The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-11-14


much doing in groceries, We have no local in,elli-
gence worth reporting. aa a
'a BY this Evenings southern Mail.
We are indebted to an extra slip Of the New Or
leans Pieayune Of Saturday morning. Nov, It'll, for
the following interesting Intelligence; lsrItra
LATE FROM THE SQUADRON
second abortive attack on AIyarado.-
expedition against Tabasc0. a
ny the arrival Of a pilot-boat at the Balze, we
are IN The possession Of late adyices from the squad
ron we have only time to give the annexed letters
IN his attempt upon Avsrado, it is owing 10 no want
Of guantry or skill his part or that Of his officers
The difficulties he has had 10 kurmount have been
insuperabe 80 far but he will yet prevail He
WILL IN few weeks, renew his attempt at all
hazards fIa' a saa ..s.- '.s7 .H'attt
Correspondence Of the Picsyunsl
. ".'-.e. t'n Orr Asros. LIzARpo,
'' October 18th, 1886
GEsTLEaES; We are on the eve of another at.
tack on Alvarado. AT S O'Clock this afternoon,
Com Conner issued orders for the sailing Of the
squadron (frigates Cumberland and Rartan except
ed) for the mouth Of the Alvarado river. The COM
modore takes command Of the expedition in person.
making use fthe steamer Vixen as his hssship for
the occasion. One o'clock tomorrow morning is
the hour liked for getting under weigh, aud already
firing up. Besides these vessels, the force consists
81 the revenue cutter Forward, sehooners Refer,
Petrel, and Bonita, and prize schooner Nonaia.
This latter vessel was recently enptured from the
Mexieans, and was formerly the American schoon-
er Belle, out OF your port She now mounts four
42-pound carronades. For the past month VIC
have been drilling our men as infantry upon q small
island here, and Jack is so anxious for fight that
he marks time with good grace, and every one an
pears pleased that al last we to have chance at
the enemy. . f"#
At the mouth of the river the MexIcans have
ten-gun battery, and we know Of a brig % war and
two gun boats being anchored inside A number of
their small merchantmen have taken refuge IN the
harbor; AMI there must be smart sprinkling Of
prize-money in store for
October l6.-0ur sailing-oriers for the morning
OF the 18th were countermandtd, in consequence OF
lie blowing too fresh for operations oecasionng a
delay Of the expedition for twenty-four hours. We
sailed, however, at o'clock a. 10 Yesterday; but
! regret TO say that all at anchor again to-
day, and .9ivaradO is yet in POSSESSION Of the .usEi
cans
You were pleased to call the former attack on Al
varado an abortion, and | suppose you will not be
sparing of hard names for the present failure; but
trust that when you examine the facts of the case
you viii understand that II is owing 10 the inefi-
cheney of the means at the disposal OF Commodore
Conner and to the natural defences Of the place ITSELF
that we have not been successful, rather than to any
want Of skill or courage hs part, or lack of spirit
and support by the officers and men under his com.
| mand.
We were within ten miles Of the mouth of the
river at daylight, and stood slowly into shore, il
being dead calm--the Vixen and Mel .ane towing
the schooners. The Mississippi anchored at long
shot distance, and commenced her fire. Up 10
this time, everything appeared highly favorable
for the success of the expedition There being
| heavy swell on the bar, the pilots declined
taking the vessels over The commodore lead.
i,g in the Vixen, with the rest of the force
following passed by the fort, each vessel firing her
broadside as she ranged ahead with but lite effect
however, owing to the distance. long eighteen in
the Forward, sent shot directly into the for-this
movement repeated with better succ, r., the dis
lance being lessened, and again the Forwufd made a
most beautiful shot In the meanw hi'e tn, Missis-
sippi had closed up and was expodir IN - xhans
about the heads ofthe Mexicans in az that must
have made some of them see mon stars than the
Lord ever made. One shot from her dismouDted a
heavy gun of theirs from stockade, this they soon
remeied, but thus far all their shot had fallen short
During the morning several Of our boats sounded
within halfa mile of the fort, receiving the fire of
the enemy with as much impunity as indifference
The swell on the bar having somewhat subsidized at !
p m, the line was formed as follows steamer vix-
en-, flag ship, towing gun-boats Refer and Bonite;
steamer McLane towing the Nonata; cutter For
ward and gunboat Petrol; then two launches, three
cutters, and barge, containing force destined for
boarding the vessels-of-war, brought up the rear.
The Vixen, with her tow, passed the bar and took
position within point blank range, but the McLane
stuck fiat, and the commodore finding himself de-
prved of the support of wo=thirds of his force and
being unable to sustain the fire of tweIye.gun bat
terry with but four light pieces Of his own, was
obliged to retreat. The force in the boats was now
exposed to heavy fire, the shot flying thick and
fast around us, and had the Mexicans fred grape il
would have knocked some of US into fits. Wo es-
capped, however, with good ducking from the spray
of the balls
Ii being now too late in the day for any further
operations, signal was made for return to anchor
| age, and thus ended this bloodless combat-blood-
less not because each and every man Of US would
not have shed our hearts best 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 provided the enemy with such nat.
ural defence as cannot be overcome by naval at.
tack with such means as Commodore Conner has at
his disposal. The McLane ia abominable abor-
ton, ito make use of your own word drawing too
much water to be serviceabe, and with not sufficient
power to drive her over three and half knots an
hour but it is due to Captain Howard to say that
as soon as he got his vessel afoat again, he proer-
ed to make another attempt to pass the bar but the
commodore declined, as 1t was now too late in tho
afternoon. a44.eisgt-tt asgt atss s,ajs-g aasE
There remains one way to take this Alvarado,
and, mark my words, it will be done before many
| weeks; meanwhile we must expect to be severely
| handled by the newspapers at home, and by people
who expect us to accomplish impossbilities and
gain glory on field where is to be won--al-
| though no man, with two ideas in his head who
Witnessed our recent defeat can attribute blame to
any one. al.g 6&j Ea @aN.m6& ta t,rH 8g,
October 25--On the night of the 18th instant, the
three steamers, cutter Forward, schooners Bonita,
Refer, and Nonata, under command Of Com. Perry,
| left Anton. Lizardo for nm attack on Tabasco On
| the morning of the 9Th, the Mississippi made a
prize of the American barque Coosa, Capt Hick-
ling, off Avarado river and her in to this place
upon suspicion of her being about to land her cargo
on the Mexican coast This vessel was cleared from
New Orleans on the Sd instant for Havana, by
| Messrs. Wylle Egana, with 900 bales of cot
ton, put up in 200 pound bales, and there appears
good reason to suppose that il was intended for
charge of Passed Midshipman Barrett, son of ono,
| Of your former collectors. ...,msu. saH .,a sstd
| To-day another prize, the Yucaan schooner "El
TELEGRAPH" arrived from the Tabasco expedition