The press. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1857-1880, March 10, 1862, Image 1

THE FREES.
PUBLISHED DAILY* (SUNDAYS EXCEPTED,)
BY JOHN W. FORNEY,
OFFICE No. U 7 CHESTNUT STREET.
\
THE DAILY FRESS,
YtPZLTX Cekts Psb Week, payable to the Carrier.
Hailed to subscribers out of the City at Sis Dollars
pm awu'h, Fqvr r<?R Eight Months,
Tiui Dollars for Sis Months —invariably iu ad
vance for the time ordered.
THE TRI-WEEKLY PRESS,
Hailed to Subscribers out of the City at Turks Dol-
AAM Fs* Arouse, in advance. ,
C|ic 'Jr.tss.
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1862.
SIX MONTHS IN THE WILDER
NESS OF NEW MEXICO.
Lieutenant Ives’ Exploration of the “ Rio
Colorado of the West.”
of The Press.}
Washington, March 8,1862.
To appreciate the infamy of this rebellion) in its i
upon the growth of American art] science,
-and discovery, one should spend a quiet hour iu the
Congressional library. Here are stupendous tome 3
that narrate the progress of explorations broken
experiments uufished, giant enterprises delayed,
and a thousand other schemes that promised well,
but will now remain unrealized for years. The i
genius of the North had planned these things; the ;
evil get. ii of the South, ever averse to civilization, |
hae ruined them. And. strange to say, most of these j
explorations had for their object the examination i
and improvement of territory that promised, in !
time, to be under slave dominion. Here, for in
stance, is a splendid volume, yet damp from the*
Government presses, filled with CUTIOUS engravings,
plates, and maps, describing regions heretofore un
known, yet in the very heart of our Republic. The j
graduates of Northern colleges, in the United States ;
fleryi??, have hero detailed the incidents of a six- j
months adventure in the terra incognita of New
Mexico. The great u Colorado river of the West,” j
with its sublime mountains and caiions, its savage !
denizens, its minerals and mines, and wierd remi
niscences, is made as familiar in this volume as i
the shores of our own Delaware or Hudson. •
I have thought it well to make an abstract of this j
report, particularly of those more exciting and ad-- !
venturous episodes the romance !
of the Southwest. Tke facts are new, and so well ,
related, that they should not pass without remark, '
even in this feverish era of war.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE COLORADO.
Excepting the Columbia river of Oregon, the
ei Rio Colorado of the West” is the largest of,our
streams emptying io(c the Pacific. Xthas its sources
in Nebraska and Oregon, and after draining 300,000
square miles of New Mexico, Utah, and California,
empties into the Gulf of California. Two tributa
ries, called thfe Grech and Grand rivers, were sap*
pose&to have formed the Colorado, but their point
of junction had never been visited or determined.
Below this junction no white man had seen the
river for centuries, and few Indians had been near
3la bank?. Rat. curious to relate, this same river
was explored within fifty years after the discovery
of America. In the year 1540 three Spaniards,
named Coronado. Diaz, and Alarcon, led an adven
turous party up the Colorado to the country of the
Mojave Indian?, where, « after a long inland
march over a desert, they arrived at a river, the
banks of which were so high that they seemed to
be four leagues in the air.” After attempting to
descend to the shore, they saw “some rocks of the
size and shape of the great cathedral of Seville,”
when, full of amazement, they returned. No more
efforts were made to examine the region till the era
of onr revolution, when Jesuit missions were estab
lished with ilt-succcsa among the Yumas and Mo
javes. Thereafter a few daring trappers, or an oc
casional war-party of savage 3, were all that trod
the shores of the desolate river. But soon after the
Mexican wan when onr arms had conquered the
adjacent territory into the Union, a military post,
called Fort Yuma, was established a hundred and
fifty miles from the mouth of the Colorado, and at
the confluence of tho River Gila. By this route
emigrants id the gold region passed, often harassed
and murdered by the treacherous Yumas, and, in
1851, a steamboat route up the river to the fort was
established by Lieut. Derby, U. S. A. Lieut. Sit
greaves and Wbipplo ; at different times, led small
parties up the stream as far as “Big Canon,” an
Immense rocky formation, through whioh the Co
lorado breaks, constituting one of the grandest
natural scenes in the world. Curiosity was stimu
lated by their accounts to learn, if possible, some-''
thing of a region so' lonesome and so sublime, and
accordingly, in .1857. Secretary Floyd directed
Xiieut. Joseph C. Ives, of the Topographical Engi
neer Corps, to organise an evnadition, and set out
flow TO ORGANIZE AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
Lieutenant Ives at once ordered an iron steamer
fifty feet long, from Heaney & Neafie, of Phila
delphia. same was constfucted in sections,
jmd, after making a trial trip upon the Delaware
river, was taken apart and shipped to California
via Panama. Mr. A. J. Carroll, of Philadelphia,
went out as steamboat engineer, J. S. Newbery a 3
naturalist, and sertral gentlemen as topographers,
artists, astronomers, and meteorologists. One of the
latter was an associate of the late Baron Von Hum
boldt. On the l3t cf .November, 1857, the expo
ditiOß sailed from San Francisco in three divisions,
two of which were to start from different points on
the Paoifie coast of California, and go over the
desert with mule teams to Fort Yuma, where they
would be met by Lieutenant Ires, wbo was to go
up the Gulf cf California and contract his boat.
The latter gentleman had much trouble in embark
ing .upon a crowded schooner, already heavily
freighted. His steamboat boiler alone weighed
three toss, and three whaleboats, the heavy iron
Sections, etc., with a number of mechanics, made
up a ponderous load. In seven days, they made
Cape Lucas, the point of Lower California, when a
calm set in, and, for a week of burning days and
Stifling nights, they rolled on'the glassy swell, unable
to reach the Gulf. After three weeks’ delay, they
attained the head of the Gulf, having passed nu
merous volcanic islands and steep bluffs, most of
which were sterile, and had never been trodden by
the foot of man.
THE MOUTH OF THE KIO COLORADO
On the 28th day out, the mouth of the Hio Colo
rado was signalled by means of “Ship Rock,” a
jhuge yolcanic spire, that ?fla bo SMB fttft distance
Of thirty miles below. It is covered with guano,
and a number of reefs stretch from its base. In
the limpid atmosphere of that latitude, its outlines
are clearly defined, and they bear ft resemblance,
from afar, to a ship before the wind. Mountains
environed them on every side, rude, rugged, and
massive. That night they rested in the river, and
next morning beheld a brilliant scene encircling
them, of promontories and bill-ranges that were
converted by a powerful mirage into castles, domes,
and statues, purple, blue, and golden under the
sunshine. The water of the Colorado was of a tur
bid red eelar, full of shoals, and difficult of naviga
tion. They passed some glittering islands, sloped
]>y a green lawn of marsh grass, where myriads of
pelicans were congregated. A portion of the crew
directly went ashore, with fowling pieces, treading
in the soft gluey mud, and soaring np quantities of
pelicans, curlews, plovers, and wild duck. The
climate here at midday was that of pleasant mid
summer.
The nest day they made “ Robinson’s Landing,”
an anchorage where a rcsllcss American had put up
a shanty with the expectation of finding certain
sunken treasure. The place was muddy and almost
Utterly desolate. Here they witnessed a “ bore’”
AS it 15 called, AS a sueeeosieu of immense waves,
met with nowhere else in the world, oaused by a
rapid falling of the tide in the gulf, and a conse
quent reaction upon the part of the sea. Great
wares came rushing up the river) with the roar
and volume of n cataract, threatening to demolish
anything that happened in the way. Three days
were now occupied in unloading the parts of the
steamboat; derricks and platforms were erected
after touch trouble, and the tents pitched on the
moist soil. The men went out hunting at night,
and once got sight of a California Hon. Coyotes
' Were heard howling about the samp at nightfall,
and by day waterfowl were abundant. The boat
was put together on shore at a considerable dis
tance from the river, and a galley dug with spades,
Wherein it iu finally floated off. On the interve
ning Sunday the crew wentclamming, and returned
wet, weary, and disappointed. The next day two
Cooopas Indians —dirty beings—came trotting into
camp, and at once made for the cook, who was
preparing supper. They regarded her with min
gled wistfulness and veneration, and after being
fed were supplied with sailors’ shirts. They pre
ferred to go naked, however, exeepting a strip of
bagging tied about their loins. They Were photo
graphed by Lieutenant Ives, to their own great
astonishment and perplexity. A telescope they
regarded with a strange mixture of fear and
amusement, but positively reverenced the eeek,
who finally quarreled with them and drove them
array.
After a time the steamboat came down from Fort
Xssu, bringing a number ef the Gocbpaa as pas
sengers. They were well-disposed people, and the
Women were bright eyed and fat. The cook could
not be made to tolerate the aparseness of their cos
tume, however, which) as a rule, was even more
insignificant than the men’s. They had heard for
many months of the proposed exploration, but were
much disappointed at the smallness of the boat, and,
is fact, ridiculed it exceedingly.
UP THE COLORADO TO POET YUMA.
On the last day of tho year 1857, the little steam
er Explorer was floated into the stream. She
Carried a four-pound howitzer at the how, and had
a cabin eight feet by seven at the stern. She was
Stem-wheeled, and looked like one of your Schuyl
kill steamers, mode bare to the hull, with the boiler
and engine exposed. The flag of the Union floated
from the cabin. AC midnight, under a beautiful
Soon, that made silvery dimples on the waves, the
Crew gave three cheers that scared the wolves, and
Started up the Rio Colorado. They oamped every
Idght Oh the river shore, and, finding tho Indians
VOL. S.—NO. 185.
friendly, trusted them with a quantity of dod
freight. As the river was full of shoals, a man was
kept standing at the bow with a long pole in his
hands, to sound a s they advancod. Thoy met one
house fifty miles below Fort Yuma, inhabited by a
pig, a dog, an old Indian, and the dirtiest white
man that the Lieutenant had ever seen. After a
night's sleep here the Lieutenant borrowed a horse
and rode across tbe country to tbe fort, being joined
on the way by a couple of Yuma Indians that
trotted along by tho steed through a region of
dwarf cedars and clumps of greesowood. The fort
was built upon a gravelly bluff, and a rope ferry led
across the river to a second bluff, crowned by a few
dilapidated houses. This was denominated Colo
rado City, and a tavern —the : firsb symbol of civiliza
tion—hiul been the earliest structure erected. The
river Gila ermie flowing down from ike east and
joined the Colorado above. They wero now upon
United States soil, but at the Botany Bay of mili
tary stations, and in the midst of a bleak territory,
a&d surrounded by crafty but subjugated Indians.
ADVENTURES UP TUE COLORADO TO MOJAVE CANON.
| The voyage up the Rio Colorado to Mojave Ca
i lion was marked by a thousand incidents of ad
i venture, and a thousand associations of the grand
i »Dd tho beautiful. The explorers were to ascend a
: stream almost unknown, and to meet people and
! scenes before undiscovered. They started in the
second week of the new year, twenty-four in all—
tbe rest of tho party, with the mule packs, going by
land, and accompanied by two friendly Yumu
guides, named Mariano and Capitan. The whole
Yuma tribe were assembled to see them off, and
they screamed and giggled like so many apes as
the little steamer headed up the river. Passing
some miles of dangerous shoals and narrow gorges,
they entered a defile of purple rooks, and reached
a pleasantly*wooded country. Here thoy received
the first mail from home by means of a swift Yuma
runner, who came up from the fort. The letters
from two thousand miles away were very dear to
the adventurers, and the Indian was handsomely
rewarded. The Dome Rock range of mountains,
and Chimney Peak, an immense bluff, were objects
of regard. The vistas on the river now grew
broader, and the vegetation more rank and luxuri
ant. The hills, too, were streaked with more varie
gated hues, and the water sweeping at their bases
shadowed the colors and fringed the low, wooddy
shore. The cactus, the mozquite, and tbe cotton
wood, were some of the varieties of vegetation, aud
the mineralogist of the party discovered at odd
places tokens of gold, galena, and copper. They
named the peaks as thoy pusaod along, and
sketched the most remarkable scenes. Some of
the latter were Alpine in their sterility, massive
ness, and abruptness.
At places the crew had to disembark and tow tho
steamor, for she grounded frequently. Soundings
vrerc taken at every few feet, and all the rock®
and bars carefully noted. Few Indians wero seem
as their villages lie in the alluvial bottoms, away
from the barrenness of the river shores ; tho fish
were poor and of but one description, although the
game was plentiful, and “ big horns,” or mountain
sheep, came often down to the slopes to drink.
At the night encampments the men talked around
their blazing fires of home and its far-off associa
tions ; but tho two guides, following tbeir prime
val instincts, invariably wandered away after
receiving their rations, and cooked their food
over some smouldering embers in the mostsecluded
nook. They always came back In the morning at
the.scrcam of the whistle, and sat stolid but quietly
all day.
After a while they entered the Half-Way moun
tains, and could see through the vistas the
fields and villages of the Yumasi These Indians
had a passion for clothing, and evidently despised
their nakedness. They were accompanied in visits
by parties of Chcmehuevie, who carried bows aud
quivers, were predatory in their habits, and proud
of their dishonesty. They all wore sandals, and
were very individual in their manners, regarding
the slow and difficult movements of the boafc-with
contempt, but assisting the explorers at sundry
times. They were punctilious in the fulfilment of
contracts, and often ran a hundred miles and back,
ata trifling charge, with the mails for Fort Yuma.
In February they entered the Mojave country,
where the Indians averaged six feet in height,
often six and a half, and were enormously de
veloped. Some trading was done with these people,
generally in a very summary way—the explorers
fixing the price, and paying in beads, red clot&r
and mirrors. Instead of resenting this delusive
trsmc, rue inuu tiijujmi h, urf laughed heartily
at the discomfited Mojaves. They reached Mo
jave Canon on the 9th of February, entered by &
low purple gateway and a splendid corridor with
ma&uvo red walla. Mountains frowned above,
piled one upon the other, aud seeming to block
the way. The Canon was grand beyond all pre
vious experience. On either side majestic cliffs,
hundreds of feet in height, rose perpendicularly
from the water. As the river wound through the
narrow enclosure, every turn developed some
sublime effeot or startling novelty. Brilliant tints
of purple, green,' red, brown, and white, illumi
sated tbe gtttpsmtons surfaces usd relieved their
sombre monotony. Bar above, clear and distinct
upon the narrow strip of sky, turrets, spires,
jagged statae-like peaks and grotesque pinnacles,
overlooked the deep abyss. The waning day found
them still threading the windings of this wonder
ful defile, and the approach of twilight enhanced
the ivi!il romance of the scenery. The bright colors
faded and blended into a uniform dark gray. The
roots Assumed dim and exaggerated shapes, and
seemed to Hit like giant spectres in pursuit, and re
treat along the shadowy vista. A solemn stillness
reigned in the darkening avenue, broken only by
the plash of the paddles or the cry of a solitary
beroD, startled by their approach from his perch,
on the brink of some overhanging cliff.
-THE HYDROGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, BOTANY, AND SIETEO
ROLOGY OF THE EXPEDITION,
Thcnceforward, through hundreds of miles of
grand scenery and unknown territory, tho expedi
tion pushed steadily. From the very beginning the
geologist, the naturalist, and the hydrographer of the
potty made out their several computations and kept
their diaries, If a strange Indian came into camp
he was sketched and questioned. If a rare pla
teau cr valley, suitable at some distant day for a
town or railroad-site was discovered, it was exam
ined and Heasuredi Minerals of every description
and fossil-impressions in abundance wore collected.
All the tributary streams were explored, and not a
flower upon the mountains was not carefully culled,
classified and named. The channels of the river
were traced for future pilotage, and all the rocks
and sands denoted. The peaks were ascended and
their temperatures ascertained. In fact, all was
done as if, the next year, a great nation was to oc
cupy the toil, build its towns, and construct its
highways. So was the Government prosecuting its
mission of civilization and regeneration, while the
very section most intended to be benefited was
plotting the ruin of a fabric and a happiness that
bad grown through centuries, and was making its
far-off and waste places to blossom and rejoice.
Appended to Lieutenant Ives’ report ia one of the
fullest local geological documents ever published
It is beautifully embellished) and owes its complete
ness to Dr. J. S. Newberry.
PROM THE MOJAVE COUNTRY TO FORT DEFIANCE.
The maiipintention of the exploration had been
to find, if possible, a navigable avenue by way of
the Colorado, to the military posts in New Mexico
and Utah, and to the fertile country surrounding
them. With a little expense in promoting naviga
tion, both objects were found to he feasible, hut the
war will doubtless retird any contemplated im
provement for years to come. The route of the
expedition through the countries of the Mojaves,
Yampois, Halpais, Moguls and Navajo Indians, was
fruitful of inoidont and discovery. The Mojaves,
at first friendly, were afterward distrustful and
disposed to violence. There chief, Jose, was paint
ed black on the occasion of his formal visit to the
Ejlterpme, and he offered Lieutenant ItoS a hand
ful of baked beans, and a pipe, which were en
joyed amid profound and ludicrous silence. Anoth
er chief, Caircok, came over from shore, standing
on a raft, propelled by four warriors, and the
whole tribe swam around the raft. While on ..this
visit one cf the explorers who had false teeth took
them out of his mouth, at which the tribe pressed
around in a sort of stolid agtonitfltiivfli, Most of
these Indians had never seen a white man before.
Two stupendous gorges—the Black Mountain Ca
non and tho Big Caiion—were afterward passed,
and at the latter the whole party were near dying
from want of water. On the 22d of May, 180 S, the
party renched Fort Defiance, having fully accom
plished the objects of their mission without loss of
life, and to the satisfaction of science and the Go
vernment. The practical result of the expedition
will one day be the steamboat navigation of the
ItieColorado for four hundred and twenty-five
miles at a cost of about §13,000 per annum.
An “Egyrtian” Sheriff Poisoned by the
Skcb.s,).— The Jonesboro (III.) Gazette states that
L. D, Craig, sheriff of Johnson comity, was poi
soned by n Becesh at Fort Donelson. Like many
others, Sheriff Craig went up to the fort, after the
battle, to assist in relieving the wounded. Arriving
there, befell into conversation with some of the Se
cession prisoners, in the course of which one esm
plimented him on his devotion to the Union, and
invite<Hiim to take a drink, at the same time draw
ing a Husk. from his pocket. Mr. Craig, not sus
pecting, took a swallow, but immediately remarked
that the liquor was poisoned, end he was a dead
man. The effects of poison were soon manifest, and
Mr. C. died in about two hours. HU body was
taken back to Johnson county for burial. The Ga
zette did not learn the fate of the poisoner. In ad*
dition to this, we may add that our forces found a
lot of poisoned bullets, left behind by the rebels, at
Nashville.
It is stated that when communication be
tween Fort Pulaski and Savannah waa cut off the
ert had only a ten days’ supply of ammunition .
VERY LATE SOUTHERN NEWS.
DATES TO THE 7th INST.
Proceedings of the Rebel Congress.
PROPOSAL TO BUBN THE COTTON AND
TOBACCO.
Foreign Succor to be Asked For,
THE RICHMOND PRESS DESPONDING.
REBEL HUMILIATION CONFESSED.
THE COTTON MUST BE BURNT.
The Sacrifice Necessary.
A NEW COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
GEJSEKAL LEE PROPOSED,
Arrest of More Union Men.
&c.» &c.„ See.
Our Fortress Monroe correspondent furnishes us
with tho Richmond papers of the 7th inst., and
North Carolina journals of the nth. Wo present
extracts from their columns which will servo to
show that a sense of deep humiliation and de
spondency pervades the rebel capital. Tho effect
of their recent defeats, however, has been less
presting then the necessity which noy arises of de
stroying their cotton and tobacco, to prevent its
falling into our hands. Nevertheless, the hope
of foreign interference is still cherished by some of
the Richmond journals, and one of them—the Ex
aminer— asaerts that measures will speedily be
taken by the Cabinet to secure assistance from
abroad. It is generally admitted, in all the South
ern papers we have seen, that recog?iition is hope
less.
Proceedings of the Rebel Congress.
SENATE.
Weone.sday, March 5,1862.
The Sonata assembled at twelve o'clock, and, being
opened with prnytr by the Rev. Mr. Duncan, of tho M.
E. Church, the journal of yesterday was read and ap
pmedv <
Mr. SrAßitow, of Louisiana, from the Committee on
Military Affairs, reported back the House resolutions,
decluriug the sense of Congress in regard to reuniting
with the I'Dited States—solemnly declaring an unaltera
ble DurpOEQ to Buffer all tho calamities of war, rather
than submit to any such alternative—which was read a
third time and passed.
'"‘fJIK ICKiIGSIiIJATIOX OF OFFIOEKS OF THK UXITK INSTATES
Mr. Buuxett also reported adversely to the resolution
for bftlftUeOS duo tko ££nstiB-lAfeers of LonUiana, This
was merely an equitable claim, which would, most pro
perty, be classed with a large number of the claims to be
disposed oJ af» or the war.
Mr. Sk.mmks, of Louisiana, explained to the Senator
that, ar the time of tho secession of Louisiana, a conside
rable Amount of bullion* belonging to the United States,
was retained by tho Louisiana authorities. This might
very probably Lave been held, as it was intended, as an
equitable fund for such claims. But the State, instead of
passing upon those questions, transferred the amount to
the Confederate States bovernmvnt. There was a pecu
liar propriety, he thought, in passing the payment Of
these claims*
Mr. Burnett replied that the reasons given by the
gentleman were insufficient to influence his opinion in
the matter. There waß not a single State not
transferred to the Government cither money or property.
Mr. SsMjrss said that at the time of the secession of
Louisiana, that State made a seizure of about $500,000.
Tt -was found that a large amount was deposited to the
credit of various parties. The State provided for the
paymeut of a large number of the drafts upon this fund,
leaving a balance of about SoOO,QQO. At that time the
State was an independent sovereignty, la the meantime
$190,000 had been collected for customs. No other gta.tq
had transferred money collected for customs while in the
condition of independent sovereignty.
Mr. Maxwell stated that, if action waa to be taken
on this subject* he would state that he wished Florida to
be represented. £ome five or six thousand dollars were
collected' at Pensacola, and transferred to the Confede
ral© states.
The J’uesidbst (Mr. Stephens). The same case with
Georgia. .
A motion was made to recommit the subject, which was
flntt -jiVlfWw «M.T—..
Mr. SrAiU'.ow ofiered a resolution that the Secretary of
the Treasury he requested to inform the Senate, what
amount of money has been transferred to the Confederate
Government by each State.
Mr. Semmes moved to amond by adding “and what
•'amount of property.”
Mr. Sparrow Baid that be had only offered tho resolu
tion in order to ascertain a certain fact, but if it was to
be kllleo by Indirection, he would withdraw it.
The resolution being withdrawn, tho Senate then went
into executive session.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Tho Sous? met At 11 A. Hi, and was opened with
prayer by Rev. Dr. Ford, of Kentucky.
Proceedings of yesterday read and approved,
Mr. Bonham asked leave of the Houso to take up the
Senate resolution pledging the Government to maintain
the territorial integrity of the Confederacy.
The resolution was passed.
BURNING OF COTTON AND TOBACCO.
The bill reported by the Military Committee for the
burniug of cotton, tobacco, and other property, which
may bo about to fall into the hands of the enemy, hav
ing come up in order for consideration.
fifr. Milks said he did desire to detain tbO HOUSO
long. The subject of the destruction of cotton and to
bacco to prevent it from foiling into tbe hands of our
enemies bad only engaged tho attention of the committee
in one particular view—the looking to the burning, and
leaving the details for after consideration.
What we wanted nptf jg fßCrgetfr ftCtiOHi
Mr. Foote coDcurrea witli tbo gentleman from Soutti
Carolina in the opinion of expediting matters in every
way but he thought that his original billy for
which the report of the Military Committee was a sub
stitute, waß likely to be a much more effective plan for
attaining tho purpose. Tbe bill of tho committee was
not cal} lesa effective tUau Uls btll> bui It waa not likely
to have any effect at all, Jt would, in his opinion, help
in no way whatever the attainment of the object it may
have in view. It looks to the burning of all cotton and
tobacco that may be about to fall inte the hands of the
enemy.
If this clame is adopted tbo bill can have no offset.
It Ia with wfeffeiitd t<j Ah action as about to take place,
but which it may turn out n&vot does take place, and if
it never does take place how can it be about to take place?
In this view of the case, only those whose property was
actually invaded, after tlie burning of their stores, would
ever receive compensation, lie would recommend to the
ge&tlemat non dormicnlibus ngu atljuz
rant.
Mr. Smith said he would like the gentleman to speak
English.
Mr. Curry said that, if there wa3 any man in Ala
bama who was so avaricious that he would not, with his
&UII Lae lla, pill th£ tbfiL to every lock of Ilia cotton
rather than that the Lincoln Government should get it,
ha hoped the Yankees would bum him. He offered, as
an amendment, to strike out the words “ when it is about
tolall;” also, the words “other property which may be
useful,’ after the words “cotton and tobacco ” The ob
ject of the enemy was to get what bail now become a high
military necessity, and it is to our interest to prevent
them from getting it. He hud expected some bill of in
demnity would be drafted by the Military Committee.
This bill embraced a very wide fie’d in specifying other
property, for there was some properly itt 9W limits OWIlt
eu by tlie French Government.
Mr. Conrad was not exactly satisfied with either the
original bill or that reported by the committee. Wo
should not wage war against any foreign Government
except that of the United States.
Mr. Boyck, of South Carolina, would call the attention
of the House to Hie fact, that if wa keep the enemy from
obtaining these supplies of cotton and tobacco, they will
soon exhaust all their resources; and one great object is
to to strike at the vital points Their debt now ia a
thousand millions; next year it will be a thousand
millions more. It might be supposed that the second
ym the Yr»wW Us Isas, but their currency will
depreciate, and thus the expenses increase. If we let
them find our cotton and tobacco whenever they force us
to evacuate a place, they will attain the very object of the
war.
Mr. Pryor said he accorded his hearty and cordial sup-.
port to the measure of the gentleman from South Caro
lina (lilies.) Unless some such menus as these are adopt
ed, the best of our great staples, our peculiar produc
tions, will become the prey of Yankee enterprise and
Yankee rapacity, and what wIU be the consequence ? By
just so much that you will replenbh the empty exchequer
of your adversary; by so much will bis hand be strength
ened for OUT Uor is this all. I'very pound
of tobacco, much more every pound of cotton, thrown
upon the world, to that extent relaxes your hold on fo
reign Powers, diminishes the chances of your recogni
tion, and alienates the South from all diplomatic inter
course and alliance!
Mr. llkiskell Quoted the authority of Vattel and
OrotiuH in reference to the duty of tho Government to re
munerate iu citizens for losses sustained.
Mr. Davis said the Government was not able to in
demnify the citizens f<tf ftU ftB ITOttld be BUS*
tained.
Mr. Milks said that on tho issue of this bill hung all
that was dear to us on earth —liberty, happiness, and
personal security for the future*, and he was not Bur
prised fey differences of opinion in reference to it. He
Imd been prevented hitherto from offering a resolution
from the Military Committee, which was to refer the bill
to the Committee on the Judiciary, who should propose a
bill to provide for compensation of loyal citizens, whose
property may be destroyed by military authority.
Mr. Perkins called the question on tlie subject, which
\m urt tiuMMoedi
Mr Hei&kell called tbe previous Question. Hot sus
tained.
' The amendment of Mr. Gurry, allowing compensa
tion for the destruction of cotton and tobacco only, was
rejected.
Ur, B93UAM offered an amendment to strike out all
after cotton and tobacco, and insert wool, rice, and other
grain, long forage, and all military and naval stores.
Kejectcd.
Hr. Barksdale offered an amendment, adding a sec
tion to the bill in reference to compensation. Bejected.
Mr. Chilton offered an amendment Unit bo compensa
tion shall be received for property which shall be re
moved to exposed towns or other places after the passage
of tbe bill.
.The amendment doing away with all compensation was
then adopted.
fiir. Gonrad moved to lay tbe bill on the table.
Mr. Footk moved to adjeum, which was agreed to,
and at four o’clock tbo £ ouse adjourned.
G. A. T.
Tn tbe Senate, Mr. Barnwell, of South Carolina, from
the Q&mmittoe on Fimmee, r&po»tsd & bill fix!»s tho pay
of Senators and lleprosentatlves at $2,500 per annum,
and mileage at twenty cents per mile; the President j>ro
fern, of the Senate, when acting as such, to receive (he
l>sy of the Vice President; and the Speaker of the House
to receive double the pfty of Wf 9tliW ilivraffvr Of that
hod,'.
The bill wsh amended, on motion of Mr. Oldham,
of Texan, liy striking out $2,300, ami Inserting $3,000;
and further amended by providing for the deduction from
tho pay the amount of each day’s absence without
leave, and paused.
The pay of the officers of .the Senate was fixed as fol
lows : Secretary, $2,500 per anuuiu; Assistant Secretary,
$2,000; two Clerks, $1,500 each; Sergeaut-at-arms,
$2,000; Doorkeeper, $1,500; Assistant Doorkeeper,
$1,200 —each payable Quarterly, in adrance—aadjpago
$2 per diem.
A message in writing, from his Excellency the Presi
dent. by his private' secretary, was receive)!, and tlie Se
nate resolved itself into executive session.
In tbe House of Bepresentatlves yesterday, a resolu
tion was introduced to adjourn the sessions or Congress
ou the 31st March, and was laid on the table.
Mr. Buitr, of Virginia, offered a resolution authorizing
lIOUSE RESOLUTIONS.
UOVEIISMEXT.
TDCKSDAY’S I’ItOCEEniNGS.
. PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1863.
the Committee on Postal Affairs to take such action as to i
modify the law and exclude from the number of military :
oxempts all clerks in post offices, as well as certain post- i
umntera in charge of minor offices. The resolution was
rtforrod.
Mr. Pryor, of Virginia, introduced a lull to continue,
in office major and brigadier generals of the Provisional'
army, which waa ordered to be printed, and; made the
special order for Monday next.
Mr. Pryor also offered a bill lor tbs suppression of
drunkenness, which was ordered to be printed.
Tho Hgueo had also under consideration the bill for tho
destruction of cot'on, tobacco, and other property, as re
ported by the Military Committee, winch passed—yeas
71, nays 11.
The bill reads as follows:
A bill to provide for tlie destruction of cotton, tobacco.
And other property, when the same shall be about to
fail into tlie howls of tbe enemy.
• The Congress of the Confederate States do enact*
That it shall be tbe duty of all military commanders, in
the service of the Confederate States, to destroy all cot
ton, tobacco, or other property that may be useful to the
enemy, if the same cannot be safely removed, whenever,
in their judgment, the said cotton, t.obacco, and other
property is about to fall into the hands of the enemy.
Mr. Miles, from tho Committee on Military Affairs,
offered a resolution instructing tho Committed on the Ju
diciary to inquire into the expediency of reporting a bil
for the Winueu&ation of all loyal ritlacna whoae ceUon,
tobACCo, and other property may bo destroyed by tho
military or by themselves, to pi event its falling into the
hands of tho enemy. The resolution was agreed to—yeas
01, noes 19. , .
Mr. Swan, from the Military Committee, reported a
bill for the regulation of passports, as a substitute fpr
a bill referred to tho eonunjtt?o. .4FhH-bilfM&dsirohl*
for the supervision of 'pa&sp'ofta ‘byT.the^Secifitiu-y.of
State, in tho case of persons leaving tli*s CoftTedirate •
States. i
Mr. Footk reported back a bill from tbc Committee on
Foreign Affairs for the appointment of commissioners to
attend the WijiliJ’a Fair, in London, on let Mnj next.
ITo risked that ft be laid upon the table, and the com
mittee discharged from its further consideration.
Mr. F. also reported a resolution asking information of
tbe President concerning the presence of certain foreign
in Hampton Ronds, and their objects, if not
incompatible with the public interest.
The Rebel States Humiliated—No Hope
for Recognition.
[From the Richmond Examiner.]
The Confederate States have been humiliated.
The disasters at Roanoke Island and Fort Donelson
were not the sources of the humiliation; for that of
the former, all the circumstances considered, was,
perhaps, inevitable, and the latter compensated by
the vigor of tbe resistance and the loss of the enemy
—jt>oth. were among the natural and ordinary conse
quences of any great war. But we have been de
graded by sitting, through our representatives,
upon the steps of English royalty and soliciting the
English Government to recognize us. Herein we
forgot our own dignity as a powerful and wealthy
nation ; for had we been true to ourselves—had wo
fallen back originally upon tho weapons we could
have effectually wielded, and should wield now—
we could have compelled that haughty nation to
accede to every reasonable wish.
FEDERAL ATROCITY SUMMED UP.
The paths of our enemy have been marked with
ruin, barbarism, and shameless atrocities. Ho has
laid cities and villages in waste; stripped widows
and orphans of death's legacies; overthrown muni
cipalities and. State Governments; imprisoned citi
zens without warrant, and regardless of age or sex;
destroyed commerce; beggared the mech&nio and
mfinuf&otueoF * &imod at jud Ictal murder by calling
privateering piracy ; boarded neutral vessels vi et
armis , and arrested the sacred persons of ambassa
dors; violated the law of nature and of nations by
endeavoring to destroy, the harbors of the South,
, and shut our people out from all intercourse with
'humanity, by an unheard-of barbarism; ripped
open the knapsaoks of our captured soldiery,
robbing them of clothing, moneys, necessaries of
life, and even of the instruments of their surgeons.
From the commencement of this war, the enemy
bare been a foe to mankind, religion, and civiliza
tion.
ENGLAND TOO LUKEWARM.
But, in the face of all these public outrages—
many of which were aimed against her own dig
nity, honor, and independence—England has been
a silent, if not an approving, spectator; nay, while
proclaiming neutrality, she has imparted a continu
ous negative support to the oppressor and trans
gressor. If we except the case of Messrs. Mason
and Slidell, and, perhaps, that of the “ stone block
ade,” she has not ODCO romonstrated with. the Go*
vermnenfc of that usurper, under whoso authority
public and private laws have been violated, and
the ordinary amenities of life forgotten. The
United States have been permitted to clandestinely
purchase arms and ammunition in England, and
shi£ them from the porta of tk&t oouhtry, while a,
similar privilege has been strenuously denied’ to
the Confederate States, and the steps of their agents
jealously watched. Even a paper blockade has
been permitted to exist, and has been as sacredly
observed as if it was effootive; albeit it is the
dicta of international law, mainly proclaimed by
English jurists, that such is contrary to the code
which regulates the intercourse of nations.
NO HOPE OF RECOGNITION.
Farewell to expectations of aid from across the
Atlantic. We must become the arbiters of our na
tional fortunes. Wewpust buckle on thjg.
eamestaeM, a relentleaß aha aeadly war
upiru our Often foe. Meanwhile, we should teach
those who are not with us that we owe to them, no
obligations! and that wo proparly appreciate their
ambiguous neutrality. It is notorious that, ficom
tobacco raised in the Confederate States, the Eiiro-
Jiean Governments derive millions of dollars annual
yin revenues. Not one leaf of that plant should,
for the future, be cultivated until that day arrives
when we are recognized among the family of na
tionalities. It is equally notorious that there
are over seven millions of human souls in
Europe wholly dependent for livelihood upon
the successful culture of the cotton plant;
the greater moiety of whom are British sub
jects. Now, England boasts that she can procure
a sufficient supply of this staple elsewhere; but let
the people of our Confederacy desist from the
cultivation of this despised ootton plant for one or
two years —and they can well afford to do so —and
Old England and New England will be visited
with ruin, chaos, and revolution. Our planters can
profitably direct their attention to tho growth of
other commodities, and they should immediately
act upon a concerted resolution to produce nothing
from the womb of tbe soil until our tribulation is
passed* but that whioh is actually necessary to the
support of the cause. The consuls of foreign Go
vernments should be promptly dismissed from our
midst, for, under present circumstances, their pre
sence is a double insult to our pride; every man
capable of bearing arms should meet the foe hand
to hand, and foot to foot, resolved to conquer or be
exterminated ; and every town, village, city, and
blade of grass threatened with pollution by the ad
vancing foe should be literally destroyed.
Southern credit ana Finances.
Notwithstanding all the malignant assaults of
Northern editors, we are gratified, says the Charles
ton Courier, rather than surprised, in finding that
the financial credit of the Confederate States and
of South Carolina is maintained abroad above ques
tion or suspicion.
We hare seen'a letter, under date of January
IS, ISG2, from a leading bank in Liverpool, au
thorizing drafts to the amount of £20,000 sterling,
OF, In round numbers, $100,003. The letter ia ad
dressed to the president of a bank in this city, and
that by no means one of the largest or most promi
nent banks in capital or resources, but a bank
which is, has been, and will be, ready for all en
gagemenie.
This is also a bank which has no deposit or crodit
with the Liverpool bank which has made this flat
tering offer.
This proposal unsolicited and unexpected, is a
gratifying tribute to the financial facility and re
sources of Charleston and South .Carolina, and an
additional expression of the good will and favor
borne by many of the bankers, capitalists, and
merchants of England towards the Confederate
Status
The Draft in Virginia.
Colonel J. J. Evans, of the Nineteenth Virginia
Regiment, mode his report to the Adjutant General.
We find in it the following statistics:
Number of persons who failed to report them
selves for enrolment, and who, by the term 3
of the law, are enrolled or drafted among the
first levies 631
Number of persons who have reported them
selves for enrolment, and who olaim no ex
emption. 561
Number of persons who claim to be exempt for
the following causes:
Employed on Government work 315
Fhysioally disabled.;..236
Dave sent substitutes for the war. 119
Holding office under Confederate States 66
Holding office under the State of Virginia.... 29
Employed on railroads 33
Police officers r. 3tt
firemen ~......., 29
Bank officers. 9
Ministers of the Gospel 3
. Total, iiiiiiii,Mi,,,ii))iii,ii)), i.. 2,103
“Less Officers and more Brains.”
The Biohmond Examiner of Thursday has the
following editorial in its columns:
Tbo new office now proposod in Congress appears
to be dictated by the aotual wants of the service.
A Secretary of War is found insufficient for all the
duties of the department at the present period.
Dut there are secretaries and secretaries. Twenty
5452 Otaries of one kind would not sufficefor the little
army of San Marino; hut one Lourois, one Carnot,
one Chatham has been found all that was necessary
for some of the greatest complications of military
affairs that this world has seen.
At present, it may be found advisable to sepa
rate the duties of the War Department, and con
fide a portion of them to a general competent to
understand and direct the campaign at large. But,
if any good is to eome out of the new office, it must
be filled fry as able, gsd especially by an energetic
man, who will make war in a stylo different from
that whloh has hitherto characterized the opera
tions of the Southern Confederacy. All will de
pend on the choice of the man. If the command
ing .general ia only another minnow in the pond,
another dummy, a respectable bubble, an eoho, an
amiable courtier, the position of the country will
not be altered by the creation of a new offico, the
employment of a new set of clerks, and the ver
biage of ft new set of official documents.
What the Confederate Government lacks is not
more offices, but more brains. Whether brains
come to it under the label of aoommanding general,
a reorganized Cabinet, or simply a new Secretary of
War, does not matter gt ftlt. The foresight that
perceives, hut is not appalled by coming misfor
tunes ; tbe hard sense, the vigorous command, the
courage that flameß up from defeat, and rebounds
unhurt from disaster; the manly confidence in
ethers, the strength of body as well as of mind,
which supports and renews them all—these are the
qualities that are necessary to the leaders of a cause,
like ours, in dangers like those that press hard upon
us. The men or man who possesses them is the fit
companion, counsellor, and agent, of the President
now; and whether he is called the commanding
general or something else, will not mntter.
The Whereabouts of John Bell
The Atlanta Commonwealth says that John Bell
would not remain in Nashville to bo insulted or
imprisoned by the insolent invaders of his State,
but is safe, along with the rear of the retreating
army. It is reported that all he possessed about
Nashville is lost, the vandals having destroyed a
large establishment in which he was interested, if
net sole owner.
an Invasion for Cotton.
[From jWßichmon d Examiner.}
✓:.Who hasread without deep mortification the late
rOrder of tho Federal Government that “ the cotton
just taken in Tennessee, to the amount of $lOO,OOO,
shall be forwarded to New York?” Fifty thou
sand bales, it is said, are already in Now York,
brought from Port Royal; another quantity was
secured by the gunboats ascending the Tennessee
river; now it is certain that a hundred thousand
dollars’ worth—twenty-five hundred hales—have
been secured on the fiiafepn trance into Tennessee.
EXPLANATION OJfcf@Dll ACTIVE CAMPAIGN.
This war has been made becauso of ootton. It is
indispensable to the commercial fabric of the United
States. If we had no cotton and no tobacco, the
North would not have put 600,000 men in the field
and spent three millions of dollars every day for
our subjugation. European nations have become
clamorous, and tbe Governments gf France and
England press upon Lincoln for the immediate ful
filment of his promises to seize and deliver over cot
ton to their, merchants and manufacturers at a less
price and in less time than they oould get it from
the planters even with open ports. Hence the hur
ried and premature comma; cement of this cam
paign by Buell, McClellan, and Burnside, beforo
their preparations were Completed, contrary to
their intentions, and against their predictions—in
the month of February instead of the month of
April. This is the explanation of the sudden start
0f.2h0 Federal army. Europe would be patient no
longer, and the Untied States found that it must
absolutely do something at once, or run the risk of
great dangers both at home and abroad.
COTTON MAY BE DESTROYED.
To get our cotton is this invasion made* and, So
far as they have come, they have actually secured
cotton— an article which may be destroyed in any
quantity by a hand no stronger than a child of five
years old, with the simple, easily furnished, and
cheap machinery of a box of friction ffl&tchcs- Yet
the owners of that product have been vehement in
their declarations that they would burn every
shred rather than leave it to be the booty of the
enemy. What is the explanation of tho fixed fact
that some cotton, though not, indeed, a considera
ble quantity* is actually in the possession of the
United States troops ?
Bo the proprietors of the cotton get any money
for it ? Not one dime; not one cont; not the thou
sandth part of a cent. Cotton and tobacco are de
creed contraband of war, and, as such, become the
lawful spoil of the invader. If he succeeds in
over-running the entire South, the cotton he finds
will pay part of his expenses; at any rate he will
and does take every fibre of it to himself. Wheth
er it is burnt by the proprietor’s own hand, or
whether it falls into the hand of the enemy, the
I<?is is equal to the proprietor*
COTTON DEARER THAN LIFE,
In the first case he has tho better chance to save
himself; for, if the Confederacy triumphs, the oot
ton destroyed by its own people to thwart the foe
will be duly paid for.
The explanation of its inconsistency is found in
the construction of the human mind. Persons who
have a certain amount of reflection and principle,
prefer to sacrifice their lives rather than live to in
cur greater misfortunes than death; many others
havo sufficient intelligence to destroy their pro
perty fftspl.they perceive that it will be employed
to their,ownlhnrt Put, with a large portion of the
bumanStoe, the instincts are stronger than reason.
TheEStwil] hold to their lives, and keep their pro
porty long after it is either rational or .useful to do
so. To tbe last instant of existence they will hope
that something -will save them. They cannot burn
their own cotton. That seems to them the end of
the world. It is “to pauperize themselves and
their childrenand it is u3oletoto show them that
the pauperization is far bettor secured by leaving
thoir property to be taken by those who will esr
tainly never pay a vent for it, than to destroy it
themselves, and rnnthe chance of their Country’s
remuneration. jy l ! rf ’
THE COTTON MUST BE BURNT!
Yet it is clear that the very first measure of de
fence iB to place the objeot of this invasion beyond
the hope ot the invader. He overruns the country
to take our cotton ; let the cotton be burnt, and the
chief motive to overrun is destroyed with it. The
cost to ourselves will be great, but not so great as
its actual seizure by Lincoln’s soldiers.
WHO IS TO DESTROY IT ?
If done effectually, it must be done by tho mili
tary power, and with the general authority of the
Government. If done at all, it must be done
before the enemy is ou the road to the depot. In
the eenfusien which fellows & lest battle Is not the
time when such acts are possible. The army is
then occupied with its retreat and its stores. If
the cotton and tobacco are to be burnt, the burn
ing must precede the slightest reverse in the region
where the destruction is necessary. The entrance
of the enemy’s columns into any State of the. Co
nfederacy should be the signal for applying the torch
to those staples for which they are come. It is now
possible for the agents of the Government to take
possession of these products in Southern Tennessee,
at Richmond, and in other places threatened by
ti.-invasion; they can give certificates of that
taking.-to. the owners ; and arrange the material
for combustion. Then it will be easy to finish their
work-in time to do it well.
The moral effect of this resolute and sensible
proceeding wouid be incalculably great, . Twenty
victories like that on Manassas Plains would not
help the Southern Confederacy so much. The sub
ject is now before Congress, and will be the test of
that body’s merit. Whether there is sufficient
unity and energy in Congress and the present
Government to do anything more than discuss it,
may be, doubted.
The Dress of- the Federal and Rebel
Soldiers.
The Richmond Dispatch, of Friday, has a long
editorial on the dress of the Federal and rebel
soldiers. The editor concludes thus:
The ability of the Yankees to dress themselves in
handsome stylo is all due to the South, whose sta
ples they have used to make themselves rich, and
indulge in all manner of luxurious living. This
matter of dress is a matter of taste, even when peo
ple are not shut out from the sources of supply.
She Nertthfis always been in the habit of putting
all it was worth on its hack and in externals,
whilst the South has been content with a plain
style of living in everything. The one is a vul
garian who, the moment he emerges from po
verty, goes all lengths in display, believing that
it is externals which constitute a gentleman ; the
other, being conscious of elevated sentiments and
certain of Ins position, is not, perhaps, as careful as
he might be of the outward insignia of superiority.
No one, however, can, by any possibility, mistake
protenderg and parvenues for gentleman, in spite
of all their fine feathers. From their representative
man, the railsplitter, down to the lowest of the
jail birds whom they have let loose upon our soil,
they have exhibited none of the qualities which,
constitute a gentleman—courtesy, magnanimity,
truth, honor, All the fine dressing in tho world
can no more disguise a blackguard so that he shall
pass for a gentleman, than the trappings of a war
horse can hide the long ears of a mule, or convert
his dissonant bra; into the “Ha! ha!” with
which the fiery charger described by Job hails
the shouting of the o&pt&ias aad the reef of the
battle.
As to the miserable penny-a-liners of Yankeo
dom, who make themselves merry over the plain
dress of the Southern soldier, we cannot possibly
elevate them te the dignity of contempt. The sona
of our Southern farmers, who have never known
what it was to draw a dependent breath, and who
have cheerfully impoverished themselves for the
vindication of great principles, are beyond the
reach Cf these galley Slaves of the mercenary Yan
kee press, who have never known what it was to
have a free and independent sentiment in the whole
course of their lives, and who, for a decent suit of
clothes and a daily allowance of codfish and pota
toes, would fell their oountry to despotism. their
souis to the devil, and congratulate themselves
with justice that they had made a good bargain,
How the Virginians Try to Escape the
The muster rolls just handed in to the colonels of
the Nineteenth and One hundred and seventy-ninth
regiments are the most ridiculously carious docu
ments it has ever been our luck to encounter. In
their anxiety to get clear of militia duty, hundreds
of tho men hare attached to their names the reaord
of some permanent injury or horrible distemper.
The rolls are thus made complete catalogues of all
the ills that flesh is heir to. The great number of one
eyed and deaf men, the prevalence of ohronic diar
rhoea, and rheumatism in all its varieties, is truly as
tonishing. Some parties, who perhaps eeuld think
of no particular affliction, have stated in general and
comprehensive terms, that they were “ physically
disabled,” and in “bad health.” One old gentleman,
who avowed himself a hypochondriac, actually ap
pended his will and codicil to his signature, Great
numbers have signed themselves " exempted by the
Governor,” and numerous citizens, though only
perhaps making a pair of shoes for a clerk in the
Treasury Department, have followed their names
With the imposing announcement, “employed oa
Government work.”
Jt is our opinion that this city has already contri
buted her quota to the army; but we hope these
muster-rolls will be published, that the woyid nay
know the men who would shirk muster themselves,
and only parade (in many instances assumed) dis
eases when their country calls for soldiers.—Exa
miner.
The Forger of the foafederate Notes
Captured.
It will be recollected that the woman, Charlotte
Gilman, examined as a witness before Commissioner
Watson, on Monday last, testified to having seen a
young man, Whose n&ma We did not then mention,
in the act of counterfeiting Confederate notes; and,
further, that she had promised to meet this young
man in Petersburg on Monday evening. That young
man’s name is George W. Flam. On hearing the
evidence of the woman, measures were immediately
taken to insure hie arrest, which was successfully
done at Petersburg. The prisoner was brought to
this city yesterday morning, and carried to the
Secretary of the Treasury. In answer to some
questions of tho Treasurer, Siam avowed that he
had never been guilty of counterfeiting, and that he
had been arrested solely on suspicion.
Elam is a young man, perhaps twenty-two years
of age, quite handsome, and of good address. On
his person, at the time of his arrest, were found a
pocket-book containing one hundred and thirty dol
lars in genuine money, a memorandum book, a filthy
doggerel song, some scraps from newspapers, the
stencil with which he is described by Charlotte Gil
man to bRTO committed the forgeries, a box of por>
oussion caps, and a pistol powder flask. No money
known to be counterfeit was found upon him. Cur
tis Pidgeon (whose ease we have reported) stated that
Elam had told him be would never be arrested alive,
aid it was therefore expected that he would be
found armed to the teeth. He had about him, how
ever, nothing hut the articles we have mentioned,
having, no doubt, left his weapons at whatever
house be was staying in Petersburg. The trunk the
prisoner bad telegraphed for was brought to the
Commissioner’s offioe, hut has not yet been opened.
It may, though we think it unlikely, contain such
of the notes as Elam had not had occasion to affix
the signatures. ,
The memorandum book WO bfiYO mentioned Con
tained a number of entries, some written, but most
ly in figures, and nearly all of both kinds incompre
hensible except to the writer himself. On one leaf
we read these words. “On Sunday shoved three
910.” On another leaf was inscribed this legend,
Whereby, doubtless, hangs a tale : “ Went out to
look tor Lottie (Charlotte Gilman ?) and spent_a_
thousand dollars.” Elam had ro-enli3ted for tho
war, and had bis furlough with him, on tho back
of which was written : * £ Ho is therefore entitled
to transportation.” Thiscarelessly worded supor
scription accounts for tbe facility with which Elam
has travelled on tbo various trains between this
city and Norfolk. From what we have been able
to learn of Elam’s history, ho was born in Rich
mond. has served his time at lithography, antj gjRCC
the war has, for a short time, been employed in
one of the lithographic establishments in this city.
The facts elicited on the further examination of
this case before tho Commissioner will be duly re
ported.
Gen* Sidney Johnston’s Movements.
The Atlanta (Ga.) Confederacy , in making the
announcement that the army under General A.
Sidney Johnston had fallen back from Murfrees
boro’ and Columbia, Tcnn., to Decatur Ala., says:
W© do not look upon this with any degree of
alarm, or special concern, whatever. It is not be
cause wo are unable to hold Murfreesboro’ or many
other places botween there and Decatur, but of
choice, and we predict the fruits of this judicious
movement will be manifest to every one in due
season, when all will acknowledge and approve it.
If the onemy will only attempt to follow, it is all
wo ask.
We have assurances from other sources that Gen.
Johnston is making the very best disposition possi
ble of tbe forces under his command.
Governor Brown, of Georgia, and the
Distilleries.
Governor Brown, of Georgia, has issued a procla
mation, ordering each distiller in that State to de
sist absolutely from the manufacture of ardent spi
rits after the 15th day of March, 1562. The super
interest gf the State road is forbidden to transport
any whisky over that road, and other railroad su
perintendents are requested to do likewise. Ia
case of distillers refusing to obey this order, their
stills are to be seized and sent to Home, Ga., to be
manufactured into cannon ; and all liquor brought
near military encampments is to bo emptied upon
the ground.
Rebel Telegraphic Reports from the West.
The Richmond Examiner of Thursday has the
following telegraphic ncw3 in its columns:
Memphis, March 3. —Jonas Leilbetts, who fur
nished the Union flag to the Federal* at Fayette
ville, Arkansas, and who pointed out the leading
Secessionists and their property in that place, has
been arrested by our troops, and was brought to
Vafa Ruren, in irons, on Friday last.
The latest advices from New Madrid represent
that the Federal army, 20,000 strong, is within two
day’s march of that point. A skirmish occurred on
Saturday with the advance Federal guard of over
1,000 cavalry and about two hundred under Gen.
Jeff. Thompson. The small force under Thompson
was driven in. The Federal loss was twenty-live.
The Confederates arc in large force at New Ma
drid, and they expect to whip the Federal there.
The latest advices from Nashville represent that
only three Union, flags are flying in that city. The
Lincoln soldiers are surprised and chagrined on
account of the little sympathy exhibited by the
people.
Captain Morgan captured ninety of the Federate
on Thursday night, and every night Federal pickets
are either killed or captured. The Federal pickets
now extend their operations to Franklin, twenty
miles south of Nashville.
A skirmish oocurred at a locality called Savan
nah, near Eastporb, on Friday last, in which eigh
teen Federate, who had landed from their gun*
boats, were killed. Four were killed on our side.
General A. S. Johnston is falling back at a con
venient point, so as to be in supporting distance of
the Charleston and Memphis Railroad.
A battle is expected to take place at Boston
Mountain at a very early day.
Memphis, March ■£• —W e have reports from New
Madrid up to* Saturday. The Federal army was
then stated to be thirty miles off, and advancing.
Their advance guard was within five miles of New
Madrid. N o fighting had occurred up to Saturday.
The latest intelligence received from Nashville
St&tCS that the Fodfef&l troops in the city are con
ducting themselves with marked propriety. All
the Confederate soldiers on furlough have been ar
rested. A company belonging to Colonel Bates’
regiment was arrested on Thursday while cross
ing the river and making their homs r
company consisted of forty men.
Two Federal flags were flying—one on the Capi
tol and the other on the court nouse.
A very few stores are open. No arrests of pri
vate citizens have been made.
MuKibiitg, March 4.—Reinforcements are rapid
ly coining forward for the defence of the Missis
sippi Valley. «
General Johnston has fallen back to Decatur,
Alabama.
The Federal Troops at Salisbury, N. c.
A correspondent, writing from Salisbury, N. C.,
to the Raleigh Standard , says:
I understand that one of the Federal prisoners
confined in this place was hung by his comrades,
sight before last* tor using strong anti-Lincoln
doctrine—that he intended to remain in the South
when released, and battle for its institutions, in
stead of being under the dominion of Lincoln k
Co- He was resoued from death by the timely in
terference of some of the guard, who heard his sup
plications, Ac. f
Gen. Price made a Major General.
The Riohmond Dispatch of Friday says
“We are informed that Sterling Price has been
promoted to a major general, and will be assigned
to duty in Missouri. This is unquestionably a good
appointment, for Gpn. Price has shown himself a
daring and capable offioer. ’ 7
Arrests for Disloyalty, &c.
The Richmond Dispatch contains the annexed
The following parties were arrested yesterday:
William Williams, for disloyalty; John Findsley
and Heinrioh Frtechcorn, for selling liquor, and
Daniel Bitter, superintendent of the Monticeilo
House, by order of Captain Samuel Maccubbia,
chief of the provost m&rsh&l-i police,* by detectives
Shaw, Hicks, Carter, Hammond, O’Brien, and
Roach. They found two Union flags, and took
possession of the papers, letters, and hooks belong
ing to the German Turners* Society. On entering
the assembly room of the Turners, the officers found
a figure of the Goddess of Liberty painted on the
wall, with Union colors and shield, with the words
underneath of “Hats off!” Besides the parties
above named, a number of soldiers were arrested.
Confederate News from Earope.
The Petersburg Express says:
A gentleman in this city has reoeived, per the
Confederate steamer Nashville , from a friend in
London, an interesting letter, from which we have
been kindly permitted to make the following ex
tract :
“ The Trent affair retarded rather than hastened
the raising of the blockade of our ports. The
measure, I have the best reasons for believing, was
agreed upon some weeks ago between England
and France —the former Power to take the initia
tive. The settlement of the Trent difficulty, on
terms so disgraceful to the Lincoln Government,
renders it somewhat indelicate for her, in view of
such a triumph, now to do so. lam certain, how
ever, that it will occur soon. All Europe will be
united upon the subject.”
tVe are not authorized to use names, hut we feel
at liberty to say tbat the above comes from high
authority, and from one as likely to be posted m
public matters as any other man in the British
-realm.
“Lassoing a Yankee.”
The Dispatch of Friday relates the following uq
der the above head :
Some days ago *ao of th 4 TeSis Kafigera in Kcd
tiioky, whilst out on a scouting expedition, rode
suddenly and unexpectedly into the presence of a
Federal pioket. Before he had time to cock his
trusty rifle the picket brought his Minnie to bear on
him, and ordered him to surrender. The Ranger
felt that he was m a fix—he was fairly in for it, and
could not do anything more than to throw down his
gun with the best grace possible. Having done so,
the picket stooped to get it, when, in an instant, the
Ranger’s lasso was thrown around him, and he felt
himself dragged along as fast as a horse at fall gal
lop could carry him. The pioket yelled, but it was
of no use—the Ranger had him to his heart’s con
tent. The Ranger returned, got his own and the
picket’s gun, and proceeded with his prisoner into
camp. The Yankee was badly hurt in the drag
ging, hut It taught him a useful lesson. When lie
gels loose, and meets a ranger again, he will know
something of the “ropes.”
A Rebel Dash.
The Charleston Mercury contains the following
in its columns, which it says is received from a
gentleman from Florida. No doubt tho whole af
fair is a myth, or, if not, it will bo considerably
changed in its aspect when the Federal accounts
are received:
The Yppkees, who hold Cedar Roys, have been
in the habit 0) sending out barges with armed oreirs
for various purposes, fiofflo flays since some Con
federate soldiers, not having the preeepts of the
defensive policy in mind, determined to lay in am
bush for one of these Federal boating parties. So
they loaded their rifles with hall cartridges, and,
after fording bayous and crossing areeks, finally
ensconced themselves behind a convenient sand
hill, where they lay in wait. Soon after two barges,
with “ the flag’ ’ flying, approached quite near, and
the riflemen, at a given signal, poured a deadly
rellsy into «a«i &9sh ?®??ear of they
reloaded and gave them another round. Upon a
close observation, they found that only four oars
men remained mono boat and but two in the other.
Ab each boat had come up with ten oarsmen, the
inference is that fourteen Yankees were “hurt.”
Deposit of Anns in the Virginia Ordnance
Department.
[lrcm the Richmond Dispatch.) -
Yesterday, a largo number of fire-arms wore
handed in by our citizens at the Ordnance Depart
ment of Virginia, corner of Seventh and Carey
streete. All these arms, and all such as may be
hereafter brought in, whioh are private property,
we learned yesterday at the armory, will be paid
for by the State. The payment, as may be seen by
an announcement in another column, will com
mence in a few days. In consequence of the great
rush of our citizens to deposit their arms at the
armory, it was found impossible to pay for thorn ou
the spot, for it would be done in suoh a hurry as to
oreate the risk of undervaluing or overvaluing the
arms. Every arm fit for serviee, either of cavalry
or infantry, will be received and paid for.
While we were at the armory, yesterday, we no
ticed a large additional number of the local forae
receiving their arms, by order of Gov. Letohor.
Truly, Virginia has done wonders, and is still unti
ringly exerting herself in this war. Hor supply of
arms aeema to be inexhaustible; and we know that
the Executive of the State exercises a most sound
judgment and unfailing energy in issuing arms and
providing for the requirements of tke war.
One fact we learned at the armory yesterday, of
which we before had no idea, and that is, that no
loss than six or eight different factories are engaged
in peroussioning anas for the State, under the super
intendence of the Ordnance Department of Virginia.
Hie extent of the work done it would not be pru
dent to make public, but it was such as to astonish
us. Truly, the co-operation of the Ordnance De
partment of Virginia is of incalculable value in
TWO CENTS.
The Arrest of Prominent Union Men in
Richmond.
The Examiner of Thursday has the fouling la
its local columns;
It has already been announced that the Rev.
Alden Boeserman, pastor of the Univcrsalist
Church, in this city, had been arrested. We pro
pose to give a sketch of the history of this reverend
gentleman from the time of his arrival hero from
the North to his arrest on Tuesday and lodgment
in McDaniel’s jail.
Mr. Bosserman is a native of Maine; but for
several years previous to 1301 he had been living
!n Baltimore, And officiatm# as a Universalist
preacher. In the month of January, 186-1-, he was
called by the Universalist congregation of Rich
mond to supply the place in the church here, made
vacant by the resignation, on account of ill health,
of the Rev. Jag. S. Sbrigley, an eloquent proacher,
and a good and true Somhewiep.
Mr. Bosserman took charge of the church, and
his conduct excited no public notice or comment
during the remainder of the winter. The following
spring the whole country was in a state of vloleut
agitation, and people ha 4 peithsr time nor inclina
tion to watch the conduct of an obscure minister of
a small and umnflnential sect.
Time wore on. The month of June came. Our
troops were crowding to defend our most exposed
frontiers. Magruder hod met and routed- the Yan
kees at Greqt Bethel. The President of Pro
visional Government of the Southern Confederacy,
by proclamation, indicated the fifteenth of Juno as
a day of fasting and prsyer. Mr. Bassermun was
requested to open his church and have divine
service. On that day the church was opened) the
usual religious ceremonies performed, and the
reverend gentleman delivered a discourse. But
his discourse contained not even un allusion to the
occasion. It was simply such a sermon as might
have been delivered in any church in times of pro
found peace, when the country wfcs all tranquillity,
This reticence on the all-absorbing topic of the
day excited some remark, but was soon forgotten
aiuid the stiring events of that and the following
month.
After our signal victory of the SI st of July over
the foQ ftt Manassas, the President signified, by
proclamation, bis desiro that the whole nation
should devote and set aside the fifth day of Au
gust as a day of prayer and thanksgiving. Though
importuned by his congregation, Mr. Bosserman re
fused to open his church on this occasion) and, in
consequence, a great majority of the hifchibers have,
since that time, refused to attend the church. Lat
terly, we learn, he has discoursed on Sundays to
only forty attendants.
At the Planters’ meeting, held at the City Hall,
on the 26th of February, Bosserman, accompanied
by B. W. Ward well, the ice-man, w&a present) and
was noticed to take full notes of the proceedings.
The sametwomen attended together the adjourned
meeting of the planters at the African Church. On
this occasion they took no pains to conceal the con
tempt and derision in which they held tho meeting
and its proposed object.
On ihc lust general fastday Mr. Bosserman again
refused to open his ohiftch, and gave as his reason
that Mr. Franklin Stearns had requested him not
to open it, and that as Mr. Stearns paid him more
money than all hisoongregation put together, what
ever he said should be done. On last Sunday he
prayed, from his desk in church, that this unholy
rebellion should be crushed out.”
In view of the course of conduct pursued by this
man since the beginning of the war it did not ex
cite surprise that an order was issued for his arrest.
The officers having tho order repaired to his resi
dence, situated on Twentieth street, between Broad
and Grace. A negro girl answered the door bell,
and, in reply to tho officer who inquired for Mr.
Bosserman, she said he was out of town, and had
not been at home for several days. Seeing a man’s
hat hanging in the passage, the officer inquired
whose it was. The girl said she didn’t know. The
officer then told her he knew that Bosserman was
up stairs, and that he intended to go up and find
him. The girl protested, that he was not in the
house, and that tliero were several ladies up stairs,
and that the officers could not go up. Without
further parley they ascended the stairs, and there
found in his chamber the formerly bold, but now
crest fallen and terrified, “ Union man.” Mr.
Bosserman was politely, but decidedly, informed
that to “was wanted,” and in fifteen minutes ho
-was lodged in McDaniel's jail.
We will now treat of a more reoent arrest. Mr.
Charles Palmer bas before, since, and throughout
the war, been known as a lond-talking, violent
“ Union man," and as such has rendered himself
odious. But it was generally believed that bis in
significance and entire lack cf influence would pro
tect him, and, in all probability, notwithstanding
bis noise and talk, he might have escaped arrest,
bad he not have made himself so busy about Mr.
Botte and his affairs. On Tuesday he made appli
cation to see Mr. Botfc, stating that Mr. Botts'
daughter had desired, him to get from her father
certain keys to a cabinet, which contained certain
papers of importance. Mr. Palmer was allowed to
see Mr. Botts and get the keys, but then was in
formed that he could not deliver them, to Miss Botts
without a written permit. Whether he ever re
ceived this permit we cannot say, but fancy he did
not.
At eleven o’clock yesterday morning he was ar
rested at his commission office, ?n ft? corner of
Virginia and Cary streets. He Is said to have been
very much terrified. Before being taken to jail he
obtained jv.rmi.sion to SeC a gentleman .whose office
is near his own. White as a ghost, he enteredtne
gentleman's offioe, and entreated him to see Gen.
Winder and induoe him to restore him to liberty.
The gentleman informed ns that he would ropresent
to Gen. Winder that Palmer was “all gas,” and by
no means dangerous.
After the transaction of a little private business,
Mr. Palmer was duly escorted to McDaniel’s jail,
and leaked up.
VTo might, if we (bought tifem of sufficient con
sequence to publish, fill a columh with the treason
able speeches and remarks said to have been re
cently made by Mr. Palmer; bat, knowing his
style, we feel assured the publio yy|ll not ??r? f?
hear his moutbings.
Mr. Palmer bas a son, a captain of one of the
companies of the Richmond Howitzers, who is a
gallant officer and as true a Southern man as can be
fonnd in all our army.
The charge against Mr. Palmer is TnnAsos.
The Proposed Commander-in-chief of the
Rebel Army.
The Bichmond Examiner says
W? Isbtb til fit there has been some hesitation in
Congress to pass the bill creating the office of com
manding general to direct the movements of the
war before the President decides on the reorgani
zation of his'Cabinet. The bill, in its present shape,
gives the appointment of the commanding general
to the Executive; and in that qn&fior it ta said to
be already a foregone conclusion that General Loe
is to have this important post in the Government.
With reference to the delay in the reconstruction
of the Cabinet, we may say that it is reported, in
well-informed quarters, that nominations have
already been sent into tho Senate, and that that of
Mr. Mallory as Secretary of the Navy has, by a
large vote, been rejected.
The Force of Rebels at Columbus before
the Evacuation of the Place. '
The Chicago Timet of Friday eont&ins the fol
lowing special despatch:
Cononuis, Ky., March 6.—1 have derived from
a reliable source the following list of the forces
who held, sad bfivo vacated, Columbus—in all,
supposed to be 12,000 men;
First Department, Western Division—Major Gon.
Polk, commanding.
First Division—Brigadier General Cheatham.
Second Division—Brigadier General Burrell.
Third Division—Brigadier General McCowan.
Heavy Artillery—Brigadier General Frider.
Ordnance Officer —Captain Champlins.
Quartermaster’s Department—Captain Mason.
Caynlrv—Lieut. Col. Logwood. The cavalry
tfeia Mlffiber. ..
Light Artillery—Stewart’s Louisiana Battery, and
Bankhead’s, Jackson’s, and two other Tennessee
batteries.
Infantry —Louisiana regiments : the 11th, Col.
Marks; 12th, Col. Scott, and 13th, Col/Gibson.
Tennessee regiments; the Ist, Col. Smith; the 2d,
Col. Walker; the 4th, Col. NeiUy; the sth, Col.
Travis; the 6th, Col. Stevens; the 12th, Col. Rus
sell ; the 13th, Col. Vaughn the 15th, Col. Car
roll) the 21st, Col. Piokett; the 221, Col. Free
man; the 31st, Col. ; the 32d, Coi. Brown;
and a battalion of Tennessee troops under Lieut.
Col. Kennedy.
There were also at Columbus the Seventh Ken
tucky Regiment, Col. Wickliffe, and a Mississippi
regiment, Col. Blythe.
Miscellaneous Items.
Finns ix Hki.kna, Ark.—Two disastrous fires oc
curved nt Helena} Ark., last week, By one tire) two
blocks of business bouses were destroyed* Luvolring a loss
or from ¥'B&,ow to ®05,000i By tlie other, a flouring
mill and machine eliop, with their contents, was burned.
Lose ®ls>ooo.
CiKNKitAi. '\YAi B nix<iTON Bahkow, of NaaliTille, a mem*
Hr of Legislature, and a prominent loadur
iu the southern cnuße, was arrosted by the TanKeos at
his reeidence> In Edgefield, immediately after their arri
val there.
Eifni’r ftobnmnies of 1 the North Carolina “Bethel”
Rf giment, which disbanded at tho expiration of its term
of service, are again in the held.
Gov. Brown, of Georgia, has come out in a long letter
against the planting of the usual amount of land with
cotton this year, and in favor of making a large provi
sion crop.
Hon, Robert Toombs, In his letter declining an elec*
lion to the position of Senator, says ho has determined
that he can now better serve his State and country in the
army than in tho Senate.
In Pickena and Anderson districts, South Carolina,
there are 2&0 distilleries, which use encli week I«i500
bushelß of corn, or 600,000 bnshciß per year l
Tub Forth Carolina Standard has an “important
rumor that the seat of (Jovernmeiit is to bo removed from
Richmond, to Baleigh.”
Hon. Henry V. Hilliard has been authorized to
mJm & Legfoa for three pears a* the war.
Thu proprietor of one of the paper mills in Geeenville
district, S. 0., will soon commence the manufacture of
writing paper.
The “ Bell County Rebels,” from Belton, 801 l county,
Texafc started far their rendeivous. Hampstead, boois
time ago, when eno ol their lieutenants, Jamoj I<\ Landiii,
a lawyer, deserted, and returned to Belton. Several
ladies of the place, (says the Crescent ,) incensed to see
him strutting about the streets in his uniform, got toge
ther a few days &30, seized him in public, and stripped
off his stripes, which they sent to his company, "who re
warded them with a vote of thanks.
The Fayettesville (N. C.) Observer says: “ >Ve hear
from various parts oi the Btate that the spirit of patriot
ism is fully aroused, imd volunteers are mustering by
hundreds and thousands/*
THFkladiea of Few Orleans, Mobile, and Charleston are
making contributions for building and equipping gun
boats at those places respectively.
An extensive gun factory has been set in operation nt
Holly Springs, MhSi A considerable numberofgun bar;
rels are rolled out every day, and contracts have been
entered into to supply the Government with 30,000 guns
in a Bhort time.
A Black «« Union Max.”—Allen, slave of Bichard
Whitfield, was yesterday arrested by Officer Chalkley.
of the city police, on the charge of having proclaimed that
“Jeff Davis waß a rebel, and that be (Allen) acknow
ledged no man as his master.” This fellow should be
whipped every day until he confesses what white man put
these notions in his head.— Richmond- Examiner of
Thursday .
The rumor that General (Huger is under arrest is in*
correct, ae he was exercising the duties of his command
to-day. He had been out superintending the defences at
Suffolk, whence au attack from General Burnside, which
will eut off Norfolk from Richmond, is momentarily ex
pected. General Burnside bad, it wm stated, occupied
Winston in force, and bis pickets extended a considerable
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llfl&J toiialjlnle a wjnare.
THE OCCUPATION OF CJ&UMBUS.
The Appearance or the Town-"Extenl of
the Fortifications Large Attfount of
Ordnance Captured.
Tho correspondent of the Chicago Tribune ■, writing
from Columbus under date of March 4, $753 thf?
following interesting particulars of the capture of
the Gibraltar of the West:
TUB ST.tKTINO FHOSI C.UIto
Columbus, the raw head and bloody boevs of
Federal fancy! and- the subject of Confederate gas
conade and braggadocio, is to-day in our hoods,
with iU splendid fortifications, its stores of ordnance,
burned barracks, and deserted tenements. The
mystery of Columbu? outwardly is solved; the se
cret history remnins unwritten.
At 10 o'clock Monday night, the •«! Instant) £
stepped from the Cairo wharf-boat into Captain
Paulding’s gig, and, crossing the swiftly-rushing
Ohio, soon found myself aboard the gunboat St.
which was lying in the lee of the Kentucky
thurO) in readiness for the coming expeditions Co*
lumbusward in the morning. Too fleot destined
for tho occasion was composed as follows: the iron
clad gunboats Cincinnati , Pittsburgh Louisville,
Carondefet, and St. Lows ; the Lexington, just
down from the Tennessee ; four mortar boats in tow
pf the steamers Lake Em and Ike ffamnnt; and.
the transports Mtck Scott, and T. L.
LTagiH, conveying the Twenty-seventh Illinois,
Colonel Buford ; Fifty-second Illinois, Colonel Ro
berts, and Fifty-fifth Illinois, Major Sanger com
manding, vice Colonel Stuart at Paducah. The
Jimmy had atlglhldty been chosen as flag-stup, hut
her repairs not having been concluded, the Cinrin
nati bore the colors of Commodore Foote.
The fleet got under way at four o’clock on Tues
day morning, headed for tho eqmvota terra, the
I»>?3 of ffiysterf—Colbiblhis, It was a cold, chilly
morning, the wind cutting like a knife, rendering
an overcoat and blanket decidedly comfortable.
For two hours we steamed down theriver, our pace
accelerated by the swift current, some six miles an
hour, between unending files of cotton woods, syca
mores, and willows, dead and decaying In swamps
and the overflowed lowlands, with here and there
a tumble down, squat cabin, perched upon some
eminence fortunate in being terra firma by a mar
gin of a few inches. . '
AltniVßl) AT r.UOAg’ BEND
Tho fleet arrived at T.ucaa’ Bend, about two miles
and n half above Columbus, just as the sun waa
rising. -The flitg.sbip signalled the fleet to come to,
and we lay in the middle ot the stream, the trans
ports far astern. The near edge of the Columbus
bluffs was in sight, but ft? glass mealed no signs
of tbe enemy. The fleet moved slowly down until
opposito the fatal field of Belmont, at the point where
the transports conveyed away our forces upon that
tragic d»y. Upon the margin of the river standß a
ruinous looking tenement, at the door of which
was a still more ruinous looking native and his son,
a lank, long-limbed stripling, who, upon sight of
the gunboats, incontinently took to his heels and
“ skedaddled” through an adjneent cornfield and
vanished in a swamp. A tug set out from the flag
ship for the house, and accord the Dative, who per
eisvently declared that tbe rebels bad evacuated Co
lumbus eh the previous (lay, sad burned their nuar
lers.- Little faith Was reposed in the native’s state
ments. After lengthy and tedious inte-gun
boat communications, tho lino of battle was
formed, the drums bent to quarters, and the guns
were manned for action, Another tug, carrying a
scouting detachment, set off from the flag-ship,
gradually and cautiously crawled down to the point
behind which frowned the mysterious fortifications
and reposed the deserted village with its great
ancestral name. The tug reached the point and
rounded lb in full range of the water batteries.
Upon tho crown of the bluff could bo seen strag
glers, here and there, and as tbe tug rounded the
point, one of them unfurled a flag and waved it.
The character of the flag could not be discerned
freffl the gunboats, but it vraa evidently satisfactory
to the scouting party, as the tug suddenly increased
her speed in direct line for the water battery, and
closely followed by a second tug with a party from
the flag-ship.
hoisting inn vlac.
Both parties landed and started for tlistapal
the bluff at double quick, and in a few momenta
Lieut. Phelps, of the Cincinnati , unfurled the
stars and stripes. They found themselves, how
ever, second comers, for the Second Illinois Ca
valry, from Paducah, had rode overland the day
b&iorS 65 a scouting expedition, and taken posses
sion of the town. The gunboats rapidly styamed
down to tbe town, and the crews enthusiastically
saluted the flag. The transports landed their
troops, and possession was taken. The work was
accomplished without the filing of a gun or loss &£
life. The bubble, when it was grasped, left very
thin suds in the hand.
THE TOWN.
Columbus is situated upon a narrow neok of land
running south from tho base of & bluff of steep as
cent, and some ninety foot in altitude above the
present water marks. Upon this bluff the rebel bat
teries were located. The town is simply & hetero
geneous collection of mongrel wooden tenements,
most of which were at one time devoted to bowling;
billiard, &5d blbatory purposes. One brick resi
dence lays some well-defined claims to architectural
pretensions and finish. One lawyer’s shingle de
cofß>»a.».ci«U irnlli «w>d wag church lifts it a manly
wooden turret to the aky, some distance' above it.
A dilapidated depet—fpr Columbus, insignificant
as it is, established an imaginary claim to commer
cial importance, in being tbe terminus of tho Mo
bile and Ohio Railroad—two or three grocery store*
and as many insignificant taverns, a post office,
combining fluid with its postal arrangements, the
whole, lacked by swamps, fronted by the river and
hemmed in with bluffs, make the town. Every
thing bore the marks of desertion and destruc
tion. The houses were closed and the inmates
gone. The stores hod been ransacked and the
contents scattered through tbe streets. Molas
ses, flCiiP, gfficefieß, letters, caudle-bones, playing
cards, whisky-bottles, house furniture, and other
articles, ad infinitum, littered the sidewalks A
contraband meunted upon a forlorn and mud-be
daubed mule, and a butternut-legged saloon keep
er bestraddling a dirty counter, whose glories had
departed down secession throats, were the only
signs of male life in the town. Every woman
bad departed. Every dog, hog, and other animat
adjunct of civilization bad followed Kov. Gen Polk
and his forces, fhe ?3Sil'l?flggsd ICYS? WOS 00?
vered with gun-carriages, caissons, torpedoes, Shell,
shot, chains, and anchors. The torpedoes, wbioh
were generously intended to blow ComAdor*
Foote's fleet heavenward, were constructed in the
shape of a sky rocket, and would prove-about a*
effective for the purpose as one of the Utter sky
piercing institutions. Large quantities of coal were
piled upon the landing,which will come in excellent
use for our gunboats and transports. Ordnance
was scattered m every direction, much of which,
from appearances, had but recently ait-ivod. AH
of the gutkcarrmges were of Memphis mimufao*
ture, and were addressed to Gen. Polk,
THE FORTIFICATIONS.
The fortifications upon the bluff and ita slope aro
reached from the town by an’ inclined railroad
ptanei They are constructed iu tho most thorough
maimer, and upon purely soiontlfio principles, show
ing the handiwork of a master engineer. The water
battery mounted twenty-two guns, some of them of
heavy calibre, which had been dismounted, and
probably thrown into the river. Fire of them were
lying upon the slope, and undoubtedly others are
at the bottom of the river. The gun platforms,*
filled with grape, oanister, and ehell in *r»si>
fusion. The upper works presents *>ont of §oma
two miles and a half in .
mounting 128- - ®xtent, the earthworks
about 60 gin*- and the whole embracing
moved All tho upper guns had been re
/- - The forts were so located and construofc
as to be almost impregnable to on assault
by storm. The £&ptUre or one by no moans
involved the capture of the balance. A
fresh assault must be made in each instance. At
the main fort, and many of the earth works, stock
ades crossed the trenches, exposing the assaulting
party to a storm ef bullets from rigee?R firing*'
through loop-holes. Hvery ravine and ditch WSO
thoroughly protected, and the various approaches
of the river commanded for a lcrag distance in
every direction. The bearings of the guns will be
more readily understood from & cut I send you than
from any technical description. It is sufficient that
an unusually strong natnral position was seized
upon, and so improved by rare engineering and
skill that the equal of the Columbus fortifications,
in extent and perfeotion of detail combined, can
hardly be found in the United States. The water
battery was exposed to (he flee ef tbs gunboats, and
in no lengthy time could have been silenced by
vigorous shelling. The upper works, if manned by
determined men, would havo proved disastrous to
the gunboats, and could be held against the assaults
of a vastly superior foroo by land.
About the only souvenirs of the camp life of the
rebels, and their theological progress under the tui
tion of their reverend general, were countless packs
of playing-cards and shattered fragments of whisky
boltlsa, which were strewn ell ever the fortifica
tions, sttfadwiched into the pyramids of grape, and
scattered down the slope of the bluff. Nothing of
any value in the line of camp furniture, small arms,
9t PFIVSt? rroperty, MS lefrj ffbfitSTW WliW BOS
bo onriitfl off was burned. One artiole, too bulk*
to carry away, and impervious to fire, was Pillow’s
forty tnousnnd-dollar ohain, with whioh that saga
warrior proposed to obstruct the navigation of the
riror. One end is firmly anchored in tho bluff) and
thence dangles its ponderous links to the river be
low, a harmless monument to tho child-like simpli
city and imaginative ideality of the great constructor
of ditches.
There are two magazines of capacious dimension
one located at some ’distance in the rear of the
fortifications, and still burning while I was there-
Tho other is located upon the slope of the bluff
above the western battery. In addition to these is
a sort oi telegraph magazine filled with galvanio bat
teries and coils of wire; forming portions of a sub
terranean telegraph connecting together the variou.
parts of the works. Water was obtained from the
river by means of n steam pump, and emptied into
a huge tank which still remains there, minus the
pumping apparatus.
AMUSEMENTS, ETC
That the rebels encamped at Columbus bore tittle
love to the Federal officers, both military and civil,
is evidenced by )he fa,t that effigios of the most lu
dicrous make up,' aiid labelled McClellan, Scott.
Seward, Chase, etc., were found suspended from
trees and gibbets, and hurled headlong down the
bluff. Letters of the most obscene and profane
character, alluding to Federal and ex
pressive of the private reflections and coaptations of
the rebels, were also found. Everything connected
with the evacuation indicated a most deep-seated,
malignant enmity, and venomous hatred against the
Union forces and the people of the North, Frys
such indices as were presented at Columbus, it may
readily be inferred that Polk’s army went off
cursing louder than did “ our army in Flanders."
INTERIOR OF THE FORTIFICATIONS.
Tho parade ground u about a mile and a half in
length, and three hundred yards in width, and moat
admirably adapted for its purposes. Most of the
larger barracks were burned, but many of the huta
remained intact. These were cons trusted “simply
but substantially. A oapaoious oellar was dug, ana
the excavated earth hanked up around the etruo
tore. Many of the cellars were flooded with water,
rather incommoding sleeping arrangements, a diffi
culty whioh was obviated by mounting the beds
up?B logs, 0»r hoys, with tin* ¥wsk» tiwh »*»4
upon these institutions, and rapidly converted the*