Newbern weekly progress., 1862-07-19
COM, FARRAGUTs FLEET.
Advance from Baton Rouge 10
Vicksburg.
COM P0RTERs FLEET OFF THE clTK
Rebel Battery ut Ellis Clils.

WAsHISGToN. July g.
| The Navy Department has received dispatch.
es dated United States steam sloop Brooklyn,
off Vicksburg June 22" The following ii
from Captain Craven TO Commodore Farragut:
SIR: In obedience to your orders Of the 1Sih
elt Baton Rouge On my way up the river at
p. m Of that day. On the 18th at . p M,
scst the marine guard and a party OF seamep,
in all about one hundred men. under charge OF
Lieutenant Lowry, to Bayou Sara, for the pur-
pose of destroying the telegraph apparatus and
cutting the wires, and with orders 10 1inferm,
the a1thorliies Of thatowh ihst sge fels en- ths
rver for the purpose of enforcing the laws Of
our common country and protecting its loyal
! citizens, and at the same time to warn them II
any hostile demonstrations were made upon
our vessels or transports as they passed in
front of their town by the thieves and murder.
ers, yclcpt "guerrllas, the town would be held
responsible for it, and at least be laid under
contribution, if not dealt with more severely.
About eleven in the morning Lieutenant
Lowry returned with his party to the snip,
having thoroughly accomplished his work, ex.
cepting tke telegraph apparatus, which had
been removed but few minutes before he
landed About half mile of the wire was cut
and brought aboard, and the vitriol and batter
les destroyed. The people ashore seemed to
be pcaccably disposed, were quite civil, and
made no dlsrespecliul demonstrations. Tho
mayor or chief magistrate informed Lowry that
but two or three days previous TO our arrival,
the town had beeu visited by bands OF guerril-
las that they had committed many outrages
against law and order and he had arrested
L., . h., tl,a rarfx hnt ha
was rescued by his men, and borne of TO tho
woods. lie represented these guerrll'as as D
lawless set Of men, whom the inhabitants OF
the country and small towns hada greater
dread Of than the visits Of our navy, or even
our army and he hoped We would not hold
hun responsible for the acts Of cutthroat
band Before leaving shore, Lowry, with tho
TAG Of our Union at the head Of his party, and
tc the tune of Yankee Doodle, marched through
tho principal streets. We passed Natchez at
about 1880 of the morning of the 10TH On
the morning of the 18th the Richmond Joined
u.s. and at a6out'9:30 Of that morning We passed
Paducah. We arrived at our present anchor
age on the 18th at i 1880 IN the morning No
where on our route were We molested, and
saw no change in the aspect of tn ngs since our
last trip. excepting at Grand Gull. The town
there was riddled by shot and tden destroyed
by fire. On small hill just to the right OF
The town was small earthwork which had
been only recently thrown up and was capable
OF receiving three or iour small figld pieces. II,
as well as the town, was entirely deserted.
"On the Goth inst. Commander Porter ar.
rived with ten Of his mortar boat5. Yesterday
the Mam arrived with another, and this after
noon four Others were towed in. Commander
Porter informed me that his hotllla was fred
upon at Ellis Cliffs, and that it is the intention
Of the rebels to mount a troublesom. battery
at that place. also at Quitman's landing, as he
learned at farm house coming up. The boats
which arrived this morning were fred at from
Ellis Cliffs and on the Empire Parish. One
Was hit two or three times, one shot tempora.
rly disabling one Of her boilers Yesterday
| sent the y, eida and Wiuona to look after
these places Tomorrow shall send the Ka.
lahdin to convey the two boats as far as Baton
Rouge, or until she meets you. Here at Vicks-
burg the rebels appear 10 be quite busy in ex-
tending and iortiIying their works, and it is
said they have some ten thousand troops quar-.
tered in and about the town."
CAIRO, July 8.
The steamer Sunshine, from Vicksburg the
Sd, has arrived. The bonbardment was con
tinued. The tswn was deserted except by the
military.