The Confederate war steamer at Mobile.
The Augusta and Atlanta papers publish a dispatch from Mobile announcing the arrival of ‘"an iron clad man of war"’ at that port. The statement is incorrect. A special correspondent at Mobile furnishes the Charleston Mercury with some authentic information in regard to the arrival referred to:The vessel is the steam corvette Oreto, now called the Florida, and is not an iron clad. Our readers are aware of the difficulties which the commander of this ship encountered at Nassau, owing to the rigor of the British centrality regulations.--Having finally escaped from the clutches of the Court of Admiralty, Capt. Maflitt steamed away to the Gulf, and boldly ran the gauntlet of the blockaders at the merit of Mobile Bay, in broad day light, on the 4th inst. The Captain was at the time sick with fever, as were most of her small crew of thirteen men. The Florida ran within sixty yards of the Yankee vessels, and her sides are peppered all over with shrapnel and grape shot. One eleven inch shell went through her side a foot above the water line, and lodged in the ‘"coal bunkers."’ The Florida is a beautiful and well armed carved of great speed. Her armament consists of eight guns. Her dash through the blockaders, with a sick crew of only thirteen men, in broad daylight, is one of the most daring naval exploits of the war. The Florida did not fire a shot, as her crew were unable to man even a single gun. She had one killed and two wounded. She now lies below the city in quarantine.
