NP, RD 3/15/1862

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch
 
March 15, 1862
 
Dupont's expedition on the southern coast
   The Yankee newspapers raise a shout of excitation over the capture of Brunswick, Ga., and Fernandina, Fla., where, it will be remembered; the enemy met with no resistance. The following is Commodore Dupont's official report of the proceeding:
 
Flag-Ship Monican, Harbor of Fernandina, March 4, 1862. Sir:
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   A few scattering musket shots were fired from the town by the flying enemy, when it was discovered that a railroad train {on the Florida RR} was about to start. Commander Drayton, on board the Ottowa, Lieutenant-Commanding Stevens; chased the train for two miles, and fired several shells at it, aiming at the locomotive, some of which took effect. It was reported that the Hon. David Yulee, late a Senator of the United States from the State of Florida, escaped from the train and took to the bush.
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   It is reported to me by Lieutenant Commanding Downes, of the Huron, that the whole structure of the railroad on the Fernandina side, including the swinging drawbridge, is quite uninjured. The rebels have done some damage by fire to the tressel-work on the other side of the river, but I am not yet informed of its extent. Several locomotives, baggage-tenders, freight cars, and some other property besides that found in the steamer Darlington, have been recovered.
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