The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-05-07
The Capture Of New Orleans.
IIirhly Interesting Facts.

The Capture Of New Orleans.
Highly Interesting Facts.
The following from q correspondent Of
the Boston journal, Ton board the l, ;,
ship Hartford, mouth of the Mississippi
is altogether tho clCWost and most salts
factory account we have yet seen of the
operations Of tho vnion fleet previous to
the capture Of that city:
RECoSSoIssANrE uP THE RIVER - IMPORTANT
DISCOVERIES.
On the 2eth nit a reconnaissance was
made up the mississippi, for the purpose
of ascertainiug the position of tho report
ed ubstructioms across the river, and Of
drawing the fire of the cncmv's batteries
by the gumboats kennebec, Lisut,Com-
manding Russell, and the Wissahickon
Lieut.. Accommodating Albert Smith. Fleet
Captain II. H. Bell being on board the former
vessel, proceeded within two milos of Fort
jackson No batteries were discovered
below the fort but as soon as the steamers
|apprcachGd within range Of Fort St Philip,
which il situated on the left bank of the
river, the rebels opened fire upon the Ken.
nebcc from two ritcd cannon, and threw
sorc thirty shell, which exploded above
and all around the steamer. Lieut.. Russell,
| who will be remembered for his bravery III
connection with the judith affair at Pcnsa-
Ibola. maucuvcrcd tho onuCbcc so skilltuly
that although she WAS twenty lnlnnIcs un.
der fire not a single shot took effect. The
fire was not returned by our steamers, 1t
being useless to contend with such superb
or force. The she'll fired by the rebels from
Fort St. Fhi!p wcre Judged to have been
100 puundcIs, OF wtirl. c"hbcr there Is
supposed to hc -four iihed cannon moun,cd
on the fort. Fort Jackson, which did not
lopcn hrc, il rvpur,qd te mount nmcV-hVo
lgurs bearing upon til uhauncl through
which our ships will have to pass, and rutt
ISt Philip, cighN-ive guns, all of which
command the approach up the riYor which
at this point is onH seven hunrcd yards
wide.
A descrtcr from the rebel army reports
that they have powerful batteries at Eng
lsh Turn, short di.imcp below New
Orleans, each ono of which Cummdpds .
reach in the river 4 diagram of the po-
siuou which these batteries occupy has
Ibcou shown mo, which represents the first
las raking the river distance of one mile
land half Above this is another which
commands thc first turn, running eustcrly
la distance of half milo The tAird mru
which the rivor makes at this point raking
the river two miles and the iOnrth battery
at the upper bend of all IS reported bc one
and thruo quarters miles from tho last men
toned work. am not prepared TO vouCl
for the truthlumcss oi these statcments
which viii la verified or coutradicicl as
the fleet advances up TIE river,
By this Reconnaissance our oGiers have
at length obtained something reliable in re
gard 70 the much talked Of obstructious
which the rebels have placed acrQss the
river. At point about three hundred
wards below Fort jackson, the officers dis
covered tieht schooners, some of them "a
large as five hundred tons, anchored fore
; and.aft with the current, These sChoOncrs
p are loaded with cotton, TO prevent then
) from sinking, IN case they :! sirack by ON
shot 4 heavy chain cable Is stretched
across the river, over the decks OF The
schoencrs, which are securely linked TO
gcthcr, and another chain rs reported To b,
! secured % the hulls under water. Thu
/ main chaUuol of the river, through whlcl
our ships viii be Obliged 10 pass, runs CLOSE
under the guns of Fort Jackson, aud her,
the Rebels have a light chain, one end o
which is secured to schooucr. and IN,
other TO the shore, This Is dropped whef
amy of the Rebel steamers pass down 0nC
, up, and is drawn taut 10y means OF Z, steam
= engine on the bank. On one side OF tn,
river the Rebels have constructed a mu,
battery, with which to protect the chatl
from any attnmpt which may I've made I,
I cut il.
; II has been observed that the quantity o
, diff logs which usually come down tn,
Mississippi at this season is much Smalle
this wear than ever before. in fact haV
/ not seen amy pieces OF driftwood large thai
4 Il mans body, which fact il accounted to
, ON the suppositou that the rebels are holu
! ing back an the logs they can obtain, to
the purpose of constructing n barrie
lJcuu.l Wi, yecuirct thal m former lettc
Iarcbcl prisoner informed me was moore,
ACROSS tho river; which, hewg true, wi
account lr ne scarcity Of drih logs
.u.sf. uN sweep to0. u,rs ,r ..
.,.a o-H. ou.,r, .. "aoH -o $40 w,
-g ~#. ~a. ' la
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