June 15.—Great excitement and anxiety existed in Baltimore, Md., on account of the invasion of the State by the rebels.—General Banks from his headquarters before Port Hudson, issued the following order:
“The Commanding General congratulates the troops before Port Hudson upon the steady advance made upon the enemy’s works, and is confident of an immediate and triumphant issue of the contest. We are at all points upon the threshold of his fortifications. One more advance, and they are ours. For the last duty that victory imposes, the Commanding General summons the bold men of the corps to the organization of a storming column of a thousand men, to vindicate the flag of the Union and the memory of its defenders who have fallen.
“Let them come forward. Officers who lead the column of victory in this last assault may be assured of a just recognition of their services by promotion; and every officer and soldier who shares its perils and its glory shall receive a medal fit to commemorate the first grand success of the campaign of eighteen hundred and sixty-three for the freedom of the Mississippi. His name shall be placed in General Orders upon the roll of honor. Division commanders will at once report the names of the officers and men who may volunteer for this service, in order that the organization of the column may be completed without delay.”
—By order of Major-General Grant, Major-General John A. McClernand was relieved of the command of the Thirteenth army corps, and Major-General E. O. C. Ord was appointed thereto.—A Debate was held in the House of Lords on the seizures of British ships by the cruisers of the United States, in which the Marquis of Clanricarde and Earl Russell took part, the latter defending the action of the American Government—The Fifteenth regiment of New York Engineers, under the command of Clinton G. Colgate, returned to New-York after having served two years in the army in Virginia.—General Erasmus D. Keyes, in command of a small force of National troops, occupied New-Kent Court-House, within fifteen miles of Richmond, Va., creating considerable excitement in that vicinity.—The Twenty-first regiment of New Jersey volunteers returned to Trenton from the seat of war.—The United States enrolling officer in Boone County, Indiana, was captured by a party of men and held while the women pelted him with eggs.—Governor A. G. Curtis, of Pennsylvania, issued a proclamation calling on all people of the State capable of bearing arms to enrol themselves for the public defence; State records and other public archives were removed from Harrisburgh.—Greencastle, Pa., was occupied by a small body of rebel troops belonging to the forces of General Ewell.
—In the Missouri State Convention Charles D. Drake offered the following:
Resolved, That it is expedient that an ordinance be passed by the Convention, providing first for the emancipation of all slaves in the State on the first of January next; second, for the perpetual prohibition of slavery in the State after that date; and third, for a system of apprenticeship for slaves so emancipated for such period as may be sufficient to avoid any serious inconvenience to the interest connected with the State labor, and to prepare the emancipated blacks for complete freedom; fourth, for submitting said ordinance to a vote of the people on the first Monday of next August.
—Great excitement existed at Pittsburgh, Pa., on account of the rumored approach of the rebels under General Lee. The merchants and mechanics organized themselves into military companies for the defence of the city; business was suspended, all “the bars, restaurants, and drinking-saloons were closed, and the sale or giving away of liquors stopped.”—Chambersburgh, Pa., was entered by one thousand eight hundred rebel cavalry under General Jenkins, who sacked the town and its vicinity.—(Doc. 33.)
—The army of the Potomac, on its march to intercept the rebels in Pennsylvania, reached Bull Run, Va.—The rebel forces at Richmond, Miss., numbering four thousand, under the command of Major-General Walker, were attacked and driven from the town by the Union troops under Brigadier-General Ellet.—(Doc. 14.)
—President Lincoln issued a proclamation announcing that the rebels were threatening Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and calling for troops for their defence.—(Doc. 69.)
—At nine o’clock this morning, on the return of the gunboat Lackawanna toward Mobile, in company with the steamer Neptune, captured yesterday, the black smoke of a steamer was seen ahead, for which the ship, as well as the Neptune, gave chase. She was not brought to until a shot struck her, which did no injury, however, and she was captured after having been chased twenty-six miles. She was the rebel steamer Planter, of Mobile, of three hundred and thirteen tons, and left Mobile Bay on the night of June thirteenth for Havana, with a cargo of six hundred and twenty-five bales of cotton and one hundred and twenty-four barrels of rosin. During the chase between sixty and eighty bales of cotton were thrown overboard and several barrels of rosin burned.—Captain Marchand’s Report.
June 15.—Governor David Tod, of Ohio, in accordance with the proclamation of President Lincoln, issued an order calling out thirty thousand volunteers for the defence of the border.— (Doc. 70.)
