Abraham Lincoln : a history . estions which the British chap. asked of the new American Ministersent to England by Mr. Lincoln was, whether thePresident was serious in his proclamation of ablockade of all the ports of the States in insurrec-tion. The coast was very extensive, said LordJohn Russell, stretching some three thousand milesalong the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico: Was itthe design of the United States to institute an ef-fective blockade in its whole extent, or to makeonly a declaration to that effect as to the whole,and to confine the actual blockade to particular Adams to Se
Abraham Lincoln : a history . estions which the British chap. asked of the new American Ministersent to England by Mr. Lincoln was, whether thePresident was serious in his proclamation of ablockade of all the ports of the States in insurrec-tion. The coast was very extensive, said LordJohn Russell, stretching some three thousand milesalong the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico: Was itthe design of the United States to institute an ef-fective blockade in its whole extent, or to makeonly a declaration to that effect as to the whole,and to confine the actual blockade to particular Adams to Seward, points? Mr. Adams replied that he had every May2i,i8«Lreason for affirming that the blockade would bemade effective; that although the coast line was inreality very long, yet the principal harbors werecomparatively few, only some seven to ten in num-ber, and those not very easy of access. It wouldtherefore not require so numerous a fleet to guardthem as might appear at first V.—1 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Chap. MAP OF EARLY COAST OPERATIONS. This reply to some extent satisfied the even had it been strictly accurate, the abilityof the American Government to fulfill its announce- HATTERAS AND PORT ROYAL merit might naturally have been doubted by foreign chap. Our navy was rapidly falling into de-cadence. Of its ninety ships more than one-halfhad become useless. Among the remaining num-ber there were only about twenty-four that mightbe called really serviceable vessels, that is, thosesupplied with the indispensable modern adjunct ofsteam power. These however were, at the date ofMr. Lincolns inauguration, not immediately avail-able. Thirteen of them were on distant foreignstations ; two were returning home from VeraCruz ; two were stationed at Pensacola, tied up bythe conditions of Mr. Buchanans Sumter andPickens truce; and only three steamships werein loyal ports, where they could be with certaintycalled to the instant service of the Governmen
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