The American Civil War

March 23.—The treaty between the United States and Liberia was officially promulgated.— The schooner Charm was captured at the mouth of Indian River Inlet, Fla., by a boat expedition from the National steamer Sagamore.—The expeditionary force of National troops, under the command of Col. John D. Rust, which left Beaufort, S. C, on the nineteenth instant, arrived at Jacksonville, Florida, to-day.—(Doc. 148.)

March 22.—This morning, at ten o’clock, a scouting-party of fifty men, belonging to the Fifth Missouri cavalry, encountered Quantrel’s guerrillas near Blue Spring, Mo. A short skirmish ensued, after which the National cavalry retreated with a loss of nine killed, five missing and several wounded. The rebel casualties were not ascertained.—The steamer Granite City was captured off Eleuthera, Bahamas, by the United States gunboat Tioga.—Mount Sterling, Ky., garrisoned by a detachment of National troops, under the command of Captain Radcliff, was this day captured by a small body of rebel cavalry, under Colonel Cluke.—(Doc. 143.)

March 21.—A fight occurred at Cottage Grove, Tenn., between the Union force stationed in that place, and a body of rebel guerrillas, numbering nearly two thousand men. The fight lasted for more than two hours with varying success; but finally, the Union party being reenforced, the rebels were driven off the field, and pursued for several miles, with great loss in killed and wounded.

— The National gunboats Hartford and Monongahela passed Warrenton, Miss., and anchored below Vicksburgh. — Major-General Edwin V. Sumner died at Syracuse, N. Y., this morning.— The British steamer Nicholas I. was captured while attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, N. C, by the gunboat Victoria.—A fight took place near Seneca, Pendleton County, Va., between a party of loyal men, called “Swampers,” and a force of rebels, resulting in the defeat of the “Swampers.”—Wheeling Intelligencer.

—A large force of Union troops, under the command of Generals Stuart and Sherman, in conjunction with the fleet of gunboats, under Admiral Porter, returned to the Yazoo, after a successful reconnoitring expedition to Steele’s Bayou, Black Bayou, Muddy Bayou, and Deer Creek, Miss. In Deer Creek they were attacked in strong force by the enemy, but, after a contest of several hours’ duration, he was driven off with considerable loss. The expedition destroyed two thousand bales of cotton, fifty thousand bushels of corn, and the houses and cotton-gins of the rebel planters along the route.—(Doc. 140.)

March 20.—A battle was this day fought at Vaught’s Hill, near Milton, Tenn., between a body of Union troops under the command of Colonel A. S. Hall, of the One Hundred and Fifth Ohio, and the rebel forces under Generals Wheeler and Morgan, terminating, after a well-contested struggle, in the defeat and retreat of the rebels, with a loss of nearly four hundred of their number killed and wounded.—(Doc. 141.)

March 19.—The British steamer Georgianna, with a cargo of medicines, dry goods, and six pieces of field artillery of the Whitworth and Blakely patterns, was disabled and subsequently destroyed by the National blockading fleet off Charleston, S. C.—The Union gunboat Chenango was launched at Greenpoint, N. Y.—A party of soldiers sent to Rush County, Ind., to arrest deserters, succeeded in capturing six, but while on their way to the cars the deserters were rescued by a large party of mounted “Southern sympathizers,” who were armed with rifles. Two companies of infantry were then sent from Indianapolis, and the deserters were again taken into custody.—A skirmish occurred on Duck River, near Franklin, Tenn.—The schooner Fanny Lewis arrived at London, from Wilmington, N. C, having run the blockade with a cargo of cotton and turpentine.—London News.

March 18.—This afternoon Captain Perkins, of the First Louisiana National cavalry, with a party of his men, left Brashear City, La., in order to meet an expedition of rebel cavalry, which had attacked a squad of men belonging to the One Hundred and Sixtieth New-York regiment, at Berwick’s Bay. About half-past three o’clock he fell in with the rebel force, at a point two miles beyond the National lines, and charged them with so much spirit that they turned and fled in confusion. The cavalry continued the chase, and a running fight was kept up for some seven or eight miles, where he found reinforcements for the rebels, in waiting to receive him. Their numbers greatly exceeding his, he gave the order to retreat, but was closely followed by the rebels, who kept up the fight for several miles on the return. In the affair ten of the rebels were killed and twenty wounded, and fourteen horses with all their trappings were captured by the Nationals.—Captain Julien, of the First Tennessee cavalry, was killed by guerrillas, near Hillsborough, Tenn.—Peace resolutions passed the lower house of the New-Jersey Legislature. During the debate on the resolutions James M. Scovel delivered an elaborate Union speech.

—An enthusiastic Union meeting was held at Skowhegan, Maine.

March 17.—A detachment of National troops under the command of Colonel Spear, attacked the rebel breastworks on the Black Water, near Franklin, Va., but without being able to carry them. The fight lasted for more than an hour, in which Colonel Spear had one man killed, and sixteen men wounded.—Baltimore American.

—A spirited cavalry engagement occurred at Kelly’s Ford, on the Rappahannock River, Va., between a strong reconnoitring force of Union troops under the command of Gen. Averill, and a body of rebel cavalry under Gen. Fitz-Hugh Lee, in which the latter, after a most desperate struggle, of four hours’ duration, were repulsed, and finally routed and pursued for a distance of six miles.—(Doc. 139.)

—By order of the War Department, Colonel James B. Fry was detailed as Provost-Marshal General of the United States, in pursuance of section five of the act approved March 3, 1863, for enrolling and calling out the National forces, and for other purposes.—The British steamer Calypso ran the blockade of Charleston, S. C, and arrived at her wharf in that city without receiving any damage from the blockading fleet.— Charleston Courier.

—Rear-admiral Farragut, from the flag-ship Hartford, lying off Natchez, Miss., sent a letter to the Mayor of that city, stating that if the United States boats were fired on by the people of Natchez or by guerrillas, he would bombard the city.—Gold was quoted in Richmond, Va., at four dollars and twenty-five cents premium.

March 16.—A boat laden with about two thousand dollars’ worth of contraband goods was captured while attempting to run the blockade on Elizabeth River, near Norfolk, Va.

—This evening a numerous and enthusiastic meeting was held in the City Hall, at Burlington, N. J., for the purpose of forming a Union League. Addresses were delivered by James W. Scovel and James C. Botts.

March 15. — The schooner Chapman, about leaving San Francisco, Cal., was boarded by officers of the United States government and taken into custody as a privateer. Twenty secessionists, well armed, and six brass Dahlgren guns, with carriages suitable for use on shipboard, were captured. Correspondence found on the persons of the prisoners identified them as in the interest of the rebels.—Eight hundred paroled National prisoners, en route to Chicago, were detained in Richmond, Ind., and while there they completely demolished the office of the Jeffersonnewspaper.

—The British steamer Britannia, from Glasgow, with a valuable cargo, successfully ran the blockade into Wilmington, N. C.