From the Richmond Whig, 8/21/1861

THE FORTIFICATIONS erected around the city are of the most complete and formidable character, and, in connection with the "masked batteries" and mines at various points, would render the march of a hostile army hitherward an undertaking of great peril. One in a hundred might survive to depict the "wiping out" which these extensive works would certainly accomplish. A few bastions are yet unfinished, and upon these a force of several hundred men are now engaged.