paymaster (retired list), H. B. M. Army says: “We find a large commercial city, at the commencement of a great war defended by nearly obsolete works and with several unguarded approaches, rendered impregnable in a short time by the skill and genius of the general in command, supported by the indomitable valor, devotion and tenacity of its defenders, and by the unflinching spirit of all ages and both sexes in the community.” Quartermaster-General M. C. Meigs, U. S. A., in an adverse report to Secretary of War Stanton, in August, 1865, upon the petition of various merchants and wharf owners of Charleston, asking that their warehouses and wharves in the possession of the government be restored to them, says: