| 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: |
| ***** |
| 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. |
| ***** |
| 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. |
| ***** |
|