The American Civil War

July 1.—Carlisle, Pa., was occupied by the Union troops under the command of General W. F. Smith. Soon after the occupation, the rebels returned and demanded a surrender of the town, which was refused, when a bombardment by the rebels was commenced, and the United States arsenal was set on fire, and other buildings were destroyed.—A body of cavalry belonging to the command of General Crittenden, in pursuit of General Bragg from Tullahoma, Tenn., fell in with the rebel cavalry on the road between Pelham and Winchester, and had a fight which resulted in the defeat of the rebels, and the wounding, mortally, of Lieutenant-Colonel Webb, of the Fifty-first regiment of Alabama mounted infantry.—Captain Dahlgren, with twenty men, and Captain Kline, of the Third Indiana cavalry, visited Greencastle, and captured the orderly of General Lee and his entire escort, who had very important despatches from Jefferson Davis to General Lee, together with orders to the various generals of Lee’s army, muster and pay-rolls, and other military matter.—The Missouri ordinance of freedom passed the State Convention, in session at Jefferson City, by a vote of eighty yeas against thirty noes.—(Doc. 90.)

—A train of cars on the road between Louisville and Frankfort, Ky., was thrown off the track, the rails having been removed by the rebel guerrillas.—General John F. Reynolds, with the First and Second corps of the army of the Potomac, checked the advance of Longstreet and Hill, near Gettysburgh, after a desperate and bloody engagement, in which General Reynolds was killed.—(Docs. 20 and 118.)

—Tullahoma, Tennessee, was occupied by the advance of General Rosecrans’s army, the rebels having fled, taking the road toward Winchester. Strong fortifications, a quantity of stores, and three siege-guns were captured by the Nationals.— (Doc. 115.)

—The new rebel gunboat Virginia was launched from Rocket’s ship-yard at Richmond, Va.— The question of rank between the major-generals of the United States army was decided by the board of officers convened for that purpose at Washington, D. C.—(Doc. 91.)

—General Getty with his brigade, left White House, Va., for the purpose of destroying the bridges over the South-Anna River, that were not burned by Colonel S. P. Spear, in his late raid. At Baltimore Cross-Roads he met a large force of rebels, and after a brisk engagement retired, having lost two killed and five wounded. He did considerable damage, destroying some miles of railroad track and a depot.—The following notice was published by the rebel Bureau of Conscription at Richmond:

“To answer numerous inquiries, and to correct errors not uncommon, the following notice is published to all concerned:

“1. Under the recent call of the President, extending the conscript age, all substitutions have ceased to be valid if the substitute be less than forty-five years old, and is not otherwise exempt by law.

“2. Membership, whether as officer or private, of local organization for home defence or special service, confers no claim to exemption from confederate service; neither does service in the militia, unless in the case of officers actually in commission who have duly qualified.

“3. Hereafter any one furnishing a substitute will become liable in his own person whenever the services of the substitute are lost to the government from any cause other than the casualties of war.

“4. Applications for exemption, on any ground whatever, must first be addressed to the local enrolling officer, who, if he has not power to act, or is in doubt, will refer them to higher authority, with report of the facts. All such addressed direct to higher authority will necessarily and invariably be referred back for local examination and report; and the applicants will thus have uselessly lost time and prolonged suspense.”

—The public debt of the United States, at this date, amounted to $1,097,274,403.

June 30.—Maryland Heights were evacuated by the National troops, after the removal of the Government property and the demolition of the fortifications.—At Cincinnati, Ohio, a meeting to devise means for the defence of the city was held, Major-General Burnside presiding.—General O. B. Wilcox issued a general order against secret political societies and other organizations in Indiana and Michigan.—(Doc. 88.)

—The Twenty-second and Thirty-seventh regiments of New-York militia, left camp, opposite Harrisburgh, Pa., taking only their arms and canteens, and started out to reconnoitre for a few hours. After scouring the country for ten miles they met the rebels, drawn up in line of battle at Sporting Hill, awaiting their approach. Colonel Roome, of the Thirty-seventh, being senior officer, took the right, and Colonel Aspinwall the left They then advanced on the rebels, and were forcing them back, when the latter opened on the militia with two pieces of artillery; but a section of an independent Philadelphia battery coming up, soon silenced their guns, when they retreated with a loss of thirteen killed and twenty wounded.

—Major-general Meade, from his headquarters, army of the Potomac, issued the following circular:

“The Commanding General requests that previous to the engagement soon expected with the enemy, corps and all other commanding officers address their troops, explaining to them the immense issues involved in the struggle. The enemy is now on our soil. The whole country looks anxiously to this army to deliver it from the presence of the foe. Our failure to do so will leave us no such welcome as the swelling of millions of hearts with pride and joy at our success would give to every soldier of the army. Homes, firesides, and domestic altars are involved. The army has fought well heretofore. It is believed that it will fight more desperately and bravely than ever if it is addressed in fitting terms. Corps and other commanders are authorized to order the instant death of any soldier who fails to do his duty at this hour.”

—A battle took place at Hanover, Pa., between the National forces under Generals Pleasanton, Custer, and Kilpatrick, and the rebels under J. E. B. Stuart, resulting in the defeat of the latter with a heavy loss.—(Doc. 32.)

—Colonel Wilder’s cavalry expedition to the rear of Bragg’s army at Tullahoma, returned to Manchester, Tenn. With his brigade of mounted infantry he started on Sunday, the twenty-eighth instant, went to Hillsboro, thence to Decherd, swam Elk River, and crossed with his howitzers on a raft, making fifty miles the same day. He tore up the track, burned the cars, and the depot full of stores, and destroyed the trestle work. At daylight on Monday he started up to the Southern University, where he divided his force.

One portion was sent to strike the railroad at Tantalon, while Wilder went to strike it at Anderson. There he found Buckner’s whole division and a train of cars going up from Knoxville to Tullahoma, and fell back, in the mean while tearing up the railroad from Cowan to Jersey City. The rebels, meanwhile, having sent a powerful force to intercept him, he struck through the mountain and returned to Manchester, which he reached to-day. He took and paroled a number of prisoners and captured a lot of mules. The damage done to the railroad is very serious, but would have been more so if the rivers had not been so high. The expedition made one hundred and twenty-six miles in two days and a half.—(Doc. 37.)

—In the British House of Commons an animated debate was held on the subject of the recognition of the rebel government.—Hanover and York, Pa., were occupied by the National troops, the rebels concentrating near Gettysburgh.—Baltimore, Md., was placed under martial law by General Schenck.—(Doc. 86.)

June 29.—At Philadelphia, Pa., there was much excitement on account of the approach of the rebels toward Gettysburgh. Business was suspended, and the people prepared themselves for defence.— (Doc. 85.)

—At Sykesville, Marriottsville, and other points in Maryland, the rebels appeared and committed depredations on public and private property.— Columbia, Pa., was placed under martial law, and Captain Samuel J. Randall, of the Philadelphia City Troop, was appointed Provost-Marshal; the citizens of the town were seized and sent to work on the intrenchments.—Wrightsville, Pa., was evacuated by the rebels.—The Forty-fifth regiment of Massachusetts volunteers, returned to Boston from Newbern, N. C.—National troops enforced the enrolment, and arrested deserters, in Sullivan and Green counties, Ind.—Captain Jones, with a detachment of the First New-York cavalry, had a sharp engagement with a party of rebel horsemen belonging to the command of General Imboden, at McConnellsburgh, Pa., defeating them and driving them out of the town.— (Doc. 85.)

—General Bragg abandoned his fortifications on the north side of Duck River, Tenn., and made a hasty retreat toward Tullahoma.—The rebels approached to a point on the Reistertown road seven miles from Baltimore, Md., creating a great excitement in that city.—A resolution calling on President Lincoln to restore General McClellan to command, passed the Common Council of Philadelphia.—A party of Colonel Sharpe’s scouts, nine in number, headed by Sergeant M.W. Kline, dashed into Hagerstown, Md., this morning, in the very rear of the enemy, and captured ten prisoners and a large rebel mail, which was on its way from the South to Lee’s army.—At Westminster, Md., a fight took place between a portion of the First regiment of Delaware cavalry and the rebel cavalry belonging to General Stuart’s division. About half-past three o’clock in the afternoon, a citizen informed the Nationals that the rebels were approaching, and the men were rapidly put in position. Lieutenant Clark, with twelve men, advanced to reconnoitre; he found about three hundred rebels coming down the Washington road, and heard that as many more had crossed from said road toward the rear of the Delaware encampment. The reconnoitring party then fell back to the main body and formed in front of the first platoon. Major Knight, who was in command of the Federal force, gave the order to charge, which was obeyed in gallant style. The rebels were driven back on the Washington road about two hundred yards. The fight lasted some fifteen or twenty minutes, sabres and pistols being freely used, when the Federals, overpowered by superior numbers, were in turn forced back. Just then it was discovered that a large force was coming up from the rear, and the order was given to retreat. Major Knight, Lieutenant Clark, and Adjutant Lobdell remained behind to the last, covering and directing the retreat. Clark had a ball pass through the rim of his hat, and one of his arms was very much bruised by the side-stroke of a sabre. These officers, with a number of men, reached Baltimore shortly after midnight There were about ninety-five men engaged on the Union side, consisting of Captain Corbett’s and Lieutenant Churchman’s companies. Captain Corbett had his horse shot, was wounded and taken prisoner. Lieutenant Churchman and Surgeon Shields were also captured. The Nationals had two killed, seven wounded, and thirty-eight missing. The names of the killed and wounded were as follows: killed, Daniel Welch and Wm. Vandegraft; wounded, Joseph Wilson, Samuel Bigler, James Newkirk, Frank Stewart, Dickinson Meredith, Theodore Jones, and Robert Machin. Of the rebels, two lieutenants and one private were killed, and fifteen wounded. The rebel dead were buried by the Union troops after Stuart left Westminster. Their wounded were left behind.—Baltimore American.

—General Shipley, Military Governor of Louisiana, issued an order calling upon the citizens of New-Orleans for a brigade of volunteers to serve for sixty days in defence of the city.— This day Rear-Admiral Porter, being informed by General Dennis, commanding the post at Young’s Point, on the Mississippi River, that the National negro troops at Goodrich’s Landing had been attacked by the rebels, directed General Ellet to proceed with the Marine Brigade to the scene of action, and remain there until every thing was quiet. The hindmost vessel of the brigade, the John Haines, arrived there as the rebels were setting fire to the Government plantations, and supposing her to be an ordinary transport, they opened fire on her with field-pieces, but were much surprised to have the fire returned with shrapnel, which fell in among them, killing and wounding a number. The result was a retreat on the part of the rebels, and the escape of a number of negroes whom they had imprisoned. The gunboat Romeo also came up the river about this time, and hearing the firing, hurried to the scene of action. The commander soon discovered the rebels setting fire to the plantations, and commenced shelling them. This he kept up for a distance of fifteen miles, chasing them along—the rebels setting fire to every thing as they advanced. The result was an almost total destruction of houses and property along the river front in that vicinity. The rebels carried off about one thousand two hundred negroes, who were employed in working upon the Government plantations. General Ellet landed his forces, and in company with a black brigade, proceeded to chase the rebels, who were making a hasty retreat. The General found the road strewn with broken carts and furniture, which the rebels left in their haste to get away from his forces. He pursued them as far as Tensas River, where they had crossed. They burned the bridges, and intrenched themselves for a battle. This was soon offered them. The Union artillery opened on them and put them to flight. General Ellet, not knowing the country very well, and having only a small force with him, deemed it proper not to pursue them much further. He sent two hundred infantry across the bayou, and found they were retreating to Delhi, leaving their plunder strewn along the road.

June 28.—A skirmish occurred at Oyster Point, about four miles from Harrisburgh, Pa., between ,he rebels and the Seventy-first regiment of NewYork militia and E. Spencer Miller’s Philadelphia battery, resulting in the retreat of the Union troops to the intrenchments around Harrisburgh. —The manufacturers of Morristown, Pa., resolved to close their works until the rebels were driven from the State, and raised ten thousand dollars to pay the wages of all who volunteer during heir absence.—Mechanicsburgh, Pa., was given up to the rebels this morning. On their arrival they pulled down the National flag, which was lying in the square, and raised the rebel colors in its stead.

—The ship City of Bath was captured by the rebel pirate Georgia in latitude 20° 30′ south, longitude 29° 30′ west, off the Island of Trinidad. —Major-general George Gordon Meade assumed command of the army of the Potomac.— A fight took place between a regiment of Pennylvanians, under the command of Colonel Frick, and a force of rebels who were advancing or Wrightsville, opposite Columbia, Pa. After a sharp contest, Colonel Frick was obliged to retire across the Susquehanna and burn the bridge.— (Doc. 81.)

—Major-general Dix, at Fortress Monroe, sent the following despatch to the War Department at Washington:

“Colonel Spear, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, whom I sent out two days ago, completely destroyed the bridge over the South-Anna, captured General W. F. Lee, Colonel Hearsable, four captains, five lieutenants, and one hundred privates, and brought them in. He has also brought in thirty-five wagons, with six mules each, and one hundred and fifty mules in addition, and from seventy-five to one hundred horses. He took fifteen thousand dollars in confederate bonds, just issued, from an agent of the authorities at Richmond. This is all public property. No private property has been touched. Colonel Spear’s loss is three killed and eight wounded.”— (Doc. 87.)

—Donaldsonville, La., was attacked by the rebel forces under General Green, who succeeded in gaining possession of the Union intrenchments. Soon after, the gunboats, commanded by Rear Admiral Farragut, opened a flanking fire above and below the works, and driving back the supporting party of the rebels, captured the rebels who had entered them.—Admiral Farragut’s Report.

—General Mitchell’s division of the army of the Cumberland left Triune, Tenn., this day. When about eight miles out on the Eagleville road, the rebel pickets were met and pursued five miles to Rover, when they made a stand with infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and a sharp fight ensued, continuing over two hours, and resulting in the flight of the rebels, with a slight loss. The National loss was seven wounded.

June 27.—A squadron of Scott’s Nine Hundred cavalry, under Major Remington, on their way to Centreville, Va., this morning, encountered, near Fairfax, the Sixth Virginia cavalry, and dashed at them with the sabre. The Major made two charges, and drove the rebels for three miles into a wood, and there encountered a superior force, that checked him with the fire of carbines. The fight, from the beginning to the end, was fierce. Major Remington, after having had his horse shot twice, cut his way out and made his escape with eighteen men. Eighty were reported missing. Among them were Captain Bagwell, Captain Campbell, and Lieutenant Hazleton. The companies were B and C.

—Carlisle, Pa., was abandoned by the Union forces, and soon after occupied by the rebels advancing on Gettysburgh.—A large number of rebel cavalry under command of Fitz-Hugh Lee, made a dash into Annandale, Va., capturing several sutlers who were in the vicinity, and burning a number of hospital stores and sutlers’ wagons.

—The Maryland Club-house at Baltimore, having “degenerated into a resort for those who are disaffected toward the Government, and hostile to its legally constituted authorities,” was closed by order of Major-General Schenck. —Manchester, Tenn., was entered and occupied by the Union forces under General J. J. Reynolds.—Shelbyville, Tenn., was occupied by General Granger.—Joel Parker, Governor of New-Jersey, on the reception of a message from Governor Curtin, informing him of the second entrance of the rebels into Pennsylvania, renewed his call upon the citizens of the State to hold themselves in readiness for immediate service.—York, Pa., was occupied by the rebels under General Gordon.—(Doc. 81.)

—The schooner Varnum H. Hill was captured by the rebel privateer Florida, in latitude 30° north, longitude 48° 50′, but was released on a bond, on condition her master would take to Bermuda, the prisoners captured by the privateer, from the ships lately destroyed by her.— A skirmish occurred on the Walnut Bottom road, at a point five miles from Carlisle, near the Stone Farm, between a detail of Pennsylvania militia under Captain Murray, and a party of rebels, in which ten of the militia were captured and one wounded.—The rebel schooner Archer, a tender to the privateer Tacony, entered the harbor of Portland, Me., and captured the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing.—(Doc. 21.)

June 26.—Andrew G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania, issued a proclamation, calling for sixty thousand men to serve for three months, or the period of the rebel invasion.—(Doc. 79.)

—Brashear City, La., was captured by the rebel forces under Generals Green and Mouton — (Docs. 19, 26, and 80.)

—The Twenty-first regiment of New-York militia, under the command of Colonel Nugent, left Poughkeepsie for Baltimore, Md.—The Fifth regiment of Massachusetts volunteers returned to Boston, and were welcomed by an imposing and enthusiastic demonstration.—McConnelsburgh, Pa., was evacuated by the rebels under General Stuart.—Rear-admiral A. H. Foote died at New-York City.—By direction of President Lincoln, Major-General N. J. T. Dana was assigned to the organization and command of the militia and volunteer forces and defences of Philadelphia, Pa.—Frederick, Md., was occupied by the National cavalry.

June 25.—This afternoon, a fight occurred at Liberty Gap, Tenn., between a rebel division under General Cleburn, and the Nationals, commanded by Generals Willich, Wilder, and Carter, resulting in the rout of the rebels, who fled, leaving their dead and wounded in the hands of the Nationals. The loss of the Nationals was forty killed and one hundred wounded.—(Doc. 112.)

—The ship Constitution, in sight of the Island of Trinidad, latitude 20° 31′, longitude 29° 16′, was captured by the rebel privateer Georgia.—Fairfax Court-house, Va., having been evacuated by the National troops, was occupied by a rebel guerrilla party during the evening.—An expedition under the command of Colonel S. P. Spear, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, reached a point within six miles of Richmond, Va., creating a great panic in that place.—(Doc. 35.)

—As assault was made on the rebel works at Vicksburgh, by General McPherson’s corps, which ended in the capture of one of the forts.—(Doc. 36.)

—The English steamer Britannia, was captured by the Union gunboat St. Jago de Cuba, at a point one hundred and fifty miles from Abaco, having run the blockade of Charleston South-Carolina.

June 24—McConnellsburgh, Pa., was occupied by the rebel cavalry this evening, after a short resistance by the Twelfth Pennsylvania cavalry.—Great excitement existed at Harrisburgh, Pa., on the approach of the rebels, who were “slowly advancing on Carlisle;” many merchants packed up their goods ready for shipment, and martial law was proposed, “to prevent all the able-bodied men from leaving the city.” The Mayor issued an order, calling upon the people to stand firm, and prohibiting the sale of all liquors.—The Eleventh New-York artillery left Rochester, for Harrisburgh.

—Shippensburgh, Pa., was evacuated by the National troops, and immediately occupied by rebel cavalry.—At Shclbyville, Tenn., the rebels were defeated by the National troops, under Gen era! Mitchell.—(Docs. 84 and 112.)

—The following General Orders were issued from the War Department at Washington:

I. By direction of the President, that part of the Middle Department west of Hancock, including the adjacent counties of Ohio, will constitute the Department of West-Virginia. Brigadier-General B. P. Kelley is placed in command of the Department of West-Virginia.

II. Major-General W. S. Hancock, U. S. volunteers, is, by direction of the President, assigned to the command of the Second army corps, in place of Major-General D. N. Couch, transferred to another command.

—The rebel General R. S. Ewell, at Chambersburgh, Pa., issued the following order:

First. The sale of intoxicating liquors to this command, without written permission from a major-general, is strictly prohibited.

Second. Persons having liquor in their possession are required to report the fact to the provost-marshal, or the nearest general officer, stating the amount and kind, that a guard may be placed over it, and the men prevented from getting it

Third. Any violation of Part I. of these Orders, or failure to comply with Part II., will be punished by the immediate confiscation of all liquors in the possession of the offending parties, besides rendering their other property liable to seizure.

Fourth. Citizens of the country, through which the army may pass, who are not in the military service, are admonished to abstain from all acts of hostility upon pain of being dealt with in a summary manner. A ready acquiescence to the demands of the military authorities will serve to lessen the rigors of war.

—The army of the Cumberland, excepting the division under General Van Cleve, commenced a forward movement from Murfreesboro, marching by the Shelbyville and Manchester Roads, and skirmishes took place at Guy’s, Liberty, and Hanover Gaps, Tenn.—(Docs. 37, 112, and 120.)

—Colonel J. K. Mizener returned to La Grange, Tenn., from an extensive cavalry expedition south, from the same point, and reported as follows: He broke up the command under General George, at Panola; destroyed the railroad bridge at the Yocokaway, and the trestle-work just beyond, and a portion of the road from there north.

He then crossed the Tallahatchie, coming north, and pursued Chalmers beyond Coldwater, on the Helena Road. He made for the Tallahatchie to cross, and at the mouth of the Coldwater he killed fifteen or twenty of Chalmers’s men, and took forty prisoners. Ho paroled all the sick at Panola, brought away and destroyed all the army supplies, workshops, mills, tanneries, and depots. He passed within three miles of Austin and Commerce, destroying an immense amount of forage and subsistence, took from six to eight hundred horses and mules, and five hundred head of cattle. He sent detachments north and north-east, from Panola, to destroy or bring away all subsistence, forage, horses, and mules. He passed through five counties, travelled two hundred miles, and crossed three streams.

Chalmers had with him Stokes’s, Slemmcr’s, and Blythe’s men, nine hundred, with three pieces of artillery. The remainder of his force, nine hundred, fled south, via Charleston, under General George. He destroyed all the ferries at Panola and Coldwater, and lost one man killed and five wounded.

—Colonel Wilder, with his mounted infantry, hadd a sharp skirmish at Beech Grove, Tenn., with a body of rebel infantry, and succeeded in killing and disabling a large number of them, with a loss of forty of his own men.—(Doc. 120.)

June 23.—The State of New-York responded nobly to the call for troops to drive the rebels from the soil of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Twenty regiments at this time had been armed, equipped, and supplied with subsistence and transportation, and had gone to Harrisburgh and Baltimore. Sixteen of these regiments moved from New-York, two from Brooklyn, and two from Buffalo. The following is a list of the regiments that had left: The Seventh, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-seventh, Fifty-second, Sixty-ninth, Sixth, Seventy fourth, Seventy-first, Sixty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, Fifth, Thirty-second, Fifty-fifth, Fourth artillery, and a consolidated regiment from Staten Island.

—The Raleigh (N. C.) Standard of this date favored a convention of all the States, to procure peace, either by reconstruction of the Union or by peaceable separation.—Rev. R. I. Graves, of Hillsboro, N. C., who was committed on the fourth of February last, on the charge of treason to the rebel government, was discharged, through the efforts of W. A. Graham.—The London Times publishes an elaborate article against the employment of negroes, as soldiers, in the army of the United States.

—In the Missouri State Convention, Governor Gamble, Chairman of the Committee on Emancipation, presented the following ordinance from the majority of the committee:

First. That the first and second clauses of the Twenty-sixth Section of the Third Article of the Constitution be abrogated.

Second. That slavery, or involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime, shall cease to exist in Missouri on the fourth of July, 1876; and that all the slaves within this State on that day be hereby declared free.

Third. That all slaves hereafter brought into the State, not now belonging to citizens of the State, shall thereupon be free.

Fourth. That all slaves, removed by the consent of their owners to any seceded State, after the passage of the ordinance of secession, and hereafter brought into this State by then-owners, shall thereupon be free.

Fifth. The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws to emancipate slaves without the consent of their owners.

A minority report was also submitted, abrogating some clauses of the Constitution as above, declaring slavery abolished on the first of January, 1864, provided they and their issue be apprenticed to their former owners until the fourth of July, 1876; requiring the Legislature to pass laws regulating the relation between said apprentices and their masters, to secure them humane treatment, necessary education, and providing against importation or emigration of any negro or mulatto in the State. No future assessment of slave property shall be collected, nor shall the right to the services of apprentices be subject to taxation. Provisions were also made to submit the ordinance to a vote of the people.

—Colonel S. H. Saunders returned to Boston, Kentucky, from the expedition sent by General Burnside, into East-Tennessee, and reported as follows:

“I arrived here with my command at eleven o’clock this morning. I struck the railroad at Lenoir, destroyed the road up to Knoxville, made demonstrations against Knoxville, so as to have the troops drawn from above, destroyed the track, and started for Strawberry Plains; burnt Slate Creek Bridge, three hundred and twelve feet long, and the Strawberry Plain Bridge, one thousand six hundred feet long, and also Mossy Creek Bridge, three hundred and twenty-five feet long. I captured three pieces of artillery, some two hundred boxes artillery ammunition, over five hundred prisoners, ten thousand stand of arms, destroyed a large amount of salt, sugar, flour, meal, saltpetre, and one saltpetre works, and other stores. My command is much fatigued. We have had but two nights’ sleep since leaving Williamsburgh. The force in East Tennessee was larger than I had supposed. I did not attack Loudon Bridge, for reasons that I will explain. At Mossy Creek I determined to return. In the mountains I had very great difficulties that were unexpected. I found the gaps, through which I intended to return, strongly guarded with artillery and infantry, and blockaded with fallen timber. A force was also following in our rear. I determined to cross at Smith’s Gap, which I did.”

—Chambersburgh, Pa., was reoccupied by the rebels, under General Rodes; and the National troops, commanded by General Knipe, retreated to the main body.

—The rebel sloop, John Wesley, which had evaded the blockade of St Mark’s, Fla., on the thirteenth, was captured by the Union steamer Circassian.—The Fifth regiment of Massachusetts volunteers, whose term of service had expired, arrived at Fortress Monroe, from Newbern, N. C., and again volunteered their services to General Dix.—The Union gunboat Sumter was sunk off Cape Henry.—Several wagons, with ammunition, forage, and other articles belonging to the National troops, were destroyed by a party from Mosby’s rebel cavalry, on the Chantilly road, near Bull Run, Va.—The sloop Kate, from Nassau, N. P., was captured in Indian River, Fla., by the Union bark, Pursuit.