A month later, after having conferred with President Davis and General Braxton Bragg, Mallory ordered Baker to proceed with his plan.
On 25 October James McC Baker departed Mobile with a number of sailors on the steamer Dick Keys and rendezvoused with 100 soldiers from general Dabney Maury's command that night in Blakely, Alabama.
As they were preparing to get underway, Maury ordered a temporary delay because of information received which reported that Union forces had landed at Pensacola Navy Yard near Fort Pickens. By the 30th this intelligence was demonstrated to be inaccurate, but Maury still was reluctant to go ahead.
Concerned that the Northerners now had knowledge of the attempt, he suggested the soldiers return to their units Maury intimated that the expedition might proceed in the future "with more secrecy and certainty of success."
On the 24th of November, Maury called it all off: "I regret that circumstances beyond the control of the department or yourself should have thus terminated an enterprise which seemed to promise good results."
If the expedition had gone undetected and if there were just two soldiers posted at Fort Pickens, I'm sure it would have been a success, but I'm sure the Confederates would have quickly been cut off by Union ships and soldiers on the peninsula of land and eventually forced to surrender.
But, it Would Have Made Up a Little for Cushing's Success Against the CSS Albemarle. --Old B-R'er
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