Additional from the North.
We make up from our latest Northern files the following summary of intelligence. It will be found extremely interesting just now as an expose of the state of affairs in the United States:The Siege of Atlanta.
Northern press telegrams speak of the demonstration of Sherman against the Macon and Atlanta road, and the massing of his forces southwest of Atlanta, "in the rear of Hood's forces, " as they are pleased to style the position. The Cincinnati Gazette has a long gassing letter from Sherman's army, dated August 19th. The writer says: ‘ If the rebels should conclude to resign their cherished city (Atlanta) to the Federal troops, the opinion prevails that it will be only to make a more desperate and decided stand at the village of Eastport, six miles south of their present location. At this place the junction is formed of the Macon and Montgomery railroads, and it is supposed much more formidable works, both military and artificial, (!) are located. The city of Atlanta, merely, is clearly of little importance in the eyes of the commanding general as a desirable military position. --Had his object been solely to take that place, the matter would have been concluded long ago, for there has not been a day in the past four weeks when our army could not have occupied it by one of the most simple movements known to military men. But Sherman does not want Atlanta unless he can also receive Hood's whole army within his lines as prisoners of war. ’ * * * * * * * A few more days must be passed just as the past few days have been spent, and the rebels in our front will be rebels only in name. * * * * * * *The Defences of Mobile.
The Northern press have advices from their fleet in Mobile bay to the 21st ultimo. A communication, dated "Blockading Squadron, Mobile Bay, August 16, " says: ‘ Naval reconnaissances towards Mobile found formidable, but not insurmountable, obstructions. Besides batteries, rams and sunken vessels, there are very strong casemates, mounting ten guns. In all the spaces between batteries and vessels, and on both shores, piles are driven, the tops of which are sawed off just below the surface of the water, and have heavy iron bolts in them, sharpened at the upper end, so as to tear off the bottom of a boat passing over them. ’ Men are seen working on two rams. The wharves are covered with steamboats; among them, four English-built crafts, probably blockade-runners. The streets of the city are deserted.The armed resistance to the draft in the Northwest--the Indiana conspiracy.
Lincoln's draft for-five hundred thousand men is to take place next Monday; the Yankee authorities have become aware that a formidable secret organization, pervading all the States, is in existence, the object of which is to resist the enforcement of the draft and defeat its purposes. How very formidable this organization is believed to be, may be gathered from the telegram relative to the orders of General Heintzelman, commanding the "Northern Department," (prohibiting any forwarding companies from delivering arms or powder in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois or Michigan for the next sixty days;) the speech of Governor Morton, of Indiana, and the proclamation of Governor Brough, of Ohio. Governor Morton made an address in Indianapolis, August 22d, in which he discussed at length the recent development regarding the alleged conspiracy and the finding of arms, ammunition, &c. He says: ‘ For eighteen months past the people of Indiana have been told repeatedly that immense quantities of arms and ammunition have been coming into the State for the avowed purpose of resisting the State and Federal authorities. This has been well known to me during that time, and likewise to the authorities of the United States; but because until now the people have not happened to see with their own eyes the visible evidence of the truth of these things, it has not heretofore made a very deep impression upon their minds. There has been all the while one party to deny the truth of the assertion that this wholesale importation of arms was going on, and pronounce it all an Abolition falsehood, a mere Government lie. But now the people have seen for themselves, and no wonder that they begin to realize their great danger. ’ Let me tell you, notwithstanding, that you have not seen it all. The arms and ammunition that were seized in this city on Saturday are but a drop in the bucket compared to the immense quantity that has been imported into the State in a similar manner during the last twelve or eighteen months. The seizure amounts to this: Some four or five hundred revolvers, and one hundred and thirty thousand rounds of ammunition; that is to say, one hundred and thirty-five rounds for a regiment of one thousand men. Evidently this large amount of ammunition was not intended simply for the use of the four or five hundred revolvers. The revolvers seized are but a part of thirty thousand yet to come, and the large amount of ammunition captured is but a portion of a lot of forty-two boxes, containing, altogether, about two hundred and ten thousand rounds. Then, after a protracted discussion of the terrible condition of affairs, he said further: ‘ Some publications have been made to-day of a portion of the correspondence of these men — their secret political correspondence. Look at some of these letters, for a moment. As an example, take one written by the present Auditor of State, and a candidate before the people for re-election to that high and important position. This letter was written three years ago, not long after the beginning of the war, and before the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln's anti-slavery war policy, which these men now assert to be the great source of discomfort and dissatisfaction to them; and what does he say to his friend, Mr. Voorhees? "Our salvation is in the success of the Southern arms. If they are crushed down, then woe betide us! " What think you, my fellow-citizens, of that, coming from the Auditor of your own State? How do you like his assertion that his salvation and that of his political friends depends upon the success of the rebel arms? If these were his sentiments three years ago, and if he entertains the same sentiments now, as is sufficiently evident from the fact that he is one of the prominent members of the Order of the Sons of Liberty, would it not be reasonable to infer that from that time to the present, he has been assiduously using all his efforts to avert the terrible calamity of having the rebel arms crushed? And let me say to you that the sentiments of Mr. Ristine are the sentiments of the men with whom he has associated himself in a political capacity. ’ * * * * * * * The question has been asked me this evening what money it is that has been expended in the purchase of those arms and munitions of war, and where it came from? In answer to that question I must say that I do not know; but I will tell what I do know. Some men in Indiana, who are really unable to provide a cow for their families, have been sporting revolvers since these operations began. There is a large class of such persons. Where the money that bought the weapons which they carry came from I do not know; I only know that large sums of money have been, and still are being, provided somewhere, by somebody, to send arms and ammunition into the State of Indiana. We can at best only imagine where the sources of this fund are. I believe, however, and am as confident of the fact as I am of any other fact of which I have not positive and indubitable evidence, that this money with which these operations are, and have been carried on in Indiana has been supplied by the rebellion; either directly from the Confederate authorities or by their authorized agents in New York.--For myself, I entertain no doubt upon that subject. It is utterly impossible that the large amount of money required for the purchase of these large quantities of arms and ammunition could have been raised in the ordinary way of contributions. I happened to know something of the difficulty in the way of raising twenty, fifty or a hundred thousand dollars in that way. In the city of New York there are hundreds and thousands of men who have been compelled to leave the rebel States, and who have both the means and the disposition to aid the rebellion in this way. In addition to these, there are also there a large number of resident capitalists who have sympathized with the rebellion from the very first. Their trade was in the South at the breaking out of the war; their financial interests have been in the South from the very first, and they have doubtless contributed liberally towards paying the expenses of organizing and equipping the treasonable organizations in the North. It is all one thing to Jeff. Davis whether we shall fall by means of a defeat at the coming elections, or by the overthrow of the Union armies in the field.--If we shall elect a candidate for the Presidency who is in favor of peace upon the terms of Jeff. Davis, who is in favor of withdrawing our armies from the field, and recognizing the independence of the Southern Confederacy, they will gain their object just as effectually as though they should have annihilated the last of the Union armies in the field.--These men understand it. They know that their easiest, and safest, and surest, and, indeed, their only way to accomplish their infernal purposes, and secure the permanent disruption of the Union and their own independence, is to divide our people and to get the Federal Government into the hands of men who will at once concede them the victory.The proclamation of Governor Brough, of Ohio — warning against resisting the draft.
The last draft of Lincoln for five hundred thousand men has created the deepest discontent in Ohio. So manifest is this, that Governor Brough, of that State, has felt it his duty to issue a proclamation, dated "Executive Department of Ohio, Columbus, August 23d," in which he warns the people against resisting this new thinning out of their homes. The draft is to take place on Monday next, the 5th instant, and in some of the districts in the State there is a deficiency in the quota, and it must be put in operation in those districts. In his proclamation he says: ‘ The exertion which has been made to discourage and prevent enlistments, if otherwise directed, would have filled the quotas of those localities, or left the deficiencies very light. However unwilling to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this State would array themselves in a spirit of factious, if not treasonable, opposition to the execution of the laws of the land, there are indications of such a spirit in the State, which as Chief Magistrate, I may not disregard. In appealing to the people to discard the counsels of wicked and unprincipled leaders that invite them to factious and forcible resistance to the draft, or any other legal requirement of the Government, I am actuated solely by a desire to preserve, if practicable, the peace of the State and the welfare of the erring portion of our people, and not from any apprehension of either the determination or ability of the Government to maintain the supremacy of its laws. The man who supposes that either the National or State Government is unadvised of, or unprepared for, the threatened emergency, is following the deception of his leaders to consequences of the most serious character. Let me advise you who countenance this insurrection to look carefully at the civil and military penalties you are incurring. ’ He then cites to them all the pains and penalties ordained by Congress to follow any resistance to the "Government of the United States," which it is likely the people of Ohio will count as light afflictions, and but for a moment, as compared with the terrible alternative of being sent South to be killed. The following is the conclusion of his proclamation: If men may take up arms to resist laws, in the policy or effect of which they do not concur, then all government is at an end, and we are resolved into anarchy. This state of things is not to be tolerated. A government may as well perish in a bold and vigorous effort to maintain its integrity as to suffer an insurrection to neutralize and defy its power. Most earnestly do I appeal to the people of the State not to engage in this forcible resistance to the laws to which evil counsellors and had men are leading them. It cannot and will not succeed. Its triumph, if it achieve any, must be of a mere temporary character. The Government is not weak; it is strong and powerful. It cannot, and it will not, permit any armed insurrection to impeach its strength or impair its power while contending with the Southern rebellion. I do not say this to you in any spirit of intimidation or in any threatening tone. I speak it to you as a warning, and with an imploring voice to hear and heed it. I know what the determination of your Government is, and I fully comprehend the power at hand to enforce it. What can you who contemplate armed resistance, reasonably expect to gain by such a movement? --You cannot effectually nor permanently prevent the enforcement of the laws. You cannot in any wise improve your own condition in the present, and must seriously injure it in the future. Judicious and conservative men who look to the supremacy of government for the protection and safety of their persons and property will not sympathize nor co-operate with you. You may commit crime; you may shed blood; you may destroy property; you may spread ruin and desolation over some localities of the State; you may give aid and comfort for a season to the rebels already in arms against the country; you may transfer for a brief time the horrors of war from the fields of the South to these of the State of Ohio; you may paralyze prosperity and create consternation and alarm among our people. This is a bare possibility; but it is all you can hope to accomplish; for you have looked upon the progress of our present struggle to little purpose if you have not learned the great recuperative power and the deep earnestness of the country in this contest. The final result will not be doubtful; the disaster to you will be complete, and the penalty will equal the enormity of the crime. From the commencement of this rebellion the State of Ohio has maintained a firm and inflexible position, which cannot now be abandoned. In this internal danger that now threatens us, I call upon all good citizens to assert and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and the Laws of the Land. These constitute the great elements of our strength as a nation, and they are the bulwarks of our people. Hold in subjection, by persuasion and peaceable means, if you can, all attempts at civil insurrection or armed resistance to the laws. Failing in this, there is another duty as citizens, from which we may not shrink, and to which I earnestly hope we may not be enforced. To those who threaten us with this evil, I say we do not use any threats in return; there is no desire to provoke passion or create further irritation. Such men are earnestly and solemnly invoked to abandon their evil purpose; but at the same time they are warned that this invocation is not prompted by any apprehension of the weakness of the Government or the success of the attempts to destroy it. I would avert, by all proper means, the occurrence of civil war in the State; but if it must come, the consequence must be upon those who precipitate it upon us.Lincoln and peace.
Lincoln walks very calmly on to destruction. His draft for more men commences on Monday next, and in the Northwestern States there is a preparation and determination to resist it to the death, and yet we find in the New York Times the following dispatch, dated Washington, the 25th: ‘ You may rest assured that all the reports attributing to the Government any movements looking toward negotiations for peace at present are utterly without foundation. There has been nobody at Niagara representing the Government, or in any way expressing its opinions, concerned in any negotiations or conversations with the rebel emissaries on the subject of peace. The Government has not entertained or discussed the project of proposing an armistice with the rebels; nor has it any intention of sending commissioners to Richmond for the purpose of offering or soliciting terms of peace, or of negotiating with the rebel authorities on that or any other subject. Its sole and undivided purpose is to prosecute the war until the rebellion is quelled. ’ The Washington correspondent of the New York World says: ‘ Much amusement has been caused here by the reports in New York of the appointment of peace commissioners by the President. No such commissioners have been appointed, and the idea has been abandoned. ’ Not even a drop of the oil of peace for the wounds of those writhing patients at the Northwest! This is excellent, and shows that Abraham's blindness is more to be relied on for peace than that chief of all humbugs, the Chicago Convention.The Yankee defeat on the Weldon railroad.
The Yankees, in their official and newspaper accounts of their disaster on the Weldon railroad on the 25th ultimo, try their best to make it a victory. Hancock, who only lost two thousand seven hundred prisoners and nine guns, says, in his official dispatch: ‘ "The fighting was continuous till dark, the enemy being held in check by artillery, dismounted cavalry and skirmishers. At dark we withdrew for reasons stated. ’ "The Chief of Artillery reports that he lost about two hundred and fifty horses. "The enemy made no advance up to a late hour last night, as far as could be seen — holding some of our captured guns with their skirmish lines. They must have suffered heavily. "My own loss, including cavalry, will, perhaps, not exceed twelve or fifteen hundred, though this is surmise. "The command is not yet organized. Captain Brownson, of my staff, was wounded severely during the night. Colonel Walker, Assistant Adjutant General, is missing. "This is acknowledged to have been one of the most desperate and determined fights of the war, resembling Spotsylvania in its character, though the number engaged gives it less importance. "A few more good troops would have given us a victory of considerable importance. "I forward this afternoon prisoners from the field of Wilcox's and Hebb's commands. "Major Angel, of my staff, saw and conversed with two prisoners of Mayline's division last night. I do not find them this morning. They say that Mayline's division, with the exception of one brigade, was there.The following is just received:
"Second Corps, August 26--12.30 P. M.
"A safeguard that was left on the battle-field remained till after daylight this morning.
"At that time the enemy had all disappeared, leaving their dead on the field unburied.
This shows how severely they were punished; and doubtless hearing of the arrival of reinforcements, they feared the results to-day if they remained.
"He conversed with an officer, who said their loss was greater than ever before during the war. The safeguard says he was over the field, and it was covered with the enemy's dead and wounded.
He has seen a great many fields, but never saw such a sight — very few of our dead, nearly all were of the enemy.
All our wounded are brought off, but our dead are unburied.
"I have instructed Gregg to make an effort to send a party to the field and bury our dead.
Stanton's official dispatch says: ‘ "Our forces held the Weldon railroad; and in a dispatch dated three P. M., yesterday, General Grant says that 'their loss of this road seems to be a blow to the enemy he cannot stand.' I think I do not over-rate the loss of the enemy in the last two weeks at ten thousand, killed and wounded. "We have lost heavily, but ours has been mostly captured when the enemy gained a temporary advantage. "The number of rebel prisoners taken our side has not yet been reported. "General Grant makes the following report of an unsuccessful attack by the enemy on General Butler's picket line on Thursday: "'Yesterday (Thursday) morning the enemy drove in General Butler's picket line. The picket guard soon rallied, however, and drove the enemy back and re-established their line. "'The result was One killed, sixteen wounded and fourteen missing on our side, 'Fifty-nine enlisted men were captured from the enemy. What their casualties were in killed and wounded we do not know.'" ’
The New York Tribune puts their loss at two thousand then and eight guns. The Washington Star says: ‘ It seems that Hancock's withdrawal on the night of the battle was in accordance with previous orders from General Grant, and was not compulsory from the rebels. Hancock had been ordered, after executing the work of destruction of the railroad assigned to him, to fall back on the Fifth corps. In the meantime the rebels made their attack, and after the fighting of the day, Hancock carried out the order to fall back. ’ It is reported by the boat this morning that we lost but eight guns, and that these were lost in consequence of the sudden fall of rain rendering it impossible to drag them off the heavy ground after the horses were shot. They were, however, spiked and otherwise disabled previous to being abandoned. Our loss in prisoners is much less than was at first supposed, as large numbers of the missing who straggled away have since come in.
