Following the American Civil War Sesquicentennial with day by day writings of the time, currently 1863.

July 7.—The Richmond Enquirer, speculating upon the probabilities and terms of a peace, continues:

“The confederate States, when victorious and about to propose terms of peace, will have nothing more to demand than they would have proposed before the fall of Sumtcr, except indemnification for those outrages committed by the enemy against every law of civilized warfare.

“The acknowledgment of the independence of every State now in the Confederacy, and the free choice of the people of Maryland to determine whether they will elect the Confederacy or the United States, will form the first of the ‘conditions.’ Kentucky and Missouri are already members of the Confederacy, and, upon the hypothesis of confederate success, must remain members of the Confederacy unless their people determine otherwise. With their future destiny the United States can have nothing whatever to do, and will not be permitted to exercise any authority or exert any influence upon their people.

“The navigation of the Mississippi, though lost to the United States by the trial of battle, may yet be theirs by the ‘conditions of peace.’ Its advantages are reciprocal, and will be readily yielded to the United States.

“The return of all negroes deported by the Yankees, or payment of their value, will be another of the ‘conditions of peace.’ The laws of war were violated in letter and spirit by the running off of these negroes, and the destruction of the property of private, unarmed citizens—payment will be a condition of peace.

“Trade relations will also form a part of these conditions—what their nature or character may be it is impossible to speculate upon. But as they are mutual in their advantages, and exist by treaty between all nations, they will doubtless arise, despite the animosity engendered by the war.

“With such conditions of peace accepted by the United States, in what particular will they have sustained damages by separation which justified this war?

“The people of the United States have been kept in ignorance of the real demands of the confederate States; they have been taught to believe a pro-slavery propaganda, involving the conquest and conversion to slavery of the States of the Union, to be the purpose and designs of the Confederacy.

“The conditions of peace that the victorious confederates will propose are simple, and we believe will, in the course of time, prove advantageous to both nations.

“The people of the confederate States believe that their future destiny can be better accomplished in separate nationality than under the Federal Union.

“To attest the honesty of this belief, they have maintained a war which has desolated much of their territory, sacrificed many of the bravest and best of their people, and endured all the privations and cruelties inflicted by the enemy. They have demonstrated their determination never again to live in union with the people of the United States; and they have illustrated their power to defy the enemy’s efforts by a series of victories unparalleled in the annals of war. Their conditions of peace will involve no humiliation of the enemy; no loss of power except such as is incidental to our separate nationality.

“If the enemy are unwilling to accept these conditions of peace, so let it be. The war is and will remain in Pennsylvania, and further North.”

—The ship Sunrise, commanded by Captain Richard Luce, was captured and bonded by the privateer Florida, in lat. 40° N., long. 68° W.

—A cavalry expedition sent from Newbern, N. C., on the third inst., under Colonel Lewis of the Third New-York cavalry, returned to that point, having successfully accomplished their mission without loss. They destroyed (twisting rails, etc., by General Haupt’s plan) two miles of the railroad at Warsaw; also, for five miles more, all the culverts, as well as the telegraph. At Kenansville, an armory was destroyed; large quantities of small-arms and quantities of commissary and quartermaster stores were burnt. About one hundred and fifty animals, and thirty prisoners, were captured by them; and some one hundred men and about three hundred women and children, negroes, followed them in.—General Foster’s Report.

—The Twenty-seventh regiment of Maine volunteers, Colonel Wentworth, passed through Boston, Mass., on their return from the seat of war.—The steamers Alice Dean, and J. S. McCombs, were captured by a party of rebels, at Brandenburgh, Kentucky. — Colonel William Burney opened an office in Baltimore, lid., for the recruiting of negro troops.—At Washington, the victories at Gettysburgh and Yicksburgh were celebrated with great enthusiasm. Speeches were made by President Lincoln, Secretaries Stanton and Seward, General Halleck, Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, and Representatives E. B. Washburne and Arnold, of Illinois.

—The expedition sent out from White House, Va., by General Dix, on the first instant, returned. — Colonel Roddy, with eleven companies of rebel cavalry, made an attack upon a “corral for convalescent horses and mules,” near Corinth, Tenn., and succeeded in carrying off over six hundred animals. The “corral” was guarded by one company of the Thirty-ninth Iowa, under Captain Loomis. The attack was made just at daylight, and the picket was captured after a slight resistance. The rest of the company made a stout defence, until they were surrounded, when some escaped; the captain and twenty of his men were taken prisoners. The rebel loss was two killed; the National, one slightly wound ed.—The Sixth regular cavalry, under Captain Chaflant, made a reconnoissance near Boonsboro, Md., and had a sharp fight, in which they lost eight or nine men.—(Doc. 32.)

—A battle took place near Fort Halleck, Idaho Territory, between a party of Ute Indians and Union soldiers belonging to the Fort, under the command of Lieutenants Brundley and Williams, of the Seventh Kansas volunteers. The battle lasted two hours, when the Nationals, led by Lieutenant Williams, charged upon the Indians, who fled to the mountains, and gave up the contest. The Nationals lost one killed and several wounded, while the Indians’ loss was twenty-one killed, and thirty-nine wounded.— Salutes were fired, and celebrations were held throughout the loyal States, in honor of the victories at Vicksburgh and Gettysburgh. — The rebel army of the Tennessee, under the command of General Bragg, on its retreat before the army of General Rosecrans, reached Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tenn.

Previous post:

Next post: