Late Northern news.
We continue extract from late Northern papers received at this office:From Washington.
soldiers to be buried by contract.
Washington, July 2.
--The existing condition of affairs forces the Government to the anomaly of inviting proposals for burying deceased soldiers for the next six months. A contract for coffins has already been awarded, and the work of interment is so extensive that the department deem it proper to relieve the soldiers from that service and assign it to the civil service under contract.
The rumors of war.
[Cor.
Of the N. Y. Express.]
Sunday exceeded in magnitude and excitement anything which has transpired for some months past.
The sympathetic sympathisers with secession were full of marvellous stories of battles, rumors, defeats, Stonewall Jack son's advance to Richmond, &c. The Department either had no news, or would give none out; and the former was probably true, as the wires were either out or not working well.
The rumors, therefore, run riot, commencing as soon as the morning services were over at church and continuing till midnight.
This circulation of rumors, however, was a game that two sides could as well play at as one, and accordingly a great Union victory was recorded on both sides of the bulletin at Willard's, concluding with a notice that an excursion pleasure party would set out from Washington for Richmond on the 4th of July! This childish trifling in the midst of a known battle and the certain loss of life, was a most disgusting piece of levity, and met with the contempt it deserved.
Federal officers killed.
a correspondent of the Herald furnishes the following sketch of several of the Federal officers who were reported to have been killed:Colonel Samuel N. Black, of the Sixty-second Pennsylvania, was the son of the Rev. John Black, an eminent Scotch divine and professor; was admitted to the bar in 1833, and practised the law with brilliant success till the Mexican war broke out, when he went out as a private in the First Pennsylvania regiment, and afterwards became its Lieutenant-Colonel. He served with distinction in the war, and afterwards returned to the practice of his profession. In 1857 he was appointed by President Buchanan one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Nebraska, and was subsequently appointed Governor. A change of the administration caused his removal, after which he ran for Congress, and came within a few votes of being elected. When the present war broke out he was among the first to offer his services to the Government. His regiment numbers twelve full companies. After the regiment was mustered into service, Col. Black, thirty-four of his officers, and two-thirds of the regiment, signed the temperance pledge, which they have kept with unswerving fidelity ever since. Colonel Black died at the head of his regiment. He was shot through the breast and expired without a groan. Colonel Gove, of the Twenty-second Massachusetts regiment, also fell at the head of his command. He was a graduate of West Point, and took an active part in the Utah. campaign. He was a man of fine scholarly attainments, a splendid disciplinarian, and much beloved by his associate officers and regiment. Colonel Roberts, First Michigan regiment, is also reported among the killed. He was, I believe, a graduate of West Point. His regiment was the one commanded by Col. Wilcox at Bull Run, now held a prisoner of war, with Colonel Corcoran, by the rebels. Col. McQuade, Fourteenth New York Volunteers, was seen to fall from his horse. He is reported killed, but it is more probable that he was taken prisoner, as his body was not afterwards discovered, although his horse was found. The Colonel is well known in New York politics, having served in the New York Legislature two terms, and officiated as clerk of the House several years. For some time he has been Acting Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade, in General Morrell's Division, which position he filled with eminent ability and satisfaction. Lieut. Colonel Skillen, Fourteenth New York Volunteers, was shot from his horse and mortally wounded. He lived about an hour after receiving his wound. For years he was a leading dry goods merchant in Rome, New York. Lieutenant-Colonel Sweitzer, Sixty-second Pennsylvania, was a lawyer of high standing in Pittsburg. He was United States District Attorney under President Fillmore. He has a brother on Gen. McClellan's staff. Major Patterson, of the same regiment, reported mortally wounded, is a civil engineer by profession. He comes of a military family, his father having been for years Colonel of the Pittsburg Blues. Captain Spaulding, Fourth Michigan regiment, said to have been killed, was a gallant officer. He was severely wounded in front of Yorktown, but refused to take a furlough. The above is only the beginning of the list of officers killed. I have given the names of those occurring to my mind whom I knew personally. The list of wounded is very much larger of course. At Savage's Station alone, I am told, four hundred have been taken, all the buildings about here having been filled to repletion. It is certain that the wounded are well taken care of. Major Russell is a relative of Gen. McClellan. He was an able, popular and efficient officer. Col. Pratt was reckoned among the most capable and trusty volunteer officers in the service. He is the son of Zadoc Pratt, Greene county, N. Y., which he represented two years in the State Senate. Col. Pratt was a man of fortune and of education, and had traveled extensively in Europe. Captain Easton was a most capable artillerist, and as brave as he was capable. He won honorable mention in the battle at Drainesville, as also did Lieut. Prime, who was killed with him. He lost all his pieces, but not until he had lost his life in trying to keep them from the enemy. Dr. Doolittle, of Duryea's Zouaves, who was wounded in the ankle, had six men of his regiment captured by the rebels. They were taken just this side of Gaines's Mill. A few moments earlier and the enemy would have captured two officers.
A Puff from the gallows.
A negro named Hawkins was hung in New York on the 27th ult. In his address to the crowd around the gallows he gave ‘"Old Abe"’ a ‘"first rate notice,"’ saying he believed him to be the ‘"best President since the days of Washington."’ The Herald says: ‘ Hawkins then stepped up to the Marshal and asked if he might be permitted to pray, and, on receiving an answer in the affirmative, he offered up the Lord's prayer with unusual clearness and fervor. He then prayed for the whole country, for the success of our arms, and expressed a hope that the rebellion would be speedily crushed. He prayed also that the Union might be restored as it was; that the hearts of the slave masters might be softened, so that his brethren might bear the yoke more easily, and that eventually the black race should be forever free. For the welfare of his sister and other relatives he also offered up a feeling prayer, and concluded by praying for the President and all those in authority under him. ’Condition of affairs in the West.
[From the New York World, July 1.] The military situation at the West is not what it should be. Gen. Curtis is retreating, with a prospect that he will lose his army and leave Missouri undefended. Gen. Mitchell is retiring before the Confederates in Tennessee, and Gen. Morgan is marching in the opposite direction from Knoxville. Confederate armies are turning up in every direction, and our forces are nowhere as strong as they should be. The Confederate conscription act, which went into operation in February last, has produced its fruit in filling the Confederate rank and file with men of a more determined stamp than the volunteers. It is noticeable that the Confederates who fought at Shiloh and Fair Oaks are not the same troops who behaved so ignobly at Roanoke, Newbern, and Donelson. Notwithstanding the draft, however, and the unpromising state of affairs in the West, if the Confederates are beaten at Richmond we will have men enough and to spare to finish the rebellion.Gen. Hunter's Negro Brigade, &C.
[From the New York Express.] The rumor from Port Royal by the arrival to-day is, that Gen. Hunter ordered his newly- organized Negro Brigade to James Island, to join in the attack there; but that several of the officers refused to go there in company with negroes, and that, therefore, the project of sending the negroes were abandoned. Two surgeons are on board of the Ericsson, sent home by Gen. Hunter for refusing to act as Brigade Surgeons to the negro regiments.--Two or three weeks ago, several white men came into Beaufort, painted black, and succeeded, under the privilege and protection of their color, in capturing some of our small boats near there, and getting off with them successfully. What the Republican Senator from New Jersey said in the United States Senate seems to be more and more confirmed from South Carolina, that white soldiers, especially from the Middle and Western States, will not fight in company with negroes. Even the New England regiments don't like their company. The probability now is, that from the indispensable force of circumstances, Gen. Hunter will be obliged to leave a great many plantations, where the missionaries, under the protection of his guns, have been raising cotton, &c., and that the negroes, therefore, will be abandoned by Gen. Hunter, as were the white Union men of Jacksonville, Florida, by him.The Successor of Gen. Fremont.
Washington, June 29.
--Brigadier-General King on Saturday, in taking leave of his command at Fredericksburg to assume that recently under General Fremont, issued a farewell order to the troops in the highest degree complimentary to their fidelity, gallantry and discipline, and in conclusion expressing the earnest hope that victory may attend the cause of the Union, and glory crown the banner of the division.
It is not true that General Blenker is dissatisfied with the new military arrangement in connection with the appointment of Gen. Pope.
The repulse at Charleston.
[From the New York World, June 18.] Treading close on the heels of Secretary Stanton's inglorious campaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah, we have now, for the further encouragement of the Confederates, an illustration of the value of the only strategy which he recognizes — that of marching straight upon the works of the enemy. This ill-timed movement cannot be charged on General Hunter; it was in violation of his express orders. General Hunter is a soldier; he knows that the success of troops depends on the skill with which they are handled; his military judgment is too good to take any great risks in a subordinate and disconnected operation, while so much is staked on the main movement before Richmond. General Benham's violation of orders and rash attack on the Confederate batteries, may be fairly regarded as one of the fruits, if not of Mr. Stanton's anti-strategic order, certainly of the same order of military ideas. Benham had been ordered, through the Adjutant-General, to report at Washington; he stated in this city yesterday that the order had reached him previous to the affair on James Island. This statement was made, as we understand, for the purpose of showing that the order did not proceed from General Hunter, and was not a consequence of the disaster. If he succeeded, he probably expected to wipe out the discredit of his recall; and for the disobedience of orders, he could have pleaded that he had proceeded in strict accordance with Secretary Stanton's military ideas. This repulse is of minor consequence, except as it gives heart to the Confederates. But in this view it is much to be regretted. The retreat, so rapid as to amount to a flight, of Gen. Banks, and the failure of the resulting campaign against Jackson — a failure publicly confessed by the promotion of Gen. Pope--tended to revive the trooping hopes and reinvigorate the morale of the Confederate army.--Their success on James Island will still further rekindle their confidence, and make their resistance more determined at Richmond. Gen. Benham's attack is a costly and inexcusable blunder. Until the fate of the Confederate capital is decided, no risks should be incurred, or doubtful operations be undertaken, except in support of Gen. McClellan, or for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the enemy, and taking advantage of the victory, after the fall of Richmond. When Richmond is taken, many less important positions will fall into our bands of themselves. No General is justified in squandering precious lives in premature attempts to pluck fruit which, if let alone till it ripens, will fall into our lap by the law of gravity. While the fate of Richmond hangs vibrating in the scales, Charleston will be resolutely defended. As long as the rebellion has a single leg to stand on, it will run great hazards to retain at least one important seaport. New Orleans is lost, and next to New Orleans Charleston is the most important exporting city in rebeldom. If, by some turn in the wheel of fortune, foreign powers should raise the blockade, the Confederates feel that they cannot afford to be in a position to derive no advantage from its withdrawal. The commercial importance of Charleston, its railroad communications with the interior, and the great strength of its fortifications, are reasons why it, above all the seaboard cities of the South, will be vigorously defended to the last. In the order of strategic movements, economy of forces requires that the fall of Charleston shall follow, not precede, that of Richmond. There is, of course, no danger of a repetition of this rash attempt, which never would have been made at all had General Hunter's orders been followed. Judging from the present aspect of the facts, Gen. Benham ought to be cashiered for misconduct.The confiscation measures.
[From the Courier des Etats Unis, of New York.] For some time past we have been subjected to very sharp attacks for having said that the acts of confiscation passed at Washington would raise in Europe a universal sentiment of surprise and disapprobation; and for having called attention to the fact that Austria alone, of all the European governments, retains in its political system this pitiable remnant of the plundering customs of a past age. As on former occasions, these remarks have been instantly set down to sympathy with the South. We have to-day from two Paris papers, whose fidelity to the Federal cause is notorious, remarks on this subject much more strongly expressed than anything we have published. These two journals are the Debats and the Siecle. Under date 11th June, the first writes: ‘ "The Constitutionnel expresses its astonishment and indignation at a measure, which, id the middle of the nineteenth century, revives confiscation, that barbarous penalty which the progress of justice and humanity has eradicated from our codes.--We should entirely concur with the Constitutionnel, and should not hesitate to brand the measure as infamous, if it were clearly proved to us that the American Government and Congress have committed the crime that journal undertakes to lay to their charge. " ’ The Siecle says: ‘ "What we fear most for the cause of the North, even more than military reverses, is the fatal inspiration which has led the President to propose and Congress to adopt a law of confiscation against those persons in the South who refuse to lay down their arms within two months. The most bitter civil war never affects the obligation to respect property. It is pitiful to see the American Republic borrow from the ancient regime one of its most iniquitous laws, without remembering that the press of the U. States has over and again, and most justly, accused Austria and Prussia of high treason against civilization, for having used that weapon in the case of Poland and against Lombardy and Venice." ’ We hope that this will convince the advocates of confiscation that one need not be an enemy of the Federal cause to repudiate their system, and that, on the contrary, the truest friends of that cause are those who are clear-headed enough to point out the errors into which it is likely to fall.Third Gathering of the Emancipation League.
With a grand flourish, the Emancipation League paraded the name of Senator Wilson as the orator who would address them at Cooper Institute on last night. It being ascertained that Mr. Wilson could not come, they advertised Rev. Dr. Cheever and Mr. O. A. Brownson. The fame of these gentlemen attracted exactly 216 persons to Cooper Institute, 41 of whom occupied the platform. As the clock told the hour of 81, the audience aforesaid manifested, in the usual manner, signs of impatience, whereupon Mr. Hart advanced to the desk, and apologized for the non-appearance of Mr. Wilson, on the ground of public duty; for the absence of Mr. Brownson, because he had not promised to come; and for the absence of Dr. Cheever, who is in ‘"delicate health. "’ He then read the following letter from Senator Wilson: Senate Chamber, June 18, 1862.
Dear Sir:
I deeply regret that I cannot fulfill my engagement to speak on the 19th for your Association.
When I made the engagement I thought we should be in a condition for me to fulfill it, but I find I cannot do so without neglect of duty here.
It is very hard to keep a quorum present, and we have very important measures before us which I should not embarrass by my neglect of duty.
After the adjournment I will fulfill this engagement if desired. Dear Sir:
Yours, truly,
H. Wilson.
The letter was received in profound silence by the audience, and in the same doleful manner they retired from the hall, taking their quarters from the ticket-seller as they passed.
No other matters were attended to on that occasion by the League.
H. Wilson.
Shields and M'Dowell.
It is stated as a notorious fact that General Shields, in a personal altercation with his superior, General McDowell, at Front Royal, drew his sword upon him and made use of very violent and uncomplimentary epithets, and that in the course of his remarks he alluded to his favorite theme, the battle of Winchester, and placed it in invidious contrast with the battle of Bull Run. The following is the language which was used, as reported: ‘"General McDowell, you have fought your maiden battle, and I have fought mine. Yours was at Bull Run, and mine was at Winchester."’--Winchester Correspondence New York World.The New York Seventy-First.
It is stated that the men of the New York Seventy-first regiment are, without exception, ready and anxious to serve three months wherever the Government may send them, but that several of the field and line officers prefer that the regiment should return to New York, rather than go beyond their present location.Intemperance among the troops at Manassas.
Manassas, June 28.
--One soldier shot another here yesterday, and caused his death.
Both were drunk.
Four men have been found dead here within the last twenty-four hours in consequence of drinking whiskey, large quantities of which were captured last night, and the trader in charge of it placed under arrest.
Cheese, whiskey and onions for the troops.
Dr. Vollum, Medical Inspector of the Army of the Potomac, has strongly recommended the Surgeon General to add cheese to the army ration, and to furnish a bountiful supply of onions as a preventive against scorbutic diseases. He has also recommended that the whiskey ration shall be resumed under the direction of the Medical Department.Arrest of a spy at Manassas.
Manassas, June 30.
--A Lieutenant Colonel in the rebel army, of the name of Nichols, who has not yet resigned his commission, and declares he will not, was to-day arrested in the garb of a pedlar, going from camp to camp, selling his wares.
Col. Pierce held him as a spy, and he is to be dealt with as such. 