June 2011

—Gen. McClellan, in a despatch to an officer of the Navy in Cincinnati, states that the interview which Gen. Buckner has reported was strictly private and personal; that it was repeatedly solicited, and that he gave no pledge whatever on the part of the authorities at Washington that United States troops should not enter Kentucky. The only result of the interview as he understood it, was, that Confederate troops should be confined to Confederate soil, so far as Kentucky was concerned. —N. Y. Evening Post, June 27.

—The address of the Sanitary Commission to the citizens of the United States was published.—(Doc. 44.)

—A flag was raised upon the flagstaff on North Hill, Needham, Mass. It was run up by Newell Smith, Esq., one of the oldest inhabitants of the town, and saluted by the firing of cannon on a neighboring hill, the “Star Spangled Banner” by Flagg’s Band, and the cheers of the spectators. A public meeting was organized, and addresses were made by Rev. Messrs. Green, Atwood, and Emerson, all of Needham, and by Major Wright and Solomon Flagg, Esq. An original poem was delivered by Benjamin G. Kimball, Esq., and an ode, written for the occasion, by Hon. E. W. B. Canning, of Stockbridge, was sung by the people to the air of “America.”—Boston Transcript, June 28.

—The First Minnesota Regiment of Infantry, commanded by Colonel Willis A. Gorman, passed through Baltimore on its way to Washington. The full regiment makes an aggregate of 1,046 men all told, but only nine companies were on the march. This is accounted for by the fact that Company A was left at Fort Snelling, and this decreases the command to 910 men. The regiment is accompanied by Capt. Ingalls cornet band, of seventeen performers. They left Fort Snelling on Saturday week, and were ordered to report at Harrisburg on the 20th, but as they reached there on the 25th, after a hurried travel of over 1,800 miles, they concluded to report at Washington. They are a hardy-looking set of men, some of them of enormous size, all of them well disciplined and equipped, and only one sick man on the list. The uniform consists of plain gray cassimere, trimmed with black, and a black felt hat, according to the army regulation.

—Corporal Hayes and twelve men belonging to Col. Wallace’s regiment of Zouaves, while scouting on Patterson’s Creek, twelve miles east of Cumberland, Md., encountered a party of rebels numbering about forty. A sharp engagement ensued. Seventeen of the enemy were killed, and a number wounded. One of Hayes’s party was killed, and himself badly wounded.—(Doc. 45.)

—The Sixteenth Regiment N. Y. S. V. passed through New York en route to the seat of war. Before leaving the city the regiment was presented with a regimental flag by the wife of G. Howland. The dress of the soldiers is of the United States army pattern, and all the officers wear the regulation uniform, with felt hats and plumes. The commander of the regiment, Col. Thomas A. Davies, is a graduate of West Point, and served in the war with Mexico. The men are volunteers from the region of country about Albany, and northward as far as Plattsburgh.—(Doc. 46.)

—The Twenty-eighth Regiment N. Y. S. V., (Colonel Donnelly,) passed through New York on their way to the seat of war. This regiment was enlisted in the western part of the state, and made up of men of nearly all occupations, prominent among whom are school teachers. One company (that from Medina) contains 19 of the latter class, and company K, of Lockport, has nearly as many. All the companies contain a fair proportion of teachers. The regiment is a well-drilled, well-equipped rifle corps, armed with the United States rifle of 1851, with the sabre bayonet.—(Doc. 41.)

—The Second Regiment of Vermont arrived at New York en route for Washington. The troops are commanded by Colonel Henry Whiting, and number nine hundred and thirty, rank and file. They are a fine body of men, their short encampment at Burlington, Vt., having perfected the men in drill and discipline. They are armed with Springfield muskets of recent manufacture, with the exception of the right flank, or skirmishers, who carry the Enfield rifles with sabre bayonets.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the regiment was formed in front of the City Hall, and E. D. Culver, of Brooklyn, presented the regiment, on behalf of the residents of Vermont in New York, with a magnificent regimental standard. Senator Solomon Foote, of Vermont, replied to the presentation in an eloquent and patriotic manner on behalf of Colonel Whiting.—(Doc. 42.)

—The Second Wisconsin Regiment, commanded by Col. Coon, arrived in Washington this morning. They number 1,046 men, with a gray uniform. They are stalwart men who appear to be able to stand all the vicissitudes of active service. They met with cordial greetings at Cleveland and other places on the way. —(Doc. 43.)

—The Pawnee, commanded by Commander Rowan, accompanied by the tender James Guy, left Acquia, Creek, Va., this morning for Matthias Point, carrying Capt. Woodbury, U. S. Engineers, and Capt. Palmer, U. S. Topographical Engineers, to make a reconnoissance, to learn whether batteries were or were not being erected there. At 5 A.M. Capt. Rowan sent an expedition of 40 men, sailors and marines, ashore in two boats, in charge of Lieut. Chaplin and Master Blue, all under Capt. Woodbury’s command. As the steamer approached the rebels showed themselves in considerable numbers, but they scampered over the hills when the ship directed a few shells against them, and they were kept in check by an occasional shell while the expedition was ashore, enabling it to accomplish its work unmolested. Its sailors captured two horses, saddled and bridled, compelling the riders to seek safety in flight. One of the men received a slight wound in the wrist from a revolver shot. The horses were brought off, hoisted into the James Guy, and sent to the Washington Navy Yard as prizes. During the reconnoissance the Pawnee threw 30 shells, which kept the enemy in, check, though their reported force there is 600 men, 100 or more being mounted. The party that landed saw the enemy’s camp from Grimes’s house on the hill, and having, on their return to the Pawnee, found out its direction, Com. Rowan put his ship in a proper position within the shoal, and shelled it, completely dispersing the camp, and setting fire to something behind the hill. A negro man came off to the ship, and gave information that 200 of the enemy are kept constantly on the beach, and the remainder in the camp. The Pawnee was relieved for the trip by the Freeborn, which took her place at the creek.—Rowan’s Official Report.

—This day the steamer Monticello had a fight with the rebels on the Rappahannock River, in Va. The steamer was on a reconnoitring expedition, and after she had proceeded a few miles, the pilot, Mr. Phillips, went ashore in a launch, with twelve of the crew, for the purpose of obtaining information as to whether there were any marked batteries in the vicinity. They landed on the farm of Mr. Gersham, when Mr. Phillips proceeded, unaccompanied, to the house, and was advised by the owner to return to his boat as quickly as possible, as there was danger abroad. The pilot took the advice, but had not proceeded far when a party of about fifty rebels made their appearance and commenced firing at those in the launch, who were lying on their oars waiting the return of Mr. Phillips; the boat immediately put off in the direction of the Monticello, leaving Mr. Phillips ashore. The commander of the steamer ordered the boat to return for him, and immediately opened fire upon the party on shore, causing them to disperse in double-quick time. During the firing upon the launch one of the crew was killed, Augustus Peterson, and Surgeon Heber Smith mortally wounded, and six others hurt by splinters and bullets. Their boat and oars were completely riddled by the flying missiles.—(Doc. 36.)

The steamer Quaker City also had a short engagement this morning with a large number of rebel dragoons. While cruising in Lynn Haven Bay, near Capo Henry, Commander Carr picked up a man named Lynch, a refugee from Norfolk, who represented that the master plumber of the Norfolk Navy Yard was ashore and wished to be taken off. An armed boat which was sent for the purpose was fired upon when near the shore, mortally wounding James Lloyd, a seaman, of Charlestown, Mass. A few thirty-two-pound shells dispersed the rebels.—N. Y. Evening Post, June 26.

—The blockade at the Louisville end of the Nashville Railroad commenced to-day. Nothing is allowed to pass except by permission of the surveyor of the port.—N. Y. Herald, June 26.

—Isham G. Harris, governor of Tennessee, issued a proclamation declaring that State independent of the Federal Government, and giving the official vote on secession.—(Doc. 37.)

—At Washington a detachment of the New York Fourteenth Regiment arrested a spy this morning, who had full details of the number of troops, position, and strength of batteries around that city. There was also found upon him a sketch of plan of attack upon the city. He had the positions of all the mounted cannon in that vicinity.

The scouts of the New Hampshire Second Regiment wounded a man this morning, who was approaching the lines and observing carefully the position of the camps and batteries. He pretended to be unable to speak English at first, but recovered his knowledge of the language as soon as he was shot.—N. Y. Commercial Advertiser, June 25.

—The Thirty-first Regiment N. Y. S. V., commanded by Col. Calvin C. Pratt, struck their tents at Riker’s Island and departed for the seat of war.—(Doc. 38.)

—Five companies of cavalry, six companies of infantry and dragoons, ten companies of volunteers—in all about 1,590 men with one battery, under command of Major S. D. Sturgis, left Kansas City to-day at 1 P. M., destined for south-western Missouri.—Sandusky Register, June 25.

—A Proclamation of neutrality by Napoleon III was received in America.—(Doe. 39.)

The Tenth Regiment of Ohio troops left Camp Dennison for Western Virginia,—National Intelligencer, June 26.