January 17.—Major-General Joseph E. Johnston, of the rebel army, issued a general order modifying a previous order issued from his headquarters, in relation to unauthorized absentees belonging to the departments of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, so as to grant them a full pardon provided they should return to their proper commands by the twelfth of February.—Jackson Mississippian.
—Des Arc, Ark., was taken possession of without opposition by Captain Walker of the gunboat De Kalb, and a regiment of infantry commanded by Colonel Spicely of the Twenty-fourth regiment of Indiana volunteers.—A skirmish took place at Pollocksville, N. C, resulting in the flight of the rebels and the occupation of the town by the National troops.—At Liverpool, England, an antislavery conference took place, at which Mr. Spence, a sympathizer with the rebel government, attempted to resuscitate the argument that slavery could be supported on Scriptural grounds, but he was refused a hearing. A resolution in favor of the National Government was carried by a large majority, and a committee was appointed to bring the subject before the people of Liverpool.—Numbers of families who, during the expected attack on Charleston last summer, removed from that city, returned “to their homesteads, content to await the storm that may at any time burst over their heads, and to abide the result.” Mobile Register.
