The following is transcribed from the New York Times, dated April 3, 1862.

 

 

The Expedition Against New Orleans

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Correspondence of the Boston Journal. Key West, Tuesday, March 24, 1862.

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          We have most important news up to the morning of the 18th inst. The Union fleet, which had not entered the Mississippi since its disgraceful exit in September, was represented at the head of the passes by the sloops-of-war Hartford and Brooklyn, and a large portion of Commander Porter's mortar flotilla. On the evening of the 17th and the morning of the 18th, heavy and continuous firing was heard up the river, our ships evidently being engaged with the enemy. When the Cora left Pass a l'Outre, the gunboat Pinola and two bomb schooners were inside the bar, two were in tow of the steamer Harriet Lane going up the pass, and two other gunboats were engaged in towing the rest of the mortar fleet up to the delta. When the Hartford left Key West she carried as little coal, water and provisions as was indispensable, in order to be able to cross the bar, and her success in entering the river shows the wisdom of the measure. The ship also took from this point a number of anchor buoys to mark out channels at the point of operations. Flag-Officer Farragut has transferred his pennant to the gunboat Sciota, for the nonce, and left Pass a l'Ourtre on the morning of the 18th for Ship Island, to expedite movements at that point. The prize steamer Calhoun, which went on a reconnaissance up the river on the 4th inst., proceeded as far as Fort Jackson, but saw no signs of the enemy.

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