The Altoona tribune. (Altoona, Pa.) 1856-19??, March 27, 1862, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    IPtiiwts Um
ALTOONA, PA
THURSDAY, MARCH 27. 1862.
Blair County Whig vs. the P. E. E.
“What reams of paper, floods of ink,
9 Do some men spoil who never think.”
Hie editor of the Whig has got another idea.—
Stonge as it may seem, he has been safely deliv
ered of another idea. This is the second one he
has had since he assumed the editorial quill The
fltttww that the Pennsylvania Railroad was a
soulless corporationthis one that the same com
pany is a “gr-r-e-a-t corporation.” In this last
effort he almost surpasses himself. Only once, in
bis life's story, did ho get off anything to match
this glowing thought. We have heard said, that
in the “good old days of Whiggery” he once rose
■ to address a mammoth mass meeting, on which
occasion he pronounced the following highly fin
ished oration:—"Tello-o-ow citizens! This is a
gr-r-r-e-a-a-t countryj” This was admitted on
all hands to be the best speech he had ever made.
It nearly fetched him, however. The strain was
too great. He was seized with that insidious
disease, the belly-ache, in its most malignant form,
which threw his body ipto the most violent contor
tfans. Thanks to the renovating properties of
Vermifuge, however, he finally recovered.
As we have before hinted, the controlling idea
in his last editorial is “The Pennsylvania Railroad
Company is a great corporation.” He has lugged
in, it is true, a number of his pet phrases, such as
, “wickedly deceived”—“ outraged and indignant
constituency”—“solemn pledges”—“the tonnage
fax”—“fair proportion of taxes”—“the pockets of
the hardworking fanner and .laborer” (into which
be wodldlike to get)—“the people's interest”—
“ peoples’ money” (that’s a stunner—how the fel
low foxes the peoples money.) But as he intro
duces these expressions into ait his editorials, they
shine with the light borrowed from the central sun
—the one idea. He patches up all his ragged
conceptions with the same trumpery. He thinks
by this sort of fustian to fool the people. Vain
victim of self-flatteiy! To think that the weekly
rehearsal, or rather rehashing, of tliis dull rigma
role, will dupe a public sentiment which despises
him as the eagle despises the owl! They have
had a surfeit of this stuff. Every ranting dema
gogue and fossilized politician prates in equal style.
They know this animal. Too often before have
they stripped off his various stolen disguises, and
shown him as he is. They know how much he
loves the people, who, even in the nation’s travail,
could gq to Washington and fatten on garbage
while the slaugtcr of the brave went on around
him.
Jn this instance, for once, he has told the truth,
in confessing the secret of his hatred to the “great
corporation.” He says, “we know two cases,
where the men seemed to be preferred, because
they refused to pay us the rent for the houses they
occupied, whilst in the employ of the company.”
n«e yon hare it. These men couldn’t pay their
not, and yet the company wouldn’t discharge
them. It was not enough to drive them out of
house and home, this pitying friend of the poor
atoa and the “ honest mechanic,” wanted them
tamed oat of employment. True, they might be
driven to want, but even that were a punishment
for too light for the sin of being too poor to pay
■ him Us paltry rents. How his great heart throbs
in tender sympathy with the poor man’s needs !■—
Has this enacting landlord himself always come up
to time? We have known most unforgiving
creditors, who, when clutched by a just liability,
bare not absolutely refused grace at the hands of
m honest creditor. This hard creditor has nn
wittingiy told another troth. The Pennsylvania
Railroad Company is kind to its faithful employees
—its laborers and mechanics. It never turns them
off Without a cause, even to gratify a hard-fisted
landlord. And yet loudest among its tradncers
are found those whose greed of gain, and'hungry,
griping avarice, will scent the unhappy debtor to
his last covert, and “ wring,”—yes— wring the last
cent of his hard earnings. And (would you be
lieve It) these very extortioners and sanctimonious
hypocrites, who will turn off their own laborers un
paid and unfed, are forever blubbering about
“hard Wrong taxes” and “the people’s money.”—
■ Andsome, we do not say who, but some of these
vapid dedliimete, while their hoarse jargon about
“ taxes 1 * is still grating on the air, have been known
to bow the knee before the “great corporation,”
and; “With bated breath and whispering humble
ness,” beg for its smallest favors.
“Oh I for aTorty parson power to chant
Thy praise, hypocracy! Oh for a hymn
Lend as the virtues thou dost loudly vaunt.
Not practice /”
: Xhe jxiblic, having long watched these whimper
ing and sordid egotists paint their pretensions with
the of troth and virtue, have grown sick
of it. Some times the troth comes out in spite of
them, when yon And the lachrymose patriot coming
before the people with some such piteous tale, as
that the great “mammonof unrighteousness,” the
“ great corporation” declined.to second his kind and
Christian efforts to screw money out of ids poor
tenants. Only give him beck his “ lost ducats,”
and he will howl no more. Honest, {nous and vir
toopJ.B. Patriotic, wise, and liberal man—
woold’rt thou like to have the “ hard cash ” now,
or wib thou writ awhile ? Say ?
editor of the Whig (John Brotherline
name,) .talks abont the people being easily
Kmphngyed “in politics and reiigion" Slightly'
ricA, thU is. Bat does the holy editor suppose that
anybody is footed had by his hypocritical and false
pawnees? The people hereabouts know John tyo
wellfbr that. He must get up some other card.
,49* We -should like to hear some Southern di
fi9|?pnacb h sertnon from the following text —Ist
BWWHd, xt, 23, “ For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and atahhoroert ig as iniquity apd idoU
ny." ‘ ; V
Mr. Hall Vindicated
The contracting editor of the Whig charged
Mr. Hall, in his pious sheet, a week or two since,
with having got Mr.-Wierman ; to write the letter
as to the repairing of the canal, for the purpose of
benefiting himself. This false insinuation brought
out the card,' which we insert below, from a citi
zen of Hollidaysburg, which shows the meanness
of the Whig’s falsehood, and that Mr. Hall, acted
just as we supposed, to oblige citizens of our ad
joining town, and the country along the canal.—
h o matter how. thick the fellow’s hide is he ought
to feel this, and judging from the lame editorial
which preceded it, he does feel it keenly and finds
himself driven to the wall for an argument against
it-or excuse for publishing it. “Hollidaysburg”
saw how the article might injure them, and the
Whig man was forced to publish the truth and ad
mit the falsehood he' carved.
The card as published in the last Whig is as fol
lows :
w ~ . Fbr the Whig.
. inutfoe why this letter was addressed
to Mr. Hail, a citizen ol Altoona?”—Address No. 4, Blair
Ooonty Whig. „
It would be injustice to Mr. Hall to leave the
above query unanswered. When it was known to
the writer, and many others how the letter above
referred to was brought out. East fall, when an
effort was being made by the citizens of this place
and elsewhere to procure the repairs of the Penn
sylvania Canal, the writer and others called upon
E- W. Hall, and urged him to go to Philadelphia
and solicit the immediate attention of the officers
or the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to said re
pairs. Mr. Hall did go to Philadelphia, and after
having an interview with President Thompson,
returned, and assured ua that the repairs would be
made at no distant day. tSome time after this
the people were still in doubts about the matter!
and Mr. Hall was again called upon, and asked to
procure an expression of opinion as to when the
repairs would be commenced, and the letter re
ferred to was the result of his inquiry of Mr. Wier
man. The letter was handed to one of our citi
zens, who thought proper to have it published; not
for the purpose of any other object than to con
vince our interested citizens that the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company were acting in good faith in
the matter. >
He Didn’t Mean it.
The moral, pious, all the honest}-, all the de
cenc.v ' government horse contracting, paymaster
ship hunting, “cash down,” legal editor of the
Whig, in the last issue of that sheet, gives the pa
ternity of the editorial articles which appear in
the Tribune to Mr. Speaker Hall. Instead of
feeling mad at the gentlemanly (?) editor of the
Whig for insinuating such a thing, we take it as a
decided compliment, and feel that we are making
some advancement in newspaper editing. Really,
we had no idea that our humble effusions would be
attributed to an intellect which we regard as much
brighter than our own, both by reason of education
and experience. And again, it is a source of grat
ification to ns to have it published to the world
that our humble sheet is deemed worthy to contain
the productions of one who holds the second office
in the councils of State. O, John, how you have
elevated ns in the estimation of the public and
ourselves. We know yon did not mean to do it,
but that makes no difference to us, now that the
deed is done. -Should we make the same progress
in the time to come that we have done in the past,
we doubt not that the paternity of our editorials
will be given to Edward Everett, Charles Dickens,
or sbme other statesman or author of celebrity.—
Now hold on, John, don*t apply .the flattering
unction soon again, else we might collapse.
Really, John, we are sorry that we cannot re
turn the compliment. Truth compels ns to say
that we believe the editorials of.thfi Whig are your
o™ Production, No one else would attempt to
palm on the poonc such illy concealed misrepresen
fattens and silly twaddle, and claim for them the
ment of truth,* wit or passable literature. Again
we thank you for your compliment to ns. Good
bye, John.
, Burnside to McClellan,
The splendid achievements of Burnside are the
theme of universal praise. In the midst of our
congratulations it is gratifying to the friends of
Gen. McClellan, as it must be mortifying to the
New York Tribune and others of his traducers,
that Gen. Burnside ascribes the honor of the plans
to the young chief, and expresses his own pleasure
that the military sagacity of his commanding offi
cer has been proved by the result of his own brave
fulfilment of instructions. Gen. Burnside says;
i J ** k®® ?° W to t^le General commanding that
X have endeavored to cany out the very minute in
structions given me hg him before leaving Annapolis,
and thus far events have been singularly coincident
mth hts anticipations. I only liope that we mav
in future be able to cany out in detail the remain
ing plans of the campaign. The only thing I have,
to regret is the delay caused by the elements."
*3“ We have received a circular signed by a
comipittee of Patent Medicine manufacturers com
plaining of the exhorbitant tax about to be imposed
on patent medicines and the spirits of which they
are principally compounded. On reading their
memorial to the committee of Ways and Means,
of Congress, it appears evident that the effect will
be to stop the manufacture of these medicines, and
consequently the government will lose the revenue
it expects to derive from the tax. These manu
facturers appeal to the proprietors of the country
press to come to their rescue, by stating that this
heavy tax must involve a positive prohibition
■against any future contracts for advertising being
made, and a certain embarrassment and probable
suspension of a large portion of the country press.
Wc were never aware that patent medicine adver
tisements kept up the country press. If rural pub
lishers had nothing more to depend upon than the
price they get for publishing such advertisements,
they would soon go under. Patent medicine men
seldom pay more than half price for their adver
tisements and very often do not pay at all. It is
certainly a modest insinuation on the part of the
committee, and a nice dodge on their part to get
others interested in their behalf. We believe their
tax too high, but we believe the committee of
Ways and Means will da them justice.
erThe muddled brain fellow who boasts that
he got-the Whig to make it pay, is out in a long,
article, in last week's issue, against the making of
the Railroad.” Why what is this man
comipg to. His monomania on the subject of rail
roads is alarming; He pitched into and demol
ished our sheriff and all the county officers, the
-KSWter, Standard and Tribune, post masters all
through the district, Senators and Representatives
threatened to turn out the Post Master General
S^tao-rfwlfunf I '' Patt °“’ the
ter-and not satisfied withal ffiig.
•tmi die making of the Pacific Railroad. Great
and powerful is we. Bully on ahorse trade. Baf
num had better cage this chap.
HOLEEDAYSBURG
Gs*The following incident is told by the Bridge
port (Connecticut)/armcr.--‘A little boy, child
of Mr. John Bassett, living with Mr. Spaulding
Wheeler, his grandfather, in Brookfield, was kicked
in the face and badly hurl by a horse on Monday
evening. The child was carried into the house and
medical aid sent for. Mr. AVheelcr, a few min
utes after, went into the room where the child lay, and
on looking at his wound was so aflected at the
sight, that, after the utterance of a few words ex
pressive of the deepest anguish, he fell backward
to the floor and immediately expired. The child
is likely to get well.”
Proclamation of the Mayor op Memphis.—
To the PeojiiS oJ'JTenqthis: Much has been said in
Vgard to die burning of dur city. I have, as John
Park, (not the Mayor,) to say «his to our citizens. •
That I will, under any and all circumstances, pro- j
tect the city from incendiaries, and he who attempts
to fire his neighbor's house—or even his own, ;
whereby it endauders his neighbor—l will, regard- I
less of Judge, juiy, or the benefit of clergy, hang j
him to the first lamp-post, tree or awning. ' I have >
the means under my control to cary out the above I
individual proclamation;
March 7,1862,
Latest War News
A spirited engagement toot place about four
miles South of Winchester, on Sunday last, be
tween some 8,000 Federal troops nnderßrig. Gen.
Shields, and about 15,000 rebels under General
Jackson. As yet we have very meagre accounts
of the battle, but sufficient has been received to
convince ns that the struggle was severe and the
loss oh both sides heavy. The Federal troops
gained the day, driving the rebels from the field,
and capturing two cannon, a great quantity of
small arms and some 800 prisoners. Gen. Shields
had lus left arm badly shattered betwdhn the elbow
and shoulder, by being struck with a piece of a
shell which exploded near him.
Col. Wm. G. Murray, of Hollidaysburg, Col. of
the 84th Pa. Reg., was instantly killed, in the
front of the battle, while gallantly leading on his
regiment. Capt. Gailaher of Williamsburg, and
Lieut. Beam, of Frankstown, belonging to the
same regiment were killed. We have reports
that other officers were killed, but they need
confirmation. Only three' hundred .of the 84th
were in the battle, of which 23 were, killed and 03
wounded. As most of the men in this regiment
are from this county, considerable anxiety is felt
to know the particulars, but it seems we cannot
get them for a day or two yet, in consequence of
the rapid movements of that portion of the army.
Gen. Banks’ division was within two miles of
Strausburg, on Tuesday last, and it was supposed
that'a hard battle would be fought at that place, as
all the rebels North of Manassas are congregated
there. The Federal forces having possession, at
Mantissas, of the railroad from Winchester to
Kichmond, the rebels will be compelled to “ foot
it” Sotith in case they are defeated.
Gen. Burnside has taken Beaufort, N. C., the
rebels evacuating it as he approached. They blew
up Fort Macon and set fire to the rebel steamer
Nashville, previous to leaving. The steamer was
not well fired, however, and has fallen into the
hands of the Union forces.
The fight at Island No. 10, on the Mississippi,
is still progressing. We do not exactly understand
the manceiivering of our men at that point, hut
presume it will be all right in a few days.
The last accounts trom Col. Canby’s command,
in New Mexico, was that he was surrounded; and
fears are entertained that he would be entirely cut oft.
Emblematic or the Socth.—The Charleston
Mercury, from which we have not heard for some
time, has an article on flags, asserting that rebel
dom has four, all equally objectionable, because
too much like that of the Yankees. The Mercury
however, proposes cine which it thinks just the
thing. It then giyes a fearful and wonderful cut
of a flag, consisting of two right-angled triangles
and an immense black bar sinister, and thus con
tinues : “It is altogether unlike the ensign of
any other nation, and especially unlike that of the
Yankee nation. Those who imagine that a flag
should be symbolical, will find in the colors of this
9J 16 —"hite and black—an obvious significance.—
Such a standard would typify our faith in the “pe
culiar institution ” and be an enduring mark of our
resolve to retain that .institution while'we exist as an
independent people. For maritime uses, this pro
posed flag, although it discards the everlasting
Y ankee stars and the womout combinations of ‘red
white and blue,* would be distinguished at as great,
a distance as any other that could be devised.”
A Rebel Captain Bagged.—While the Fede
ral forces were making a reconnoisance up the
Tennessee lately, a rebel Captain was taken by a
Yankee ruse that must have struck him as exceed
ingly unchivalric. He was out on picket duty.
One of our scouts came suddenly on him at a point
where two of his pickets were posted. Fortunately
the scout was qnick witted, or the capture might
have been on the other side. “Who are you?”
he boldly inquired of the first rebel whom, he
reached. '‘lama picket.” “ Well, so am I,“too,
but a little off my post, looking around for ‘the
Yankees.” “Where is your post?” asked the
Captain ; “you’ve no business to be away from it.”
“Come this wayand 111 show you,” responded the
scout. The moment he got out of sight of the
two privates he quietly: informed the officer that he
was a picket on the other side, and would have to
take him along! And he actually marched the
Captain in, sword, pistols, shoulder-straps and all.
The Southern Chevalier Bayards.— The
Norfolk Day Book openly boasted that the rebels
made candles from the bodies of the dead. The
statement was too monstrous for belief; but since
the evacuation of Manassas, there is said to be un
doubtable evidence that the Mississippi soldiers did
disinter the bodies of our troops buried at Bull Run
boil off the flesh, and make rings and ornaments
of the bones. Members of the Sanitary committee
assert this positively, and taken in connection with
the assertion made by the Day Book last fall, the
scalping of our dead by the savage allies of the
rebels in Arkansas, less savage and brutal than
the Mississippi troops, and the advertisement in a
Southern newspaper, : for blood-hounds' to track
Federal soldiers, it becomes no longer incredible.
A Brave Jerseyman. —A newspaper corres
pondent writing • from Roanoke Island says:—
Ihe most remarkable case in hospital is a man
named John Lorrence, of Gloucester county, New
Jersey, a corporal of Company K, Ninth New
Jersey, who had both legs earned away by a can
nister shot, in the battle - of the Bth ult. One leg
was amputated by Dr. Thompson, Surgeon of the
First Brigade, and the other by Dr. Rivers of the
Fourth Rhode Island, The brave fellows had
hardly recovered from the effects of the chloroform
administered, when the wild cheers of the annv
told the stoiy of our success. He raised himself
on his arm and with an enthusiasm which thrilled
the bystanders, waved his cap in the air and gave
three cheers for the Union.”
Device of Nelson’s.-— Gen. Nelson has-..a
summary way of dealing with vociferous rebels of
the fair sex. On one occasion, as he was riding
at the Read of his command, a female secessionist
thrust her head from the window and screamed
“ Ilprrah for Jeff. Davis ! Hurrah for Jeff. Da
vis !” This was too much for the temper of the
General, and riding close to the fence, he shouted,
“ Madam, if you dare rcjieat that again. I’ll be
cursed if I don’t quarter a man in your house who
is covered all over with the small-pox.” This had
the desired effect, and the idolater of Jeff Davis
retired into obscurity until the soldiers were out of
sight.
A correspondent of the New York Cmumerciai
gives the follovHng account of the battle at New
bern, N. C.
. At six o’clock on the 14th inst., all the generals
were in their saddles, and at seven the column was
.in motion. The column of General Reno, on the
railroad, was the first to move, the Tvventv-first
Massachusetts, as the right flank regiment, leading
the advance. (In its appropriate place I would
here mention that Reno’s brigade bivouacked along
side the track, two companies of the twenty-first
having been thrown out as pickets.) The regiment
had not proceeded far before, on turning a curve
in the road, they saw a train of cars, which had
brought reinforcements to the enemy, standing on
the track. In’front of the locomotive, on a plat
form car, had been a large rifled gun, which was
evidently to be placed in position to rake the road.
Our men, however, advanced at the double-quick,
and poured in a volley with such accuracy of aim
that the enemy, who had already rolled ' the gun
and caisson off the car, did not stop to unload the
carriage, but ran into the entrenchments, and the
tram was, backed tow*ard Newbern, leaving the
platform-car standing on the track. The Twenty
first had got within short range before, discovering
the formidable nature of the enemy’s earthworks,
but now fell back, and, forming line of battle in the
woods, opened fire. The Fifty-first New York was
moved to the left and ordered forward to engage a
series of redans, the Ninth 'New Jersey occupying
the left of the line, and the Fifty-first Pennsylva
nia held in reserve, in the rear of the Ninth, a'little
to the left.
Meanwhile Gen. Foster’s brigade had advanced
up the main rood to the clearing, when the Twen
ty-fourth Massachusetts were sent into the woods to
the right of the road, and opening a heavy fire on
the enemy, commenced the action of the First Bri
gade. The Twenty-seventh were sent to their left
to support them, and news being received that the
enemy were trying to outflank us on the right, the
Twenty-fifth were sent to resist the movement.—
The Twenty-third being moved to the front next
in line of battle, opened fire upon the enemy, which
was replied to by very heavy volleys, and a can
nonade from a park of field pieces behind the breast
work. The very first cannon shot killed Lieut.
Col. Henry Merritt, of the Twenty-third, the ball
.passing through his body. As he fell he threw up
lus anus and said, “Oh dear! Oh dear!” Gen.
I? oster s line qf battle was completed bv moving
the gallant Tenth Connecticut to the extreme left,
to a position vyhere they had to fight under the
j most discouraging disadvantages. The ground
| was very wot, swampy, and cut up into gullies and
| ravines, which mostly ran toward the enemy, and,
of course, while offering no protection from iris fire’
exposed them on elevations and in valleys. The
regiment had shown, at Roanoke, however, the
behavior of veterans, and nothing else could liave
| been expected at this time but that they would
[ stand their gouud to the last.
[ General Parke’s brigade, which had followed the
i First brigade up the main road, was placed in line
1 between the Tenth Connecticut and Twenty-first
Massachusetts, the Fourth Rhode Lsland holding
the right of line, the Eighth Connecticut the next
place, the Fifth R. I. next, and the Eleventh
Connecticut on the left. Our line of battle was
now complete, the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts
on the extreme right, and the fiftv-first Pennsyl
vania at the extreme left, and extended more than
a mile. The naval battery was in position at our
Centre, with Captain Bennett’s and Captain Day
ton's rifles alongside, and were all worked with the
greatest gallantry throughout the day. The offi
cers in charge of the pieces, without exception. I
believe, displayed perfect coolness and stood bv
their guns, in some cases, wdien a single man was
all the assistance they had to work them. This
was the case with Acting Master Hammond of
the Hetzel, and Lieut. T. W. B. Hughes,' of the
Union Coast Guard, the former losing every man,
and the latter all but one.’ The few hours which
have elapsed since the battle have not permitted
ray seeing the naval officers in person, to obtain
particulars of their part of the action, and a com
plete list of killed and wounded. It was ray for
tune to assist Lieut. Hughes to a trifling extent
after he was wounded, and I can testify to the
coolness with which he bore his injury. ‘Acting
Master Hammond lost both his shoes in the te
nacious clay of the road, and for Several hours was
compelled to walk in stocking-feet through mud
and mire.
The battle had waged for something less than
an hour, when the Twenty-first lost one of its
noblest officers, in the person of Adjutant Frazer
A. Stearns, the young man who bore himself so
bravely in the difficult and dangerous charge on
the right of the enemy’s battery on Roanoke
Island. Poor Steams received a bullet in Ids right
breast, and fell dead in his place. He was the son
of the president of Amherst College, and pos
sessed the love of his commanding officer, and the
whole regiment. Lieut. Colonel Clark, who is in
command of the Twenty-first, was affected to tears
when relating the circumstances of his untimely
death, for he felt almost the love of a father for
the young man.
The fire of the enemy was now telling so severely
upon the Twenty-first that Col. Clark ordered the
regiment forward on a double-quick, and, at tlie
head of four companies entering the breastworks
from the railroad track, in company with General
Reno, the colors were taken into a frame house,
which stood there, and waved from the roof. The
men at the nearest gOns seeing the movement,
| abandoned their pieces and fled, and, the four com
i panics being formed again-ih line of battle, charged
I down the line upon the battery. Col. Clark
| mounted the first gun and waved" the colors, and
I had got as far as the second, when two full ’regi
! meuts emerged from a grove of young pines, and
| advanced upon our men, who, ‘seeing that they
| were likely to be captured or cut to pieces, leaped
I over the parapet, and retired to their position in
: the woqds. At this time Cupt. J. D. Frazer, of
! Company H, was wounded in the right arm, and
j dropped his sword, but, taking it in his left hand,
| he attempted to escape with his company, fell into
I the ditch, and was taken prisoner, and dragged
i inside again over the parapet. A guard of three
men was placed over him, his sword was taken,
1 but his revolver being overlooked, he seized the
opportunity offered.by a charge of the Fourth
i Rhode Island, and, by the judicious display of his
pistol, captured all three of his guard. . "
; . On being driven from the battery, Col. Clarke .
: informed Col. Rodman, of the Fourth Rhode
: Island, of the state of affairs inside, and that offi
cer, unable to communicate with General Parke in
the confusion of the fight, acted upon his own re
: sponsibility, after consultation with Lieut Lvdig
ione of the general’s aids, and decided’nmn a
i charge with the bayonet. As the Fourth was one
: of the most prominent regiments in the action it
will be well to go back a little in our narrative
and trace them up to that point. Their position
: in the line of battle, as ordered bv Gen Parke,
was in front of a battery of five "guns, and the
i nfle-pits or redans which were situated immedi
; ‘““y "j ‘be rear of and protected the right flank of
; the main battery of nine guns. .Until the charge
i , wa ? c“ ld " d . U P?? b y Col- Rodman, the regiment
luul been firing like the rest of the line, bv eomna
: wes “nd otherwise. When the command was given
to charge, they went at the double-quick directly
up to the battery firing as they raiq and entering
at the nght flank, between a brick-yanl and the
: end of the parapet. When fairly inside, the Colo
nel fonned the right wing in line of battle, and at
their head charged down upon the guns at double
quick, the left wing forming irregularly, and going
as they could. With a steady line of cold steel, i
the Rhode Islanders bore down upon the enemy i
and, routing them, captured the whole battery I
with its two flags, and planted the stars and stripes
upon the parapet The Eighth Connecticut, Fifth I
Rhode Island, and Eleventh Connecticut, coming i
up to their support, the rebels fled with precipita- I
tion, and left us in undisputed possession ■
General Reno’s brigade were still attacking the i
redans and small battery on the right of the rail
road, and the tiring was very heavy. The Twentv-
Sfjs* “g*®* tiebattery of five small pfcci,
theFiftv-firet New York, the firet of the redana
the Ninth New Jersey the next two, and the Pifty
John Park.
Tfae Battle at Newbern.
THE BATTLE.
first Pennsylvania were still in reserve. Lieut
Col. Robert B. Potter, of the Fifty-first New York,
when in advance with Captain Hazard’s company
of skirmishers, was shot through the side and fell,
bnt, making light of the wound, he got his servant
to put on a bondage, and, in a few minutes, had
returned to his place and was cheering on his men.
The regiment was drawn np in a hollow, or
from which thev would move up to the top of the
eminence, discharge their volleys, and retire to
such - cover as the inequalities of the ground might
furnish. General Reno, becoming impatient at the
-loss of life which his regiments, and particularly
Col. Ferrero’s was suffering, wished the regiment
to advance os soon os possible, so Lieutcnant-CoL
Potter took a color over the brow of the hill into
another hollow, and from here charged up an ac
clivity and over brushwood and abattis into the
redan. The 51st Pennsylvania for a long time
held in reserve, was ordered up to participate in
the decisive charge of the whole brigade upon the
line of redans, and passing through the 51st New
York, as it was lying on the groilnd after having
exhausted all its ammunition, came undqr the
heaviest fire, and without flinching or wavering
moved to its place, and rushed, with the other
regiments, upon the defences of the enemy. . The
movement of Col. Hartrauft’s regiment was exe
cuted in the most deliberate manner, and proved
a complete success.
. The movement of the Third Brigade was sup
ported by a charge of the Fourth Rhode Island,
from-the captured main battery, upon the works
which were being assailed, and the enemy, already
demoralized by the breaking of their centre, fell
back before the grand charge upon the left and
front of their position, and fled in confusion. On
the extreme right, the brave Twenty-fourth, and
its supporting regiments, had been advancing inch
by inch, standing up against the enemy’s musketrv
and cannonade without flinching, and'at about the
time when the Fourth Rhode Island charged in at
the right flank the colors of the Twenty-fourth
were planted on the parapet at the left, and the
whole of the First Brigade poured into the fortifi
cation. The whole line of earthworks was now in
our hands, and the cheers of our men, from one
end of it to the other, broke out with fresh spirit
as each new regimental color was unfilled on the
parapet.
While all. the regiments engaged in the battle
art deserving of high praise for their steadiness
under tire, the spirit with which they surmounted
the must formidable obstacles, and the fidelity with
which they obeyed the commands of their gen
erals, certain' regiments, by the peculiarity of their
distribution, perhaps, were made more prominent
for their gallantly. These were the Twenty-fourth
Massachusetts, Fourth Rhode Island, Tenth Con
necticut, Twenty-first Massachusetts, and Fifty
first New York. When the charge of the Fomt|i
Rhode Island had been made, and the colors were
carried along the w hole length of the main bat
tery, General Burnside asked some one what regi
ment that was. On being told the Fourth Rhode
Island, he said, “I knew it. It was no more thou
I expected.; Thank God, the day is ours.”
Mexican Affairs.
There is nothing extraordinary in the with
drawal of the British contingent from thq invading
army which some weeks ago took possession of
Vera Cruz, and threatened to retain Mexico until
certain claims, on the part of France, Spain, and
England, were satisfactorily met. The triple treaty
is broken up by this British withdrawal, and here;
it may be presumed, ends the manoeuvre of de
stroving the republican by establishing the mon
archical form of government in Mexico. The
dispute is to be settled by negotiation instead of
by arms, and the Mexicans liave carried the point
of getting it admitted that the invasion was un
called for. This is important, as it will prevent
the Allied Powers from dropping on Mexico for
the costs of' the expedition. In the end, most
probably, Mexico will make (or promise to make)
some- engagement for paving the interest on what
she owes.
Some of the Spanish troops have returned to
Cuba. French reinforcements, which had ar
rived, were sent back to France, without landing.
The British troops had'taken the wings of tire
morning, and departed for Bcrmanda, e» route for
England.
The result of the expedition is as much (and ho
.more) as could have been obtained, without re
sorting to arms. Just now neither France, Spain,
nor England is flush of money, but very much the
reverse. They went to the expense of sending an
amy across the Atlantic, and then the order was—
■‘back again.” The whole affair reminds ns of
the old couplet.
“The King of Prance, witfc forty thousand men.
Marched up the hill, and then —marched down again.”
Several times, since the opening of the Parlia
mentary session, questions have been put to the
British Ministry as to this Mexican Expedition.—
Lord Palmerston cannot afford, just now, to have
a single unpopular issue, and has probably obtained
the self-conviction that Napoleon has been too
crafty for hipi. It shows no small courage, and a
great deal of good sense, for such a statesman as
Palmerston virtually to confess that he took a
wrohg step. No doubt, be sent instructions to Sir
0“?“ es Wyke, the British Minister in Mexico, to
withdraw the British troops and send them home
on the first pretext. A continuous and heavy ex
pense is thus ended, and the only question is—what
remonstrance has our Government made, or is to
make, on the. violation, by the invading Powers, of
the Monroe doctrine ? The expedition, it cannot
be denied, did violate h.~Philadelphia Press.
How Often She was Struck.— One who was
aboard the Monitor writes:—“The Merrimac's
projectiles were mostly percussion shells, fired from
10 or 11-inch rifled pieces. Twenty-three shots
struck mi including two from- the Minnesota,
which, during the engagement, fired over Our
heads. The deepest indentation on onr tenet was
two and one-half inches, produced by a 150-ponnd
percussion shell fired at a distance of twenty feet
perpendicular with the side. Our deck received
four shots making slight depressions. One shot
struck ns on the angle formed by the deck and
side, tearing up the iron plating about one-th{rd
the width of a sheet, starting the bolls and splint
ering the wood a little. Three or four others
steuck us just above the water-line with no other
effect than making indentations of two inches.—
The pilot house received one shot on one of the
upper corners nearly battering it down. A little
later in the action, however, a heavy shell was
thrown from a distance of about fifteen feet,
against the front, at an angle of about thirty de
grees, striking the two upper bars jusfat the look
out crack, the rnain force being on the lower of the
two, forcing it in about an inch on the opposite
side. She twice attempted to open a hole in onr
side with her ram, as she did the Cumberland;
once striking ns squarely on our beam, nearly
abreast of the terret, jarring ns somewhat, an!
leaving a small dent on our iron side. Our'hull
remains perfectly tight, and the turret, notwith
standing the severe hammering, revolves as accu
rately and as easily as when we left New York.’*;
Heroic Sailors op the Cumberland. The
scenes on board the Cumberland, writes a correct
pondent, were heart-breaking. Two of the gunner*, 1
at the bow guns, when the ship was sinking,
clasped their guns in their arms and would not be
removed, and went down embracing them. One
gunner had both his legs and his bowels
opened and protruding, bnt he made three steps
on his raw and bloody thighs, seized the Janyaid
and fired his gun, falling back dead! Another
last both arms and legs, yet lived, and when they
would assist him, cried out, “Back to your guns,
boys ! give ’em h—l! Hurrah for the old flag I”
He lived till she sunk.
©TThe moil-clad gunboats and the mortar boats
which took so glorious and, indeed, so indispensa
ble a part in the recent triumphs of our arms in
the West, were planned and commenced by Gen.
Fremont, and' constituted one of the great evi
dences of extravagance s and incompetence on die
part of that officer.
What’S the Matter with
It wu thought, writes the Bichmond „
dent of the Charleston Afercwy, that
dent’s graceful and pious inaugural
prelude to important suggestions, which ,1 !l *
pear in the message. When the
found to contain no hint of the policy *ti
the crisis, it was. hoped the Presided ’*
ures to be made known in secret sessio IBtv
after day of secret session passed, and v
Congress was compelled to pass a resolatii, 55
upon the Pretddentto saV what additional nca^ £ *
means are necessary for the public sen^
other words, we have a President who lj
a single measure for the relief of his to* 81 *
this trying juncture. His replies to the be?’ 7 *
lotions calling for the publication of Jetbfr
other reports, would seem to indicate that V
gards any question put to him by Congress'
presumptuous interference with matters *wV ? 1
not concern them. I feel with inexpressible ?
that the cause is in uammeat danger in consen
of the unhappy preversity of one man, wdv'
my duty to acquaint the country with the *
and nothing bnt the truth. "
In talking the matter over with one of
ablest Congressmen, he expressed the opinion ,i otl
unless Mr. £>avis, by a change in the Cabinet
other measures, indicated a disposition to »
the crisis, nothing would be left us bnt to !
with him at once. I told him a change of ?
Cabinet and of the Generals would do little t&i
so long as the President’s character underwent
change. He must cease directing his Cabinet JS
the armies. Otherwise, manors would go on nT
cisely as before. He sighed, but added that Mr
Davis was much subdued by our late reverses, ua
tar leote imperious in bis manner than he Wu!
up to-this time. This was two days ago, anjT
yet there is no indication of a change of any sm
It is thought the bill for the creation of a G».
eralissimo catenates from the President, h
feared he wants merely a man of straw to sc-J
him from popular odium. It is hoped he
get a npm of independence and energy. It i,
sorted confidently that Mr. 'Benjamin will g 0 j.,
the State Department, but nothing is known.
Vice President Stevens, at the formation of a.
Government urged that a hundred or even tin
hundred millions' worth of cotton should be pledaj
in Europe for armor-clad ships, completely mS
and equipped, by means of which we co'uld hi,,
bid defiance to the Yankee Navy, but the Pr*
dent refused tq act upon the suggestion.
he seems to consider every suggestion a peisoiui
insult. *
In another letter the Mercury') correspond*,,
writes: Shall the cause fail because Mr Bari.
incompetent? The people of the ConfeW-v
must answer this plain question at once or theV
are iost. Tennessee, under Sidney Johnston k
hkely to bo lost. Mr. Davis retains him. Vs»
Dora writes that Missouri mast be abandoned m
less the claims of Price are recognized. Mr DavU
will not send in his nomination. A change hi the
Cabinet is demanded instantly to restore pal*
confidence. Mr. Davis is motionless as a clod
Buell’s proclamation to the people of Nashvill
has disposed the young men, already dissatisfied
with Johnston, to lay down their arms, and pared
the way to the campaign of invasion in the Mis
sissippi Valley. Mr. Davis remains as cold ai
ice. The people must know, and feel, and be felt
The Government must be made to move.
Sinking of tub Rebel Sxeamee Panes- Jj
Seventy-five Rebels Drowned.—A young tiv- -'3
er man by the name of Mcßride, who latelycame 'H
to Cincinnati from Hickman, Kentucky, bring.
important intelligence. He savs: The ft™ ''ll
built in Cincinnati by Captain ’B. J. Butler, of j|9
Vicksburgh, and recently sold to the Confederate ft*
Government for 26,000, was one of the Sect of fla
steamers used by the rebels in the evacuation of |3|
Columbus. She was commanded by Captain IfS
Dick Love, an owner of one of the wharf-beaten mi
Memphis. The Prince left Columbus March 7th, |'|||
and while on her way to New Madrid, crowded §-||
with rebel soldiery, was snagged and sunk in the f l
chute, four miles above Hickman. She went I |
down suddenly, the water being over, her hum’- t I
cane deck.» Seventy-five soldiers are known to
have perished. She had also on board one hot* K
dred and ninety-six kegs of powder, and consid- fa
erable fiour and other provisions, which was also ■
lost. Two immense water-tanks, used for supply- *1
ing water for the troops on the Columbus Bln®, ' M
were on her hurricane deck. Many of her pas- '■ll
sengers succeeded in getting into the tanks as she -3
went down, and wete thus rescued from drowning. -3
Nothing was saved from the wreck. The safe, -3
containing a large amount of Confederate monev,, <9
was lost. '
Ericssoh’s Harbor Defence. —Capt. Ericsson
said, at a recent meeting of the New-York Cham
ber of Commerce, that hie thought the question kj
in a nut-shell. We cannot want anything very
extensive. My opinion is, (he added) that the
best way is to get guns of double or quadruple tin
calibre of those at present employed, and to place
them on small boats adapted to their use and u
protect the gunners. In forty days a dozen of
such vessels—say twenty-four feet beam and one
hundred and twenty feet long, and strengthened
with iron—could be built. In forty to sixty days
enough of these vessels might be at our command
to protect the city against ail the vessels of every
other nation in the world. The heavy guns car
ried by these boats would at once sink any iron
clad vessel afloot. Captain Ericsson said, after
referring at length to the feasibility of his plan,
that all the citizens of New York had to do was to
employ the mechanical talent and resources in
their midst, and the city would soon be fully pro
tected.
Gen. Garfield at rr Again.—A letter to tire
Cincinnati Commercial, from Catlcttsburg, says;—
A boat has just arrived from Piketon, bringing tire
particulars of Gen Garfield’s expedition to Pound
Gap, forty miles' beyond Piketon. There were five
hundred rebels intrenched on the summit of the
Cumberland Mountain, at Pound Gap. The Gen
eral ascended the mnnntqin arith his infantry by
an unfrequented path,, three miles below the Gap,
and while his cavalry, by advancing along the
main road, and making n vigorous attack in front,
drew the rebels a short distance down from the
summit, the infantry advanced along the ridge and
completely routed -tnem, after a fight of dess than
twenty minutes. They abandoned everything.—
After chasing tho Hying fugitives six miles into
Virginia, and quartering his men over night in
their captured camp, the General burned their ban
racks, consisting of sixty log huts, together with*
large quantity of stores. The rebels lost seven
killed and wounded. Nobody hurt on our side.
Swiftness of Birds.—lt has been calculate!
that a hawk will fly not less than 150 miles in at
hour. Major Cartwright, on the coast of Labra
dor, found, by repeated observations, that the
flight of an eider dock was at the rate of 90 mite
an hour. The flight of the common crow is nest?
25 miles an hour; and Spillanzani found that of
the swallow to be 92 miles, while he conjectmß
that the rapidity of the swift is nearly three tin#
greater. A falcon, belonging to Henry IV., «
France, flew from Fountainbleuu to Malta, in I# 3
than 24 hours, the distance being 1,350; and it i>
brobable that his flight was about 75 mite* fIC
hour, as such birds fly in the day time only.--
These fhcts show how easily birds can accomplish
their extensive migrations, especially when *e
consider that a favorable wind materially help
theifl on their voyage. -
ty A very remarkable circumstance occurred
in die township of Chesterfield, Michigan, recently-
The wife of Lewis Thotp, Eaq., had been seriously
ill fbrsbme time, apparently iied, and every prep
aration was made fbrher funeral. Onr informs” 1
(Dr. Kittridge) sayt that there were no evideno#
of life remaining, but, on the contrary, ;
usual appearances that occur after death seemed to
be to the Astonishment of all* after
lying in this condition nearly two days, she begs”
to show evidences of retarding life, and ultimate*;
grew better, and Is now doihg well.
|Utoc«i
irfOa’A^TidS
A Cactiok nt Ustno Kuo
the great competition In the mi
or KaqeMtp oU has reduced the
qirntiyilißreaaed the liability to ihi
article of* tire market, we may he d
an a sendee by printing the followin
It eficiled at a Coroner inquest in 1
Mrs. SkMods haring been burnt to
explosion cf a can of Kerosene oil, wi
attempted to kindle a fire, and it bei
understood that Kerosene oil was nt
the coroner gave die case a thorough 1
The fleets shown were principally in 1
of Gootge Mowry, of Titosville, Pen
He testified that ho was a refiner of
has been a manufacturing chemist fb
years;;hi the first who introduced tl
oil-from Pennsylvania into New Yorl
ness then poured out about four ounc
the o3a produced by Dr. PeanL
oil did not ignite. The oil sold to
ignited instantaneously. An oil man
Mr. Kelly, of Green Print, ignited
Another sample* purchased at Mr. K
by a juryman, did not ignite. The
benzole or benzine and heavy oil, igni
The witness then testified that, in t
refining, an extremely tight fluid, ten
eriy Benzine, Benzole or Naptha, b
new to chemists, comes oyer first,
mixture of various oils supposed by
very numerous, but really only a few,
and lastly heavy oil and paraffine; tta
a temperature of melting lead; the 1
and the first, that is the benzine, and
rejected, while the intermediate oils s
and often after a treatment with sal
soda,, and washing, are delivered to
illuminating cal. If, however, throne
ignorance the manufacturer adds the f
that tun over, to the intermediate port
plosive oil is the result, dangerous ptec
portipn to the quantity of benzine thi
added- A test for such explosive oil w
application of a match, as shown by th
betted would be the warming of the o
peratpre of 100 deg., and then offerinj
match; if it ignited it should be rejecte
The following test was proposed bef
as the easiest method of detecting impu
Pour out a teaspopnfnll and immerse i
ed match, and if it will take fire befc
peratnre is raised to 110 degrees, the
explosive.
A.M. L. & R. R. A.—The following
just been added to the Library of the A
chunks’ Library and Reading-Room A
and ate now ready to he taken out by n
: “ffiglow Papers,” by, J. R. Lowell.
“Ungmimnts.of Wall Street—a 1
■
“llui feaciers of the -Alps—a Nam
cunjons and Ascents.”
“Past and Presents,” bn, Carlyle.
“Bifo Of Lord Byron,” t»y Thomas ’
“*OIS.SWA of by Thackeia
“Fltz-Boodle’s Confessions,” by Thi
“Vanity Fair—a Novel without a
Thackeray.
“Faust—a Tragedy, ” by Goethe.”
“English Humorists," by Thackeray
“Elsie Verner^—a Romance of Di
Holmes.
“Poems," by J. G. Saxe.
“ttoofNapoteon Bonaparte,” by I
“ ‘nte Atfre Philosopher in Paris; o:
the wfaJmJroni a Garret.”
“Spore Hofirs,*’ by J. Brown, M. D.
Diary—a Legend of the
“Thesnoyage of a Naturalist around t
byDarkfii; \
Wa,t - W^W< M % Howit
»lEx gin of by Darwin
Nights Entertainmeu
YeuoW-Plush Papers,” ter Thacker
“A, Jtemoirof Ber. Sydney Smith.”
“Phenrixiana; or. Sketches and Bud
“The Sand-hills Of Jutland,” by H
sen.
“Goethe’s Correspondence with a Ch
“Do Challi’s Adventures in Africa.”
OT We ate not so lost to all sense o
to be guilty of betraying the secrets of
have confided in ds, unless they first ]
and we are compelled, in self-vindicatia
them with weapons of their own cl
We have not done anything since our t
with the publication of the Tribune
would care to conceal from the public,
not fiow admit or charge anything, bat si
tot the information of the editor of the I
if be wishes his nefarious transactions, i:
(fresstajal campaign of 1858, made km
Pobßb, it 1* only necessary for him to
a little more explicitly, an item in the U
his paper. We eon accommodate the
to his heart's content in any line, as we
faxiej a' thing or two which would ph
ahyjjjihqe that an enviable position befoi
mufity. We know whereof we affirm,
we have mtScupnloos men to deal witl
with; Iheua unscrnpnlonsly. Talk sti
Jphta, W sing prom.
South. —This Is the title
jestfarted at Port Royal 8. C„ edited
B«daau aiid published by Joseph H. S
master at that place. It was sent as te
Etadley, jtis less than half the i
ahd is sold at five cents per
“'ipports tho National Government and
| ?* piseioa the disseminatioi
r° W !S? th® government and its
! Sowth, ‘ Wherever our
| ca! * u *W fitfct and towns in which
pre ** e * **3 type* newspapers will be p
I printers aodedhoni, who are abandon
moment, m| ,by this reea» a* reach
******** the way if crashing opt r
A Webefiera that If the
«md href! ****' W|Wy informed as to
I, <* fit national governm
Whon «oo be at «» end. Let
Off to To**.—Our yonug
0. BwiSS
; **° mhteanppty sprtng gnod;
ated trWinb
: faroffe* for lift Ib
**WMimleaSeo of%ood» allow prices,
hte tfe *w«* <*