War items.
We find the following items of news in the Baltimore Exchange, of the 13th, in addition to what we have already published:
Future Arrests under instructions from Gov. Hicks--Mr. S. H. Lyon and Mr. Shutt brought to Fort M'Henry.
Editors of Exchange--Permit me to give you a report of the arrest of two gentlemen in
Cambridge, Dorchester county, last night at 12 o'clock M. The name of one is
Samuel H. Lyon, and that of the other, so far as I could ascertain, is
Shutt, both from
Baltimore.--They went yesterday to
Easton and crossed over to
Cambridge, where they spent the night.
They had in their employ two young men from
Charles county,
J. H. Cusick and
Murphy, who represent that they had come up the bay for the purpose of fishing, and having fallen in with the above named gentlemen, had been engaged by them.
Mr. Lyon being recognized by
Judge Spence, of
Cambridge, and
Judge Spence expressing his suspicious about his intentions, he received from
Governor Hicks, now here, authority to have the parties arrested.
They were consequently taken out of their beds by a squad of the Dorchester Union Guards and lodged in jail.
Their baggage was searched, and the
Governor asserted to the captain of the
Pioneer this morning that there were found six pistols and about one dozen
bowie-knives and cutlasses, which, it was supposed by him, these gentlemen intended to carry into
Virginia.
Upon the arrival of the
Pioneer this morning, 9 o'clock, the prisoners were escorted on board by a number of the Guards, under command of
Lieutenant Coburn.
The excitement at the wharf was immense.
There were repeated cheers for
Jeff. Davis, and an altercation took place between
Governor Hicks and
Dr. Muse, who was very much excited.
Mr. Ballard, a lawyer, tried his utmost to sue out a writ of
habeas corpus. The excitement rose to such a pitch that the soldiers charged upon the crowd, and several cocked their guns and took aim, and were with difficulty persuaded to abstain from shedding the blood of their townsmen.
I saw myself some of the boyish-looking privates take deliberate aim on some of their particular enemies in the crowd, and I had much trouble in persuading them to desist.--Whether this show of determination in them to kill was only assumed or real, I cannot pretend to say. At any rate, the excitement was so great that the
Captain having the prisoners and eleven men with
Lieut. Coburn on board, ordered the boat to shove off, and left the rest of the Guard at the landing, vociferating and fighting, our Governor being in the midst of them.
The men say the prisoners were part of a party of eight men, who were traveling into
Virginia with arms, and that one of them had a commission in the
Southern army.
The party were accompanied by a
Mr. Robinson, who claimed to be a sort of civil authority, acting under the military.
This is an exact and truthful report of what I was an eye and ear witness to, I being then a passenger on board the
Pioneer.
Friday, July 12, 1851.
We learn from other sources that the prisoners brought up were
Messrs. Lyon,
G. W. Alexander, and two others, named Ousick and
Murphy.
Although they were arrested upon civil process, for ‘"aiding and abetting
Jefferson Davis, and levying war against the
United States,"’ they were treated with every indignity, and on applying to
Gov. Hicks to be treated with decency, and not as felons, received from him the answer that they were in the hands of the military, and that he had nothing to do with the matter.
From Portress Monroe.
By the arrival of the
Louisiana from
Fortress Monroe, yesterday morning, there was but little news of interest.
The general impression was that there would be no forward movement, but on the contrary it was rumored that
Gen. Butler would withdraw all his outposts, and concentrate his entire force at a point near
Hampton.
Capt. Kilpatrick, of the
Zouave Regiment, came a passenger on board the steamer.
He is on his way
North, for the purpose of raising a battalion of cavalry, which will be attached to the
Zouave Regiment.
The bark
Lapwing,
Capt. Riley, from
Rio, with coffee for this port, was ashore off the Wolf-trap.
One of the
Government steamers was alongside, taking off part of the cargo.
It was expected that the tide would carry her off this morning.
The Army bill.
The army bill for the year ending with June next, which passed the
House on Thursday, appropriates about $161,000,000; including for the pay of the army $4,000,000; for three months volunteers, $507,000; for three years volunteers $55,000,000; subsistence in kind for regular troops, nearly $2,500,000; for subsistence in kind for three years volunteers, $23,084,000; for supplies of the Quartermaster's Department, over $14,000,000, and for incidental expenses thereof over $7,500,000; for the purchase of 84,000 dragoon and artillery horses $10,500,000; for transportation of army, &c., over $16,000,000; for gunboats on the western rivers, $1,000,000; for fortifications in New York,
Maine,
Maryland,
Virginia,
Florida and
California, $645,000. Appropriations are also included for arrearages for the year ending with June last.
The Navy bill.
The navy bill about $30,000,000, of which over $8,500,000 are for the repair and equipment of vessels; $1,600,000 for the completion of seven steam screw sloops of war authorized last February; $91,400 for the completion of seven screw sloops and side-wheel steamers; nearly $4,000,000 for the charter of vessels, their purchase, fitting for war service and reservations due on existing contracts for the fitting out of ships of war.
The sick and wounded Federal soldiers at Hagerstown.
U. S. General Hospital,
Hagerstown, Md., July 9, 1861.
The undersigned, on behalf of the sick and wounded soldiers under his charge, gratefully acknowledges the receipt of four boxes of clothing sent from
Philadelphia for their use.
The number of disabled soldiers in this hospital now exceeds two hundred.
Wm. A. Hammond,
Assistant Surgeon U. S. A.
Arrest of an editor.
From a private source it is learned that
Mr. J. W. Baughman, editor and proprietor of one of the Frederick papers, was yesterday arrested at Sandy
Hock, near
Harper's Ferry, by the
Federal troops.
What the charges against him are is not learned.
The
Washington correspondent of the Baltimore Exchange, July 12, says:
‘
The major portion of
General McDowell's column received orders this morning to prepare to march.
The New Jersey Fourth Regiment,
Col. Miller, has been designated as the principal one from which scouting detachments be chosen.
Some of the
Washington (D. C.) companies were formerly assigned this position.
Five regiments of troops have passed into
Virginia since yesterday morning.
The 2d Maine Regiment on Thursday evening were sent forward from
Alexandria, supplied with ages and other instruments, to clear away the trees which the
Confederates and placed across the roads.
It is evident that an advance must be made within twenty-four hours.
Geale's celebrated rifle battery, (six pieces,)
8-pounders, arrived yesterday at
Fairfax.
It is not probable, however, that the
Confederates at this place are strong enough to offer resistance to the immense body of Federal troops.
They will, more probably, act merely as a check on their permanent advance.
Prof. Lowe's balloon in now at the Smithsonian Institute, being prepared for an aerial campaign.
It will be taken to
Falls Church next week.
Two hundred United States marines have arrived at this Navy-Yard in the last two days. They are from
Philadelphia and
Boston.
This Government pays no further attention to the batteries erected on the
Potomac by the
Confederates.
All navigation, except for the import or export of munitions of war, has ceased.
On Wednesday 100,000 rounds of musket cartridges were sent to
Fortress Monroe.
The 71st New York Regiment is at the
Navy-Yard on general duty.
They expect to go down the river on or about Tuesday next.
The seventy-one German riflemen who were imprisoned for revolt, were liberated yesterday afternoon on consideration of their signing a paper agreeing to take whatever arm the
Government may be pleased to furnish them with.
A number of drunken soldiers indulged in a row yesterday in
Prather's alley, much to the annoyance of peaceable citizens.
A soldier yesterday pointed his pistol in the face of a comrade, when the latter drew a knife and stabbed the other seriously in two places.
Charles Armour, a well-known clerk in the Post-Office Department, was found dead in his bed yesterday.
The speech of Lord Russell in the British Parliament relative to the blockade of the
Southern ports, and alluding to the difference between rebels and belligerents, has caused a private consultation between
Messrs. Lincoln,
Seward,
Bates and
Chase.
The meeting, however, was merely informal.
The Washington Star, of Friday evening, contains very little news of importance.
The following items are taken from it:
’
An infernal machine discovered floating in the Potomac — it is captured and taken up to the Navy-Yard.
On Sunday, at meridian, while the
Freeborn was lying off
Aquia Creek, in company with the
Resolute,
Pocahontas and
Pawnee, two objects of an exceedingly suspicious took were discovered floating down with the abbe tide towards the squadron.
The commander of the
Pawnee, when they had got within a quarter of a mile, sent out a small boat's crew to investigate the queer-looking things, and the
Resolute was ordered to the boat's support.
As the boat neared the objects the crew grew exceedingly suspicious of them, discovering that they floated with a steady purpose towards the
Federal vessels, and in their own language, looked ‘"diabolical."’ One of them coming in contact with the
Resolute's rudder, became detached from something underneath it, and the underwater part sunk to the bottom, while the top part, in shape of a large oil cask, floated, and turned over, discovering a square hole in the under side, and a coil of something which filled the cask.
The other machine careened over on one side, and probably put out a certain fire that was burning inside.
The Resolute dropped back to let the enemy believe that the objects attracted no attention on the part of the vessels.
After a proper time had elapsed, an attempt was made to hoist the ‘"machines"’ (then floating) on board the
Pawnee, and as the cask came out of the water a fuse of
India rubber was discovered hanging from it, which one of the officers immediately cut with his knife, and the cask, with its submarine fixing, was hoisted on board.
Attached to the cask (which was filled with a coil of fuse coated with tar,) and hanging about six feet below it, was an iron cylinder, made of boiler iron.
About five feet long by eighteen inches in diameter, and filled with something which made it weigh near four hundred pounds, leading from the cylinder to the cask above, and attached to the slow match coil within it, was the India rubber-coated fuse which the officer had severed with his knife.
The infernal machine was transferred to the
Freeborn and brought up to the
Yard for scientific investigation.
It was hoisted out this morning, and taken to the front of the shell house opposite the ordnance shop, where it was fastened up in a convenient position to be photographed.
While in that position it attracted hundreds of cautions but curious visitors, who peeped at it from all possible points of view, though at a respectful distance.
From Fairfax Court-House.
Falls Church, July 12th.
--There were five regiments yesterday morning immediately in and around Fairfax Court-House, with eighteen pieces of field artillery in all; and twelve pieces being in battery.
The three most advanced regiments are from
South Carolina.
From the
Court-House back to
Centreville the woods are lined with them, (disunion troops,) in what numbers, exactly, I am not able to write you. Their baggage, &c., from Fairfax station has all been carried back to
Manassas Junction, and they are all now bivouacking nightly, as though on the march.
This is of course a preparation for an attack from us, a retreat, or a forward movement.
I however interpret it to mean that they expect speedily to have to fall back upon
Manassas Junction.
On Board the
Freeborn, (
Potomac River,) July 11.--This afternoon,
Lieut. Lowry commanding, this vessel stood in to within a hundred and fifty yards of
Mathias' Point, and treated the Secession troops, who were visible, peeping through the neighboring bushes and woods, to about twenty shells, some of which fell evidently among them, scattering them in different directions.
Three of the shells struck Grimes' house, tearing big holes through it. It is clear that there is no battery whatever at
Mathias' Point.
On our way up the river we found the enemy as busy as bees about
Aquia Creek, passing in and out of their entrenchments there in considerable numbers.
[Our readers are referred to the first page of this paper for a more correct account of the affair at
Mathias' Point, furnished by our own correspondent, a gentleman in every way reliable.
His letter was received on Tuesday, but inadvertently crowded out of our columns yesterday.--
Ed. Dis.]
The Baltimore Sun, of Saturday, contains the following in addition to what has already been published:
The steamer
Louisiana,
Captain Pierson, arrived yesterday morning from
Old Point Comfort, but brought no news whatever of interest.
No military movement had been made up to Thursday afternoon.
The body of
Corporal Songster, of
Colonel Baker's regiment, was brought up by the L. and forwarded to New York.
On Sunday morning last, while in camp, he was shot by a Confederate picket, the ball taking effect in his right groin.
He died on Thursday.
His body was escorted by six Zouaves, and accompanied by his brother.
An idea prevailed at
Old Point that
General Magruder was killed a few days since in a skirmish near Newport News Point, a negro who came into the
Federal camp having so reported, and stated that his body had been taken to
Norfolk.
This was the first direct intelligence of a skirmish at that point.
On Thursday the woods intervening between
Sewell's Point and the
Rip Raps was on fire.
Much of it had previously been cut away by the
Confederates.
An effort was made to discover the exact position of their battery, but without success, nor could any of the troops be seen.
The scouts reported that the
Confederates had retired from Great Bethel to
Yorktown, but the report was not credited.
In consequence of the dissipated condition of the troops,
Gen. Butler had issued an order prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks within the lines of the camp.
The body of a Confederate soldier was said to have been found by a picket guard about a mile and a half from Newport News Point, on Thursday, and buried.
He was wounded in the thigh, the ball having severed the femoral artery.
A sensation story from old Point.
A correspondent of the New York Tribune, evidently ambitious of creating a sensation, writes from
Old Point, on the 9th instant, as follows:
‘
The report is current, both at Newport News and here, that one of the officers killed in the skirmish which
Captain Hamil's party had with the rebels on Friday last, was
General Magruder.
Although there are circumstances favoring the report, it lacks confirmation.
The pursuing party returned satisfied, that a prominent officer was killed.
The rebels stopped at a house to obtain water and refreshments, and in reply to the question what had happened, they said, ‘"The
Yankees have killed two of our best officers, and they are in the wagon there."’ These officers were the men who called out to
Captain Hamil's men to cease firing, as they were friends.
They received the deliberate fire of several men with Minnie rifles, and were seen to fall.--Subsequent information leaves no doubt that the skirmish was a serious affair for the rebels.
Their killed and wounded could not have been less than ten, as it is confirmed by a large number of persons,
black and
white, that they had two carts full, while others were carried off on litters.
At the apothecary shop, or hospital, which they vacated just as our pursuing party came up, seven bloody mattresses were found, and the negroes there asserted that one of the killed was
Gen. Magruder.
This statement is adhered to by many others.
It is understood that
Gen. M. has a brother who is a captain, and who may have been killed.
Be that as it may, the two men seen to fall were confessedly prominent officers.
Since the affair, a change seems to have come over the policy of the rebels.
They have abandoned several positions between Newport News, Big Bethel and
Yorktown, where fortifications had been commenced, and where it is evident they intended to make a stand.
There has been a general stampede, and some are disposed to regard this fact as proving the report of
Gen. Magruder's death.
’
Dispatches from Beelington, near
Laurel Hill, Va., published in the Cincinnati Commercial, of Wednesday, furnish us with some further particulars of the first day's skirmishing at that place.
Laurel Hill is fifteen miles from
Grafton.
We subjoin a portion of the account given by the
Commercial, a Republican paper:
Beelington,
Va., July 7.--The brigade,
Gen. Morris commanding, left
Phillippi this morning at 2 o'clock. The force is about 4,500 effective men. One company of the
Indiana Ninth and one of the
Ohio Fourteenth took the advance as skirmishers.
They fired upon a body of forty of the rebel cavalry, who fled and were tracked by their blood, but no formidable opposition was made to our advance until we reached this place.
Company G, Indiana 9th,
Capt. Moody, advanced round a hill to the south of this point, and entered a thickly wooded hill on the left of the road.
They had nearly reached the summit when 400 concealed skirmishers fired by platoons on them, killing
private William Garber, from Bradford Station,
Indiana.
He was shot through the forehead.
The
Indiana boys fell back upon their regiment, which was advancing on the right of the road, but not till they had brought down some of the rebels, who still hold that hill, as an order not to advance was given.
We have thus occupied this strong position, commanding the roads to
Phillippi and
Morgantown, completely cutting off the rebels on this side.
Three pieces of artillery, the 7th and 9th Indiana, and Ohio 14th, guard the road from
Laurel Hill, with strong pickets thrown out to hold every point occupied.
Skirmishing is constantly going on. We shall advance as soon as intelligence is received from
McClelian's column, which is now moving up from
Beverly.
Beelington, Va., July 8, P. M.--There has been sharp skirmishing all day on the wooded knoll to the left of Beelington, and along the line occupied by the Ohio 14th.
Our battery threw several shells and a few rounds of grape and canister into the enemy, supposed to be one thousand strong, who yet hold the knoll.
About fifty of the
Indiana 9th and 6th, and Ohio 14th, rallied and rushed into the woods as the shell burst and shot down a number of the rebels, who in turn rallied strongly and drove them back, killing
John Smith, of the Indiana 6th, and wounding three others slightly.
Our boys found forty or fifty dead bodies in the woods, and brought off uniforms, guns, &c. The
Georgians are dressed in grey, the jackets almost the same as those of the
Indiana troops.
During the day the pickets of the
Ohio 14th killed two mounted scouts and captured three horses and three others of the enemy.
The pickets of the
Indiana 9th have killed five men who were seen to fall.
After the firing of the first shells, the enemy were seen carrying off dead bodies on litters of poles.
Two men of the
Indiana 9th were wounded slightly.--The rebels are armed with Minnie rifles and common muskets.
They dare not come out of the woods.
George Telletson, Company D,
Barnett's Artillery, was shot in the thigh, while getting water at a spring in Beelington.
He is doing well.
The same day,
Frank Jero, Ohio Fourteenth, was wounded in the side.
He will recover.
S. R. Brown, Company D, Sixth Indiana, was also wounded in the arm, but slightly.
Our loss up to this time, so far as reported, has been three killed, seven wounded, not fatally, and one or two missing.
The body of
Wm. Garard, killed in the first skirmish yesterday, was tied up to a tree by the
Confederates to draw our fire.
Several pounds of strychnine and arsenic were found by our boys in
Douglass' store, in Beelington,
Douglass has fled.
As near as we can ascertain, the
Confederates have lost, in killed and wounded, about sixty. One of the first Virginia regiments is reported to have been taken prisoners.
Beelington, July 9.--Our troops took possession of the hill this morning, where skirmishing has been going on for two days past.
The Confederates have probably fallen back, and are reported going out toward
Beverly.--This report is not authenticated.
A prisoner captured this morning reports the
Confederate force at 5.500.
Capture of three companies of Ohio Volunteers.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, of Wednesday, the 10th, has the following in relation to the capture of the Ohio volunteers by
Capt. O. Jennings Wise:
‘
United States Quartermaster John H. Dickerson last evening received a special dispatch from
Buckannon, Va., from a reliable source, to the effect that a courier had arrived from
Glenville, and that three companies of
Col. Connell's Nineteenth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers were besieged and captured by the Confederate forces, three thousand strong, under
O. Jennings Wise, and were detained as prisoners of war. Two regiments had been dispatched to their relief and rescue, and report gives it that a fight was inevitable.
’
We take the following from a letter dated
Martinsburg, Va., July 10:
‘
The arrest of two reporters caused some sensation in town yesterday.
Mr. Rea, of the
Associated Press, and particularly of the New York Herald, and some young gentleman, representing himself as
Mr. Underhill, reporter for the
Associated Press and the New York Times.
Lieut. Kirkpatrick, of the 23d Regiment, shot his servant (a white soldier, named
Biddle,) dead, yesterday, by accident.
The weather here is exceedingly hot at noonday, and some of our men are suffering greatly for want of shade, as only about four tents for each company were brought across the
Potomac.
Col. Patterson's Regiment is accepted for three years, and the officers received their commissions yesterday.
An incident occurred the other day while I was standing by. A man came up to
Major Spear,
Provost Marshal, and asked if he could write a letter to his father-in-law, in
Baltimore, as he had received no news from him for two months. The
Major answered the gentleman, ‘"Certainly; we came to open, not to close your mails."’
’
Col. Sigel, who commanded the
Federal troops in the late engagement with the
State forces at
Carthage, Mo., is 37 years of age, and a German by birth.
He is a graduate of the military school at
Carlsruhe.
He entered the regular army of
Baden, and was advanced to the post of
Chief Adjutant in 1847.
His sympathies with the first revolution in
Southern Germany lost him his commission.
He was appointed
General-in-Chief in the beginning of the second revolution, May, 1848, and led the forlorn hope of the liberal party with great energy and zeal.
He came to
America in 1850.
He received a call to a Professorship in
St. Louis, where he soon became distinguished by his great military talents.
English Commerce and the blockade.
A letter from
Fort Pickens, dated June 28, has the following:
‘
"A British steam frigate has arrived here from
Havana, and is now swinging from a pair of anchors in the berth occupied by the
Sabine.
The officer in command of the former vessel makes no secret of his mission.
It is, he says, to see that the rights of English commerce are protected, and that the blockade must be such as will prevent the 'entrance or departure of any craft to or from any harbor of the
South, coaster, ocean trader or tender.' "
’
The Chesapeake flotilla.
Capt. Craven, the new commandant of the
Chesapeake flotilla, has reported for duty at
Washington.
Henceforth the flag will be hoisted on the
Live Yankee instead of the
Freeborn.
The former is lying off the
Washington yard, waiting orders.
The slanders of the Northern press.
It would be utterly useless to undertake to notice one-half the gross slanders published in the
Northern press in relation to the
Southern people, especially
Virginians.
One of these journals, a few days ago, stated that
Colonel Richard Ashby, who was desperately wounded in the skirmish at
Romney, Va., was a member of a ‘"mob family,"’ who have long infested
Stafford and
Fauquier counties.
To this a citizen of
Philadelphia (who seemed to think that
Col. Ashby was killed) has responded in a letter, from which we quote as follows:
‘
Being intimately acquainted with the Ashbys, and especially so with those living in
Fauquier county, I was surprised that anything should be published against them, to the effect that they were a ‘"mob family."’--Nothing could be further removed from the real facts of the case.
The
Ashbys are large landholders, living upon their estates in a portion of
Virginia where the ‘"mob"’ spirit has never existed, and where all the refined and gentle elements of society are sedulously cultivated and preserved.
And in a community widely famous for its virtue, enlightenment and hospitality, none are more honored and esteemed than the members of the
Ashby family.
The late
Col. Ashby served his country with distinction during the war with
Mexico, and was, in truth, a brave, high-toned and noble gentleman.
His convictions of the justice of the cause for which he fought, were, at least, honest ones.
That they were so his record amply shows, for he died in defence of them.
The dead soldier is in the grave, and though he were our enemy, it is not noble in us to heap obloquy upon his armor on, leading the ‘"forlorn hope."’
The writer of this had occasion to visit
Virginia shortly after the occurrence of the
John Brown raid, and while in some portions of the
State he was subjected to indignity from ‘"mob families,"’ yet from the Ashbys he received only enlarged courtesy and kindness.
And with such consideration did they treat all Northerners visiting their neighborhood.
’
