We are indebted to the courtesy of a distinguished officer of the army for a copy of the New York
Herald of Saturday last, the 9th inst. We give a summary of the intelligence it contains:
The raid in Maryland--the Yankees in a Fog about the Strength of the Confederates--the work of destruction by the rebels.
The
Herald contains a full complement of dispatches about the "raid" into
Maryland, but does not seem to be any the wiser after publishing them.
It is in rather a bad humor over the foggy state of affairs, and says:
‘
The rebel raid into
Maryland and
Pennsylvania is the most contemptible warlike fizzle or the profoundest and most formidable strategic military movement of modern times.
Summing up all the reports concerning it of the last twenty-four hours, it is an invasion by a few straggling squads of horse thieves, intent only upon plunder; and it is, on the other hand, a bold dash of two thirds of the rebel army from
Richmond, under the command of
General Lee himself, resolved upon the capture of
Washington, including Old Abe and his Cabinet, by a flank movement by way of
Baltimore.
’
All that we can undertake to vouch for concerning this mysterious rebel invasion is that
Gen. Sigel, by a body of rebels supposed to be several thousand strong, was frightened away from
Martinsburg to
Harper's Ferry, and from that place across the
Potomac to the
Maryland Heights, overlooking the town, where he was supposed to be secure; that a small rebel squad has been demonstrating for ten or fifteen miles below, along the
Chesapeake and Ohio canal and the railroad; that another squad, pushing forward for the city of
Frederick, has been checked and repulsed by
Gen. Waslace; that other detachments of these terrible raiders, alleged to have been there, have disappeared from
Hagerstown and
Chambersburg; that
Gen. Lee is still in the vicinity of
Richmond; that
Gen. Hunter is somewhere up the Shenandoah valley, industriously searching for the enemy; but whether all the rebel forces concerned in this movement against
Washington amount to fifty thousand men or fifteen hundred we cannot, from the abundant information before us, determine, nor tell the reader where they are, where they have been all this time, what they have accomplished, or whither bound.
We congratulate the Administration that
Washington may be considered out of danger, and we entertain the hope that this invisible invading rebel army of forty or fifty thousand men, more or less, as the case may be, will fall to gobble up the column of
General Hunter in its retreat.
We hope that
Secretary Stanton will soon be sufficiently recovered to resume his war bulletins to
General Dix, including some reliable account of this terrible rebel raid.
In another article it characterizes the raid as "the final fruits of the
President's interference with
Gen. Grant's campaign, and of the consequent blunders and mismanagement, " and says:
‘
Had
Gen. Grant's original plan been properly carried out no such advance as this could have been made; for the number of men allotted to the valley column could, under a proper commander, have done all that was to be done, and have held the valley also; but the appointment of one of the
President's incapable to that command disjointed the whole plan, and put matters in such a bad state that an able commander, when appointed, could not get them in proper position in time to prevent disaster.
The country has therefore for a third time to thank the blunders of the Administration for a rebel invasion of the loyal States; and if this rebel column shall collect an immense quantity of supplies, and get that precious plunder safely within
Lee's lines, that will be a most important aid and comfort given to the enemy at a critical moment by the blunders of the Administration.
’
Aside from the possibility that this force on the
Potomac may get to
Richmond with its plunder, we are not at all disposed to deplore the movement.
It necessarily involves some loss to loyal citizens; but we can endure that in view of the fact that it may be an advantage elsewhere.
We are inclined to regard the announcement that
Lee has sent a corps to the
Potomac as the announcement in other words that
Lee has committed a blunder by a dangerous division of his forces.
He is in presence of a man able to take advantage of such an error, and we venture to hope that this movement may break up the apparent
status south of
Richmond, and give an entirely new impulse to ur operations there.
As to the political effect of the raid, the
Herald thinks that every time a Southern army comes to the
Potomac it strengthens the Administration, because it simplifies all questions and issues that are before the people.
It boils all politics down to the two facts of the public enemy on one hand and the
Government on the other, and every one stands by the
Government, of course.
In its "situation" article it says:
‘
The facts are ascertained that the rebels withdrew from before Frederick on Thursday night; that
General Wallace is so strongly reinforced that the safety of that place is secured, and that the position which
Gen. Sigel took on
Maryland Heights, after he ran away from
Martinsburg, is above all chance of being molested by the rebels.
Harper's Ferry has also been evacuated by the rebel forces.
They have also withdrawn from
Greencastle.
Some of our dispatches say that the enemy were 20,000 strong, and consisted of infantry and artillery, as well as cavalry.
Others report that they were entirely composed of cavalry, and numbered not more than 5,000.
However that may be, they did considerable damage, and levied heavy contributions upon the people at
Hagerstown,
Chambersburg and
Greencastle.
’
They did not destroy as much of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as was at first reported, probably not more than ten miles west from
Martinsburg, and some important bridges.
They had retired from
Hagerstown last evening, and the excitement was abating there.
Gen. Couch has taken measures to arrest the panic of the inhabitants by ordering that all vehicles and horses shad be stopped at the bridge across the
Susquehanna, or before they reach there.
The raid thus appears to be nearly played out, as far as recent reports represent it.
The press telegrams are, as usual, voluminous, but confused.
A new column of raiders, under
Gen. Imboden, who crossed at
Williamsport, entered
Hagerstown about 8 o'clock on the morning of the 8th inst., the raiders who entered it the day before having left by the Boonesboro' road.
The new raiders didn't seem to regard the $20,000 and the outfits paid by the town to the other raiders, and their conduct is thus described in a telegram from
Chambersburg:
They are ransacking the town and committing all manner of depredations, and have burned several private dwelling houses.
How large a force occupies the town is not stated.
The greatest excitement prevails all over the country, and the people are leaving their homes and taking the cars for
Carlisle and
Harrisburg in large numbers.
When the citizens of
Hagerstown paid the $20,000 that the first party demanded, they were promised that themselves and property should be protected; but the scoundrels are plundering and destroying their houses in direct opposition to their promises.
Notwithstanding the $20,000 the inhabitants had paid for protection,
Imboden insisted on burning
Zeller & Co's warehouse unless the citizens would pay him $1500 more, which they did.
Happily for the unfortunate citizens of
Hagerstown, the voracious
Imboden left after staying in the place about four hours. He took the
Sharpsburg road.
A telegram from
Philadelphia, dated the 8th, says:
‘
A dispatch, dated two miles north of
Hagerstown, ten A. M. to-day, states that one hundred and eighty picket guerillas, from
Imboden's and
Mosby's commands, entered
Hagerstown at 5 o'clock, where they were robbing the stores and had fired the engine house.
Thurston's warehouse, and two hundred tons of Government hay. They also intended to burn Zella & Co's warehouse and threatened to burn the town.
The turntable of the railroad had not been touched yet. The rebels were heavily laden with plunder.
’
The rebel
General McCausland, with his brigade, was at
Williamsport this morning; but reports say that he will leave to-day.
A high wind was blowing the fire up through the town, (
Hagerstown,) and great destruction of property was feared.
Late dispatches from
Greencastle assure us that the main body of the rebels which entered that place had retired, it is supposed south wards, across the
Potomac, leaving a few stragglers still in the town.
The cashier of the
Chambersburg Bank telegraphs the cashier of the
Harrisburg Bank that the campaign is ended in that locality; that the rebels have retreated from
Hagerstown, and requesting him to send the tellers back with the money and securities of the Bank.
The fighting at
Frederick seems to have been very slight.
Though one telegram claims that
Gen. Wallace captured one gun from the raiders on the 7th, yet no other mentions it. He was being reinforced rapidly with one hundred days men; many of them from
Maryland. One shell struck
Bradley T. Johnson's house.
A telegram from Frederick, dated the evening of the 8th says:
‘
There has been no fighting to-day up to this time, except some picket firing by our skirmishers, who are feeling the position of the rebels.--During last night they fell back from the line which they occupied during the fight, and are now reported to be in position in
Middletown valley, holding the road to
Middletown and
Hagerstown, which crosses the
Catoctin Mountain. Two guns are mounted in the gap. The rebel force is now estimated to be about five thousand strong.
’
Frederick to-day is not like the Frederick of yesterday.
Since the arrival of
Gen. Lew Wallace with his reinforcement the appearance of the city is entirely changed.
Business has been resumed, and the people seem confident that the danger has passed.
Brig. Gen. A. P. Bowe had been appointed to command the troops in front of the rebels in place of
Sigel, who had been ordered to report to
Hunter, who was said to be at
Hancock (in
Morgan county, Va., 54 miles from
Frederick by the stage road,) on the 8th inst.
The Louisville
Journal contains the following items:
The Federal prisoners captured and paroled by
John Morgan have been ordered to the field, their parole not being respected.
Doctors J. M. Woolford and
J. M. Poyniz, two of
Morgan's surgeons, are in the military prison near
Lexington.
Two hundred and ninety-six rebel prisoners of war were yesterday forwarded from the military prison in this city to Camp Morton. Fourteen rebel commissioned officers were transferred to
Johnson's Island — the full number captured by
Gen. Sherman.
Col. Woolford, by order of
Gen. Burbridge, was arrested at
Lebanon yesterday morning.
He passed through the city last night, on route for
Washington.
We are not fully advised as to the cause of his arrest.
The steamer
John T. McCombs, we learn, was fired into near
Harpeth Shoals, on the
Cumberland, and
Capt. Geo. Evans, her commander, severely wounded.
We did not learn the particulars.
Passengers by the Tarascon, who reside in
Union county, Ky, report that a draftful state of affairs exists in that county.
The guerillas have literally overrun the country, and the lives and property of Union men are no longer regarded safe Robbery is carried on, indeed indiscriminately, and both Union and Secesh citizens are the sufferers.
They state that at
Caseyville and
Uniontown the guerilla as have raised the black flag, and that they spare no citizen nor soldier captured by them.
The Union citizens have also determined to take no more prisoners, and the consequence is that murders are of daily occurrence.
Henderson county, Ky, the New Albany
Ledger is reliably informed, swarms with hordes of rebel guerillas, who are committing the greatest outrages.
Lieut. Col. Fitch, of the gunboat fleet, states that there is no longer any safety to business or property in that section of
Kentucky.
The guerillas extend their operation as high up as
Green river, and as low down as the lower end of
Union county.
This state of affairs demands the immediate attention of the military authorities, and they should, without further delay, take the necessary steps to rid the country of these pestilent robbers and cut throat highwaymen.
Miscellaneous.
The
Herald calls on
Lincoln to demand that
Captain Semmes be delivered up to the
United States.
It says the "demand of my Lord Russell for the restitution of
Mason and Sildell will answer for the form of the application — that is to say, a few emphatic words from
Mr. Seward, through
Mr. Adams, with a few more fighting ships in the
British Channel"
Secretary Welles's letter of thanks to
Commander Winslow is published, thanking him for the success he achieved off
Cherbourg, and telling him that
Lincoln will make him a Commodore.
The
provost marshal of
Memphis, in special order No. 111, says: ‘There is a class of persons in this city, usually seen from day to day in saloons, billiard rooms, and on the streets, unemployed, and having no apparent mode of obtaining an honest livelihood, and most of the depredations and atrocities occurring in or about the city may be traced to that class.
It is ordered that the provost guard and detective forces of the city of
Memphis will arrest ale vagrants and other persons whose mode of living is of a suspicious character, or who cannot produce satisfactory evidence that they follow some honest calling.
’
Such persons, when found, will be employed in the fortifications at
Fort Pickering, or expelled from the district, as the nature of the case may require.
It will also be the duty of the provost guard to arrest and bring to this office, all persons in gambling-houses, and any householder letting, or subletting their premises for such purposes, will, when found, be arrested, and all property found in such places confiscated.
The treasury note bureau are printing notes at the rate of one million of dollars per day, which is expected soon to be doubled; and this not being enough, the
Government being in arrears to the army for their pay ninety millions of dollars, is about to borrow from the banks.
In New York on the 8th gold started at 276½; but the scarcity of buyers caused it to drop to 269, from which point it rallied a little and sold at 270@272.
Geo. P. Morris, the
Yankee poet is dead.
So is
Josiah Quincy, one of the "solid men" of
Boston 
