The New York
Herald of the 24th, and Baltimore
American (evening edition) of the same date, were received last night.
We have only space for a brief summary of the news.
Gold was sold at the First Board, in New York, on the 20th, at 222 1-4--an advance.
General Thomas's latest official dispatch is dated "Near
Spring Hill, December 19th." He says:
‘
The enemy have been vigorously pursued to-day, but have studiously avoided any attack by my troops.
I have succeeded in taking a few prisoners — some two hundred or three hundred--but our captures are light in comparison with the successes of the past three days.--The pursuit will be continued in the morning at as early an hour as the troops can march.
I find, upon receiving more correct reports of the operations of the 16th instant, that
Major-General Edward Johnson's entire division, with all the brigade commanders, was captured in the works which were captured by assault, besides destroying a brigade of the enemy's cavalry and capturing its commander,
Brigadier-General Rucker.
Among the captures made to-day are the rebel
Brigadier-General Quarles, wounded, and a number of rebels, also wounded, lying in the houses by the roadside, unable to go away.
An official telegram from
Nashville speaks of
Forrest being in command of the "rebel cavalry" south of
Spring Hill.
This refutes the
Yankee report that he was killed at
Murfreesboro'.
’
There are no later accounts from
Sherman.
The
Herald has full details of recent operations in the vicinity of
Savannah.
The following resolution, introduced by Henry Winter
Davis, was adopted by the
Yankee House of Representatives on Monday--yeas, 69; noes, 58:
‘
Resolved, That Congress has a constitutional right to an authoritative voice in declaring and prescribing the foreign policy of the
United States as well in the recognition of new Powers as in other matters, and it is the constitutional duty of the Executive Department to respect that policy, not less in diplomatic negotiations than in the use of the
National force, when authorized by law; and the propriety of any declaration of foreign policy by Congress is sufficiently proved by the vote which pronounces it; and such proposition, while pending and undetermined, is not a fit topic of diplomatic explanation with any foreign Power.
’
Death of a Yankee Minister.
York, brings the announcement of the death of
William L. Dayton,
United States Minister to
France, at
Paris, on the 2d instant, from apoplexy.
The Yankees and Canada.
Seward has sent in to Congress the papers about the troubles on the
Canadian border.
The state of affairs now prevailing, he thinks arose from the attitude assumed by the
British Government towards the
United States shortly after the "rebellion" broke out.
In connection with the
Canadian imbroglio, a Quebec dispatch states that thirty companies of provincial volunteers were sent to the frontier during the last week.
The
Montreal chief of police,
Lamothe, who figured in the case of the
St. Albans raiders, has resigned.
There was a report that Coursol, the magistrate who ordered their release, had also resigned; but it is now pronounced untrue.
General Dix has authorized the raising, in
New England, of a regiment of cavalry for service on our Northern border.
Yankee Criticism of General Hood's campaign.
The New York
Tribune has a long article on the campaign in
Tennessee.
In it we find admitted the fact that the
Confederate defeat before.
Nashville was caused by the superior numbers of the enemy.
Thomas had been largely reinforced.
The
Tribune says:
‘
The result of
Hood's leaguer of
Nashville appears even more disastrous than the issue of that warrior's usual undertakings.
We cannot doubt that
General Sherman, when he parted from
General Thomas, directed him to lure
Hood's army so far north, and keep it across the
Tennessee river so long as possible.--Still, the audacity of laying siege to a fortified city or depot like
Nashville, with an army inferior, at least numerically, to that of its defenders, and those defenders commanded by a veteran like
Thomas, has had no parallel since
Lee, with less than 50,000 men, held
McClellan's 200,000 spell-bound in front of
Washington, overlapping our mighty host on both wings.
With
Buell at the head of our forces in
Tennessee,
Hood might safely have passed
Nashville and invaded
Kentucky; but with
Thomas in command, he could, prudently, do nothing but get out of the neighborhood at the earliest moment.
This he was doubtless on the point of doing, if the movement had not already begun, when
Thomas decided to force a battle, and thereupon made the movement whose result now electrifies the country.
Until
Hood's account of the fight at
Franklin was received, there was a pretext for doubt or cavil as to the reality of our success there; but we see not how there can be any longer.
Our army was retreating to concentrate, and, being sharply pressed, was compelled to fight or abandon its trains.
Schofield decided to fight, fully aware of the enemy's superiority in numbers, but trusting to the position to enable him to check the rebel advance until his trains could be safely got away.
And the calculation proved a sound one.
Though his centre was once broken by the great momentum and vehemence of the rebel charge, it was reformed, and the lost ground regained in a counter charge, which gave us nearly a thousand prisoners.
On this point,
Hood's report is uncandid; but, as he does not claim to have captured a gun or a wagon, and admits a loss of thirty-five hundred men, including.
Major-General Cleburne and three brigadiers killed, with as many wounded or captured, it is clear that
Schofield's account is the true one.
The rebels were repulsed with fearful loss, and our retreat during the following night was precisely what
Schofield had purposed.
He had not proposed, with two corps, to fight a pitched battle with the whole rebel army; he meant to stop it till he got his trains away; and that he achieved, inflicting a loss at least twice as heavy as he incurred.
The rebels had no officer out of
Virginia so effective in a fight as
Pat. Cleburne, and his loss cannot well be repaired.
’
