November 9.—General Nelson again attacked the enemy at Piketon. At about ten A. M., they made an unconditional surrender. Their loss was four hundred in killed and wounded, and by their surrender the Nationals were left with two thousand prisoners.
—The Union men of East Tennessee burned a number of railroad bridges and the telegraph wires to prevent the transportation of troops. One bridge, of two hundred feet span, was destroyed on the East Tennessee railroad. Four structures on the line north of Knoxville were entirely demolished. A very heavy wooden bridge at Charleston, Bradley Co., Tennessee, was destroyed. Charleston is seventy-five miles southwest of Knoxville, and contains two hundred inhabitants.—N. Y. Commercial Nov. 13.
—The Richmond Whig, of to-day, says that the Confederate army in Virginia is reorganized. The State is constituted a department, comprising the three armies of the Potomac, the Valley and Acquia, under the chief command of General Johnston. General Beauregard commands the army of the Potomac, General Thomas Jackson that of the Valley, and General Holmes, Acquia, The army of the Potomac comprises four divisions: the first, including the Valley, under General Doren; second, G. W. Smith; third, General Longstreet; fourth, General Kirby Smith.
—A meeting of German citizens was held at Chicago, Ill., at which speeches were made by Caspar Butz and others, and resolutions sustaining the action of General Fremont were adopted.—(Doc. 142.)
—At the Lord Mayor’s dinner in London, England, the Chief Magistrate of that city proposed the “Foreign Ambassadors,” coupling the same with the name of Mr. Adams, the American Minister. That gentleman in his reply, stated that his mission was to promote and perpetuate the friendly relations of the two countries. Lord Palmerston said, although circumstances may, for a time, threaten to interfere with the supply of cotton, the temporary evil will be productive of permanent good. England would find in various portions of the globe a sure and ample supply, which would render her no more dependent. He stated that the country witnessed with affliction the lamentable differences among her American cousins; but added, it was not for her to pass judgment in their dispute. He expressed a hope of the speedy restoration of harmony and peace.— (Doc. 144.)
—The Atlanta (Ga.) Confederacy, of to-day, says: “Gen. Beauregard is a genuine patriot. How different from these who resign because every thing does not please them. His heart is as big as his country’s wants, and he nobly looks to meeting the demands of patriotism, and not to his own glory or preferment. All honor forever to his name, and to any man possessed of such a noble and unselfish nature. What next will the two or three journals do that have been trying to get up a difference between him and President Davis, and to force him to resign? Wonder if they will feel encouraged?”
—Christian Martin, an important witness on the part of the United States Government, in the trial of the Knights of the Golden Circle, at Cleveland, died at Marion, Ohio, to-day. His evidence was of great importance to the United States. His decease was quite sudden.—Louisville Journal, November 11.
—The Southern (Ga.) Confederacy, of this date, publishes an article urging the Legislature to pass such laws as will effectually stop the extortions of speculating men, who furnish the Southern army with food and clothing at the most exorbitant prices. “Such men,” it says, “have at heart their own interests more than the good of their fellow-mortals, and of the country,” and should be made to comply with the obligations and duties which extraordinary times, like the present, impose. It commends the action of the Governors of several Southern States, in condemning the systematic practice of defrauding the Confederate Government, and in calling the attention of the legislatures to the subject.—(Doc. 145.)
