September 25.—The English steamer William Penn, which was captured near the Rio Grande, arrived at New-Orleans. — Spencer Kellogg Brown, condemned by the rebels as a spy, was hung at Richmond, Va.—A fight took place near Upperville, Va., between Major Cole’s command of National cavalry, and about one hundred and fifty guerrillas belonging to Mosby’s gang, in which the latter were defeated and put to flight. Major Cole recaptured seventy-five horses and mules, and one mar belonging to the Nineteenth New-York cavalry, besides killing one of the guerrillas and capturing nine.—A party of guerrillas attacked the Union garrison at Donaldsonville, La., but were repulsed, and compelled to retire with slight loss.
The Rebellion Record—A Diary of American Events; by Frank Moore
September 24.—General Robert E. Lee issued an order announcing to the rebel army in Virginia, “with profound gratitude to Almighty God, the victory achieved at Chickamauga by the army of Braxton Bragg,” and calling upon his soldiers to “emulate the heroic example of our brethren in the South, until the enemy shall be expelled from our borders, and peace and independence be secured.”—Between eight and nine o’clock this morning a squad of twenty-one guerrillas made a raid at Wood Station Number Thirteen, on the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, Va., about twelve miles from the latter place, stealing nine mules. Sergeant Highland, of Pennsylvania, who started in the direction of the plunderers, was taken prisoner.—President Lincoln issued a proclamation raising the blockade of the port of Alexandria, Va.—(Doc. 175.)
September 23.—The blockade-running steamer Phantom was chased ashore near Rich Inlet, N. C., by the Union gunboat Connecticut, and afterward deserted by her crew, who set her on fire before leaving; in the afternoon, men were sent on shore from the Connecticut, to destroy the boats of the steamer that had been drawn up on the beach. While in the act of destroying them, the men were attacked by a party of concealed rebels, who succeeded in driving them back to the gunboat with a loss of one killed and one wounded.—Lieutenant-general Longstreet issued General Orders to his troops, congratulating them on the brilliant victory which had crowned their heroic efforts at Chickamauga.— At one o’clock this morning, a raid was made upon a telegraph office opposite Donaldsonville, La., by a band of rebel guerrillas, who captured and carried off fourteen men of the Fourteenth regiment of New-York cavalry and the telegraph operator.—The English steamer Diamond, while attempting to run the blockade, was captured by the United States steamer Stettin, off St. Simon’s Sound, Ga.—A secret expedition from Beaufort, S. C., to the mainland, under Captain J. E. Bryant, of the Eighth Maine volunteers, and consisting of two companies of colored troops, the chaplain of Colonel Higginson’s regiment, a telegraph operator, and a lieutenant of the Fourth South-Carolina volunteers, returned with only partial success. The expedition started by order of General Gillmore, with the view, not of cutting the rebel telegraph between Charleston and Savannah, but of attaching a wire and receiving their despatches. Owing to the carelessness of the operator, the wire, instead of being hid behind the pole, was allowed to hang in plain sight, and was discovered by the passengers in the first passing train; not, however, until some very important messages had been received, and among others a telegram to the commander of the rebel troops in Savannah from Beauregard, ordering all his forces to Charleston, to engage in an attack on Folly Island.
September 22.—General Buford, with a portion of his division, drove the rebel pickets through Madison Court-House, Va. Three miles beyond he encountered a strong force of the enemy’s cavalry, and after a spirited fight he forced them to retreat, and drove them across the Rapidan at the point where the Gordonsville Railroad intercepts the river. The National casualties were one killed and about twenty wounded. Forty-five prisoners were taken; among them Lieutenant-Colonel Delaney, of Cobb’s Georgia Legion, Lieutenant Boyce, and two privates of North-Carolina regiments, who were seriously wounded. Unionists wounded include Lieutenant Hines, of the Fifth New-York cavalry, and Lieutenant G. W. Bullock, of the Ninth; also, R. Minshall, of the Third Indiana, and Sergeants Dunning, Cummings, and Bell, and Corporal Bell, all of the Eighth Illinois, and J. Ingmonson, of the Twelfth Illinois, (the last-named a bugler.) B. F. Soder, of the Third Indiana, was killed.
—A scout of the Sixth Provisional regiment, E. M. M., commanded by Captain Holloman, attacked a party of guerrillas in Arkansas, killing four, wounding four, and capturing one — the wounded also being prisoners. — The steamer Leviathan, which was captured at an early hour this morning by the crew of the rebel yacht Teaser, was recaptured by the National gunboat De Soto, soon after she had left the mouth of the Mississippi River.—the battle of Blountville, Tenn., was fought this day between the Union forces under the command of Colonel Foster, and the rebels under Carter.—(Doc. 173.)
—The English steamer Juno, which had run the blockade of Wilmington the night previous, was captured by the National gunboat Connecticut—A body of rebel cavalry crossed into Upper Maryland, a few miles from Rockville, but had not proceeded far before they were met by a portion of Scott’s “Nine Hundred ” cavalry and an infantry force. A fight ensued, and thirty-four rebels were killed and wounded. Among their killed was Captain Frank Kilgore, (of Maryand,) the commander of the enemy’s forces, The rebels finding they were contending with superior numbers, retreated.
September 21.—Twenty-one persons, exiled for various degrees and offences of disloyalty, accompanied by nine ladies, who went by permission of the War Department to rejoin their families, permanently residing at the South, left St. Louis, Mo., in charge of Captain Edward Lawler, of the First Missouri infantry. They were sent within the rebel lines in accordance with orders of the National War Department, of April twenty-fourth, 1863.—James M. Mason, the rebel commissioner in England, informed Earl Russell, at-.the Court of St James’s, that his commission was at an end, and that he was ordered by Jefferson Davis to remove from the country.— The British schooner Martha Jane, was captured by the gunboat Fort Henry’s tender Annie, off Bayport, Florida.
—The revenue steamer Hercules, while lying off the Virginia shore, was attacked by a large party of rebel guerrillas, but they were driven off after a fight of about twenty minutes, without inflicting any serious damage to the steamer or her crew.—The battle of Chickamauga, Ga., was concluded by the Union forces falling back on Chattanooga, after a gallant fight by General Thomas’s corps.—(Doc’s. 43, 105, 123, and 184.)
September 20.—Lieutenant Earl, of the Fourth Wisconsin regiment, in command of a squad of forty cavalry, marched from Baton Rouge, La., as far as Comite River, and captured fourteen prisoners, with their arms, horses, and equipments. Among the prisoners were Colonel Hunter and Captain Perry, notorious guerrilla chiefs.
September 19.—A party belonging to the command of General Buford, swam the Rapid Ann River, near Raccoon Ford, and after capturing a considerable number of prisoners, returned to their camp in safety.—The battle of Chickamauga, Ga,, between the Union forces under General Rosecrans, and the rebels under General Bragg, commenced this day.—(Docs. 43, 105, and 123.)
September 18.—General Schofield, in command in Missouri, issued a General Order, stating that martial law would be enforced throughout his department against all persons who should in any manner encourage military insubordination, or endeavor to create disaffection among the troops and against all persons who should publish or utter publicly words calculated to excite insurrection, lawless acts among the people, or who should publish falsehoods or misrepresentations of facts, calculated to embarrass or weaken the military authorities, or in any way interfere with the men in the discharge of their duties. Any person guilty of either of the offences above mentioned, should be punished by fine and imprisonment at the discretion of a military commission, and any newspaper which might contain said publications in violation of this order would be suppressed.
—A party of soldiers, belonging to the Eighty-third Illinois regiment, were attacked, about five miles above Fort Donelson, Tenn., by a party of rebel guerrillas, led by the notorious George Hinson. The guerrillas were secreted in bushes, from which they fired a volley, killing two of the soldiers, named John Pickerel and A. P. Wolfe, of company E. The guerrillas escaped after the firing. The soldiers sent a man to the fort for an ambulance, removed a short distance from the road, and hid in the bushes. The guerrillas soon returned, when the soldiers fired on them five rounds. Hinson was shot in the head. The rest fled.
—Major-General Dix issued general orders thanking the troops quartered in the city of New York, during the difficulties consequent upon the draft, for their admirable discipline and soldierly deportment.—Colonel Trusten Polk, formerly United States Senator from Missouri, with his wife and daughter, was captured at Bolivar Landing, Arkansas, and delivered to General Buford, commanding at Helena. Colonel Polk was General Holmes’s Judge-Advocate General, and was with the rebels at New-Madrid.
September 17.—The steamer Marcella was seized and plundered by rebel guerrillas, in the vicinity of Dover Landing, ten miles below Lexington, Mo. Four soldiers of company A, Fifth M. S. M. — Edwin Ross, Chris. Sele, Martin Fisher, and Charles Waggoner — were on the steamer visiting their homes at the latter place, on furloughs. They were taken out and marched off with the assurance that they were to be exchanged for other prisoners or paroled. When the rebels had marched about two miles, they stopped and divided the plunder and money, which employed them about an hour, after which the prisoners were put in line, and instantly the order was given to fire, at which Ross, Sole, and Fisher fell dead, but young Waggoner, finding himself unhurt, sprang away for safety, and though shot after shot rattled past him, he finally made his way uninjured to the brush, and went into Lexington.
—A rebel raid was made upon a collection of vessels on the eastern shore of Virginia. The schooners Ireland and John J. Houseman were taken out to sea, plundered, and set adrift. The schooner Alexandria was also plundered, and the government schooner Alliance, loaded with stores valued at thirty thousand dollars, was captured.
September 16.—The rebel steamer Lizzie Davis, from Havana, for Mobile, Ala,, was captured in latitude 25° 58′ north, longitude 85° 11′ west, by the National flag-ship San Jacinto.—The rebel forces made an attempt to recross the Rapid Ann River, but were foiled by the National artillery and cavalry. They advanced in three columns, with artillery, toward the river, but being opposed by the Union troops on the north side, soon fell back.—A spirited skirmish took place at White Plains, Va., in which the rebels were dispersed in disorder.
