May 6.—The rebels having evacuated the works in front of Williamsburgh, and continued their retreat toward Richmond, the place was occupied by the Union forces under the immediate command of Gen. McClellan.—(Doc. 96.)
—General Franklin’s division of the Army of the Potomac left Yorktown in transports, to proceed up the York River to West-Point.—N. Y. Evening Post, May 8.
—At Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States Circuit Court, at the April term, 1861, the Grand Jury found an indictment of treason against James W. Chenoweth, for furnishing supplies and munitions of war to the rebels. At the present term ex-Senator Pugh, counsel for the defendant, moved to quash the indictment on the ground that the first clause of section two, article three, of the Constitution, which provides that treason shall consist only of levying war refers to rebellion, while the second clause, “or adhering to their enemies in giving aid and comfort,” relates only to a public war with a foreign enemy. Justice Swayne gave his decision to-day, sustaining the motion by quashing the indictment— Cincinnati Enquirer, May 8.
—This afternoon a detachment of the Fifth New-York cavalry made a reconnoissance from New-Market towards Harrisonburgh, Va., and when about five miles from the town they encountered upwards of two hundred of Ashby’s cavalry. They charged on the rebels and pursued them within two miles of the town, killing ten and taking six prisoners. The National loss was one killed and the battalion adjutant taken prisoner.—Baltimore American, May 8.
—J. P. Benjamin, the rebel Secretary of State, in answer to an inquiry by a Southern firm, whether cotton purchased on foreign account would be treated as exempted from the general law which declares that all cotton shall be destroyed when it is about to fall into the hands of the enemy, says:
“I know no law which prohibits the purchase of cotton on foreign account, but I am not aware of any law or reason of policy which should induce this government to extend to property thus purchased greater protection than is extended to that of our own citizens. It is the settled determination of the government to allow no cotton to fall into the hands of our enemies, as it is perfectly well known that they would seize and appropriate to themselves all cotton they could find, without regard to ownership. If your correspondents buy cotton they must expect to share the same risks as are incurred by our own citizens.”—Richmond Dispatch, May 7.
—The rebel schooner C. C. Pinckney, from Charleston, S. C, for Nassau, N. P., was captured by the United States gunboat Ottawa.
