New Orleans daily crescent., 1861-08-03
What the British Admiral Thinks o. tgs
El0eAattc~


thnt the British Admiral Thinks o. tgle
blockade
nder cate of July 1th, the Fort Ticfens cor
respondent of the New ork Times writes letter,
processing to give tie substance Of rel 0rt upon
the efficiency Of the blockade, made to the British
Admiralty by Admiral Milne, in command of the
British naval force in the Gulf The correspondent
says:
had learned three things from undoubteE an
thority first, that Lord Paget had instructed tie
Admiral to detail vessels to look after tue CT ttiuc
Of OF egress to the Southern ports; second. that
| the Admiral had obtained one or two copies Of
Commodore Merrn's Official orders: third. tia-
his Adnliralship was reported in Eayana to have
| laughed at the idea " of the United States being
able to efectually cut Off maritime communication
with the harbors Of revolted States. =
| He then proceeds to give the substance, not tLs
exact language, Of the report:
regret that it is my duty to discuss in a meas
ure the nature Of this so called blockade. Eeprc
| seGtaty es of the United States meet me with tv G
| statements, the force of which it will be for your
Lordships to decide. I am told by some that there
| is no pretensions on the part of the United States
| OF blockade existing: that the Government il!
lrarely closing lis oWH porIo, to do which they
| claim to have perfect right. In direct conflict
with this are all the Official notifications Of United
States officers. Capt. Adams. for instance, VIZ
Il
| ter to Gen. Bragg:
" This tPensacolaN port is now strictly blocI
AIDED" etc.
Commodore Mervins announcements L have
not seen any OF them are said 10 be similar =
worGeG: and ! told that the President o tie
! nltGd States publicly promulgated the bloc
ale Of all the ports south OF Ealtmore,' (Which is
| in the State Of MaryGnd)
prominent feature Of this alleged blockade IS
! the complete absence OF uniformity, orderand reg
uarty, which has Chara acteriZed it. The distance
Of several rendezvous OF the naval feet from Was.-
| ugton the difficulties with which c0mnul iCatioM
| is keri up, and tie INN nse extent OF the coss
| line to be guarded, are represented as the causes
I which necess4ted the United States Covernmcrt
to leave tie Gate of blockade and the conn enGe-
nent of it, TO lhe discretion Of the commanders Of
| Mep-Ot.Har. No date was laid down on which the
cessation Of general commercial intercourse was
| to stop. and ports situated within days sail OF
! each other have been for weeks bl0ckaded, and
not hlockaded, at the same time,
| Tie confusion arising from this state of things
| can lie imagined by your Lordships On tie l@th
OF May, YOU will see by the enclosed Circular
| the blockade of Pensacola began; yet up to the
seth of that month, vessels freely obtained admis-
| sion: s0lLe haG leave to do SO. others were not
even oVerhauled. and OTHERS still seemed to defy
| tile cruisers One bark, ordered of from the Zen
| sacola entrance, through an unknown instru men
taty, found out that Mobile was not gnarded, aut,
Immediately sailed for and arrived at that place.
| where hor cargo was disposed of. Five or si>
Lrigs, two barEs and some fifteen Or twenty sc0oE-
| ers, also warned Of by the feet moved to other
| LGrbors and easily gained admission.
graz OF fifteen days was given to vessels un
! der certain circumstances. which were SO contus-
| edly explained, that no one hare seen thus ia!
| could properly understand them. Three British
| ships, laden with cotton in the harbOr Of Mobile
| were compelled to pack ul' anG so away. to fulfil
this requirement, while, under almost similar Gil
cumstances, four barks and Lrigs were pern2itte el
| to commence leading at another poiut, on ihe
twentieth day after the announcement Of the
| blockade.
| The frequency Of vessels escaping tie vigilance
or rather the lack Of vigilance Of the United State
! squadron, are too numerous 10 be even named.
sent Capt. Won Dnnop, OF the Jason: to look afte
the interests OF onr shipping, and to The ecienc,
ot the blockadng ships, in several ports. He men
| tons numerous cases of ships barks and brgs
escaping the cruisers. learn that while & larr,
| American frigate--fully as formidable the st
George, apparelltiy-Was under steam, Of Charles
ton, complete f0tilIa of small ocean traders and
coasters continued to pass IL to the city, and out
again, either regardless Of insensible to, the
| presence of ships.
| The numerous facts establishing the perfect inef
| tCiency of the men -ofwar, in regard to the stop
ping of commercial intercourse with ports before
| which they have appeared, could be elaborated tC
! great length. But even [noW the Admiral per.
| nit your correspondent to say, is writing abOu
the I'd Of Juue] St. Marks, an important port, is
not at all cut off from maritime trade, one of my
feet all sorts of vessels enter and depart from
it, without being impeded. 'Apalachicola wa
, thronged With craft until few days since, ant
| four other ports stated to be open to-day.
s regular steamer communication is constant,
kept up between Savannah, an Important harb0
IN the state of Georgia, and some other port.