July 19.
At Charleston, S. C., a large sidewheel steamer, endeavoring to run into the harbor, was chased by the Canandaigua, and other outside blockaders, and finally driven upon the shoals by Commander George W. Powers, of the Kaatskill, then anchored abreast of Fort Wagner, on picket-duty. The steamer was fired by her crew, and was totally destroyed.--Rear-Admiral Dahlgren's Report.
Greenville and Sparta, N. C., were visited by the National forces, under the command of Brigadier-General Potter, and every thing at those places belonging to the rebel government destroyed.--(Doc. 101.)
James B. Fry, Provost-Marshal General, issued the following circular: “Existing laws make a distinction in the matter of pay, bounties, or other allowances, between soldiers of African descent and other soldiers in the service of the United States. Men of African descent can only be accepted as substitutes for. each other, under the Enrolment Act.” --the battle of Buffington Island, Ohio, was fought this day.--(Doc. 47.)
At Cleveland, Ohio, Bishop Rappe preached a sermon in the cathedral, on the subject of riots in New York. He was unsparing in bitter denunciation of the mob that had committed such [35] outrages. He warned his hearers against any act that tended in any degree to provoke like scenes there. He said that the laws must be obeyed, and the conscription law quietly submitted to among the rest. He urged the members of his flock to attend strictly to their business, and not even to discuss the question of the draft. If any of them were drafted, and could not procure exemption, they must do their duty to the country as soldiers. If the drafted man was poor, and no provision had been made by the city or county for the relief of his family, they should be cared for by the Church. He warned them not to ill-treat the colored people. A colored man had as much right to live and to labor for his living as a white man had, and their right must be respected. It was cowardly and sinful to molest these people, because their skin was of a different color. He also spoke against the practice of demanding extortionate wages. It was wrong and wicked to extort from employers more than the fair price of their labor. Finally, he warned them not to provoke a breach of peace in any manner, and said that he had pledged his word, as a Catholic Bishop, to the citizens of Cleveland, that there should be no disturbance from the Catholic Irish, and he looked to them that his pledge should not be broken.
