[1]
November.
November 1.
A plot to liberate the rebel prisoners in Ohio was discovered, and several parties to it were arrested. It was concerted that on a given night, which had not been definitely fixed, a sufficient number of the conspirators were to assemble in the vicinity of Camp Chase, and at a known signal were to overpower the guard, (which was far from being a strong one,) and at the same time the prisoners, who were to be apprised of what was going on, and who numbered about four thousand, were to make a rush from the inside, and thus secure their freedom. Having armed themselves with the weapons of the guard, they were then to march on Columbus, and seize the arsenal, arming themselves completely with the United States arms stored there. From thence, their next attack was to be on the Penitentiary for the release of John Morgan and his men, by whom the rebel army in Ohio was to be officered. Then the rebel campaign in Ohio was to be commenced, and the first proceeding on the part of the traitors was to be the cutting of the telegraph wires and the burning of the railroad-bridges, in order to prevent the arrival of National troops. The parties involved in the matter were very numerous, and were to be found in almost every part of the State, some of them occupying positions under the United States and State government, which rendered it a somewhat easier task for the detectives to gain access to the nest of traitors. The leading man in the conspiracy was Charles W. H. Cathcart. A party of guerrillas, under Campbell, entered Charleston, Missouri, night before last, and after robbing the stores and private houses, retreated, carrying away with them Colonel Deal.--Charles R. Ellet, commanding the Mississippi Marine Brigade, died, at Bunker Hill, Illinois, on Thursday last, October twenty-nine.--Jay Cooke, the subscription agent of the United States Government, reported the sales of over thirty-six millions of five-twenty bonds during the previous week.
The following official communication from Provost-Marshal General James B. Fry, to Colonel Robert Nugent, Assistant Provost-Marshal of New York, was made public:
The representations made by Dean Richmond and Peter Cagger, in a printed circular, dated October twenty-seventh, 1863, in respect to the action of the Provost-Marshal General, are untrue. It is not true that the State of New York is charged as with a deficiency for every citizen who has paid the three hundred dollars commutation money, receiving no credit therefor. On the contrary, the State receives the same credit for a man who has paid commutation as if the drafted citizen had gone in person or furnished a substitute; and in like manner towns which had raised the money to pay their quotas receive the same credit as if actual substitutes had been furnished. And the President has ordered, that every citizen who has paid the three hundred dollars commutation shall receive the same credit therefor, as if he had furnished a substitute, and is exonerated from military service for the time for which he was drafted, to wit, for three years. As the misrepresentations of Dean Richmond and Peter Cagger have been published and circulated for electioneering purposes, it is proper that you give them immediate correction.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter continued without cessation. Yesterday morning, a portion of the wall fell in, burying beneath the ruins some men of the Twelfth Georgia and Twenty-fifth South-Carolina. Thirteen were buried by the falling in of the barracks on the sea-face of the Fort. Over one thousand two hundred shots were fired in twenty-four hours--the shots averaged four per minute. The firing was from two monitors--two heavy [2] and two light rifled guns at Fort Gregg, four ten-inch mortars at the middle battery, and four rifled guns at Fort Wagner.
November 2.
President Lincoln replied to the letter of Governor Bradford, of Maryland, on the subject of the election in that State.--W. G. Sparrow, son of the Rev. Dr. Sparrow, formerly principal of Fairfax Seminary, was arrested, on his arrival from Staunton, Virginia, with a rebel mail, containing letters of importance, and committed to the Old Capital Prison, at Washington.--A party of rebel guerrillas captured two trains of cars near Mayfield, Kentucky.
Jefferson Davis arrived at Charleston, S. C., from Savannah, and was escorted to the City Hall, where an address of welcome was made by Charles Macbeth, the Mayor of the city. Mr. Davis replied, in a speech setting forth the reasons of his visit, and urging upon the people the necessity of “harmonious cooperation with the commanding general. He who would attempt to promote his own personal ends in preference, would not take a musket and fight in the ranks, was not worthy of the confederate liberty for which we are fighting. He trusted the Yankee's desire to possess Charleston would never be gratified; but if Providence ordered otherwise, he desired for her what he wished for his own town of Vicksburgh, that the whole should be a mass of ruins. He believed that Charleston would never be taken.”
November 3.
Colonel Fitzgibbon, of the Thirteenth Michigan infantry, overtook the combined forces of Cooper, Kirk, Williams, and Scott, numbering four hundred men, this morning, at Lawrenceburgh, thirty-five miles south of Columbia, Tenn. After a severe hand-to-hand fight, he defeated them with a loss on his part of three men wounded, and eight horses killed. The rebel loss was eight killed, seven wounded, and twenty-four prisoners, among them one captain and two lieutenants. General Bragg's forage-train, sent up Lookout Valley, in front of his position, was captured. The train was sent to camp. The train-guard was also captured.--Official Report.
General Saxton issued a circular to the freedmen of South-Carolina, authorizing them to locate in the lands in that department which were about to be sold by the Tax Commissioners, not exceeding twenty acres for each head of a family. The description of the land, when located, to be accompanied by the deposit of the Government price, about one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.
Major--General Granger reported, from Nashville, Tennessee, that he sent a detachment of cavalry from that place, under Colonel Shelby, to pursue Hawkins and other guerrillas. He overtook Hawkins near Piney Factory, and routed and pursued him to Centreville, where he made a stand; routed him again, and pursued him until his forces dispersed. The rebel loss was fifteen or twenty killed, and sixty-six prisoners. The Union loss was slight.--General Thomas's Report.
The battle of Bayou Grand Coteau, La., also known as the battle of Bayou Bourbeaux, was fought this day.--(Doc. 7.) Colliersville, Tenn., was attacked by a body of rebels, belonging to the command of General Chalmers, who was repulsed with some loss, by the Nationals, under the command of Colonel Hatch.
November 4.
The troops belonging to the National expedition, under the command of Major-General Banks, successfully landed at Brazos de Santiago, Texas, nine miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande del Norte.--(Doc. 6.)
The bombardment of Fort Sumter continued.--Jefferson Davis visited James Island, Forts Pemberton, and Johnson, and all the rebel batteries around Charleston.
The rebel Generals Chalmers and Lee attacked Moscow and La Fayette, Tenn., on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, this day, at noon. They burned La Fayette, and some small bridges on the road. The Nationals repulsed them at Moscow. Colonel Hatch's cavalry followed their retreat, and forced them to another fight four miles out, and again repulsed them. Between twenty and thirty of their dead were found on the field, among them three officers. Their dead and wounded were scattered along the road. In addition, three wagon-loads were taken away. Their loss probably reached one hundred. The Union loss was three killed, forty-one wounded, and forty-one missing. Colonel Hatch, of the Second Iowa, commanding the brigade, was seriously though not dangerously wounded, a ball piercing his right lung.
November 5.
The United States transport Fulton captured the rebel blockade steamer Margaret and Jessie, this morning, at seven o'clock, when off Wilmington, N. C. The look-out at [3] the foretop masthead made out a suspicious steamer painted entirely white, and burning soft coal, three points on the port-bow; immediately gave chase, which resulted in her altering her course several times; following her, after a short time it was discovered that she was throwing cargo overboard, which confirmed our first suspicions that she was a blockade-runner. There was also in sight a fore-and-aft-rigged gunboat, five points on our port-bow. She remained in sight for a short time, when we lost sight of her astern. At ten A. M., made a side-wheel gunboat on the port-beam, (afterward ascertained to be the Keystone State.) About this time we fired three shots at the chase from a twenty-pound Parrott gun, falling short of the mark. At eleven A. M., made a side-wheel gunboat, (afterward ascertained to be the Nansemond,) three points on the port-bow, also in pursuit. From this time until four P. M., continued in pursuit, gradually widening the space between us and the gunboats, and nearing the chase,when, after having fired fifteen shots, some of which passed entirely over the object, and others striking quite near, and after leaving our competitors far astern, the prize hove to. At this time the Keystone State was about ten miles astern, and the Nansemond about five miles. When the prize hove to, a prize crew, in charge of our first officer and the purser, was immediately sent on board, and a hawser from our stern attached to the prize — now ascertained to be the steamer Margaret and Jessie, of Charleston, from Nassau, N. P., for a confederate port. The gunboat Nansemond arrived alongside the prize about half an hour, and the Keystone State about one hour after our hawser was made fast to the prize. This steamer is a valuable vessel, of about eight hundred tons burden, and has on board an unusually valuable cargo.--Official Report.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter was kept up by slow firing from the monitors and land-batteries.
General Sanders, in command of a Union cavalry force, overtook a rebel regiment at Metley's Ford, on the Little Tennessee River,charged and drove them across the river, capturing forty, including four commissioned officers. Between forty and fifty were killed or drowned, and the entire regiment lost their arms. Colonel Adams, who led the charge, lost no man or material.--the ship Amanda was captured and burned, when about two hundred miles from Java Head, by the confederate steamer Alabama.--Brownsville, Texas, was occupied by the National troops, under the command of Major-General Banks, the rebels having evacuated the place, after destroying the barracks and other buildings.--(Doc. 6.)
November 6.
Jefferson Davis arrived at Wilmington, North-Carolina, from Charleston, South-Carolina, and was received by General Whiting, and welcomed by William A. Wright. Mr. Davis stated that he was proud to be welcomed by so large a concourse of North-Carolinians to the ancient and honored town of Wilmington, upon whose soil he hoped the foot of an invading foe might never fall. He had given Wilmington for her defence one of the best soldiers in the Confederacy--one whom he had seen tried in battle, and who had risen higher as danger accumulated. He felt the full importance of the harbor — the only one still open for trade — and would do all that could be done for its defence. He exhorted all to do their duty, either in the field or in supporting the army and relieving the families of soldiers, and spoke of the honor of the soldier, and the disgrace of the speculator. He referred to Chickamauga and Charleston, and spoke of the noble spirit of the army and people at both places. He paid a high tribute to the soldiers from the State, and exhorted all to strive nobly for the right, predicting a future of independence, liberty, and prosperity.--A fight occurred at Rogersville, Tennessee, in which the Nationals were defeated and compelled to retreat with some loss.--(Doc. 8.) The ship Winged Racer, from Manilla for New York, was captured and burned by the pirate Alabama, off Java Head.--A party of rebel guerrillas entered Blandville, Kentucky, twelve miles from Cairo, Illinois, and captured a courier together with a small mail.
The battle of Droop Mountain, Virginia, between the National forces under Brigadier General Averill, and the combined forces of the rebel Generals Echols and Jenkins, occurred this day, resulting in the rout of the latter with a severe loss in men and material.--(Doc. 9.)
November 7.
Major-General George H. Thomas issued an order complimenting the troops composing Generals Turchin's and Hazen's brigades for their skill and cool gallantry at Brown's Ferry, Georgia, and the column under Major-General Hooker, which took possession of the line from Bridgeport to the foot of Lookout [4] Mountain, for their brilliant success in driving the enemy from every position which they attacked. “The bayonet-charge made by the troops of General Howard, up a steep and difficult hill, over two hundred feet high, completely routing the enemy, and driving him from his barricades on its top, and the repulse by General Geary's command of greatly superior numbers, who attempted to surprise him, will rank among the most distinguished feats of arms of this war.” --A sharp fight occurred at Stevensburgh, Virginia, between General Kilpatrick's cavalry and a party of rebels, who were defeated.
The battles of Rappahannock Station and Kelly's Ford, Virginia, were fought this day, resulting in the retreat of the rebels across the Rappahannock River.--(Doc. 10.)
General Duffie, in command of the National forces, occupied Lewisburgh, Virginia, this morning; the rebels had passed through in their retreat from General Averill, just previous to his arrival. General Duffie captured the rebel camp, tents, provisions, and one cannon, many prisoners and one hundred head of cattle.--General Kelley's Despatch.
November 8.
The blockade-running steamers Cornubia and Robert E. Lee, with very valuable cargoes, were captured off the New Inlet, North-Carolina. Major-General Meade, from his headquarters near Rappahannock Station, Virginia, made the following report to the General-in-Chief:
This morning, on advancing from Kelly's Ford, it was found that the enemy had retired during the night. The morning was so smoky that it was impossible to ascertain at Rappahannock Station the position of the enemy, and it was not till the arrival of the column from Kelly's Ford that it was definitely known the position at Rappahannock Station was evacuated. The army was put in motion, and the pursuit continued by the infantry to Brandy Station, and by the cavalry beyond. Major-General Sedgwick reports officially the capture of six guns, eight battle-flags, and over one thousand five hundred prisoners. Major-General French took over four hundred prisoners. General Sedgwick's loss was about three hundred killed and wounded. French's about seventy. The conduct of both officers and men in each affair was most admirable.--(Doc. 10.)
A cavalry fight took place at a point two miles south of Hazel River, on the road leading from Culpeper to Jefferson, Virginia, between the Nationals under the command of General Buford, and Wilson's division of Hill's rebel corps.--(Doc. 10.)
A reconnoissance of the Chowan River, North-Carolina, to the vicinity of the mouth of the Blackwater, under the direction of Major-General Peck, was finished.
November 9.
A snow-storm prevailed in Virginia this day.--A fight between a. party of guerrillas and National cavalry occurred on the Little River, in which the rebels were repulsed with a loss of fifty killed and forty captured.
The rebel steamer Ella and Anna, while attempting to run the blockade into Wilmington, North-Carolina, was captured by the National gunboat Niphon.--Robert Toombs delivered a speech in the Hall of the House of Representatives of Georgia, in which he denounced the officials of the rebel government, though he adhered firmly to the cause of the South. He especially deprecated the depreciation of the rebel government's currency system and impressment policy, the latter of which he affirmed “had sown the seeds of discontent broadcast over the land, and was generating hostility to the government itself.”
November 10.
A successful advance was made by General Kilpatrick, of the army of the Potomac. He passed through Culpeper without seeing any rebels, and continued his march through Stevensburgh, followed by the rebel army.--the rebel steamer Ella, while attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, North-Carolina, was captured by the National gunboat Howqua.
Colonel Upton, who commanded the brigade which last Saturday successfully charged and captured the rebels' works at Rappahannock Station, accompanied by deputations from each of the regiments participating in the assault, presented General Meade with the eight battle-flags taken at that time. Colonel Upton presented the flags in behalf of his command, naming the regiments — the Fifth and Sixth Maine, the Fifth Wisconsin, and the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York--the latter, Colonel Upton's own. General Meade responded as follows:
Colonel Upton, officers and men of the Sixth corps: I receive with great satisfaction the battle-flags, [5] evidences of the good conduct and gallantry you displayed on the seventh instant. The assault of the enemy's position at Rappahannock Station, intrenched by redoubts and rifle-pits, defended by artillery and infantry, carried as it was at the point of the bayonet, was work which could only be executed by the best of soldiers, and in the result you may be justly proud. It gives me great confidence that in future operations I can implicitly rely on the men under my command doing, when called on, all that men can do; and, although it is my desire to place you in such positions as to avoid, if possible, recurring to such severe tests, yet there are occasions, such as the recent one, when it is the only and best course to pursue; and to feel as I do now, that I command men able and willing to meet and overcome such obstacles is a source of great satisfaction. I shall transmit these flags to the War Department. I have already reported your good conduct, and received and transmitted to your commanders the approval of the President. I shall prepare, as soon as I receive the requisite information, a general order, in which it is my desire to do justice to all the troops who have distinguished themselves; and it is my purpose, by every means in my power, to have those soldiers rewarded who have merited such distinction. Soldiers: In the name of the army and of the country, I thank you for the services you have rendered, particularly for the example you have set, which, I doubt not, on future occasions will be followed and emulated.
November 11.
Major-General Foster having been relieved from the command of the Department of Virginia and North-Carolina, issued an order bidding farewell to the officers and men serving in the department.
Secretary Stanton sent the following despatch to the Mayor of Buffalo, N. Y., this night:
The British Minister, Lord Lyons, has tonight officially notified the Government that, from telegraphic information received from the Governor-General of Canada, there is reason to believe there is a plot on foot by persons who have found asylum in Canada to invade the United States and destroy the city of Buffalo; that they propose to take possession of some steamboats on Lake Erie, to surprise Johnson's Island, free the prisoners of war confined there, and proceed with them to Buffalo. This Government will employ all means in its power to suppress any hostile attack from Canada; but as other towns and cities on the shores of the lakes are exposed to the same danger, it is deemed proper to communicate this information to you in order that any precautions which the circumstances of the case will permit may be taken. The Governor-General suggests that steamboats or other vessels, giving cause for suspicion by the number or character of persons on board, shall be arrested. You will please acknowledge the receipt of this despatch, and communicate to this Department any information you may now or hereafter have on this subject.
Major-General Butler assumed command of the departments of Eastern Virginia and North-Carolina. His order contained the following:
Representations having been made to the Commanding General that certain disloyally disposed persons within this department do occasionally, by force, interfere with, and by opprobrious and threatening language insult and annoy loyal persons employed in the quiet discharge of their lawful occupations, it is hereby announced that all such conduct and language is hereafter strictly forbidden, and will be punished with military severity. All officers of this department are directed to order the arrest, and to bring such persons as are found offending against this order before the tribunal established for the purpose of punishing offences within this department.
November 12.
A very spirited skirmish with the rebels occurred at a point about ten miles from the Cumberland Gap, in Virginia. A forage train of twenty-one wagons had been sent out with a guard of twenty-eight men. The wagons were loaded, and started for the Gap, with no appearance of danger, when suddenly a party of seventy guerrillas rushed from a convenient ambush, overpowering the guard, and compelling a surrender. The officers' clothing was immediately transferred to rebel backs, and their wallets appropriated. Ten minutes after the capture, Colonel Lemert, commanding the forces at the Gap, appeared in a bend of the road. Whilst the rebels were approaching, Colonel Lemert immediately led the charge with ten men of the Fourth battalion Ohio volunteer cavalry. A fierce hand-to-hand sabre-fight occurred for a few minutes, when the rebels left the field. The train and prisoners were recaptured, eleven of the enemy [6] captured, two killed and four wounded, and some small arms and horses taken. An exciting chase of ten miles failed to overtake the fleeing rebels.
Major-General Dabney H. Maury, in command of the rebel forces at Mobile, Ala., sent the following to Adjutant-General Cooper, at the war department at Richmond, Va.:
The following despatch from Tunica, Miss., was received yesterday, dated tenth instant, from Colonel Harry Maury, commanding Fifteenth cavalry regiment: ‘We dashed in yesterday above Bayou Sara on a plundering party of Yankees, three hundred strong, and drove then to their iron-clads with great slaughter. We brought off their wagon-trains and twenty-five prisoners from under the broadsides of their gunboats. Only three wounded of ours.’--Two bridges and trestlework on the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad at Caligula, near Lynnville, Tenn., were destroyed by a party of rebel cavalry under the command of the partisan Roddy.--A cannonading between the rebel batteries on Lookout Mountain and the Union forces at Moccasin Point, took place to-day.
In the rebel Senate, in session at Richmond, Va., Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, offered the resolution:
Resolved, That in the present condition of the country, Congress ought, with the least practicable delay, to enact the following: 1. To declare every white male person residing in the confederate States, and capable of bearing arms, to be in the military service of the country. 2. To repeal all laws authorizing substitutes or granting exemptions. 3. To authorize the President to issue his proclamation requiring all male persons claiming and receiving foreign protection to make their election within sixty days, to take up arms or quit the country. 4. To detail from those in the military service such only as are absolutely needed in civil pursuits, having reference in making such details to competency alone. 5. To levy a direct tax of----per cent on every kind of property, according to its value in confederate notes, including the notes themselves. 6. To make confederate notes a legal tender in payment of debts, after the expiration of six months. 7. To prohibit the buying and selling of gold and silver coin, or the notes on banks in the United States, or United States Treasury notes, during the war, under heavy penalties, or, in lieu thereof, to prohibit “running the blockade” by individuals, under pain of forfeiture of the goods brought in, and imprisonment during the war. 8. Declare these laws war measures, and make those who violate them amenable to the military courts.
The City Council of Richmond, Va., made an appropriation of sixty thousand dollars for the purchase of a family residence for General Robert E. Lee.
November 13.
A skirmish took place near Natchez, Miss., between company H, of the Seventy-first Illinois regiment, and a few volunteers of the Sixth Mississippi regiment of loyal colored troops, and the rebel cavalry under Adams and Mosby. The circumstances are as follows: The wagons of the above command were sent out for forage, the company just designated was detailed as an escort, and left camp at seven A. M. After proceeding about one mile and a half a small force of rebels was seen, the company halted, and a messenger was despatched to inform the commanding officer, and report for instructions. Immediately on receipt of the news, Colonel Smith took the camp-guard and proceeded out on the Washington road, came up to where the foraging party had halted, and ordered it forward. [It is necessary here to state that this road leads to a village, bearing the same name, some six miles distant from this place, and two miles out it intersects the Palestine road, both of which run quite close together for a mile or more.] Both commands marched on to the “forks,” when it was decided that Captain 0. H. Hitchcock, with his company, should proceed with the train toward Palestine, as was originally intended. Colonel Smith, taking the guard, followed the other road, and after marching more than a mile ordered a halt, and threw out a picket still farther on, as the rebels had been there but a few moments before. Presently a volley was heard, then another, and still another. He immediately “double-quicked” his men back, but arrived too late to participate in the engagement. Lieutenants Richards and Green, who were some distance in advance of the train, on horseback, met a squad of eight or ten cavalry coming around a bend in the road at full speed. They therefore fell back, hotly pursued by the rebels, who, when they [7] came in sight of the party immediately fled, and on meeting their comrades, they all joined and came back, and found the colored troops prepared to give them battle. Captain Hitchcock, not knowing the strength of his opposers, fell back a short distance, and the enemy rallied and charged furiously again. The rebel captain ordered Hitchcock to surrender, firing at the same time his revolver at Corporal John Heron, who dropped unhurt to his knees, and sent a ball through the miscreant's breast, which proved fatal. Rebel citizens state that the opposing force numbered fifty men, and acknowledge their loss to be one captain, sergeant, and two privates killed, and eight wounded. The Union loss was as follows: Killed — George Diegs, company H; Lewis Taylor, company H; Peter Grant, company H; Samuel Moden, company G. Wounded — William Gallin, company B; Henry Brown, company H; Mil Beckford, company H; William Hegdon, company H; Zeno Callahan, company H; Duncan Turner, company H; John Bodly, company H.
John C. Crane, acting quartermaster at Nashville, Tenn., in a note to Andrew Johnson, Governor of that State, says:
The bearer, (colored,) Jane Woodall, is my house-servant. She is a slave, claimed by Christopher Woodall, a resident of Tennessee. It is said that he is disloyal, and on a previous occasion the military authorities prevented him from taking her. Has Mr. Woodall any right, under the President's Proclamation, and military law, to take this woman? It strikes me not, as we have taken possession of rebel property without compensation. Requesting your decision in the premises, I am, Governor, very respectfully, your obedient servant.the Governor's response.
In accordance with an order from the War Department, Major-General John A. Logan surrendered his command of the Third division of the Seventeenth army corps. In addressing the officers and soldiers of the different brigades, he reminded them of the history the division had made for itself — a history to be proud of; a history never to be forgotten; for it is written as with a pen of fire dipped in ink of blood on the memories and in the hearts of all. He besought them always to prove themselves as loyal in principle, as valiant in arms, as their record while under his command would show them to have been; to “remember the glorious cause you are fighting for, remember the bleaching bones of your comrades killed on the bloody fields of Donelson, Corinth, Champion Hill, and Vicksburgh, or perished by disease during the past two years of hardships and exposure — and swear by these imperishable memories never, while life remains, to prove recreant to the trust high heaven has confided to your charge.” He assured them of his continued sympathy and interest in their well-being, no matter how great a distance might separate them; and closed by heartily recommending them to their future commander, his own companion in arms, and successor, Brigadier-General Leggett.
November 14.
The farmers of Warren, Franklin, and Johnson counties, N. C., having refused to pay the rebel tax in kind by delivering the government's tenth to the quartermaster-general, James A. Seddon, the Secretary of War, issued the following letter of instructions to that officer:
It is true the law requires farmers to deliver their tenth at depots not more than eight miles from the place of production; but your published order requesting them for the purpose of supplying the immediate wants of the army, to deliver at the depots named, although at a greater distance than eight miles, and offering to pay for the transportation in excess of that distance, is so reasonable that no good citizen would refuse to comply with it. You will, therefore, promulgate an addition to your former order, requiring producers to deliver their quotas at the depots nearest to them by a specified day, and notifying them that in case of their refusal or neglect to comply therewith, the Government will provide the necessary transportation at the expense of the delinquents, and collect said expense by an immediate levy on their productions, calculating their value at the rates allowed in cases of impressment. If it becomes necessary to furnish transportation, the necessary teams, teamsters, etc., must be impressed as in ordinary cases. All persons detected in secreting articles subject to the tax, or in deceiving as to the quantity [8] produced by them, should be made to suffer the confiscation of all such property found belonging to them. The people in the counties named, and in fact nearly all the western counties of that State, have ever evinced a disposition to cavil at, and even resist the measures of the Government, and it is quite time that they, and all others similarly disposed, should be dealt by with becoming rigor. Now that our energies are taxed to the utmost to subsist our armies, it will not do to be defrauded of this much-needed tax. If necessary, force must be employed for its collection. Let striking examples be made of a few of the rogues, and I think the rest will respond promptly.
Major-General Schofield, from the headquarters of the Department of the Missouri, at St. Louis, issued an important order regarding the enlisting of colored troops.
November 15.
Conrad Posey, a brigadier-general in the rebel service, died at Charlottesville, Va., from a wound received in the fight at Bristoe Station, Va. General Posey was formerly colonel of the Forty-eighth Mississippi regiment, belonging to General Featherstone's brigade, and when the latter was transferred from the army of Virginia to the West, General Posey was commissioned to succeed him.--the firing on Fort Sumter continued steadily. From “Thursday morning last until yesterday (Saturday) at sundown, one thousand five hundred and twenty-three mortar shells and rifled shots were fired at the fort. The Union fire has ceased to be of any injury to that defence.” --Richmond Enquirer.
Major-General S. A. Hurlbut, from his headquarters, Sixteenth army corps, at Memphis, Tenn., issued the following general order: I. The people in the District of West-Tennessee and the northern counties of Mississippi having shown no disposition, and made no attempt to protect themselves from marauders and guerrilla bands, but having submitted themselves, without organized resistance, to the domination of these petty tyrants, and combined, in many instances, with the known enemies of the United States to procure from corrupt traders in the city of Memphis and elsewhere, supplies for the use of the public enemy, have proved themselves unworthy of the indulgence shown them by the Government. It is therefore ordered, that the lines of pickets around the several military posts of this command, in Tennessee and Mississippi be closed, and that no goods of any description be allowed to pass out, nor any thing be brought in, except fire-wood and provisions, by any citizen, without the written order of some general officer, each of which permits, and the reason for granting the same, will be reported to these headquarters, and for the necessity of which each officer granting will be held rigidly responsible. II. All merchants, and others doing business, will be held responsible for knowledge of the residence of the parties to whom they sell, and the sale of merchandise to persons beyond the lines of pickets will be punished with the highest rigor known to the laws of war. III. All persons residing under the protection of the United States, and physically capable of military duty, are liable to perform the same in a country under martial law. Especially in the city of Memphis, where it is known many have fled to escape liability to military service at home, this rule will be strictly applied. In pursuance, therefore, to orders to this effect from Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding department and army of the Tennessee, all officers commanding districts, divisions, and detached brigades of this corps, will immediately proceed to impress into the service of the United States such able-bodied persons liable to military duty as may be required to fill up the existing regiments and batteries to their maximum. Those persons so levied upon, if they enlist for three years or the war, will be entitled to the full benefits provided by the acts of Congress. If not, they will receive clothing and rations, and be borne at the foot of each company roll with remarks stating their time of service and the advances made by the Government in clothing; a certificate of which will be given them when discharged from such forced service, the question of pay or other compensation to be settled by proper authorities hereafter. They will be discharged when no further military necessity appears for their enforced service. IV. The senior surgeons and inspectors present will constitute a Board of Inspection on the physical capacity of recruits.--General Orders No. 157.
Last evening a party of rebel cavalry crossed the Rapidan in front of Kilpatrick's line, at Morton's Ford, Va., attacked the pickets, capturing some six or eight of them, and retreated across the river again. This morning the affair was reported to General [9] Custer, who was temporarily in command of the division, when he immediately ordered a regiment of cavalry and Pennington's battery of three-inch rifled guns down to the rear, and drove them back from the ford, notwithstanding they had brass twelve-pounders. This was done in the midst of a heavy rain-storm. No serious casualties were reported to Major-General Pleasanton.
November 16.
General Burnside retreating on the advance of Longstreet, evacuated Lenoir, Tenn., but fought a battle at Campbell's Station. The fight lasted for some hours. The Federal troops retreated to the protection of their batteries, which opened upon the rebels with effect, and checked their advance. They fell back to the river; a second battle was fought in the afternoon, which continued until nightfall, Burnside remaining in possession of the ground. Loss of the rebels estimated at one thousand killed and wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, Twentieth Michigan, was killed.--Doc. 19.
November 17.
Nearly a hundred prisoners captured by General Averill in his engagement with the rebels in Pocahontas County, Va., arrived at Wheeling this morning, and were committed to the Athenaeum. There was scarcely a whole suit of clothes in the party, and many of them were without shoes. Judging from the fact that a fall of snow was lately announced in the vicinity of where the fight took place, these shoeless rebels must have suffered terribly from the cold.
The schooner Joseph L. Gerity, on a voyage from Matamoras to New York, with a cargo of cotton and six passengers, was seized by the latter, who overcame the captain and crew; and after keeping them in confinement eight days, set them adrift at sea in a small boat, in which they eventually landed on the coast of Sisal. After the crew and captain were put in the boat the captors hoisted the rebel flag and fired a salute with pistols, declaring that they would carry vessel and cargo into Honduras and sell them.
November 18.
The firing on Fort Sumter from the National batteries continued. A rebel mortar battery on Sullivan's Island shelled Gregg and the Cummings Point defences all day.--General Longstreet made an attack upon the Union outposts, on the Kingston road, near Knoxville, Tenn., and compelled General Sanders, in command of the forces there, to fall back to the town.--Doc. 19.
General Averill arrived at New Creek, Va. At or near Covington he encountered and dispersed a portion of Imboden's command on their way to reenforce Echols, and captured twenty-five prisoners in the skirmish.
The cavalry belonging to the Union forces under the command of Brigadier-General J. C. Sullivan, sent out from Harper's Ferry, Va., returned this day, having been up the Valley to near New Market, fighting Gilmore's and White's commands at Mount Jackson, bringing in twenty-seven prisoners, two commissioned officers, ninety head of cattle, three four-horse teams, besides thirty tents and all the horses and equipage of the prisoners; the party was under the command of Colonel Bayard, of the Thirty-first Pennsylvania cavalry. He destroyed a number of tents and a quantity of salt. The men helped themselves to a wagon-load of tobacco, weighing about five hundred pounds. The Union loss was two men killed, three wounded and three missing.--General Sullivan's Despatch.
Corpus Christi and Aranzas Pass, Texas, were captured by the National forces under the command of Major-General Banks. Yesterday afternoon at about three o'clock, the gunboat Monongahela, with a fleet of nine vessels, transports, etc., arrived at the bar and commenced landing troops through the surf on the south point of Mustang Island. This morning at sunrise, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Maine regiments, Thirty-fourth Iowa, Eighth Indiana, and company F, First Missouri artillery, with a part of the Twentieth Iowa volunteers, were ashore and in column en route up the beach toward Aranzas Pass. About eleven o'clock the Monongahela opened her two hundred-pound Parrott on the enemy's battery, which was planted behind the sand-hills so as to completely cover the channel and southern point of St. Joseph's Island. In the mean time the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Maine, the two advance regiments, succeeded in getting in the rear of the works within two miles, without being discovered. The armed transport McClellan, Captain Gray, drawing less water than the Monongahela, worked up close on to the battery, soon making it untenable. They abandoned the battery, sought shelter from the sand-hills, until their flag of truce was discovered, when they were permitted to surrender without terms. Their battery consisted [10] of three twenty-four-pounders and one eight-inch sea-howitzer. The force of the garrison consisted of one company of regular artillery and two companies of drafted Texan militia, in all, about one hundred and fifty men.
November 19.
General Hampton and General Thomas L. Rosser returned to Fredericksburgh, Va., from a most successful expedition into Culpeper County. On Tuesday night last they crossed the Rapidan with detachments from Rosser's,Gordon's, and Young's brigades, all under the immediate command of General Rosser, for the purpose of ascertaining the position of the enemy on the other side. After marching all night over a desperate road, they succeeded, about daylight on Wednesday morning, in locating the pickets of the enemy. That being accomplished, General Rosser immediately ordered a charge, which was executed by his brigade in the most gallant style, driving the advance back upon the main body, which was encamped a short distance in the rear. Here the enemy had formed a line of defence; but, in defiance of a heavy fire poured into his command, General Rosser pressed forward, and soon drove the entire force (the Eighteenth Pennsylvania cavalry) through their encampment, and pursued them some miles beyond, in the direction of Stevensburgh. The result of this gallant exploit was the capture of sixty prisoners, among them an adjutant and one lieutenant, two flags, one hundred horses and mules, a number of tents, all the wagons, baggage, etc., of the encampment. The enemy fled through the woods in every direction, many of them without having completed their toilet for the day. Having located the enemy, (the original object of the expedition,) and obtained other valuable information, the command was withdrawn, by the way of Germanna Ford, to the other side of the river, where the prisoners and other captures had been previously forwarded.--Richmond Enquirer.
A detachment, composed of companies G, H, I, and K, of the Fifty-eighth regiment of Illinois infantry, with a portion of the Second Illinois cavalry, under the command of Captain Franklin B. Moore, pursued Faulkner's rebel partisans to a point on Obion River, four miles from Union City, Tennessee, where, in attempting to cross the river, the rebels were fired on, and eleven of their number killed. The Nationals captured fifty-three prisoners, a wagon-load of small-arms, thirty-three horses, and four mules. Their casualties were one man wounded and five horses shot.--large and spirited meetings were held in all the wards in Boston, Mass., last night, to encourage volunteering. Committees were appointed, and the work was pursued with energy. A similar movement was made in cities and towns throughout the State.--at Gettysburgh, Pa., the national cemetery, for the burial of the Union soldiers who fell in the battles fought at that place in July, 1863, was consecrated.
A combined expedition,consisting of the gunboat Morse, commanded by Captain Charles A. Babcock, and four hundred and fifty men from the One Hundred and Forty-eighth regiment of New York volunteers,under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George M, Guion, left Yorktown, Va., on Monday, November sixteenth, in search of a party of the rebel “Marine brigade,” reported to be on their way from Richmond to Mob Jack Bay, to commit depredations on the Northern commerce. The Morse landed the regiment the same evening at the head-waters of East River, which at once marched across the county to Matthews Court-House, where information was obtained that the “Marines” had left the place but a few hours previously. Passing the night there, early the next morning the march was continued northward as far as Shuffletown, on the Piankatank River. No traces of the rebels being discovered, the regiment turned about and scoured the country down to the mouth of the Piankatank, encamping that night at Cricket Hill. The next morning, the eighteenth, crossing in small boats to Gwynne's Island, the men were deployed across it, and the cover beaten as they advanced. About noon, near the lower end of the island, their labor was rewarded by the discovery of the entire party for which they were in search, consisting of an acting master in the rebel navy, named Webb, and fifteen men. The marines were hidden in the reeds and bushes of swamp, and offered little resistance. Each man was armed with a carbine, cutlass, and pistol of English manufacture. They had with them a twelve-pounder breech-loading brass howitzer, which, however, they had previously concealed in the woods. A sloop, with which they intended to commit depredations on passing vessels, was discovered up a creek, and burned. They were expecting to capture a large vessel, and eventually to attack one of the mail-boats plying between Fortress Monroe and Baltimore, [11] from which city Webb and nearly all of his gang of pirates hailed. In the possession of Webb was found his commission as master in the rebel navy, together with a letter of instructions from Secretary Mallory, ordering him to proceed to the rivers and creeks of Eastern Virginia, organize his party, and annoy commerce as extensively as possible. The One Hundred and Forty-eighth returned to Yorktown to-day with their prisoners, who were sent to Fort Norfolk.
November 20.
The Solicitor of the War Department, Mr. William Whiting, in a letter to a gentleman in Boston, wrote as follows:
There are several serious difficulties in the way of continuing an exchange of prisoners. One is the bad faith of the enemy in putting into active service many thousands of paroled prisoners, captured at Vicksburgh and elsewhere, without releasing any of our soldiers held by them. But another difficulty of still grater importance is the peremptory refusal by the enemy to exchange colored soldiers and their white officers upon any terms whatever. It is well known that they have threatened to sell colored captured soldiers into slavery, and to hang their white officers. The Government demands that all officers and soldiers should be fairly exchanged, otherwise no more prisoners of war will be given up. The faith of the Government is pledged to these officers and troops that they shall be protected, and it cannot and will not abandon to the savage cruelty of slave-masters a single officer or soldier who has been called on to defend the flag of his country, and thus exposed to the hazards of war. It has been suggested that exchanges might go on until all except the colored troops and their white officers have been given up. But if this were allowed, the rebels would not only be relieved of the burden of maintaining our troops, but they would get back their own men, retaining their power over the very persons whom we are solemnly bound to rescue, and upon whom they could then, without fear of retaliation, carry into execution the inhuman cruelties they have so basely threatened. The President has ordered that the stern law of retaliation shall, without hesitation, be enforced, to avenge the death of the first Union soldier, of whatever color, whom the enemy shall in cold blood destroy or sell into slavery. All other questions between us may be postponed for future settlement, but the fair exchange of colored soldiers and of their white officers will be insisted on by the Government before another rebel soldier or officer will be exchanged.
November 21.
The steamer Welcome was attacked this morning at Waterproof, La., by guerrillas, with cannon planted on the levee, and twelve balls and shells fired through and into the cabin and other parts of the boat, besides nearly three hundred Minie balls from the sharpshooters along the banks of the river.--Acting Master J. F. D. Robinson, commander of the Satellite, and Acting Ensign Henry Walters, who was in command of the Reliance, were dismissed from the Navy of the United States, for gross dereliction in the case of the capture of their vessels on the twenty-third of August, 1863. The Department of the Navy regretted “the necessity of this action in the case of Acting Ensign Walters, inasmuch as the Court report that ‘during the attack he acted with bravery and to the best of his ability, and which, in some measure, relieves his want of precaution against surprise from its otherwise inexcusable character, and shows that his failure to take them proceeded more from inexperience than negligence.’ ” --General Orders No. 24.
At Little Rock, Ark., a large Union meeting was held, at which the “restoration of State rights under the old Government” was advocated, and a great number of persons took the oath of allegiance and enrolled themselves for home defence.--English rebel blockade-runner steamer Banshee, was captured by the United States steamers Delaware and Fulton, off Wilmington, North-Carolina.
The steamer Black Hawk, when about half a mile below Red River Landing, on the Mississippi River, was fired into from the east bank of the river by a battery of ten or twelve guns, and about fifteen round shot and shell struck the boat. One shell exploded in the Texas, setting fire to and burning that part of the boat and pilot-house. As soon as the captain and officers found the boat on fire, they ran her on a sandbar on the west side of the river, and immediately put all the passengers on shore, after which the fire was extinguished. While the boat lay aground on the sand-bar, the sharp-shooters were pouring in their murderous Minie balls, of which some three hundred struck the boat in different parts of her cabin and hull. It was the guerrillas' intention to follow the boat, but the gunboat [12] stationed at the mouth of Red River followed them so close, pouring in shell among them, that she drove them back, after which the gunboat took the Black Hawk in tow, and carried her back to Red River, where she repaired sufficiently to proceed on her way. The casualties on board the boat were very severe. Mr. Samuel Fulton, a brother of the captain, was shot in the leg by a cannon-ball. His leg was afterward amputated below the knee. A colored man, by the name of Alfred Thomas, had his head blown off while lying flat down on the cable-deck. James Keller, of Louisville, belonging to the Twenty-second Kentucky volunteers, received a wound in the arm from a fragment of a shell. His arm was afterward amputated, and he soon after died. A passenger was slightly wounded in the arm.
November 22.
A scouting-party of fifty men, belonging to Colonel Higginson's regiment, First South-Carolina colored troops, was sent, under the command of Captain Bryant, Eighth Maine volunteers, and Captain Whitney, First South-Carolina colored volunteers, to release twenty-eight colored people held in pretended slavery by a man named Hayward, near Pocotaligo, S. C. The expedition was successful. The captives were released and their freedom restored to them. Two rebel horse-soldiers, stationed as pickets, were regularly captured as prisoners of war. These men were members of the First South-Carolina cavalry. Their comrades, seventy-five in number, under command of a major, pursued the raiding party toward the ferry at Barnwell's Island. The negroes received them in ambush, and fired on them at twenty paces, emptying several saddles, and putting them to flight. Obtaining reenforcements and artillery, they tracked the retreating colored men with bloodhounds. The dogs dashed into the party in advance of their comrades, the rebels. One hound was shot, and left with broken legs upon the field. Five others were impaled upon the bayonets of the Union troops, and brought as trophies into their camp. The gallantry of the negroes on this occasion was manifested not merely by their brilliant bravery, but by the willingness with which they gave up the ferry-boats (in which they had crossed to the mainland) to their wounded and to the non-combatants on their return. In fording the river, two of their number were drowned. Another man, a corporal, was lost. Six of the party were wounded.
November 23.
The battle of Chattanooga, Tenn., commenced this day. At half-past 12 o'clock, Generals Granger's and Palmer's corps, supported by General Howard's, were advanced directly in front of the Union fortifications, drove in the enemy's pickets, and carried his first line of rifle-pits between Chattanooga and Carter's Creek. The Nationals captured nine commissioned officers and about one hundred enlisted men. Their loss was about one hundred and eleven men.
November 24.
A court of inquiry convened by order of the rebel war department to examine and report facts and circumstances attending the capture of the city of New Orleans, in April, 1862, and the defence of the city by the rebel troops under the command of General Mansfield Lovell, gave as their opinion that General Lovell's “conduct was marked by all the coolness and self-possession due to the circumstances and his position; and that he evinced a high capacity for his command, and the clearest foresight in many of his measures for the defence of New Orleans.” --General Orders, No. 152.
Herschel V. Johnson, in a speech at Milledgeville, Georgia, used the following language: “There is no step backward. All is now involved in the struggle that is dear to man — home, society, liberty, honor, every thing — with the certainty of the most degraded fate that ever oppressed a people, if we fail. It is not recorded in history that eight millions of united people, resolved to be free, have failed. We cannot yield if we would. Yield to the Federal authorities — to vassalage and subjugation! The bleaching of the bones of one hundred thousand gallant soldiers slain in battle would be clothed in tongues of fire to curse to everlasting infamy the man who whispers yield. God is with us, because He is always with the right.” He closed in counselling a firm reliance on Providence, and the cultivation of a spirit of reliance and devotion.
The Richmond Examiner of this date contained the following: “Five balls advertised, and flour one hundred and twenty-five dollars per barrel! Who prates of famine and want? Who is suffering for the necessaries of life? Does not all go ‘merry as a marriage bell?’ If the skeleton come in, put a ball-ticket at five dollars into its bony fingers, a masquerade ball costume upon its back of bony links, and send the grim guest into the ball-room to the sound of cotillion music.”
[13] The second day of the battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee. General Hooker, in command of Geary's division of the Twelfth corps, Osterhaus's division of the Fifteenth corps, and two brigades of the Fourteenth corps, carried the north slope of Lookout Mountain with small loss, and a loss to the rebels of five or six hundred prisoners. There was continuous fighting from twelve o'clock until after nightfall, but the National troops gallantly repulsed every attempt of the enemy to retake the position. General Sherman crossed the Tennessee River before daylight this morning, at the mouth of South-Chickamauga, with three divisions of the Fifteenth corps, one division of the Fourteenth corps, and carried the northern extremity of Missionary Ridge.--(Docs. 14 and 18.)
The Richmond Examiner published the following:
While a furious invading enemy is laying waste our fair fields, demanding unconditional submission to its government, offering no terms of peace, not even hinting at negotiation for peace upon any other basis, but avowing the unanimous purpose to deprive us of all right, of all law and of all property; and while our devoted armies are in the field, with their arms in their hands and their banners flying, to defy and resist and beat back that foul invasion, we do not comprehend how any man in the Confederacy can — we do not say get “honorable peace” --but even talk of honorable peace, save by vanquishing those invading enemies. If the political system of those invading enemies break up, by reason of reverses in war, or financial troubles; if certain States of their “Union” remember that they have state rights, and act upon them by seceding from the Union, and offering us a peace, so far as they are concerned, it will be well; that will aid us materially in the one single task we have to achieve — the task of defeating and destroying the military power of our enemies. But reasonable confederates would be at a loss to know how we can contribute to that happy state of things, except by continued and successful resistance in arms. Our sole policy and cunningest diplomacy is fighting; our most insinuating negotiator is the confederate army in line of battle. Now we perceive, that just as Congress is about to meet, certain newspapers of the Confederacy are preparing the way for discussions in that body about some other method of obtaining peace. The other method suggested, in so far as we can comprehend it, consists in the several States of the Confederacy taking the matter out of the hands of the confederate government, ignoring the government and the army, and all that army has done and suffered for the independence of the Confederacy, and then making peace, each State for itself, as best it can. There would be an honorable peace! We are sorry to have to mention that such an idea has shown itself. It was believed that it was confined to about two newspapers, both of Raleigh, North-Carolina. But something very similar is to be found in two other newspapers of Atlanta. As it is extremely essential that the time of this Congress should not be diverted for one instant from the business of carrying on the war by any vain palaver about peace, peace, when there is no peace, we reluctantly advert to the disagreeable circumstance in order that the small distracting element may be disposed of and made innocuous the more speedily.
Governor Vance, in a message to the Legislature of North-Carolina, said:
We know, at last, precisely what we would get by submission, and therein has our enemy done us good service — abolition of slavery, confiscation of property, and territorial vassalage. These are the terms to win us back. Now, when our brothers bleed and mothers and little ones cry for bread, we can point them back to the brick-kilns of Egypt — thanks to Mr. Seward--plainly in view, and show them the beautiful clusters of Eschol which grow in the land of independence, whither we go to possess them. And we can remind them, too, how the pillar of fire and the cloud, the vouchsafed guidon of Jehovah, went ever before the hungering multitude, leading away, with apparent cruelty, from the fulness of servitude. With such a prospect before them, people will, as heretofore, come firmly up to the full measure of their duty if their trusted servants do not fail them. They will not crucify afresh their own sons, slain in their behalf, or put their gallant shades to open shame, by stopping short of full and complete national independence.
November 25.
An expedition composed of details from the First North-Carolina volunteers, Twelfth New York cavalry, and the Twenty fourth New York battery, under command of Captain George W. Graham, First North-Carolina volunteers, (Captain R. R. West, Twelfth [14] New York cavalry, having generously waived his rank, in deference to Captain Graham's familiarity with the country to be traversed,) attacked a camp of rebels near Greenville, North-Carolina, and after a brief and gallant contest, more than fifty prisoners, a hundred stand of arms, and a considerable amount of subsistence and quartermaster's stores fell into the hands of the Nationals, while but one of their men was fatally wounded. It was an affair in which the sterner virtues of the soldier, patience and fortitude, were equally exhibited with gallantry and daring, but twenty-four hours having been occupied in all, and a march of nearly seventy miles having been performed.--General Peck's Order.
The battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee, closed this day. Missionary Ridge was carried completely by the National troops, and the rebels routed, so that they fled in the night.--(Docs. 14 and 18.)
November 26.
At Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a meeting of the United States Christian Commission was held, in behalf of the National prisoners at Richmond. Bishop Potter of Pennsylvania presided, and addresses were made by Governor Brough, of Ohio, Major Boles, late from Libby Prison, G. H. Stuart, President of the Christian Commission, and others.--an engagement took place at Warm Springs, North-Carolina. “It shows,” says a rebel correspondent, “that it was a very gallant affair on the part of our men. Lieutenant-Colonel Bryson, of the Twenty-fifth North-Carolina troops, with a detachment of eighty men, crossed the French Broad, and was joined that night by twenty militia, under Major Haywood. Proceeding on the march, and arriving at the enemy's outpost at daylight, he was found in line of battle, having already discovered the plan. Although numbering about four hundred, the Yankees were charged and driven from the field. They came up the second time with the same result. A third time they were reenforced, perceiving which, Colonel Bryson gave the order to fall back, which was done in good order. In a hand-to-hand encounter, Sergeant Collins rushed forward and sacrificed his life to save Colonel Bryson's. The enemy's loss was thirty killed and wounded.” --thanksgiving day in all the loyal States.
The Union army under the command of Major-General Meade, advanced, crossing the Rapidan at several points. General Lee, commanding the rebel forces, noticing the movement, issued the following general order:
The enemy is again advancing upon our capital, and the country once more looks to this army for its protection. Under the blessings of God, your valor has repelled every previous attempt, and, invoking the continuance of his favor, we cheerfully commit to him the issue of the coming contest. A cruel enemy seeks to reduce our fathers and our mothers, our wives and our children to abject slavery; to strip them of their property and drive them from their homes. Upon you these helpless ones rely to avert these terrible calamities, and to secure to them the blessings of liberty and safety. Your past history gives them the assurance that their trust will not be in vain. Let every man remember that all he holds dear depends upon the faithful discharge of his duty, and resolve to fight, and, if need be, to die, in defence of a cause so sacred and worthy the name won by this army on so many bloody fields.--(Doc. 15.)
November 27.
A delegation of Cherokees, headed by Captain Smith Christy, acting Chief, and including Thomas Pegg, a leading Indian, and William P. Ross, with Rev. J. B. Jones as interpreter, went in state to pay their respects to General McNeil, the district commander at Fort Smith, Ark., by order of an act of their National Council. The act recited the sufferings, and asked additional protection to the nation and authority to raise an Indian cavalry regiment. After the presentation of their credentials, Chief Christy arose and said that their national council had instructed them to call and pay their respects to the Commanding General, express their confidence in his ability and bravery, and to state the condition and wants of their suffering people. He then recapitulated the contents of the documents they were preparing to present. The greatest annoyance was from roving banditti, who desolated their homes and murdered their people. Their lives and those of their families were not safe away from the military fort. They desired stringent measures to change this state of things. They wished carried into successful practice a plan of Colonel Phillips, to form districts allotted for settlement, which should be adequately protected in order that the families camped in the vicinity of Fort Gibson might remove to more comfortable homes. From their present condition of suffering and disease, they thought the [15] patriotic acts and sacrifices of their nation had not been sufficiently appreciated. General McNeil replied that it gave him very great pleasure to receive this token of respect of the Cherokee nation. Among the responsibilities of the command to which he had been assigned, there was none greater than his duty toward their suffering people. One of his first acts on assuming command was to represent the condition of the Indian tribes, and he had recommended some measures for the improvement of their condition. The Government is very desirous that you should make a crop this spring, and such a disposition of troops will be made that you can do it in safety. Mr. Ross.--If white troops will keep away our white enemies, the loyal Indian troops can protect themselves. General McNeil.--I ask if I may assure the Government that the Cherokees will not make civil war on their tribes except in self-defence. Chief Christy.--You may.
The rebel schooner Maria Alberta, while attempting to run the blockade, was captured off Bayport, Florida, by the National schooner Two Sisters.--the battle of Mine Run, Va., was fought this day, between the Union forces, under Major-General Meade, and the rebels, under the command of General Lee.--(Doc. 15.)
A party of surgeons belonging to the United States army, lately prisoners in Richmond, made the following statement:
We the undersigned consider it our duty to publish a few facts that came to our knowledge while we were inmates of the hospital attached to the Libby prison. We enjoyed for several months daily access to the hospitals where the sick and wounded among our Union soldiers were under treatment. As a result of our observation, we hereby declare our belief that, since the battle of Chickamauga, the number of deaths per diem has averaged fully fifty. The prevailing diseases are diarrhoea, dysentery, or typhoid pneumonia. Of late the percentage of deaths has greatly increased from causes that have been long at work, as insufficient food, clothing, and shelter, combined with that depression of spirits brought so often by long confinement. It may seem almost incredible that, in the three hospitals for wounded soldiers, the average mortality is nearly forty per day, and, we are forced to believe, the deaths in the tobacco factories and upon the Island, will raise the total mortality among all the Union soldiers to fifty per day, or fifteen hundred monthly. The extremely reduced condition of those brought from the island argues that hundreds quite sick are left behind who, with us, would be considered fit subjects for hospital treatment. Such, too, is the fact, as invariably stated by scores we have conversed with from that camp. The same, to a degree, holds true of their prisoners in the city. It would be a reasonable estimate to put the number who are fit subjects for hospitals, but who are refused admittance, at five hundred. One thousand are already under treatment in the three hospitals; and the confederate surgeons themselves say the number of patients is only limited by the small accommodations provided. Thus we have over ten per cent of the whole number of the prisoners held classed as sick men, who need the most assiduous and skilful attention; yet, in the matter of rations, they are receiving nothing but corn-bread and sweet potatoes. Meat is no longer furnished to any class of our prisoners, except to the few officers in Libby Hospital; and all the sick and well officers and privates are now furnished with a very poor article of corn-bread, in place of wheatbread — an unsuitable diet for hospital patients, prostrated with diarrhea, dysentery, and fever. To say nothing of many startling instances of individual suffering, and horrid pictures of death from prostrated sickness and semi-starvation, we have had thrust upon our attention, the first demand of the poor creatures from the island was always for something to eat. Self-respect gone, half-clad and covered with vermin and filth, many of them are often beyond all reach of medical skill. In one instance, the ambulances brought sixteen to the hospital, and during the night seven of them died. Again, eighteen were brought, and eleven of them died in twenty-four hours. At another time, fourteen were admitted in a single day, and ten of them died. Judging from what we have ourselves seen and do know, we do not hesitate to say that under a treatment of systematized abuse, neglect, and semi-starvation, the number who are becoming prematurely broken down in their constitutions must be reckoned by thousands. The confederate daily papers in general terms acknowledge the truth of all we have affirmed, but usually close their abusive editorials by declaring that even such treatment is better than the invading Yankees deserve. The Examiner, in a recent article, begrudged [16] the little food the prisoners did receive, and the boxes sent to us from home, and closed by eulogizing the system of semi-starvation and exposure as well calculated to dispose of us. Recently several hundred prisoners per day were being removed to Danville, and in two instances we were standing in view of them as their ranks filed past. Numbers were without shoes, nearly all without blankets or overcoats, and not a man did we see who was well fed and fully clad; but to the credit of the prisoners in Richmond, of all ranks, be it recorded, that, although they have shown heroic fortitude under suffering, and spurning the idea that their Government had forgotten them, have held fast their confidence in the final and speedy success of our cause. In addition to the above statement, we wish to be distinctly understood that the confederate medical officers connected with the hospitals referred to, Surgeons Wilkins, Simmons, and Sobal, and the hospital steward, Hollet, are not in any way, as far as our observation has extended, responsible for the state of things existing there, but on the other hand, we are bound in justice to bear testimony to their kindness and the faithful performance of duties with the limited means at their disposal.1
Among the prisoners captured at Chattanooga, were found a large number of those paroled at Vicksburgh. General Grant inquired whether he should proceed against them according to the established usage in such cases, which is to shoot the persons so found. The War Department forbid, it being manifestly unjust to execute soldiers who were required by the rebel government to break their parole.--General John H. Morgan, with six of his officers, escaped from the penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio.--(Doc. 37.)
November 28.
A cavalry fight took place at Louisville, Tenn., between a party of rebels and two hundred and twenty-five men belonging to the Sixth Illinois regiment, resulting in the rout of the rebels.
November 29.
Fort Sanders, near Knoxville, Tenn., was assaulted by the rebel forces under General Longstreet, who was repulsed with a loss of over eight hundred in killed, wounded, and missing. A few hours previous to the assault, the rebel General issued the following instructions to the commanders of the brigades who were to attempt it:
The schooner Winona was captured by the gunboat Kanawha, off Mobile Bay, Ala.
November 30.
Fort Esperanza, in Matagorda Bay, having been blown up and abandoned by the rebels, was occupied by the National forces under the command of Major-General C. C. Washburne.--(Doc. 17.)--the rebel blockade-runner Chatham, was captured in Doboy Sound, Ga., by the gunboat Huron.
