June 18.
Middleburgh and Philomont, Va., were occupied by the National cavalry.
It having been ascertained that a heavy force of the rebels was about to advance through Northern Mississippi upon the railroad, for the purpose of destroying the bridges near Pocahontas, Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips, of the Ninth Illinois, was despatched to meet, and, if possible, check their movement. He had with him his own regiment, the third battalion of the Fifth Ohio cavalry, Major Smith, and a part of the Eighteenth Missouri, all mounted. When near Ripley he found the rebels in force, and began to fall back, drawing them north toward Pocahontas. After a little feint of this kind, Colonel Phillips turned and went toward the enemy. At Rocky Crossing, of the Tallahatchie, he came up with General Ruggles, with a force of two thousand infantry, one battery, and a large force of cavalry. Although Colonel Phillips had but six hundred men all told, and no artillery, yet he offered battle, and fought the enemy with such determination as to check his intended move ment northward to the railroad. The Nationals suffered a loss of seven killed and twenty-eight wounded. The loss of the enemy was thirty-five killed and one hundred wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips returned to Pocahontas, bringing with him thirty prisoners, taken in the battle, including one lieutenant-colonel. The Fifth Ohio cavalry fought splendidly on this occasion,
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| Gen. J. E. B Stuart. |
The Thirty-seventh, Twenty-second, and Eleventh regiments of New York militia, left New York for the scene of operations in Penn sylvania.--the Mechanic Light Infantry left Salem, Mass., for the seat of war.--the steamer Platte Valley was fired into at Bradford's Landing on the Mississippi, and two persons were killed and a number wounded.--the English schooner Harriet was captured at Tampa Bay, Florida, by the national gunboat Tahoma; about the same time she destroyed the schooner Mary Jane.--A detachment of the First Missouri and Fifth Ohio cavalry under Major Henry, of the Fifth Ohio, four hundred strong, while on a reconnoissance, was surrounded near Fernando, Miss., by General Chambers, with two thousand rebels. They were routed and most of them captured or killed. Major Henry was taken prisoner.
Fletcher Freeman, the National enrolling officer of Sullivan County, Indiana, was shot and instantly killed, while riding along a country road.--Chambersburgh, Pa., was evacuated by the rebels under Jenkins, who took up his line of march to Hagerstown.--A company of negroes arrived at Harrisburgh, Pa., from Philadelphia, but their services were declined by General Couch, on the ground that no authority had been granted by the War Department for the muster of colored troops into the service of the United States for a less period than three years.--three hundred rebel cavalry under the command of Colonel Phillips, made a descent on Plaquemine, La,, and destroyed four steamers and a large quantity of cotton.
