February 21, 1863, The New York Herald
Our news from the Southwest indicates the approach of stirring events. The Union troops are now in view of the city of Vicksburg, and the mortar boats were towed down and ready for action yesterday. A barge containing seven thousand bushels of coal followed the example of the ram Queen of the West, and run the blockade at Vicksburg on Saturday night, passing harmlessly through in the dark. The gunboat Conestoga destroyed Bolivar Landing, a scattered village fifty miles above Memphis. The river is rapidly overflowing its banks on the Louisiana side to such an extent that the little town of DeSoto, opposite Vicksburg, is now nearly under water, and it is thought that the whole peninsula will ere long be submerged. The Queen of the West has gone up Red river on the hunt for rebel boats supposed to be lying there.
There is no news from the Army on the Rappahannock today. Everything remains quiet in that direction. Our intelligence from New Orleans, by the steamers General McClellan and George Cromwell, which arrived yesterday, is very interesting. Great fears are expressed of a crevasse, which would inundate the Crescent City and destroy a great amount of lives and property. The Delta newspaper had been suppressed by General Banks, but it was to be issued again by new editors, under the name of the Era. Our correspondence, with the General Orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Department, will be found full of interest. The news from Havana and Mexico, brought by the steamship Eagle, which arrived here yesterday, does not represent any improvement in the condition of the French army in Mexico. On the contrary, it seems that the invaders are suffering severely from disease and the continual vigilance of the irregular soldiers of that republic. Our Havana correspondent gives a very impartial review of the facts; but from all that can be gathered, it seems that until General Forey receives strong reinforcements he will not be able to storm the Mexican intrenched works at Puebla. On the occasion of the great fight at Tampico, already reported in our columns, several vessels and rifled cannon fell into the hands of the Mexicans. Almonte had issued a new proclamation. The news from Havana is full of interest, containing, as it does, some Spanish comments on Southern independence.
Our correspondent in the Bahamas, dating at Nassau, N.P., on the 16th of February, informs us that the law officer of the British Crown had prosecuted some local pilots for taking Unites States gunboats over the banks of the Bahamas, and that the parties were convicted and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. The report of the loss of the Oreto had reached Nassau from New York and caused some sensation, as it was known that that vessel had been lying snugly in port there at the time it was said she was destroyed by the Union steamers. Captain Maffitt, of the Oreto, had waited on the Governor at his official residence and obtained permission to remain off Nassau for twenty-four hours, during which time he laid his ship alongside the English war steamers Galetea and Barracouta. The Oreto was thought to be looking out for the American ship Eliza Bonsall, which had left Nassau the day before for Abaco to take away United States troops lately wrecked there. Her capture by the Oreto was considered as very probable. It was reported a few days ago in the Richmond papers that the “Annie” was sunk by the Florida, and the Richmond Dispatch of the 17th states that Florida has sent the Annie Bonsal, with troops for New Orleans, to the bottom. Steamships from England, with cargoes destined for the use of the rebels, continued to arrive at Nassau. The British bark Severn, from Liverpool, with a contraband cargo, was wrecked outside of Hog Island on the 29th of January.
We have received our Richmond (Va.) files of the 16th an 17th instant. A despatch from Mobile, dated February 13, asserts triumphantly that States of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio have determined to stop the war and make peace with the Confederate States at all hazards. One of the Richmond journals states that the parties who thus cry for peace are without the power to enforce it. The Dispatch of the 17th has an editorial article insisting that “the conscription law” should be thoroughly executed throughout every State, so that coils of the anaconda will be everywhere broken. It asserts that this the most critical time of the war. The steamer Ruby is reported having recently run the blockade with Nassau to the 10th instant.