, forming inland sounds of
considerable extent, access to which is generally impracticable for
vessels of much draft of water. They, however, as well as numerous
bays and the mouths of many small rivers, can be entered by light
vessels acquainted with the ground; and during the war small steamers
and schooners frequently escaped through them, carrying cargoes of
cotton, then of great value. There is but little rise and fall of the
tide in the Gulf, from one to two feet, but the height of the water is
much affected by the direction of the wind.

The principal ports on or near the Gulf are New Orleans in Louisiana,
Mobile in Alabama, and Galveston in Texas. Tallahassee and
Apalachicola, in Florida, also carried on a brisk trade in cotton at
the time of the secession. By far the best harbor is Pensacola Bay, in
Florida, near the Alabama line. The town was not at that time a place
of much commerce, on account of defective communication with the
interior; but the depth of water, twenty-two feet, that could be
carried over the bar, and the secure spacious anchorage within made it
of great value as a naval station. It had been so used prior to the
war, and, although falling at first into the hands of the
Confederates, was shortly regained by the Union forces, to whom, from
its nearness to Mobile and the passes of the Mississippi, as well as
from its intrinsic advantages, it was of great importance throughout
the contest.

The aim of the National Government in connection with this large
expanse of water and its communications was two-fold. First, it was
intended to enter the Mississippi River from the sea, and working up
its stream in connection with the land forces, to take possession of
the well-known positions that gave command of the navigation.
Simultaneously with this movement from below, a similar movement
downward, with the like object, was to be undertaken in the upper
waters. If successful, as they proved to be, the result of these
attacks would be to sever the States in rebellion on the east side of
the river from those on the west, which, though not the most populous,
contributed largely in men, and yet more abundantly in food, to the
support of the Confederacy.

The second object of the Government was to enforce a strict blockade
over the entire coast, from the Rio Grande to Florida. There were not
in the Confederate harbors powerful fleets, or even single vessels of
war, which it was necessary to lock up in th