The seizure of this vast establishment having been determined upon, five or six vessels had been sunk by the rebels in the channel of the Elizabeth river, below the Navy Yard, thus effectually preventing the passage of larger vessels. General Taliaferro was placed in command of the insurgent forces then rapidly concentrating at Norfolk. Commodore McCauley, who commanded at the Navy Yard, had been reluctant to adopt any measures which would bring him into hostility with the State troops, and thus inaugurate the war. The rebels took advantage of this leniency, but for once they were disappointed in their expectations of success. The Commodore determined to destroy the _immediate agencies of the war_, leaving the armories, ship wood, docks and dwellings unharmed, hoping that, although they might for a time be occupied by the insurgents, the stars and stripes would eventually float over them in triumph. At 8½ o’clock on Saturday evening, the 20th April, the Pawnee, containing 600 Massachusetts troops from Fortress Monroe, arrived at Gosport harbor, the Commodore’s flag at its mast-head the white sails, relieved by the dark blue sky, appearing more like the floating wings of the dove of peace than heralds of destruction. The scene that followed is thus graphically described by an eye-witness. Her coming was not unexpected, and as she glided to her place at the dock, the men on the Pennsylvania and the Cumberland, several hundred in number, greeted her with a volley of cheers that echoed and re-echoed till all Norfolk and Portsmouth must have heard the hail. The men of the Pennsylvania fairly outdid themselves in their enthusiasm on this occasion. They clambered into the shrouds, and not only answered to the “three cheers,” but volunteered “three times three,” and gave them with a hurricane of heartiness. This intense feeling on their part is easily explained. They had been a long time almost imprisoned on shipboard, on a ship imbedded in the river, motionless and helpless, and subject to _promises_ from the secessionists of speedy demolition. In the advent of the Pawnee they saw deliverance from such durance, and they exulted with tremendous emphasis. All Portsmouth and Norfolk were thoroughly aroused by the arrival of the Pawnee. They did not expect her, and were not prepared for her. They were seized with trepidation, thinking, perhaps, she had come, and along with the Cumberland and Pennsylvania, meant to bombard the towns for having obstructed the channel, and for having, the night before, rifled the United States magazine, just below Norfolk, of about 4,000 kegs of powder. Being utterly defenceless and quite terrified, the secessionists made no protest against the Pawnee’s presence, nor did they venture too near the Navy Yard.