Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1861-05-16
IMPORTANT FROM FIT PIcKESs,
CONDITION OF TllE REBELIiN.
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L icEsERaL CONDITION OF TIL THE ffoRr ASp
s lsH5S'v' S'v' lAln'HNOVNH'l:ss ods isgri~
The Rebel. Warned to Evacuate at the
Dsration Of Liucoin's twenty Days.
The New Orleans Deltrs of Friday con-
: tains long letter from q, correspondent at
Pensacola which. though abounding in
; rebel ibraggadocio. IS evidently correct in
many of its statements. and sets forth
some matters in clear light which have
hitherto been but partially explained
The writer says that Bragg.s esrthwotks.
extending between Fort McRae and the
Navy Yard. are very strong. and masked.
; so that they are not visible from the sea or
bay. They also have parapets Of sand bags
of great thickness with covered redoubts
or mines. into which the gunners can re-
: treat. They are all manned by select ar.
tillery companies taken from. the several
regiments. who are kept in constant prac-
tice. .~fassnoai ui .sesi.
The correspondent thinks that with
Forts Mcllse, Barrancas and these various
sand batteries. Bragg eau open semi circle
of fire, upon Pickeus of over hundred
guns. most of them. sos. but several OF
them eight and ten inch columbiads.-
These batteries will have the great advan-
fage over the fort FOR a concentrated fire,
while Pickens will be under the necessity
of scattering and diffusing its FIRE along a
lin, of several miles. The indications.
however. are that the navy yard will be the
chief object of attack by the fort. All
their work seems to be on the side OF the
ing up sand batteries and mounting their
heavy guns. The effects of such fire
upoE, the navy yard would Of course be
very destructive. % .teeaasa .ff - ~
i Of this the writer is much afraid. and
denounces any such attempt as 'vandalic. ;
remarking with charming innocence. that
+ the Confederate States hold this valuable
property in trust to be settled for in any
peaceful adjustment with the United States
His next statement is in the form of the
confession that the strength Of Fort Pick
: ems has not been exaggerated. He sailed
round the harbor. and was allowed to ap-
proach within a few hundred yards o: Fort
Pickens He says: = reof s...t
Bear in mind that McRae is on spit Of
the main land. few hundred yards further
out to sea than Pickens. which stands on
the extreme point Of the long. narrow ISL
and Santa Rosa. Pickens is about equi-
distant from the navy yard. Barrancas.
and McRae. the distance being 4-l0
miles. r... t.. ---f -
As we passed by the island. we could
perceive very distinctly all that was going
on in and about the forts. The sentinels
were walking the ramparts. and number
of men were engaged in piling sand bags
between the barbctte guns, of which We
counted apparently thirty-two-all but
two being placed on the side of the fort
facing the Navy Yard and our batteries
On the island, outside of the fort. were a
number Of working parties carrying bags
OF sand into the fort. Another party were
carting provisions from the beach on the
extreme point of the island. There we're
several officers mounted. who appeared to
be experimenting these parties. On the
high, green 9lscis. by which the fort is ap-
] preached from the island. we observed
several horses grazing. The provisions
were hauled from the beach to the fort in
small carts and caissons. Along the
beach on the bay, and on the seaside. we
observed groops on foot and on horseback.
who appeared to be wandering about for
amusement or on picket duty. - ..f
The casemate guns and the sand bate.
ries were SO masked and concealed that
could not distinguish even the embrasures.
The old flag of the United States waved
high above the fort. 1t was quite evident
that the garrison of the fort has been con-
siderably reinforced. Some of the COM
panies have their field guns on the island,
as quite number of horses-as many as
seventy or eighty-have been landed.-
Tins whole force is under the command of
Col. Harvey Brown. the same officer to
whom was assigned the duty of defending
Washington City during the Inauguration
Of Lincoln. rs 1sie. .t'r - ~
j On the arrival OF Brown. vodgcs and
Slemmer. who had preceded Wilson in
the command. came over under the flag, of
truce. and waited on General Bragg to in
form him that Colonel Wilson had sue
ceedcd to the command Of the garrison,
and that he should expect said Bragg to
ieure the Vary Yard and other property in
the United States in twenty days. ''ei''
i O. This would indicate that unless the
rebels took their departure on or before
last Sunday. Col. Brown commenced Of
fensive operations on Monday. the expira.
tion Of the twenty days rr
The writer then goes on to describe the
feet. viz: Then Sabine with battery of
ten 8 inch guns and forty 32's:. the sioop
st. Louis Of twenty guns. 32's; the steam,
er Powhatan with twelve 8 inch guns: the
Brooklyn with fourteen 8 Inch guns, the
store ship Supply and the Wyandotte with
FIVE inch guns. After berating all the
officers Of the fleet. who happened to have
a second cousin or other relative near or re-
mote in the South. for their ..trreacherry. -
I to the Southern cause. the correspondent
betrays the canse. OF his wrath by another
confession He says: lit -. = 'n'' - -
But for the presence Of this feet the can. A.
ture Of Fort Pickens, would be. compare
lively, easy. either by sterming, or ap-
!, proaches on the island. But the sweep Of
the island, which the. squadron now com
mands. the erection OF batteries is an im-
possibility and q storming party would
be exposed to q most destructive fire. Its