December 13.
Major Williams of the Third Kansas regiment, made a dash into Missouri from Mound City, and burned the villages of Papinsville and Butler, (the latter is the county seat of Bates County,) and returned with a large number of refugees, quantities of stock, &c. They had two men killed at Butler. These towns had for a long time been the resort of a guerilla band of rebels.
This day one of the hardest battles of the war was fought at Alleghany Camp, Pocohontas County, Virginia, between Gen. R. H. Milroy, commanding the Union troops, and Gen. Johnson, of Georgia, commanding the rebels. The fight lasted from daylight till three P. M. The Union loss is about thirty, and the rebel loss over two hundred, including a major and many other officers, and thirty prisoners. Gen. Johnson was shot in the mouth, but not fatally. The Twelfth Georgia regiment suffered the most. Gen. Milroy's force numbered seven hundred and fifty men from the Ninth and Thirteenth Indiana, and the Twenty-fifth and Thirty-second Ohio and the Second Virginia. Gen. Johnson's force numbered over two thousand men. The Ninth Indiana regiment fought bravely to the last. After driving the enemy into their barracks no less than five times, the Nationals retired in good order. The rebels set fire to their camp and retreated to Staunton.--(Doc. 226.)
Wm. H. Johnson, of the Lincoln Cavalry, sentenced to be shot as a deserter, was executed to-day. According to his own confession, he enlisted in order to desert, that he might thus reach New Orleans where his mother resides. In carrying out his plan, he got beyond the lines, but mistaking the Federal pickets for those of the enemy, he ran towards them, throwing up his hands and crying that he was a deserter. They assured him that they belonged to “the other side,” took his arms, and said that he must prove his good faith by giving information. Thereupon, he told them that they could capture a party of our men, behind a hill, where they really were, and gave abundant details touching the Nationals strength and position. He was then taken prisoner, and carried within the National lines.
The British ship Admiral was captured off Savannah, Ga., by the Augusta, while attempting to run in. She adopted a very ingenious mode to escape the scrutiny of the cruisers, by pretending to be one of the stone fleet, into which she had forced herself. But the ruse did not succeed, and the commander of the Augusta, [112] becoming suspicious, ran down to her, and sent her boat aboard. She proved to be an English ship, deeply loaded with coal, for blacksmith's purposes, and salt — at least that is what appears upon the surface. What lies hidden under this valuable cargo, remains to be seen when an examination is made. The captain of the Admiral stated that he had sailed eighty days ago from Liverpool for Savannah, and was not aware of the existence of blockade.--N. Y. Herald, Dec. 20.
Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, of Missouri, issued a proclamation at New Madrid, to the officers and soldiers of the Missouri State Guard, praising their valor, fortitude, and success, and urging them to continue in the ranks a few weeks longer, their six months term of service having expired. He also called upon those of his fellow-citizens who had not joined the army, to do so at once, telling them they should not expect to enjoy the reward, unless they participate in the struggle for victory and independence.--(Doc.227.)
