Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-07-07
aSfet1toroor0 asapatttrff.
Fyom The Norfolk Herald, July2.
LATE AND INTERESTING FsoH' A'i

PICO. T.,
We have been politely favored WIN 'n asn ,T..
lowing extract of a letter TeceiVee "
man in this city, dated eu. sr M,Rys.)
Orr TAMpIco, June H. 1916.
The war grows apace. On inc o,n 'n 81, an
discovered the enemy erecting ano.nea ond a,
the North side OF the entrance 10 Tue ise, an
one o'clock, P. NJ, we got the ship under weIsii,
unIer topsails. stood in. and when within lhlie
OF The fort and sunboas, the latter three IN mum,
Der. and tonuins about one hundred, opened nle
upon both. Being on lee shore and IN snoa !.
water. we were moi able 10 fire more IMAM e'sn'
shot before il became necessary 10 claw Oh, VII
we did; but al 3 o'clock returned and con'lhueu
firing until we had fred 70 shells, and % rounu
solid shot. In The last rencon're, .ne eneny 80,
turned our fire. with about ten shot from 10 Pounu
guns, four of which passed near u.s. Two iell u,
reclly under our "fore foot" one passed pe.~een
the fore and main lop.mas' anu one o'e' 'Ao
foot, The others fell al distance. .;s,,.d
The first shell which bust over 'ne toi., ~. -
every soldier from The neighoorhoou, 'ie ~
them taking Immediately TO Inc woous' 0me y.
masts, and exploded beyond her, fragment nav
ING struck the bowspri and bulworks, tearing
both considerably. as we have learned SINCE Inc
fight. One corner OF the custom mouse was
knocked down-a house on The north side oil me
river, was fired by The explosion OF Shell; and a
soldier allhe for, on guard by the bursting OF ano
Their shell exchanged his muskel ior pacancy II
having been shattered, without, believe inlurih9
his valuable person. Having driven The parry from
their embryo tort, we returned 10 our anchorage
al halt-past three.
We were not satisfied, however, WIN lnIs en- en-
sagement, Tor Yesterday we projected plan Tor
III
hoisted out all boats Arrived there, The launch
having nine FOUNDER in the bows and al III IL
o'clock. p. NJ, got under weigh and brought the
ship nearer the shore, about one and hall miles
of. Ittakes longer time 10 describe The mlnl-
lia of this affair than | can deyole 10 II now. =
We had desired 10 make The attack before Inc
moon rose, but could not Al IL o'clock she was
lifting her head above the horizon, when our nve
boats left The ship every thing having been PIE,
yiousy arranged by our gallant captain. Mino
Won, we not only had the difficulty OF capturing
three heavy gun-boats with thirty or more men IN
each, and to quel Fort, OF which we had 10
pass within fifty yards, but there was danger
Gus bar 10 be crossed, but first 10 be found. We
pulled in 10 The shore with muflled oars literally
feeling our way, for at one time we would be quite
in The breakers, and then TOO far sea-ward; with
strong tide beneath and bright moon above us,
every thing seeming 10 conspirc against our OAR
ing expedition. In seeking our way ITO The mouth
Of The river, we were obliged 10 pass near the
shore for distance of 300 yards, and the noise
consequent upon the difficulty Of finding our way
through a passage OF which we knew nothing,
BETRAYED us 10 the senlinels along the Shore who
RAPIDLY communicated with the encampmen,,
and it conveyed intelligence 10 the gun-boals, SO
that, unknown 10 US, our foe was watching our
every movement
However al about A. M. we had discover
ed the narrow entrance 10 The mouth oil Inc riyer
and were pulling in, when, within Two hundred
wards of the Fort, near which we had to pass,
much 10 our surprise, as you may imagine, bang!
went dozen muskets, and The balls whizzed about
our ears. We laid on our oars, and in five min
MES after the firing of muskels commenced, The
gun in the Launch was trained and "let drive. =
A gun rather heavier from one OF the gun boats
succeeded to this; the shot passed clear OF us and
The gun in the launch was loaded and fired again,
when the firing ashore ceased. There were also
fired from the launch few carbines.
Al this time We had not passed the point, and
after getting inside we should have been obliged
10 pull al least 300 yards before reaching The OBJ
leci OF The expedition. The enemy being already
on the alert and with superior force, il would have
been almost madness 10 proceed, and the object
would not have compensated for the sacrifice we
S0Oulu nave Uldut. oCSioeSi PoSSoSS hHiOo
which we had 10 pass was not wide enough 10 adj
nit the boats except in single file, so that the
gun boats would have raked US fore and aft before
we could have come along side Of them. II We
had passed The Fort, believe we should have
carried the boats 10 certainly. We had with US
SIS men and marines The Isl and I'd lieulenan,s,
master and all the mds, eScepttwo We return
ed 10 The ship al A. NJ, much iaiigued and dis
appointed | will write 10 - BY this convey
ance, and tell him OF the next days fight.
Yours, &c.