December 6.—General A. P. Hovey, from the headquarters of his expedition, issued an order to the officers and soldiers under his command, thanking them for their cheerfulness and bravery during the expedition to Mississippi. In concluding, he said: “Brigadier-General Washburne’s energy” and skill deserve particular mention.”
—The rebel schooners Southern Merchant and Naniope, laden with sugar and molasses, were this day captured in Chicot Pass, on the Mississippi, by United States gunboat Diana, under the command of Acting Master Goodwin.—General Viele, Military Governor of Norfolk, Va., issued a proclamation and a writ of election for a member of Congress for the Norfolk district of Virginia.—Major-General Dix, commanding Department of Virginia, issued an address from his headquarters at Fortress Monroe to the inhabitants of Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond, and Isle of Wight Counties, informing them that smuggling goods across the line to the rebels was prohibited; that every person detected in the attempt would be put at hard labor in Fort Norfolk, and the property seized and sold for the benefit of the poor. Also, that in order they should resume their place in the Union, with the full enjoyment of all their rights as citizens of the United States, an election would be immediately ordered, enabling them to return a member to represent them in the next House of Representatives.
—The schooner Medora, of Baltimore, Md., laden with borax, medical stores, military uniforms, shoes, blankets, ammunition, etc., supposed to be intended for the rebel army, was captured by a company of Union troops under the command of Captain Kearney, while lying at anchor near Hackett’s Point, Md.
—A fight took- place near Lebanon, Tenn., between the Ninety-third Ohio infantry. Colonel Charles Anderson, acting as the guard of a forage train, and a force of rebels, resulting in the retreat of the latter.—(Doc. 64.)
