The Daily Gate City

The Affair at Charleston.
The Burlington Argus is disposed to be facetious over the Charleston affair; it even extracts from out of the telegram which asserts that the President is not depressed by the Charleston News. The editor evidently thinks that his brethren of the mysterious order have triumphed down there, and cannot well conceal the satisfaction which dilates his gizzard under that belief.
Rebel news published yesterday, however, shows that his dear friends at Charleston don't appreciate the "go-ahead" quite as highly as the Argus editor seems to. They have not discovered that the sinking of a single vessel of a strong fleet constitutes a glorious victory and forever settles the question in favor of rebel supremacy in Charleston Harbor.
Indeed, they evidently regard it as "Uncle Abe" did, as a strong reconnaissance, the success of which was simply marred by the loss of the Keokuk. And since our fleet is back again across the bar, and preparing to remove obstructions, and expecting a simultaneous attack in concert by our land forces, they are evidently in no humor to crow, or to appreciate the wit or rub of the Argus' bad spelling. and really can't see where the laugh comes in.
Charleston is one of the most strongly fortified harbors on the continent, is difficult of entrance, and is full of dangerous artificial obstructions. Persons, therefore, who expected it to surrender after a two hour's fire from a portion of the Naval force in the harbor, and because it did not give themselves up to despair, would to say the least, make very indifferent Naval commanders.
At all events it seems quite clear that Dupont did not expect to take Charleston in a two hours fight, nor does he seem at all disconcerted or disheartened at the common casualty of losing one of his vessels in an assault upon iron-clad and earthwork batteries.
Whether it were a reconnaissance, and the circumstance that the land forces had not arrived, and that only a portion of the fleet was engaged favor the idea, or a regular attack matters not. In either case the fleet would naturally retire from under fire occasionally as it did in this case.
We may not succeed in taking Charleston, but even a demonstrated failure ought to cause no undue depression of the public mind; and while Dupont, in command of such a fleet, has confidence enough to undertake the job, there is much ground to hope for success.