The news.
No official dispatches from the
South were given to the press yesterday.
There was a report that
Wilmington had fallen; but it was untrue, and without any foundation.
We have not learned that the enemy have yet made any movement in the direction of
Wilmington.
It will be recollected that refugees from
Savannah, who reached
Charleston on the 17th, stated that
Sherman had sent one of his corps to co-operate in the attack upon
Wilmington.
This may be true, and the force which captured
Fort Fisher may be waiting for this reinforcement to renew active operations.
Sherman has been checked, and will probably be delayed long at the
Combahee river, which crosses the Charleston and Savannah railroad midway between
Charleston and
Savannah.
Nothing of importance has occurred on the lines in front of
Richmond and
Petersburg.
Throughout Wednesday a truce to picket firing and artillery practice was, by common consent, observed on the
Petersburg lines.
The firing was resumed at nightfall.
Mr. Francis P. Blair, Sr., reached
Washington last Monday, on his return from
Richmond.
A press telegram, published in all the
Northern papers, states that his trip to
Richmond was on business of purely a private character.
This is all bosh, as will be seen by the extracts which we publish from the
Tribune.
Butler, also, on last Monday, arrived in
Washington, whither he has been summoned to give an account of his stewardship.
The Confederate Congress, on yesterday, passed a resolution appointing a joint committee to prepare an address to the people of the
Confederate States, assuring them of the unalterable determination of Congress to continue, with all its energy, the struggle for independence in which we are engaged, and assuring them of the final triumph, which, in its solemn judgment, must crown our efforts if we stand firm and united together, and wield our resources with strength and wisdom.
In the House of Representatives, yesterday,
Mr. Foote made a speech in explanation of how he came to
Occoquan; and resolutions for his expulsion were offered and referred to the
Committee on Elections.
Thomas S. Petit,
Esq., editor of the
Owensboro' (Kentucky) Monitor, who has been exiled from his native State by
General Burbridge, arrived in this city on yesterday.
