Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1862-12-12

Tie rcpos, Of the department; Of the navy
is necessarily lengthy. Since the commence
meut Of oar national difficulties tour power
lul ,quaIrous have been collected, organized
and stationed ir duty, On our maritime
frontier. with rapiiity and suddeness which
finds DO approach TO . parallel IN previous
naval history. These squadr0us have been
iuccs-Iutly maintaining q strict blockade, OF
such gigantic proportions, that eminent for
eiEu statesmen dil u0t hesitate At is c.m-
mencemcu, 70 pronounce it mIterial I'M
possibility those however who doubted at
first have been compelled to allow that the
blockade is effective.
some changes in command have taken
place during the year. The North Atlantic
squadron guarding the Virginia and North
Carolina c5asts continued in charge Of Rear
Admiral Col l>horolsh until sept. jih when
he was relieved 0u hIs own request by Acting
RelI-AdmirI :. p. lie. Rear-AdmiaI
Dupont las continued 10 c1mmlnd OF the
South Atlantic squadron. Flag officer Nc
Ksan, Rear Admiral lariner and Commodore
I. Bailey have successfully commanded the
Eastern Gulf squadron
Rear Admiral Farragut has AAd command 5f
the Western Cuff squadron Commander
Eogers. Capt. !. II. Foot, Capt. {. \. Da-
Wis ana Acting Rear Admiral Porter, have
sncces>iyelY had charge OF the Mississippi
Flotilla. After re erriBg TO the Potomac
aotllla and the recently fitted out squadron,
entrusted to,R4ar Admiral Wilkes, ,;he report
naIrates the various naval expedition, and
successes OF the year. Tae long line OF coast
that has been guarded, and tte victories that
have been achieved. imply the cooperation
, Of an immense naval lJrc--
At the date %. tue last ANNUAL report. the
I L. ) navy consisted Of 2Gs vessels. carrying
> j57 guns and having aa . gregIie tonnage
estimated 1t 2lS ,0l6. L., pr,seat report
gives the total number # -~e's at i27, car-
ryiug 26S guns, and hu u a.. aggre. ate
tonnage OF 340,G36 The re.se las, tn re
fore, been-vessels l63 In- III tons
/ l22 020. The following YES j. have bren
| lost by shipwreck and batt.a lurus the
year The steamers L. B. Forbes, " hiiehall.
Naruna, Island Belle, and Henry Andrew
the ram Sumter the frIgate Congress, the
sloop Cumberland, the mortar schooners
NJ. q. Carlton and SiCney Jones, and the
screw-slo5p Adirondack.
The iron-clad navy consists Of 81 vessels,
Eight al ImOred wooden vessels aud twenty
armored iron vessels are employed in guarding
the sea board; fourteen arnoTed wooden vessels
and twelve armOred iron vessels are employed
on the Western rivers.
OF the whole number comprising the Ma
W. one hundred and four are sailing vessels,
and three hundred aud twentY-th ee are
steam vessels.
Considerable space is devoted in the report
Of the Secretary, to the narration Ji the i1-
ings Of the Monitor. and the achievement Is
of the iron clad fleet The report then no.
tiees IN order, the importance Of establishing
a naval depot IN the Mississippi valley, the
necessity for more efficient harbOr deiences,
the need of more adequate docking facilities
to accommodate the increase of the navy,
the reorganization Of the navy department.
in July last and its beneficial effects. and de-
fciences CT the Naval Academy.
The expenses and estimates Of the Navy
department are given as follows
Tie appropriations made a. the regular and
special sessions of Congress flr the fiscal year
ending June 80. 1862, we're Si3 ,6l5,55 II. The
expenses of the department during the same time
were s42, zoe, ,529 90 leaving an unexpended bal
aBce Of 81 ,4l5,U2l 81. The amount sppropro-
pris ed ;or the current fiscal year, lending June
20, 1868 is S52,Sl4,35 VI. Toe estimates SUBJ
mitted the f-cL yeai ending June 80, 1854,
amount TO S6s, ,Z67, 255 OIL, VIZ: