April 17.—The National forces under General Banks this morning occupied Mount Jackson, Va. The rebels resisted the Union advance in order to gain time for the destruction of bridges, railway cars, engines, and other material which had accumulated at the terminus of the road, but the movement of the National troops was so sudden that they made a precipitate retreat, and much of the property already prepared for conflagration was captured. In this movement Col. Carroll’s brigade of Gen Shields’s division led the advance on the back road to the rear of Mount Jackson, and Gen. McCall on the turnpike. Gen. Williams, with his main division, brought up the reserved column.
— In the confederate House of Representatives, at Richmond, Va., a committee appointed to investigate the Roanoke Island disaster, presented a voluminous report which concludes by saying that: “Whatever blame or responsibility is justly attributable to any one for the defeat of our troops at Roanoke Island on the eighth of February last, should attach to Major-General Huger and Mr. Benjamin, the late Secretary of War.”—Charleston Mercury, April 18.
Major General Philip Kearney
— This morning, in pursuance of orders received during the night, a heavy mounted force, consisting of the Second Indiana, two Illinois, two Kentucky, and two Ohio cavalry regiments, making together about four thousand, assembled upon the upper road from Pittsburgh Landing to Corinth, Miss., in the vicinity of Gen. Sherman’s headquarters, with two days’ rations for men and animals. Shortly after nine o’clock Brig.-Gen. Smith, Chief of cavalry, upon Gen. Halleck’s staff, appeared with his Aids, and after a brief inspection, the mounted column was set in motion with the Second Indiana cavalry, Lieut.-Col. McCook commanding, in the advance. Having followed the upper road past the outmost pickets, and within two miles of Monterey, the Second Indiana and the Eleventh Illinois were dismounted and deployed as skirmishers on the right and left of the roads, and ordered to advance. The line of skirmishers had moved forward about half a mile when it came upon the pickets of the rebels, and a lively exchange of shots at once commenced. The National skirmishers steadily advanced, driving the rebels before them, until they came within range of a strong body of infantry supposed to number about two thousand, when they were ordered to fall back upon the main body, which wheeled about and returned. The only casualties on the Union side were: First Sergeant Richardson of company D, Second Indiana cavalry, killed, and a private of the same regiment, and a lieutenant in the Eleventh Illinois, slightly wounded. Half-a-dozen horses were also disabled. Sergeant Richardson was a man of unusual intelligence and good standing at home, who had enlisted from purely patriotic motives. For some unexplained reason his body was abandoned to the enemy.—N. Y. Tribune, April 30.
— New-market, Va.,[1] was occupied by the troops under the command of Gen. Banks. The rebels attempted to make a stand on their retreat, but were compelled to fly. Major Copeland, with a small party of cavalry, charged through the town in pursuit of the rebels. Lieut. O’Brien, of Ashby’s rebel cavalry, was captured, together with a large body of prisoners.—General Banks’s Despatch.—Philadelphia Press, April 18.
—At Providence, R. I., one hundred guns were fired in honor of Emancipation in the District of Columbia.—New-York Tribune, April 18.
—A skirmish took place on the dry fork of the Holly River, in Western Virginia, in which two guerrillas were killed and three of the National troops, under Lieut.-Col. Harris, of the Tenth regiment of Virginia, were wounded.—New-York Times, April 19.
— Yesterday morning the rebels, with one thousand men, commenced to strengthen a battery located about three miles to the left of Yorktown, when a battery was brought to bear, causing them to beat a hasty retreat. The rebels opened with their heavy guns, when a second battery was brought forward. A brisk fire was kept up for about four hours, during which three of the rebels’ guns were dismounted, when both parties ceased for a while, but was resumed by the Nationals late in the afternoon, and continued till daylight this morning, effectually preventing the rebels from repairing the damage they had sustained. The Union loss was Sergeant Baker, Second Michigan, killed; and F. Page, company K, Third Michigan regiment, both feet shot off —New-York Tribune, April 18.
— The Richmond Whig of this date says: “Congress has already declared that every military officer must give up his commission or his seat in Congress. But we hear of but one resignation. Why is this? If individual members choose to disregard the expected judgment of the body, it is time that the Houses should practically assert their authority, and compel the recusants to do one thing or the other.
“There is something very revolting to our notions of propriety in any man’s drawing two large salaries from the Treasury in this hour of our country’s need. A colonel, we believe, draws about two thousand seven hundred dollars per annum for his military services; and as a member of Congress he draws two thousand seven hundred and sixty dollars more! He is thus drawing about five thousand four hundred dollars per annum from the public treasury! The difference between ancient and modern patriotism seems to be this: Washington drew no salary— our modern Washingtons draw two!
“The country needs every dollar it can raise for defence, and this system of double salaries should be stopped. The law of the United States forbade any man from drawing two salaries. Did not our Congress adopt the law when it adopted all the laws of the United States which were applicable to our condition? This should be looked into, and this leak should be closed.”
—Tins day is the first anniversary of the passage of the Ordinance of Secession by the Virginia Convention. It may be that we can’t afford to burn powder in firing a salute in commemoration of the occasion, but, as suggested the other day, the flags of the State and Confederacy can be displayed by way of observance of the anniversary.—Richmond Whig, April 17.
—The steamers Minnehaha and Patton were fired into by the rebels, while ascending the Tennessee River with United States troops. One man was killed on the Minnehaha, and one wounded. No one was injured on the other vessel. The troops from the Minnehaha landed, and burned a row of wooden buildings on the bluffs near which the firing originated.—Chicago Tribune, April 19.
—In the Union lines, at Yorktown, Va., at three o’clock this afternoon, as Lieut. O. G. Wagoner, of the Topographical corps, and four others, were making sketches of the rebels’ works opposite Weed’s Mills, a shell was thrown at them from one of the enemy’s guns. It struck just in front of the table, around which they were seated, killing one man outright, fatally injuring another, and wounding the other two.
—The Memphis Appeal, of this date, says that the confederate losses at the battle of Shiloh do not exceed one thousand killed, five thousand wounded, and nine hundred taken prisoners, and ascribes the defeat on the second day to the whiskey found in the Federal encampments on the previous night.
[1] New-Market is a post-village of Shenandoah County, In Virginia, and is situated near the borders or Rockingham County, about eight miles from Mount Jackson, nearly twenty miles from Woodstock, over thirty miles from Strasburg, about ninety-three miles from Manassas Junction, about one hundred and twenty miles from Alexandria, and one hundred and fifty miles to the north-west of Richmond.
