January 30.—This morning a reconnoitring force that had been sent out from Colonel Campbell’s command, returned to headquarters of his department of West-Virginia, after having gone to Romney. There they divided into three columns, one going out on the Winchester road thirty miles, the other down the Grassy Lick road to the vicinity of Wardensville, and the third on the old Moorfield road. None of these columns met with serious opposition on their advance. The information which they gained proved to be of high importance.—A Party of Southern sympathizers were banished from Knoxville, Tenn.
—Major-General Rosecrans, at his headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., issued the following address: “In relieving General Schofield, who, in assuming the arduous duties connected with this command, relinquished high prospects of a brilliant career as commander of Thomas’s old division in the then opening campaign of the army of the Cumberland, I tender him my compliments for the admirable order in which I have found the official business and archives of this department, and my best wishes, as well as hopes, that in this new field of duty he may reap that success which his solid merits, good sense, and honest devotion to his duty and his country so well deserve.
“While commanding here, I sincerely trust I shall receive the honest, firm, and united support of all true National and Union men of this department, without regard to politics, creed, or party, in my endeavors to maintain law and reestablish peace and secure prosperity throughout its limits. The past should be remembered only for the lessons it teaches, while our energies should be directed to the problem of assuring our future, based firmly on the grandeur of our position, and on the true principle of humanity and progress to universal freedom, secured by just laws.”
