We are indebted to
Mr. G. B. Mason, a gallant member of
Pickett's division, for a New York
Herald of last Saturday, the 17th instant.
We give below a summary of the news it contains:
The capture of the Eighth South Carolina regiment.
Sheridan announced to
Stanton the capture of a whole regiment on the 13th.
From the following telegram to the
Herald it will be seen the whole regiment, even according to Yankee statement, is only "about two hundred men." When the facts come to be known, it will be ascertained that the
Yankees did not take one hundred men:
‘
Harper's Ferry, September 14.--The rebel regiment captured by our troops day before yesterday is the Eighth South Carolina regiment, of
General Longstreet's corps.
It numbers about two hundred men, and comprises members of some of the first families of the
Palmetto State.
The men were well and comfortably clad, and their physical appearance does not indicate that they were living on half rations.
They represent their commissarial as in good condition.
Several officers of the regiment, who were captured at the same time, speak confidently of their hopes in obtaining their independence.--These prisoners were quite uncommunicative when questioned in regard to the designs of
General Early.
’
Remarkable speech of the little Villain — the question to be Decided at the coming Presidential election.
At a grand
Lincoln ratification meeting in
Brooklyn on the evening of the 14th,
Henry J. Raymond, of the
Times, made a remarkable speech:
‘
He expressed his delight at seeing this evening an indication which gave the lie to the hope of their opponents — that there was such an apathy among the Republicans that, with Little Mac, they would run over the course.
Their opponents were welcome to indulge in such speculations; but he congratulated the friends of the
Union at the display of interest here manifested in the coming Presidential struggle.
(Applause.)
’
The question now before the people was whether the majority of the
American people can and shall elect their
President, or whether they shall be subjected, from time to time, to have their deliberate decisions overruled by a minority flying to arms.--(Applause and cries of "That's it.") We are now called to elect a President again, and who knows whether the minority will submit now. It will depend upon the result of the operations of our army in the field under
Grant--(applause)--and
Sherman--(continued applause) --whether we can elect a President and have him as our
President after we do elect him. (Applause and cries of "That's so.") The question at issue was not one of individual merit.
With the claims of candidates they had little to do. The issue was whether we will maintain the supremacy of the
Constitution — the right of the majority to rule — the right to maintain the
Union, and our claim to continue our existence as a nation on the face of the earth.
(Applause.) The rebels want peace, and their friends at
Chicago want the same.
They shall have it. We have now a general on whom the nation relies with confident hope that he will lead its armies to assured victory.
(Cheers.) We see our generals and our gallant soldiers marching on gloriously, steadily, patiently and determinedly to the victories which are to give peace to the country.
(Applause.)
Sherman has exhibited a military experience which has won the admiration of the country; and also that other noble hero of the war,
General Grant--(tremendous applause, the whole immense meeting standing, cheering and waving hats and handkerchiefs)--a general who has exhibited more tenacity of purpose and greater fertility of resource than any other general that could be named on this continent or the other.
General Grant's motto was to keep moving on. When he failed to take
Richmond upon "this line" he didn't give up. (Cheers.) He tried again and again, and to-day he has both
Petersburg and
Richmond substantially by the throat--(cheers)--and every day he was tightening his grasp upon them.
He would bring them peace--(cheers)--and next March would bring
Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency for another four years. (Applause.)
Great Scare in Hagerstown — a town Emptied
The
Hagerstown (Maryland) correspondent of the Washington
Star, under date of Saturday, after describing the shelling of
Williamsport by the
Confederates on Friday last, says:
‘
About 11 o'clock Thursday night, it was first whispered around on the streets of the town that the rebels had made their appearance at
Falling Waters, and the news spread rapidly.
About an hour afterwards, those who had retired for the night were aroused by the tread of horses, cows and sheep, which were being hurriedly driven off by the farmers of
Washington county for safety.
The rear was brought up by a large string of four-horse wagons loaded with wheat that had already been threshed, but which the millers had refused to receive, owing to the anticipated rebel invasion.
The confusion and excitement occasioned by this grand skedaddle at the dead hour of the night can be better imagined than described.
’
In the morning, shortly after the merchants had opened their stores and were ready to transact business, a portion of
General Averill's wagon train came dashing up the
Sharpsburg turnpike pell-mell, and was driven through the town at a rapid rate,
taking the road leading into
Gettysburg.
Post-
Quartermaster Wray, who had his office on North Potomac street, of this town, "pulled stakes" and dispatched his trains in the same direction as that taken by
Averill's. Rumors now flew thick and fast, and some of the boys who are fond of the "skedaddle excitement" circulated the report that the rebels had succeeded in crossing the river at
Williamsport, and were marching on
Hagerstown.
The stores were then immediately closed, and the
Union citizens were to be seen rushing wildly around, with
carpet-bags in hand, eager to obtain some means of conveyance to get out of town.
Omnibuses, stages, carriages, buggies and wagons were soon on the road to
Pennsylvania, all loaded down with live freight.
In almost less time than it takes to-write this paragraph, the town was left in possession of a few Union cavalrymen and several newspaper correspondents.
A correspondent of the
Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican gives the following description of the works constructed by
Grant's army around
Petersburg:
‘
After all the descriptions given of this battle centre, there are probably few at the
North who have a correct idea of the position as it is. Even old soldiers, familiar with siege operations, coming here from other points, have been surprised at what they saw and what they did not see. The extent of ground occupied is enormous.
On this, the excavations and embankments (all systematic and correct to the eye of the experienced engineer) have the appearance, to a casual observer, of incompleteness and confused irregularity.
There is no well-defined chain of works with finished front, as at
Bermuda Hundred, to be seen from any point along the parapet, stretching away in either direction as far as the eye can reach.
There is no succession of parallels and saps clearly tending to a prominent object of attack, as on the
Morris island sand waste.
’
The whole country for miles about seems dug up and shovelled over, with no other purpose than to make as many heaps and as many holes as are possible in a given space.
There is a long line of low rifle-pits for our advanced videttes.
Back of these, there is a stronger line of embankments before a wide trench for the picket reserve.
There are bomb-proofs — huge hemispherical heaps of earth and logs like a
New England potato-cellar — in the outer line, for the videttes to crawl into when shelled by the enemy.
There are bomb-proofs in the second line for the pickets.
There is a large bomb-proof for the picket headquarters; I write from that.
There are covered ways — long trenches to protect passing soldiers from rifle bullets — from the vidette-pits to the reserve, and from the reserve to the rear. --Along these covered ways are small bomb-proof dodging-holes in the side walls, like bank swallows' nests.
Then there are graves.
Away at the front a single grave on a barren sand hill; two or three graves under a solitary tree; half a dozen graves in a row on the plain; low mounds of yellow clay with head and foot boards of ammunition or cracker-box covers, rudely marked with the name and regiment of the fallen soldier, and the date of his death.
A strange place for burial ! No rest even in death.--The roar of artillery and the rattle of musketry shake continually the dead soldiers's narrow bed.--At times, even his clayey covering itself is torn from above him, as though he had no right to sleep while the war went on. Since I sat writing here, a rebel shell has struck and exploded in the very centre of a Pennsylvania soldier's grave, but a few yards to my front and right, and opened it anew, as if to call its inmate again to arms.
The lines of vidette-pits and of picket trenches are so crooked and complex that it requires careful observation to decide which is for friend and which for foe. They seem to run in all ways, right and left, forward and back, over one hill, around another, through a ravine, now almost touching the works, where are seen the rebel cannon and the rebel flag, and again widely diverging therefrom.
A battery faces this way — that is the enemy's. A battery faces the other way — that is ours.
Yet, they look as if both were in the same entrenched line.
Other batteries are seen at right and left; still others in the rear.
Covered ways run from one line to the other, from one battery to the next, from one covered way to covered way again.
Bomb-proofs are everywhere, and so are the soldiers' graves — a cluster here and another just beyond.
The brave fellows were buried where they fell.
For some time past efforts have been making by the police of
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to discover certain arms which, it was alleged, had been received by individuals in that city with the intention of having them distributed among parties inimical to
Lincoln and to his measures for the prosecution of the war. The account of their discovery is given in the
Chronicle of the 8th instant, which adds:
‘
"The discovery of these concealed weapons will perhaps open the eyes of some to the real intentions of our pretended peace-loving friends.
It is stated that eighteen hundred or two thousand Enfields have been distributed about
New Hampshire for the use of these precious peace-makers !"
’
The gold market.
The
Herald gives the following about the gold market:
‘
The gold market to-day showed symptoms of that weakening which will be more fully apparent next week.
The opening quotation was 228, from which it declined to 224½ and then recovered 1 ½ preparatory to a drop to 223½, at which it stood at twenty-five minutes past 4 P. M. The old "bull" clique, composed of a dozen or so of Germans and Frenchmen, have been and are still doing their best to keep up the premium.
So long as we were without achievements in the field, and the public mind was despondent, these Shylocks of the community were enabled to exercise great control over the gold market, and fleece the majority of outside operators pretty much as they desired; but the effect of the brightening aspect of the military situation upon the popular mind cannot be resisted, and the artificial props which before proved sufficient to sustain gold at a premium of from 240 to 280 are no longer strong enough to check or reverse its natural tendency, and, therefore, it must continue to sink still more towards its true value in relation to the currency.
’
The Confederate Officers under fire at Morris island.
A letter from
Morris island, dated the 13th, gives a description of the encampment of six hundred Confederate officers under fire there, and says:
‘
If the firing is maintained as hotly as it has been between the
James island and our own batteries, some of the prisoners are likely to be hurt.
Already several fragments of shells have hurtled within the enclosures, but no one has yet been injured.
A number of shell have fallen just outside the palisades, kicked up a duel, but none within.
The rebels take great pleasure in watching the flight of the mortar shells at night, and seem to evince but little fear of them.
Some damage might be done their persons should an eight or ten-inch bomb explode among them.
The sentries are entirely exposed, but the guard have a splinter proof to protect them against shells.
Before placing the prisoners in their new quarters,
General Foster communicated his design to
General Jones, so that there should be no ignorance pleaded of their whereabouts.
’
Confederate invasion of Missouri.
A telegram, dated at
St. Louis on the 16th instant, says:
‘
Reliable information has been received here that
General Price crossed the
Arkansas river at
Dardanelle, about half way between
Little Rock and
Fort Smith, on the 8th instant, with five thousand cavalry, evidently destined for
Missouri.
’
Shelby's movements in
Northeast Arkansas and
Southeast Missouri seemed to be aimed at
Cape Girardeau, while
Price will probably strike at
Springfield.
Both places are well fortified, and have garrisons strong enough to repel any attack.
General A. J. Smith's advance arrived at
Sulphur Springs, about twenty miles below here, to- day, where they go into camp, probably to await the developments of the enemy.
Shelby's advance is in
Southeast Missouri, but nothing definite is known in regard to his designs.
Miscellaneous.
The New York Democratic State Convention, on the 15th, nominated
Governor Seymour and
Lieutenant-Governor Jones for re-election, and adopted a platform fully endorsing
McClellan, of which the
Herald says:
‘
The platform is better worded than usual, and it is the first Democratic Convention that has assembled in the
State since the commencement of the rebellion that has come straight out and declared explicitly, "We are opposed to the rebellion." They have heretofore expressed it in ambiguous language.
The new
Mozart organization did not return to the convention.
Tammany and one of the German organizations represented New York city alone.
It is argued by
Seymour's friends that his nomination will strengthen
McClellan in the
Northwest.
’
In
Grant's army there was a presentation of three medals, to as many enlisted men of the Fifth corps, on the 13th instant, for gallant conduct.
The affair was gotten up in grand style.
The Fifth corps was mustered up around a platform stuck full of flags, and covered with generals and other officers from other corps, all bedizened in
blue and
gold.
A band of music played
Hall Columbia and
General Meade made a speech.
The London
Times says: ‘"If the account of the ram
Tennessee's doings are true, it is one of the most gallant actions of the
American war. We look with great interest for the rebel account of the loss on both sides."’
One hundred and fifty-two men have been discharged from the
New York Custom House--thirty of whom were beheaded for corruption.
Brigadier-General J. B. Howell, commanding a Pennsylvania brigade in
Grant's army, was killed in front of
Petersburg on the 15th by his horse falling upon him. He was sixty-five years old.
