The American Civil War

March 13.—A Union meeting was held at Huntsville, Alabama, at which resolutions were passed deprecating the action of the South, and calling upon the Governor of the State to convene the Legislature, that it might “call a convention to provide some mode for the restoration of peace and the rights and liberties of the people.” Speeches were made by Jere Clemens and D. C. Humphreys in support of the resolutions.

—General Butler, learning that the Fifth and Ninth Virginia cavalry, with a large force of armed citizens, were in the vicinity of King and Queen Court-House, immediately despatched an expedition from Yorktown under command of General Wistar, with which General Kilpatrick and a portion of his command essayed to cooperate. This rebel force was ascertained to be one thousand two hundred strong, and the same that ambushed and killed Colonel Dahlgren.

General Kilpatrick left Gloucester Point on Tuesday night, March eighth, in charge of the cavalry, and was ordered to scout Gloucester County to the north and east as far as Dragon River, and drive the enemy up the Peninsula, while Wistar landed his forces by transports on Wednesday at Shepherd’s warehouse, six miles above West-Point, on the Mattapony, with the purpose of heading off their retreat and charging their front and rear. Owing to a misapprehension of General Wistar’s orders, General Kilpatrick marched direct to West-Point, where he arrived about the same time with General Wistar.

A small cavalry force was then despatched to New-Market, and the infantry and artillery moved out as far as Little Plymouth, while Kilpatrick scouted across the Dragon River and tried to cross at Old and New-Bridge, but could not, owing to the swollen state of the stream. Our forces then moved down through the counties of King and Queen, Middlesex and Gloucester, making many captures and destroying large quantities of supplies. King and Queen Court-House was destroyed, and when near Carrolton’s store, Colonel Onderdonk, commanding the First New-York Mounted Rifles, and Colonel Spear, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, came upon the looked-for rebel force of cavalry and citizens. This was in the midst of a severe rain-storm which had been pouring all day, and the mud was knee-deep; yet the rebels were gallantly charged, dispersed, and chased ten miles, their camp destroyed, about twenty killed, and seventy wounded and taken prisoners. The remainder made good their escape by recrossing the river into King William County.

The Union force comprised the Forty-fifth, Sixth, and Twenty-second National colored troops the First New-York Mounted Rifles, the Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, parts of Hart’s and Belger’s batteries, and some five hundred of Kilpatrick’s Richmond raiders. The only organized rebel force encountered were the Fifth and Ninth Virginia cavalry, having, however, many mounted and armed, though ununiformed citizens in their ranks, who claimed to be noncombatants.

On the raid large amounts of grain, provisions, arms, etc., were destroyed. One mill filled with corn belonging to the Ninth Virginia cavalry was burned. Several of Lee’s soldiers at home on recruiting service were captured; two Union officers recently escaped from Libby Prison were rescued, and one of Longstreet’s men captured.

The National forces returned to Yorktown today, without the loss of a man, and but very few horses, and the objects of the expedition were as fully accomplished as were possible. The enemy was severely punished for the death and brutalities perpetrated upon Colonel Dahlgren, and General Wistar highly complimented for the success of his expedition.

—President Lincoln addressed the following to Michael Hahn, the newly elected Governor of Louisiana: “I congratulate you on having fixed your name in history as the first free State Governor of Louisiana: now you are about to have a commission which, among other things, will probably define the elective franchise. I barely suggest, for your private consideration, whether some of the colored people may not be let in, as, for instance, the very intelligent, and especially those who have fought gallantly in our ranks. They would probably help in some trying time to keep the jewel of Liberty in the family of freedom. But this is only a suggestion, not to the public, but to you alone.”

—Two men belonging to the Thirty-second Missouri infantry, Archibald Towner, of company B, and Thomas Norris, of company D, while beyond their picket-lines, in Mo., were taken prisoners by a party of guerrillas, who took them to the top of a mountain near by and tied them to a tree, where they were kept until about sundown, when they were shot, robbed of every thing valuable, and thrown from the summit of the mountain down a precipice sixty feet. Norris miraculously escaped death, which he feigned while being handled by the murderers, and succeeded in reaching camp very much exhausted. He implicated many of the citizens who received their daily rations from the Government, and several in that vicinity were arrested for trial.

The body of Towner was found by the men of his regiment, while out in search of the guerrillas, and carried into camp.—Captain John T. Campbell’s Report.

March 12.—President Lincoln ordered as follows:

I. Major-General Halleck is at his own request relieved from duty as General-in-Chief of the army, and Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. The headquarters of the army will be in Washington, and also with Lieutenant-General Grant in the field.

II. Major-General Halleck is assigned to duty in Washington, as chief-of-staff of the army, under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Lieutenant-General commanding. His orders will be obeyed and respected accordingly.

III. Major-General W. T. Sherman is assigned to the command of the military division of the Mississippi, composed of the departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas.

IV. Major-General J. B. McPherson is assigned to the command of the department and army of the Tennessee.

V. In relieving Major-General Halleck from duty as General-in-Chief, the President desires to express his approbation and thanks for the able and zealous manner in which the arduous and responsible duties of that position have been performed.

—The rebel schooner Marion, bound to Havana, from Tampico, was captured by the steamer Aroostook, off Rio Brazos.—The rebel sloop Persis was captured off Wassaw Sound, Georgia, by the National gunboats Massachusetts and others.

March 11.—A detachment of the Seventh Tennessee cavalry, commanded by Colonel Hawkins, captured eleven guerrillas in the vicinity of Union City, Ky.—The rebel sloop Hannah, was captured by the Beauregard, off Mosquito Inlet, Ga.—The United States steamer Aroostook captured, in latitude twenty-eight degrees fifty minutes north, longitude ninety-five degrees five minutes west, the British schooner M. P. Burton, loaded with iron and shot. She cleared from Havana, and purported to be bound to Matamoras. When first seen she was steering direct for Velasco, some two hundred miles out of her course.— Admiral Farragut’s Report.

—The schooner Linda, with an assorted cargo, was captured off Mosquito Inlet, by the National vessels Beauregard and Norfolk Packet.

March 10.—A party of “over one hundred citizen guerrillas” entered Mayfield, Ky., and after pillaging the stores and severely wounding one of the citizens, left, carrying away their booty.

—Governor Joseph E. Brown’s annual message was read in the Legislature of Georgia, It concluded as follows:

“Lincoln has declared that Georgia and other States are in rebellion to the Federal Government, the creature of the States, which they could destroy as well as create. In authorizing war, he did not seek to restore the Union under the Constitution as it was, by confining the Government to a sphere of limited powers, They have taken one hundred thousand negroes, which cost half a million of whites four thousand millions of dollars, and now seek to repudiate self-government—subjugate Southern people, and confiscate their property. The statement of Lincoln, that we offer no terms of adjustment, is made an artful pretext that it is impossible to say when the war will terminate, but that negotiation, not the sword, will finally terminate it.

“We should keep before the Northern people the idea that we are ready to negotiate, when they are ready, and will recognize our right to self-government, and the sovereignty of the States. After each victory, our government should make a distinct offer of peace on these terms, and should the course of any Slate be doubted, let the armed force be withdrawn, and the ballot-box decide. If this is refused even a dozen times, renew it, and keep before the North and the world that our ability to defend ourselves for many years has been proved.”

—Pilatka, Florida, was occupied by the Union forces under Colonel Barton. The force, consisting of infantry and artillery, left Jacksonville on the transports General Hunter, Delaware, Maple Leaf, and Charles Houghton last evening, and, under the direction of good pilots, reached Pilatka at about daylight this morning. The night was densely dark, and a terrible thunder-storm added not a little to the difficulty of the passage of the boats up the tortuous channel. The troops disembarked at sunrise, and found but few of the enemy. The rebels probably had only a small cavalry picket in the town, and on the approach of the Nationals it was withdrawn, and the place given up without firing a shot on either side. The town was found entirely deserted, except by three small families, who professed Union sentiments, and desired to remain at their homes.—The rebel iron-clad war steamer Ashley was successfully launched at Charleston, S. C.

March 9.—A fight took place near Suffolk, Virginia, between a force of rebels and a portion of the Second Virginia colored regiment, commanded by Colonel Cole, resulting in a loss of twenty-five rebels, and twenty killed, wounded, and missing of the Nationals.[1]

—Forty of the Thirtieth Pennsylvania cavalry were captured by guerrillas about a mile and a half from Bristoe Station, Virginia. They were surrounded and compelled to surrender. Several of them afterward escaped.

—The steamer Hillman was attacked by a gang of guerrillas, stationed on the Missouri shore opposite Island No. 18 in the Mississippi River, and several persons were killed and wounded.

—President Lincoln this afternoon formally presented to Major-General Grant his commission as Lieutenant-Gcnoral. The ceremony took place in the Cabinet chamber in the presence of many distinguished personages. General Grant having entered the room, the President rose and addressed him thus:

“General Grant: The nation’s appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what there remains to do in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission constituting you Lieutenant-General in the army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add that with what I have spoken for the nation, goes my own hearty personal concurrence.”

To which General Grant replied as follows:

“Mr. President: I accept this commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me, and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men.”

The President then introduced the General to all the members of the Cabinet, after which the company were seated and about half an hour was spent in conversation.

—Major-general Peck, in general order, issued the following from his headquarters at Newbern, N. C.: “The moment when we are threatened with an advance by the enemy, is the proper time to remind the gallant officers and soldiers of this command of the results of the recent operations in North-Carolina.

“Besides the repulse of General Pickett’s army at Newbern, the following have been captured: Six officers, two hundred and eighty-one prisoners and dangerous rebels, five hundred contrabands, two hundred and fifty arms and accoutrements, one hundred and thirty-eight horses and mules, eleven bales of cotton, one piece of artillery, caisson complete, one flag, many saddles, harnesses, and wagons. Much property of the rebel government has been destroyed from inability to remove it, as appears by a partial list: Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of pork, eighty barrels of lard, seventy-five barrels of meat, twenty thousand bushels of corn, thirty- two barrels of beef, five hogsheads of sugar, five thousand empty sacks, one corn-mill, ten wagons, one ton of tobacco, eighteen mules, two warehouses of salt, and two extensive salt manufactories. Thousands of deserters have; entered the lines, and resumed their allegiance to the Federal Union with joy and gladness. These valuable services will he appreciated by the Government and the people, and this brief allusion to them should stimulate all to renewed energy in the final campaign against the revolutionists.”

[1] The following Is the Southern version of the story:

Weldon, March 9.—The enemy occupied Suffolk in force on Sunday. We attacked them to-day, and, after a short struggle, drove them in a rout out of the town, killing a number, capturing one piece of artillery and a large quantity of commissary and quartermaster stores. The enemy are flying to Portsmouth, burning bridges, and leaving every thing behind. We pursued them beyond Bernard’s Mills.

M. W. Ransom, Brig.-Gen.

G. E. Pickett, Major-Gen.

March 8.—Four Yankee negro soldiers, captured in James City County, were brought to this city yesterday and delivered at the Libby, where they were distributed, as far as they would go, into the solitary cells of the Yankee officers captured during the recent raid. This is a taste of negro equality, we fancy, the said Yankee officers will not fancy overmuch. The negroes represent themselves as James W. Cord, company C, Fifth United States volunteers; P. F. Lewis, company I, Fifth United States volunteers; R. P. Armistead, company H, Sixth United States volunteers; John Thomas, ditto.— Richmond Whig.

—The rebel steamer Sumter was captured on Lake George, Florida, by the National steamer Columbine, under the command of Acting Master J. C. Champion.—Forty-eight Union officers and over six hundred prisoners arrived at Fortress Monroe from Richmond, Va., for exchange.— The steam-tug Titan, which was captured near Cherry Stone Point, Va., was burned at Freeport on the Piankatank River.

March 7.—The first negro prisoners of war arrived in Richmond, Va., and were placed in Libby Prison. The Examiner thus noticed the fact: “They were genuine, sure members of the original Corps d’Afrique, ranging in color from gingerbread-brown to tobacco-black, greasy and loud-smelling, encased in blue uniforms, close buttoned up to the chin. They were captured on the second instant, within a few miles of Williamsburgh, with arms in their hands, having been pushed forward by Massa Butler with a negro command on a foraging and thieving expedition. Their names and military connection were recorded as follows: James W. Cord and P. F. Lewis, Fifth United States volunteers; R. P. Armstead and John Thomas, Sixth United States volunteers. As they claimed to be ‘Butler’s pets,’ and it being understood that a great affection and fondness for each other existed between them and the officers captured from the recent sacking and plunder expedition, Major Turner very considerately ordered that they be placed in the cells occupied by their white co-patriots, each being accommodated with a sable boon companion. We are glad that our officials are inclined to carry out Greeley’s idea of amalgamation of the races, so far as it affects the Yankee prisoners in our care. It will result in mutual good. The only party likely to be seriously affected, either in status or morals, is the negro. The Yankee cannot be degraded lower; the negro probably can be.”

—Under the caption of “A Premium Uniform,” the Richmond newspapers published the following: “Recently Mrs. White, of Selma, Alabama, went through the lines to Lexington, Kentucky, and being a sister (Todd) of Mrs. Lincoln, was permitted to go on to Washington. On her return, several weeks ago, she was allowed to carry nothing back, save a uniform for a very dear friend of hers who was battling in the Southern cause. The uniform arrived in the Confederacy several days since, and on inspection all the buttons were found to be composed of gold coin—two and a half, five, ten, and twenty-dollar gold pieces, set in the wooden button and covered with confederate cloth. The gold thus brought through is valued at between thirty and forty thousand dollars—all sewed upon a uniform.”

—Considerable excitement existed in Frederick and Washington counties, Md., growing out of rebel movements on the Virginia side of the Potomac, supposed to be premonitory of a cavalry raid through the upper counties of the State.

—Decatur, Alabama, was captured by the National forces under the command of Brigadier General Dodge.

March 6.—A cavalry force, sent out from Cumberland, Md., under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Root, of the Fifteenth New-York cavalry, returned, having effectually destroyed all the saltpetre works near Franklin, in Pendleton County.—The English steamer Mary Ann, while attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, N. C, was captured by the Union steamer Grand Gulf—The sloop G. Garibaldi was seized at Jupiter Inlet, Florida, while trying to run the blockade with a cargo of cotton.

March 5.—Yazoo City, garrisoned by one white and two negro regiments of National troops, was attacked by a body of rebels under the command of Ross and Richardson, who were repulsed after a severe contest—(Doc. 109.)

—A large force of rebel cavalry attacked ninety-three men of the Third Tennessee regiment at Panther Springs, East-Tennessee. The Union loss was two killed and eight wounded and twenty-two captured. The rebels had thirty killed and wounded.