Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-01-05
OUR GULF COAST CORRESPOND
NER

A attack on Mobile ABpraheadea-Ths Fats and Batteries
DgeHdiHg he Har69r -Pnoba5atics Of AHaok on the
CJyJ from The R6ar-The Bl0ckadsrs-The Occupation Of
Biori-The RcReoed BombardmeRf GtPeRsacOla.
MOBILE, ALA, January 3, 1862.
EDITORS APPEAL: Mobile is become a point of in
terest among the many Others q ong the bOrd r. of our
lesguered land That she viii be treated to the disa.
Teeable attentions of DR.. Lineoln's Sea Hessians,"
sooner or later, is the general impression Of our citizens
the sooner " or later " indicating & period more or
less remote, according to the spUnk or timidify Of the
party. Il may be next week, next month, or mkt sea
son, or not at all-and the latter is the least probable
supposftion, for when we consider the Yankees predi
lection for gett ng himself into serapes, it can hardly be
supposed thsthe viii lose so tempting an opportunity Of
laundering into difficulties and defeats as Mobile offers to
his wrongheaded enterprise.
The "sea Hessiansn lie watchfully, off our harbor
mouths in their black bloeksders, gazing w~ishfully from
their stormtossed station up int, the becalmed and
green bordered vista Of the bay, longing to pass the grim
~fOrtresses which guard its portals, showing double rows
of teeth which can bite four miles away, and to fight the
hated Seeesh for possession Of his pleasant inheritance,
this tair Gulf city. But secesh is on the alert and SUM
bers not at his post. Some FIVE thousand gallant fellows
man the guns at Forts Morgan and Gaines and the sev-
eral batteries which hold the harbor approaches, and our
gunboats sentinel the channels. The Yankees would
hardly riskEtheir grand srneda against these invnlnera-
bic defenses, implicit as their reliance is In It's irresistible
proves. Their ships would be riddled to splinters by
ten inch columbiad balls and rifed proiectiles. They
have exceeding respect for the attributes of penetration
and accuracy which they have discovered to their cost
pertain to the long rihed thirty-twos Of the Gulf coast.
We make EN- here. We take the fine old eoast-defense
thirtytwos beqaeathed to the State of Alabama by the
dying Union, rifed them out, ana make them the out
throwingest guns in the war.
Thus the enemy will scarcely run upon his fate at
the mouth Of the Bay, but there is a maggot in the militia
rs brain Of Gen. Pieayune Butler, which, report says,
wiz make him tempt his fate at Mobile in another diTee-
ton, to-wit; by a land attack from the southwest. Pic
ayune has rendezvoused his rascals on Ship Island in great
force, andit is presumed that his idea Is TO take them over
70 the mainland, disembGrk at a point some t~hirty-odd
miles below the city, and march up to take us in the
rear. We are quite ready for this operation as well as
for that via the Bay, and viii fight Picayune e fight which
viii astOnsh his forty thousand. swamps and bayous block
the road be must travel, leaving to him little better than
COW paths or deer trails, aud if he had a million men he
could not bring more of them into action than could be
repulsed by two or three Thousand holding these Their
m~opylaan passes, which our troops occupy in large
force.
Butler has already reached his headquarters on Ship
Island, which is about sixty miles from Mobile, and mas
sgnalized his arrival by taking possession of the town Of
Biloxi, on the mainland of Mississippi, directly opposite
the Island, and only some ten or twelve miles distant.
He met with no resistance, as the position of the town is
such that it could not well be defended. The place was
not garrisoned He win doubtless soon extend his con
quests to other small and undefended settlements on the
coast, but we have not much apprehension that be will
be bold enough to make a stoop at such large game as
Mobile. Nous UsTrORs.
War excitement is kept up here constantly, for we
are within sound Of the enemy's big cannon from three
directions-5own the bay, and from Ship Island, in Mis-
sssppL and Fort Pickens, in Florida. The artillery at
these points is only heard under peculiar circumstances
Of the weather, however.
Day before yesterday that irraseible old varlet Harvey
Brown, whom Bragg keeps Imprisoned in Fort Piekens.
had the bad taste and worse Judgment to re open his bat
teries once more, being tempted thereto on thi. occasion,
as heretofore, by the fair mark which q Confederate tram
port steamer presented. As before, the steiner escaped
seatheles, and Brown gota good h~ammering from our bal.
teries in requital for his impudence. The bombardment
was continued some fifteen hours, and mob dy hurt on our
side. Browns hot shot destroyed two or three wooden
buildingsin the little village of Warrington, adjoining the
navy yard. What damage our cannoniers did old
Browns stronghold is not known, but he discontinued his
fire long before the Confcdsrates did, who kept up the
game Of ball all night. Ger. Bragg was in this dty,
which is in bis department, when the f ing commenced,
but being telegraphed, went over immediately to see
what his testy Us d-Uis across the bay was about.
Our city is full Of soldiers, and their eaups are thick
Ia the Il unity, particularly on the line of approach from
the coast, Gunbosts are reftting at the wharvss, and
two on the stocks, OF great size and power, will soon be
ready to give a launching exhibition. This psrt of she
gulf coast is wide awake. ANON.