The Daily Dispatch

The Americans at Canton.

The Hong Kong Register gives the following resume of the operations of the United States vessels in the attack on the forts at Canton, beginning with a recapitulation of the forts taken:

Left bank lower fort, 38 guns; Howqua's fort, on the north end of Wampoa Island, 43 guns; Napier's fort on island, 38 guns; left bank upper fort, 41 guns—total 165 guns.

The gentleman who kindly furnished the above account, mentions the following officers with great praise: Commander Foote, of the Portsmouth; Commander Bell, of the San Jacinto; and Commander Smith, of the Levant; also, Lieuts. Lewis, Watmough, Guterie, Davenport, English, Carter, and Simpson, in charge of boats; also, Belknap, with Adams and Shepard, masters, in charge of the field pieces—called in the American service howitzers,—and Capt. Sims and Lieuts. Kirkland and Tyler, in command of the marines.

The ships suffered very little damage. The Levant had her main stay shot away, and one of her guns damaged, by shot striking it in the muzzle.

It appears that some of these forts had been previously taken by the English, who had satisfied themselves, however, with spiking the guns, and leaving them. The Chinese subsequently refortified them.

A letter in the Boston Post also mentions the gallant conduct of Lieut. Macomb, of the Portsmouth; Lieut. Colvocoressis, of the Levant, who led an attacking party, and Assistant Surgeons Van Zandt, of the Portsmouth, and Daniels, of the San Jacinto.

A correspondent of the New York Times says:

I was surprised to see the terrible effect of the shot and shell from the two ships, which a visit to the forts exhibited. The massive granite walls of the first fort, which was within a range of 180 yards of the Portsmouth on the 16th ult., were shattered, overthrown, and, in some instances, pulverized to a powder as fine as flour. The accuracy of the firing, too, was most admirable. The embrasures of the forts are provided with doors lined with iron, which are closed while the guns are run in and being loaded—one of these doors I noticed penetrated by shot in three places. The shell burst very perfectly, and into very small pieces. As the forts were crowded with Chinese, they must have suffered a fearful loss. All the buildings inside of the walls were unroofed and torn to pieces by the explosions.

The enemy could stand, with comparative ease, the solid shot of the Levant, but the "rotten shot" of the "black devil," as they have styled the Portsmouth, and also the shell and shrapnel from the efficient howitzers were altogether intolerable. Had the Portsmouth been equipped with a less efficient battery than the one which she now carries, she could hardly have sustained the rapid and accurate fire of the four forts as she did on Sunday, the 16th. She fired on that day alone no less than two hundred and thirty shells; and the total weight of the iron and powder which she threw during the several engagements was about eighteen tons.

A fact has come to light, since my last letter was mailed, which accounts for the unprecedented skill and accuracy with which the guns of the Chinese were handled. The French frigate Sybille, when she arrived on this station, three years ago, had lost a large number of her crew by some very fatal epidemic, and in order to supply their place she shipped a hundred and twenty Chinese, who remained with her till about two months ago, when she was ordered home and they were discharged. These men, with all the advantages of a strict and protracted French discipline and training, were in the forts, employing their superior skill and courage in working their powerful guns, and the fact of their presence must have emboldened their countrymen to a resistance more pertinacious and effective than they would otherwise have dared to offer.

Of the explosion so fatal to our countrymen, the same correspondent, says:

A mine had been prepared—the powder deposited and the train laid. Lieutenant Belknap who was superintending it, had gone away for a moment in order to direct the removal of a heavy gun upon the mouth of the mine, when one of the workmen carelessly struck the steel pointed end of his crowbar against a stone, upon which the train was laid. As might have been expected it struck fire and a spark communicated to the powder. The man who was using the crowbar, (a seaman from the Portsmouth) and another seaman from the same ship were blown to pieces, and their arms and legs and mangled bodies scattered in all directions. A boatswain's mate from the San Jacinto was also instantly killed. Two men from the Portsmouth and seven from the Levant were wounded—most of them severely, though it is believed they will all recover. Lieutenant Belknap's escape was a narrow one. He was returning and was within a few feet of the mine when the explosion took place.

The following is the list of the killed and the wounded of the crews of the San Jacinto, and Portsmouth and Levant during the capture and destruction of the forts:

San Jacinto.—Killed—Edward Mullen, coxswain; James Hoagland, carpenter's mate; Wm. Macklin seaman; Alfred Turner, coxswain; Jas. Gibson, boatswain's mate.

Wounded—Smith Benjamin, ordinary seaman; Jas. McGreevy, seaman; John Brown, seaman; William Johnson, coxswain; Thomas Robinson, ordinary seaman; F. B. Petro, landsman; John Mitchell, ordinary seaman; John Stanton, ordinary seaman; Wm. Vanbouten, apprentice boy; Thomas Pantony, coal heaver; Nicholas Dillon, coal heaver; A. McIntosh, captain forecastle.

Portsmouth.—Killed—Lewis Hetzel, apprentice boy; Thomas Crouse, apprentice boy; Chas. Beam, seaman; Edward Hughes, seaman. Wounded—Patrick Melville, private marine; Thomas Gaynor, ordinary seaman; Jno. Lake, boatswain's mate; Jas. Lines, corporal marines; Rich'd Crosby, ordinary seaman; Jas. Coriago, ordinary seaman; John Thompson, private marine.

Levant.—Killed—Edward Riley, ordinary seaman.

Wounded—Earl English, lieut., severe contusion; Jonathan Murray, boatswain's mate, severely; John Russell, ordinary seaman, do.; Wm. Boyce, marine, do.; Patrick Mohan, do., do.; Joseph O'Neil, do., slightly.

The mails by the Europa, at Boston, contain some few additional matters of interest from China. The following is an extract from the circular of the American house of A. Heard & Co., dated Hong Kong, December 13:

"Admiral Seymour has stated in a dispatch to Sir John Bowring that having command of the river defences, he has no other operation in immediate contemplation beyond the maintenance of his position, and that it now remains with the British Government to determine whether the present opportunity shall be made available to enforce the treaty stipulations which the Canton Government have been hitherto allowed to invade with impunity."

The condition of the country around Canton is described as being most alarming, as, owing to the withdrawal of troops for the defence of the city, the various districts are overrun with lawless bands. Food is becoming scarce and dear, and the rebels are gaining adherents fast.

A postscript to a circular from Bains & Co., dated Singapore, December 22, says:

"The foreign factories were all burnt down by the Chinese on the 15th inst. The British fleet had in consequence renewed the bombardment of the city."

A letter from D. N. Spooner, Esq., to the Boston Exchange Room, dated Hong Kong, Dec. 15, says:

"The U. S. steamer Levant is near the factories. The San Jacinto (flag ship) is at Whampoa. The Portsmouth is at Hong Kong, bound to Shanghai. Our officers and men have exhibited the greatest gallantry and skill in the engagements with the Barrier forts, and on guard duty at Canton. None of the officers of the squadron were wounded in the recent engagements."

Admiral Seymour sends to the Admiralty a dispatch dated at Canton, Dec. 14, from which we take the following statement with reference to the operations of the American naval force:

"The American ships of war completed the demolition of the Barrier forts on the 6th, and dropped down to Whampoa.

These forts were of enormous strength and solidity, being entirely built of large blocks of granite, with walls nine or ten feet thick. They were heavily armed, many of the guns being seven or eight tons weight with a bore of thirteen inches; one brass 8 inch gun was 21 feet long."

A RELIC DESTROYED.—The ancient town of Concord, Mass., has lost one of its oldest edifices, and probably the oldest in Middlesex county. It was a large house, owned by Captain David Elwell, and was built in 1690, in the first days of the reign of William and Mary, and two years before the Salem witchcraft trials. It had belonged to several prominent persons, and at one time was the property of William Gray, the most famous of New England merchants. Gov. Everett once thought of purchasing it, but did not. It was destroyed by fire on the evening of the 13th.

An abolition convention assembled at Utica, N. Y., Tuesday.