FEBRUARY 19TH
Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote of the blockade: "No vessel has ever attempted to run the blockade except by stealth of night-- which fully established internationally the effectiveness of the blockade-- but it is not sufficient for our purpose, to keep out arms and keep in cotton-- unfortunately our people have considered a total exclusion possible and the government at one time seemed to think so.
A cordon of ships covering the arc from Bulls Bay to Stono [River], some twenty-one miles moored together head to stern-- would do it easy-- but that we have not the means to accomplish. I have forty ships of all classes, sometimes more-- never reaching fifty-- a considerable number are incapable of keeping at sea or at outside anchorage-- the wear and tear and ceaseless breaking of American machinery compared with English or even French now, keep a portion of the above always here [Port Royal] repairing."
More to Come.
Looks Like Du Pont is Making Excuses. --Old B-Runner
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