The Rebellion Record—A Diary of American Events; by Frank Moore

October 14.—Jefferson Davis issued an address to the soldiers of the army of Tennessee, thanking them for the “glorious victory on the field of Chickamauga.”—A fight took place at Salt Lick, Va., between the rebels under Colonel William M. Jackson, who were retreating from the battle-field of Bulltown, and a party of Virginia cavalry under Major Howe and Captain Harrison, resulting in a complete rout of the rebels.—An expedition to the interior of Mississippi left Vicksburgh, under the command of General McPherson.

—The battle of Bristoe Station, Va., was fought this day.— (Doc. 188.)

October 13.—A fight took place at Wyatts, a town on the Tallahatchie River, Miss., between a party of rebels retreating from Colliersville, Tenn., and the National cavalry under Colonel Hatch. The place had previously been fortified and was surrounded by a deep trench. By the aid of pontoon-bridges the rebels had succeeded in crossing their horses and stores, so that their whole force was rendered available for repelling the Union troops. They had upward of three thousand men, with nine pieces of artillery, and were sheltered by the log-houses of which the town was composed; the Union force was less than two thousand five hundred, with eight pieces of artillery. The fight commenced at three o’clock in the afternoon, by the enemy attempting to force back the Union left. In this they failed. They next massed their forces to break the centre, but were driven back. Slowly Colonel Hatch advanced his line, driving the enemy back step by step. Thus the afternoon wore away, till night, dark and rainy, closed the scene. The rebels, taking advantage of the darkness, succeeded in crossing by means of their bridges, though many of them were killed by the artillery. The Union loss in the engagement was less than forty in killed and wounded. It was impossible correctly to estimate the loss of the confederates, as they succeeded in carrying off all of their wounded and many of their dead. Fifteen dead rebels were found and buried. Colonel Hatch captured seventy-five prisoners, among whom was a rebel chief of artillery.

—A rebel force, under the command of Colonel William L. Jackson, attacked the outpost of General B. F. Kelley’s army, at Bulltown, Braxton County, Va., this morning, and after a severe fight were compelled to retreat with heavy loss. They were pursued by the Union cavalry. The Union force in the engagement consisted of detachments of the Sixth and Eleventh Virginia regiments, numbering about four hundred, commanded by Captain William H. Mattingly, of the former regiment He was dangerously wounded. The other casualties were slight. The rebel loss was sixty wounded and nine killed.—General Kelley’s Despatch.

—A fight took place near Merrill’s Crossing, Mo., between the Union troops under General Brown and the rebels under Shelby, in which the latter was defeated.—(Doc. 195.)

October 12.—Jefferson Davis, accompanied by General Bragg and staff, visited the battle-field of Chickamauga. He complimented the General in the highest terms, remarking that “his soldiers were entitled to the gratitude of the country for their heroism, and promising them that the green fields of Tennessee would shortly again be theirs.”—The Union cavalry, under Colonel Hatch, in pursuit of the rebels, who were retreating from the battle-field of Colliersville, overtook them at Ingham’s Mills, a point on Coldwater River, three miles from Byhalia, Miss. The rebels were posted in a strong position, but were compelled to retreat after a fight of two hours, with a loss of over fifty in killed and wounded.

October 11.—The English steamer Spaulding was captured by the steam transport Union whilst attempting to run the blockade of Charleston, S. C.—The blockade-running steamer Douro was run ashore and afterward burned by the National gunboat Nansemond, under the command of Lieutenant Lamson.—A battle occurred near Culpeper, Va., the rebels losing four hundred, and the Nationals one hundred and fifty in killed, wounded, and missing.—(Doc. 196.)

October 10.—Early this morning one of General Kilpatrick’s cavalry brigades, consisting of four regiments, attempted a reconnoissance on the south side of Robertson’s River, when they were met by a large body of Stuart’s rebel cavalry. A fight ensued, which lasted about an hour, when the Union cavalry fell back upon the infantry reserves. Another severe conflict ensued, which resulted in the giving way of the Union infantry and the capture of a considerable number of them. A detachment of the cavalry afterward made a dash upon the rebels and recaptured all, excepting fifteen or twenty, of the infantry. The entire National force were then pushed back toward Culpeper, skirmishing all the way.—(Doc. 196.)

—Zollicoffer, Tenn., was captured by the Union forces under General Shackelford.— (Doc. 198.)

—Lieutenant-Colonel G. W. Lee has recently returned from his deserter-hunting trip into the mountains of North-Carolina. He has captured between three hundred and four hundred deserters and tories. Their leader, Colonel Busty, notorious for his daring outrages, was said to have about six hundred men under him. They were not, however, in a body, but scattered through the country, engaged in their treasonable work of stealing and destroying the property of the people, and carrying off cattle fattening for the army. With two hundred men, Colonel Lee pursued and drove him to Loudon, and captured fifty prisoners, among them two Yankee recruiting officers, and about seventy-five fine beef cattle.— Richmond Whig, October 10.

—A large and enthusiastic meeting of mechanics was held in Richmond, Va., at which the following resolution, among others, was adopted:

Resolved, That, awakened to a sense of the abject posture to which labor and we who labor have been reduced, and to the privileges which as citizens and people the institutions of our country rest in us, we will not sleep again until our grasp has firmly clenched the rights and immunities which are ours as Americans and men, until our just demands have been met by the concessions of all opposing elements.

—The National forces under General Burnside defeated the rebels at Blue Springs, Tenn.— (Doc. 192.)

October 9.—Two iron-plated rams, built on the Mersey, England, by the Lairds for the use of the rebel government, were seized by order of the British government, upon a charge of an intention to evade the neutrality laws.—Major-General J. G. Foster sent the following despatch to the National War Department: “I have the honor to report that the expedition sent out on Sunday, under General Wistar, to break up or capture the guerrillas and boats’ crews organized by the enemy in Matthews County, has returned, having in the main accomplished its object. Four rebel naval officers, twenty-five men, and twenty-five head of cattle belonging to the Confederacy, together with horses, mules, and arms, arc the results. A large number of rebel boats were destroyed. Our loss was one man killed. Generall Wistar reports the Fourth United States infantry (colored) making thirty miles in one day, with no stragglers.”

—Fort Johnson, in Charleston harbor, S. C., was again silenced. A well-directed shot from the Union batteries entered an embrasure and dismounted the gun.—One of the two-hundred pounder batteries on Morris Island, that had been silent for a week, opened on Fort Sumter and the other rebel forts.

October 8.—Last night the garrison at Harper’s Ferry, Va., were alarmed by an attack, and the cavalry and two regiments of infantry started out to meet the enemy. Near Charlestown a force of between three hundred and four hundred cavalry, commanded by Imboden, were posted. The rebels had a large portion of their force dismounted and in ambuscade. Captain Somers, with his company of cavalry, had advanced to hunt up the enemy. He met a company of rebel cavalry, who charged upon him and were repulsed. They purposely retreated, Captain Somers and his company pursuing until they entered the fatal ambuscade. At the first fire Captain Somers and ten men were killed, as many more wounded, and nearly all the others captured. The few who escaped carried the information into camp, and the rest of the cavalry started in pursuit, but were unable to come up with the rebels.—The following order was issued at Richmond, Va., by the rebel Adjutant-General Cooper: “The Chief of the Nitre and Mining Bureau is directed, through the officers of his bureau, to impress copper, coal, and such other minerals as may be needed for the use of the government.”—A fight occurred near Salem, Miss., between four thousand rebels, under General S. D. Lee, and five thousand Nationals, under McCullis and Phillips, resulting in the defeat of the rebels with a loss of fifteen killed and wounded.—A mob at Jackson, N. H., burned the hotel where the Deputy Provost-Marshal was stopping while serving notices on drafted men.— Carthage, Mo., was burned by the rebel troops. —A party of one hundred guerrillas, under command of Captain Richardson, at two o’clock this afternoon, placed obstructions on the track of the Lebanon Branch Railroad, at New-Hope, Ky., twenty miles from the junction, threw the train off the track, and fired into it, but did no damage to the passengers. They then captured the train, burned two passenger-cars, baggage and express cars, destroyed the locomotive, robbed the passengers of money and clothing, and decamped.

October 7.—Colonel Harrison’s force of West Tennessee cavalry were attacked at Como, Mississippi, by rebel guerrillas, under Colonels Faulkner and Wilson, and was forced to retreat after an engagement of two hours, with a loss of thirty-seven men. The rebel loss was large, Colonel Wilson being among the killed.—A fight took place at Farmington, Tenn., between the Union forces under General Crook and the rebels commanded by General Wharton.—(Docs. 181 and 191.)

—Acting Volunteer Lieutenant James P. Couthouy, having received information that a rebel steamer was tied up to the bank on Red River, fitted out an expedition, under charge of Acting Chief-Engineer Thomas Doughty, with twenty men and Mr. Hobbs, who crossed over from the Mississippi to Red River, and after great labor in getting through the entanglements of the bushes and other undergrowth, got a sight of the steamer lying at the bank. They managed to get up to her and capture her. A few moments afterward they were enabled to capture another one, and found themselves in possession of two steamers and nine prisoners. One of the prisoners was an aid to the rebel General Taylor who had been sent up expressly for the last steamer.—Admiral Porter’s Despatch.

October 6.—General Blunt and his escort were attacked at Baxter’s Springs, near Fort Scott, Mo., and nearly all of them were massacred.— (Doc. 190.)

—General Mitchell, with a body of National troops, overtook the rebels below Shelbyville, Tenn., and attacked them with, great spirit, putting them to a complete rout. They did not stop for their wounded, and left over one hundred dead upon the field.—An attempt was made to blow up the United States iron-plated frigate Ironsides, in Charleston Harbor, by means of a torpedo. The instrument of destruction was suspended from the bow of a small cigar-shaped steamer, which was driven against the Ironsides at full speed. A tremendous explosion followed, which throw a large body of water on the deck of the Ironsides, but did no serious damage to the vessel. Lieutenant Glassett, the commander of the rebel steamer, was taken prisoner, having been thrown overboard by the force of the explosion. On board the Ironsides, Ensign Charles Howard was killed by a musket-shot fired by Glassett, as his steamer was approaching the frigate.