Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-05-25
Interesting from Fort Pioksns2-B Strength Of the
= a' Southern Rorcss. .da slls.osi 1

. H HfH L. %
The New York Times contains letters dated
on board the United States ship Powhatan, Of
Pensacola, May le. We make the subjoinet
extracts:
The commanding officers of our men -of-wa
here have again been changed. Atprelent they
are as follows: Powhatan, Lieut.. D Porter, d
Pennsy lyania; Sabine, Capt. Adams; Brook lyn,
Commander Poor; 81. Louis, Commander Glib
son; Supply. Lieut.. Mullany. The other yes.
sells have their old captains ''s'S1'- ',' 'f.-A
There s now no use 10 coucealiDg the fact
that the fight here will be one of the most des-
perate OF the war. Our. preparations are pro
crossing rapidly, and fully Justify US In the
opinion that Fort Pickens is almost impregfla-
BILE But the gigantic strides making by Bragg q
command may well prevent us from anticipa.
ting quiet capture Of the nayy-yard and Bar
rancas, the possession Of which is necessary to
the end Of hostilites In these parts. Now IL IL
on the best authority that inform you that the
secessionsts ashore muster 10000 available
fighting men, Notwithstanding previous esti.
mates. They are scattered for miles around +,
and have some Of the best officers in America
to regulate their movements. ,3l!i1en
There are at least ak batteries that may open
fire on Pckens now concealed, and, of course,
VIZ SAuOb piuSOo III WuiOu buCy hEc bituhVCu uO
one Of us can fnd out. The skill Of three Uni
ted States military and naval officers has been
concentrated TO make these most powerful, and
Cummings Point ravages on Sumter Indicate
what hidden battery may do. Let IL be die
tinctly understood, then, that on land The seces
soRists number, at least, foe timss more than the
federal troops, Take all our available men from
the ships, and you cannot make up onethird of
our enemies strength. There have been seri-
GUS impediments, too, placed In the water with
In eight days, and II is now very doubtful wheth
er, forts left out, ships could 20 up TO the yard
Then Montgomery and Warrington are con-
nec.ed by the iron railway horse, and reinforce
ments may be poured In. i mention these mat.
ters only to plainly establish one fact, namely:
We cannot take permanent and Offensive STAND
In Florida with 500 men. aisr''i ilalll5loJ %
The evening muster of the Southern troops
has just gone on. Il was certainly an imposing
sight. There cannot be less than 800 mount,
ed men attached to Brsgg's command, and pa
trolls Of them ride along theroad, French sentry
fashion, all day and night. They evidently be-
gin once more to think Of acting on the offen-
sive. Ten days ago their pluck was oozing out
fast, but fresh arrivals from Mississippi aud
Georgia have fred them up again. confess
that they exhibit no signs of starvation AL
though an unusual temperance among them
proves that specie Is scarce. Several pieces Of
ordnance have been received from Alabama
since the ID; one of them is tremendous Dahl.
gren, said to have come from the Norfolk navy
yard. Many pieces Of cannon have also been
sent down to tia navy-yArd on floats; but it is
worth remarking that the enemy is leaving as
little material there as possible. Indeed, one
of the Mississippi men Was heard to say on Fri
day last, ga horse that runs away once may run
away again, and navy-Yard that falls once
may fall again" Although this is only the re
mark of common colder, It shows aglimps'
Of the color Of bis party's thoughts. 'aea.s- Z