January 21.
The expedition which left Cairo, Ill., on the 10th inst., consisting of nearly five thousand men of all arms of the service, under command of Brigadier-General McClernand, returned to camp to-day, having been absent about ten days. The object of the expedition was to penetrate the interior of Kentucky, in the neighborhood of Columbus, on the Mississippi, and towards Mayfield and Camp Beauregard. The expedition was highly successful, having reconnoitered the country within a mile and a half of the enemy's entrenchments at Columbus, by which fears of an attack were excited in the rebel camps. Several mounted rebel pickets were taken prisoners during various reconnoissances on the way; rebel couriers from Columbus were captured, and a number of roads, not mentioned on the maps, were discovered. The enemy's position at Columbus was fully ascertained, and the existence of many loyal citizens proved.--(Doc. 17.)
A Report by Adjutant-General Harding to Governor Gamble, shows that thirty-three thousand eight hundred and eighty-two Missouri troops have entered the Federal service for three years, or during the war; of which twenty-five thousand are infantry, three thousand artillery, and six thousand cavalry. The number of militia organized under the Governor's call for six months men is upward of six thousand.
Lieutenant Ammen, commanding United States gunboat Seneca, reported to Commodore Dupont that the negroes in the neighborhood of Port Royal, S. C., were anxious to obtain arms, confident of their ability to use them with effect.
