Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-05-23

ImPpr'aut iron Fsrt PIpkens. ~


This letter goes TO q Mobile house in q
bag from here. Whsther you evegsget Il or
not, will writs the latest RewS.
The United States steam gun beat Wyan-
dotte has arrived here from Havana with
necessaFies for the feet She brings as
founding intelligence. Six carRoes Of slaves
have been landed on the Cuban Coast since the
gath Of March. One Of the vessels, the Per-
esq, Is said to be owned BY 3 British house
In Havana Over twenty sailors, picked up
sknoeking around" were arrested At Key
West before the Wyandotte left, and may
give some information about the matter. The
most inexp1cable part Of the business is rsla-
tive to the conduct Of Admiral Milne, of the
British Navy, who has almost withdrawn his
cruisers from the slave path, onsla shallow pre-
teEce. When demonstrated with BY an
American merchant, be replied that the Eng.
lish feet wasn'tgoing 70 do double duty slave
hunting, as Il had been obliged to DO since
hedetachmani OF. The American Ooait-of Cuba
Squadron. So the British'gaft ride at anchee
IN fashionable ports, and The slaves have =
grand holiday Of It. The coal men In the
Cubs capital have received orders for large
supply of steamers, fuel from the British Min
isteE and some people think that the ships
arc about being sent 70 cruise again. aa Il.
The commanding officers Of our nFn-ot-war
here have again been changed A little fur
ther alteration would be necessary. At pres
ent they are as follows Powhatan, Lieut.. D.
Porter, OF Pennsylyania--true as steel; Sab
Inc, Capt, Adams shaky Northern man;
Brooklyn, CommGnder Poor--a trump; Sup
| ply, Lieut.. Murrsy--a loyal New Yorker.
The other vessels have their old captains.
I How long this arrangement will hold good,
] cannot Say. Capt Adams Is q native Of
Pennsylvania, aRd has seen fire, and stood II.
in the American Navy. BE entered the ser
vice In 1914 and has q son a lientsnat now,
mention these facts to qualify the prefix
/ shaky which have appended 70 his name,
\ There surely must be either malice or error
at the bottom OF the ealnmniss which are
rife among US. relativeto this man. do not
believe a word Of them.
Although our messenger craft visit Key
! West, we receive very little provisions from
that port. It has k>en slyly limited, through
the medium of some ugly penciling on the
margin Of pork barrel that the less plentt-
! fully American sailors partake of Flotida
food, the better for their stomachs[ In short
poison is said to have been mixed with sew
eral casks of provisions, which were wisely
left behind. The garrison at Key West is
particular in Analysing the little grub they
buy from the traitors who surround them;
bat our own store-ships will be able to fur
nish nearly all needed neoessariea. The last
letters from Key West state that the tre-
! mendous cannon landed from the schooner
Hudson and Porter had been mounted a,
Fort Jefferson, which the commanding officer
says be can make the strongest tort in Flori-
ida. The person Is little vain, you see.-
| cannot say that we here, consider Key
West as safe as it might be made. There Is
8 large rebel force within gun shot echo OF
It, and a aTsnnySon doesn't know what they
mean"
1 There is now 10 use In eon0saling the fact
that the hght here will be one Of the most
desperate Of the war. Our preparations are
progressing rapidly, and fully justify us in
the opinion that Fort Pickens "a almost I'm
pregnable But the gigantic strides making
by Bragg's command, may well prevent us
from anticipating q quiet capture Of the Ma
w Yard and BArrancss, the possession Of
which Is necessary to the end Of hosiihlles 10
these uarts. Now It Is on the best authority
that Inform you that the secessienists ashore
muster 10, 600 aEaiiabls fghing men, not
vithstanding previous estimates They are
scattered for miles around, and have some Of
the best officers in America 70 regulate their
naoVements. There are at least six batteries that
NAV Opeh FIRE on Pickens now concealed, and
of course the exact places In which they are
situated none Of as saR end out. The skill
Of three United States military and naval of
cara has been concentrated to make these
most powerful, and Cumming Point raEa-
reg on Sumter indicate what 3 hidden bat
tery NAV do. Let it be dllERctly understood
then. that on land ct present t1e eeosssiOaists
number, at Least Jes aHSs more sA1H fas gsd'
eraItroap Tske Ell our avaiinble men from
| the ships, and you cannot make up one-third
our ensmia-l strength. There have been So
rious impedimsntS placed, too in the water
within eight days, and 1t Is RoW very doubt
fiI whether, forts left out, ships conld 60 up
to the Yard. Then Montgomery ana WEI
rinQton are eonpscted by the iron railway
horse, and reiniorcemenu may be poured N.
4 mention these matters suly te plainly es-
tablish one faet-nsmely: We cannot take 2
parmanent and offensive stand in Florida with
III SEQ men. Defend Piclseus, hold Ross ls'
; land. batter down NcRae and Barrancas, We
NAV. but will the American peopls be sstis-
6ed with this 2 hes the Cabinet decide
whether Federal forces are sonaentrated here
! IA defend Pickens until Il shall be usde q
llittls consequence; OF 70 take The Navy aaEdi
Il and make the foFs impregnabls In tins. 4 Z
The evening muster Of the rebel troops
has Inst gone on. Il was eeEtainly an inA.
nosinq sight. There cannot be lees thar
| bo0 mounted men attached 70 Bragg GOA.
| reand, and patrols Of them rlda along thi
llroad. French, sentry fashion, al day ans
NIGHT They evidently begin once more u
think OF acting on the offensive, Ten dayi
I AGO their pluck was ooziHg oEt last, but tresE
Z arrivals from Mississippi and Georgia hay'
= ared them IN again. confess that they eH
5 bibit no siqus Of atarvation, although an an
: usual tsnperancs among them proves tha
: specie e scarce. Several pieces Of ofdnAnci
I have beeu received from Alabama siacs Ia
7 2di one of them Is tremendous Dahigren
i ssld 10 have come from the Norfolk Nav
vard Many pieces Of cannon have ais
3 been sent down to the Navy yard on hoah
but Il Is worth remerkipg that the enemy
leavIua as little valuable material there
: possibi6, Indeed, one Of the Mississippi me
was beard to say on Friday last sa ho9rs h.o9rs
l that runs away once, may run away agaAnt
and Navy yard that falls once, may ga
Z, eUain. Although this is only The remark
y common soldier, It shows glimpse Of In
: color Of bis party's thoughts, A private
9 an army ought to be as significant a. q suel
3, in q river. !.
2 Lieut.. Renshaw, late Of the United S1als
Navy, Is trying to earn anams for smersnea
= BE has twice 'tooledn our men-of-Waf 2
sending up night signals according to t1
2 rules Of the regular signal book. But
has only shown bis want Of sense by suggss
Jug what might be ruse Of the rebels
: lighting times. II be again succeed In ge
n ting recognition from shs aest, twill eiths
2 be because be is aimed at on the yard arn
or an account Of some impossible annihili
ton Of our Flag Lieutenlnis. At the sam
=. time, ali ships oficers would do wen to bel
IN mind that in Texas and Florida, resigne