December 23.—Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation declaring General Butler, commanding the Department of the Gulf, to be a felon deserving of capital punishment, and ordering that he should no longer be considered or treated merely as a public enemy of the rebel States, but as an outlaw and common enemy of mankind.— (Doc. 85.)
—The rebel schooner Pelican, with a cargo of eighty-two bales of cotton, ran the blockade at Mobile, Ala.—Major P. Graham, and Lieutenant E. T. Dorton, both of the Fifteenth Arkansas rebel cavalry, “being convinced of the wickedness and folly” of the rebellion, respectfully requested “alike the privilege of peacefully returning to their allegiance and to their homes” in the North.—An attempt was made by a party of rebels to cross the Rappahannock, fourteen miles below Port Conway, Va., and capture a squadron of the Eighth Pennsylvania cavalry, but the movement was frustrated by timely information of the rebel intentions by a trusty negro.—The National forces moved from Romney and took possession of Winchester, Va., which place was evacuated by the rebel pickets on their appearance before the town.—National Intelligencer.
