Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1846-11-19


i The Vixen with her tow passed the bar. ana
took position within point blank range, butth4
! McLane stuck fast, and the Commodore find.
ing himself deprived OF the support Of che
| third of his force, and being unable to sustain
the fire Of the twelve gun battery, with bq
| four light pieces Of his own, was obliged q
retire.
The force IN the boats was now exposed toa
heavy fire. the sho, fly lng thick and fast aroupl
us. and had the Mexlca1s fired grape, il wou1
! have knocked US into n;s We escaped, how.
ever. with good ducking from the spray Of
the falls. Ii being now too late in the day "a,
| any further operation, signals We're made ior
return 10 anchor. and thus ended this bloodless
combat. Bloodless, not because each aud eve
nv man of us would not have shed our hearts
| blood TO have gained the day NOT because
our plan of attack was not good, or that we
were not properly led, but because Providence
has formed the enemy with such natural De
/ fences as cannot be overcome by naval attack
with such means as Com. CONNER has al his
/ disposal.
The McI.ane is an abominable abortion, 10
make use of your own words, drawing too
much water 10 be serviceable, and with not
sufficient power 10 drive her over two and a
half knots an hour. But, il is due to Captain
| HowARD to say that as soon as he got his YES.
sci aioat again, he proceeded to make another
attempt to pass the bar, but the Commodore
declined, as il was now too late in the alter
noon.
There remains one way TO take this AIvara.
! do, and mark my words, it will be done before
| many weeks. Meanwhile, we must expect,o
be severely handledby the newspapers a, home,
aud BY people who expect us TO accomplish i'm.
possibilities, and TO gain glory on field where
none is TO be won. Although no man with
two IDEAS in his head, who witnessed our ne
cent defeat can attribute blame TO any one
Oct 18th On the night of the 10th inst the
three steamers, cutter Forward, and schooners
Bonita, Reafer and Monata, under command
of Com. PERRY, left Antonio Lizardo, for an at
tack on Tobasco. On the morning of the l7th,
the Mississippi made prize of the American
barque Coosa, Capt. HicKLING, off Alvarado
river. and sent herlnto this place upon suspi.
cion of her being about TO land her cargo on the
Mexican coast
This vessel was cleared from New Orleans.
on the Sd inst for Havana, by Messrs. WYLrK
and EGANA. with 1900 bales Of cotton, put up in
200 h. bales, and there appears good reason to
suppose that il was intended for Mexico. She
will sail for your port the 9th inst in charge Of
Passed Midshipman BARRET, son ofyour for
mer collector.
To day another prize, the Yucatan schooner
Ell Telegraphe. arrived from the Tobasco ex-
petition. On the 23d, reports feet standing of
the land waiting for weather TO go into the wa
ter.
The following vessels are here dscharging
coal for steamers Barques Eyeron and MOI.
gan; briggs Abrisia and Jesan San Cartigena;
schrs Regena Hill and Sarah. The latter yes
sci having lost her rudder ON her passage from
~ Orleans 10 Brazos Santiago, was blown
down here, and was made use ofbv Com. Coz.
.Ea Also schr. Portia, from ~ Orleans, and
Titus. from New Haven, with supplies for the
squadron. Yours, S.A.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
Goodness Of Com Conaier-Efects ofhe MI,
sissippi's SieiLs-Erpediiioa against I6basco
An amusing incident
The Picayune has also the following add
tonal information from the Gulf, from private
letters -
The gallant old Commodore was the most
chagrined of ALL He took command of the
expedition in person, upon the steamer Vixen.
His vessel succeeded in getting across the bar
and reaching the desired position, where she
stood the brunt OF the fire OF the Mexcan bate.
ry Of twelve guns, till tae Mel .ane got aground,
and il would have been foolhardiness TO PEI
sist in the enterprise. Com. CONNER stood
all the while upon the wheel house Of the Vix-
en-, calm and unruffied, whilst the shot flew
around him. One ball striking short Of the
schooner, dashed the wafer over his person
filling his face and eyes Unmoved, he wiped
the water from his face, and. solicous, only
for others, inquired if any one was hurt. Ills
bearing is described to us as everything that
we could havewished. Perfectly unruliied,he
would not expose 10 useless hazard his com
mand, after il became evident that from acci.
dent the enterprise must fail. His officers and
men, however, Were rendered half frantic by
the order TO withdraw. There was nothing So
rash and desperate that they would not have
performed it, rather than have obeyed the sum
mons TO desist
Don THos. MARIN, one of the most accom-
plished officers in the Mexican Navy, CON
manded the Notifications of Alvarado. The pa
perS containing his report of the attack ha
been accidentally mislaid or we would give ths
whole of it but il is in the usual style of Mex
lean reports. He declares that he is ready FL
J us again at any moment, and this probably i
true. The Commodore, from his position il
advance on the Vixen, discovered anothd
Mexican work half mile further up the riv
er, or lagoon, as ii may more properly be ca
t led, where three guns were mounted in bate
ry, and supported by gun brio and two gun
) boats, serving as water-batteries Perhaps i
, was the discovery of these additional means Of
: defence which influenced the Commodore Dol
TO persist in his attack without the support
more of his forces. In the report OF SenH
MARIN the loss ofthe Mexicans is moi men
toned, but he speaks of the loss of one Mex
can officer who was not ON duty, but in the
streets of the town, half mile back Of the fort
He was captain in the army, and was struck
by shell from the Mississippi, and, we need
not say, was almost annihilated. Anotha
shell from the Mississippi set the Mexican col |
ors on fire in the fort, but they were speedily F
replaced.
In this attack the same pilot who was on
board the Truxton when she got ashore plloe
the McLane. His name is john Mcneil
and he is Scotchman. He discharged hH
duty under the impressive belief that upon tn
first accident he would be shot, We believe
it is not pretended iha, he played US false
The pilot gave warning Of the danger in sea
son, and the vessel went ashore in going abou'
The attack was subject of remark among
the officers of the foreign vessels OF that So