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[seal]

Port Gibson 13 Jan 1861

Hon J. J. Pettus.
Gov. Miss,

Dear Sir.

I take the liberty of writing on a subject I have no doubt your vigilant eye has already embraced; it is this that in case the General Government should get possession of the Fortresses below New Orleans, or blockade the mouths of the Mississippi River, we can still have an outlet to the Gulf by opening Bayou Manchac; In that case, the pos-session and fortification of Ship Island and all those other small Islands lying just off the main Land, would be of immense importance Also the Islands outside, and commanding the months of