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

April 29.—This morning about five o’clock, a courier dashed into Fredericksburgh, Va., with the startling, exciting intelligence that the Yankees were crossing the Rappahannock in that vicinity. Immediately the Episcopal church bell, the ring of which had been previously agreed upon as a signal, sounded the alarm, and the streets presented a busy spectacle of military preparation, and women and children leaving the scene of danger.—Richmond Examiner, May 1.

—Fairmount, Va., was this day captured by strong rebel force under General William E. Jones, after a desperate resistance and contest by the garrison of the place, under the command of Captain Chamberlain, of the One Hundred and Sixth New-York volunteers. The Union party had only one of their number killed and four wounded, while the rebels had nearly one hundred killed and wounded.—(Doc. 178.)

—General Stahel, with about two thousand cavalry and a light battery, left Fairfax Court-House on Monday morning last, to make a reconnoissance in force toward Warrenton and the Blue Ridge, taking the Aldie Pike. The column moved on to Aldie without meeting any force of the enemy. Several captures of Mosby’s bushwhackers were made, some on foot, who were hoping to pick off a scout or two for the sake of the horses. At Aldie the advance-guard run a small party of Mosby’s men out of the town, capturing three. From Aldie to Middleburgh light skirmishing was continued on all sides with guerrillas.

At Middleburgh, Mosby, who preceded the command up the road with about fifteen men, succeeded in getting from fifty to sixty together. A charge through the town by the advance-guard routed them, however, and drove them to the woods beyond, from which they were dislodged and scattered by a half-dozen shells from Captain Daniels’s battery.

Camping at Middleburgh on Monday night, scouting-parties were sent out toward Snicker’s and Ashby’s Gaps, but found nothing but scattered bodies of guerrillas.

Yesterday the march was resumed to Salem. Skirmishing with other parties of guerrillas took place along the route, and at Salem, Mosby, with one hundred and fifty men, was driven from the place. From Salem the column moved on to White Plains, which place was reached about dark. Here a rebel lieutenant in Stuart’s command was found, who was wounded. From White Plains the force made a night-march back to Middleburgh. Halting a few hours, they moved on to Aldie, which place they reached about four o’clock. After resting a few hours at Aldie, the line of march was taken, and the troops reached camp about five o’clock this morning.

This reconnoissance demonstrated that there was no regular force of the rebels in the valley between the Bull Run mountains and the Blue Ridge.

—Grand Gulf, Miss., was this day attacked by a fleet of seven U. S. gunboats under the command of Admiral Porter. After a bombardment of five hours’ duration, the rebel batteries were silenced, but not without considerably damaging the hulls of the fleet, and killing twenty and wounding a large number of their crews.— (Doc. 179.)

April 28.—About ten o’clock last night a rebel regiment, being the advance-guard of Marmaduke’s army, which was then retreating from Cape Girardeau, were surprised three miles west of Jackson, Mo. Two small howitzers loaded with musket-balls were discharged simultaneously within thirty yards of them, killing and wounding a large number. At the same time the First Iowa cavalry charged upon them, and not a man of the entire regiment escaped, all who were not killed or wounded being taken prisoners. All of their guns, horses, camp equipage, and several thousand dollars’ worth of stolen property were captured by the Union party. Early this morning General Vandeveer advanced, and perceiving the main body of the rebels in full retreat, ho immediiately followed, keeping up a constant artillery fire on their rear. At two o’clock this afternoon he was joined by General McNeil, and the combined forces continued the pursuit. — Missouri Democrat.

—General Hooker’s army crossed the Rappahannock at two points, in the advance on Fredericksburgh.—Fifteen hundred dollars each for substitutes was offered in Richmond, Va.—Captain Alexander, of Wolford’s Kentucky cavalry, with sixty picked men and horses, crossed Cumberland River at Howe’s Ford, two miles north of Mill Spring, and had a skirmish with a party of rebel pickets. Later in the day Lieutenant-Colonel Adams of the same regiment, with three hundred men followed Captain Alexander, and the combined force under Colonel Adams proceeded as far as Steubenville, where he met a body of rebel cavalry under Chenault drawn up in line of battle. The Colonel ,with ninety men prepared for a charge, but as soon as his horses struck the gallop, the enemy dispersed in confusion, leaving four of their number with their horses and equipments in the hands of the Nationals.—The Union steamers Swan and Commerce, having been blockaded in Nansemond River, Va., for several days, were this day run past the rebel batteries and taken to Suffolk. Great excitement existed at Uniontown, Pa., rumors being prevalent of a rebel raid into the State.

April 27.—A party of National cavalry, belonging to the division of General Granger, and under the command of Colonel Watkins, left their camp at Murfreesboro last night, and this morning at daybreak, succeeded in capturing the Texan Legion of rebel troops, posted at a point eight miles from Franklin, Tenn., between the Columbia and Carter’s Creek turnpikes. In the skirmish, several rebels were killed and wounded.—Cincinnati Gazette.

—The army of the Potomac, under Major-General Hooker, commenced the forward movement on Fredericksburgh, Va. This morning at five o’clock, the Eleventh, Major-General Howard’s corps, the Twelfth, Major-General Slocum’s, and the Fifth, Major-General Meade’s corps, struck their tents and marched westward from Falmouth on the several roads leading to Kelly’s Ford, distant from the line of Acquia Creek and Fredericksburgh Railroad about twenty-five miles; the Eleventh corps being in the advance.

April 26.—The schooner Clarita, from Havana to Matamoras, Texas, was captured by the steamer De Soto. She proved to be the old revenue cutter John Y. Mason, taken by the rebels at the outbreak of the rebellion.—At Louisville, Ky., during the sale of a lot of negroes at the courthouse this morning, the Provost-Marshal notified the buyers that four of those put up for sale were free under the provisions of the President’s Proclamation. The sale, nevertheless, went on, when the matter of the four “contrabands” was turned over to the District Judge.—Louisville Journal.

The Seventy-sixth Ohio regiment, under the command of Colonel R. C. Woods, returned to Milliken’s Bend, La., from an expedition into Mississippi. They visited the regions bordering on Deer Creek, and destroyed three hundred and fifty thousand bushels of corn, and thirty cotton gins and grist-mills in use by the rebels.

—The town of Cape Girardeau, Mo., garrisoned by a force of National troops, under the command of General John McNeil, was this day attacked by a strong body of rebels, under General Marmaduke, but after a contest of several hours’ duration, the rebels were repulsed with heavy loss.— (Doc. 177.)

April 25.—A fight took place at Duck River Shoals,on the Tennessee River, between the United States gunboat Lexington and ram Monarch, and the rebel shore batteries, resulting in a defeat of the latter, with a loss of twenty-five rebels killed and wounded.—(Doc. 175.)

—Two schooners from New-York, with cargoes of clothing and medicines, were captured in Mobjack Bay, Va., by the Union steamers Samuel Rotan and Western World.—The ship Dictator was captured and burnt by the rebel steamer Georgia, in latitude 25° north, longitude 21° 40′ west.—Captain Phillips’s Statement.

—A fight took place at Greenland Gap, Va., between a detachment of Union troops, under the command of Captain Wallace, of the Twenty-third Illinois, and a numerically superior body of rebels, under General William E. Jones. The contest lasted nearly two hours, the rebels making three desperate charges, but were repulsed on each occasion with heavy loss. The rebel killed and wounded outnumbered the whole Union force.— (Doc. 176.)

—An important debate took place in the English Parliament, in reference to the seizure of British vessels by American cruisers, and other subjects growing out of the rebellion in America. In the House of Lords, an elaborate speech was made by Earl Russell, and in the House of Commons, Mr. Roebuck made a very defamatory one.

April 24.—Tuscumbia, Ala., was occupied by the National forces under General Dodge, after he had succeeded in driving from the place the rebels under Colonel Chalmers.—Four rebel schooners were captured off Mobile, Ala., by the gunboat De Soto, and two were captured while endeavoring to run into New-Inlet, N. C, by the United States steamer State of Georgia.—Colonel Phillips encountered and defeated a party of rebels at Weber Falls, Ark., capturing all their camp equipage.—Skirmishing still continued in the vicinity of Suffolk, Va.—Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29.

—A body of rebels under Imboden and Jackson attacked a small Union force at Beverly, Va., the extreme outpost held by General Roberts. The place — which is in Tygert Valley, east of Rich Mountain—was garrisoned by about one thousand Virginia loyalists, under Colonel Latham. The town is approached by two roads, known as the Buckhannon and Philippa pikes, from the west and north-west, and the Huttonsville road from the south. The enemy came in on the Huttonsville road, and when near the town, a part passed to the left flank and occupied the road leading to Buckhannon, thus cutting off all communication between Colonel Latham and General Roberts. The fight commenced about two o’clock in the afternoon, and lasted until night, when Colonel Latham, finding himself unable to maintain his position against such a superior force, determined to withdraw by way of the Philippa road. He succeeded in withdrawing his command, including his two small field-pieces and all his supplies, although he was followed by the enemy, in strong force, over eight miles on the road.

—The ship Oneida was captured and destroyed, in lat. 1° 40′ south, long. 29° 10′ west, by the rebel privateer Florida, under the command of Captain Maffit.

April 23.—Lieutenant Cushing, with a party of men belonging to the National gunboat Commodore Barney, with a small howitzer, visited Chuekatuck, Va., where he encountered and defeated forty rebel cavalrymen, killing two, and capturing three of their horses fully equipped. Lieutenant Cushing lost one man killed.—The British schooner St. George was captured off New-Inlet, N. C, by the National steamer Mount Vernon.—The sloop Justina was captured off the Little Bahama Bank, by the gunboat Tioga.

April 22. —Tompkinsville, Ky., was visited by a party of rebels who burned the court-house and several other buildings in the place and killed five Union men.—Two regiments of the First army corps of the army of the Potomac, marched to Port Conway, crossed the river to Port Royal on pontoons, and captured a rebel mail and took several prisoners.—New- York Times.

—The rebel steamer Ellen was this day captured by a party of Union troops in a small bayou in the vicinity of the Courtableau, La.—(Doc. 171.)

—Seven men belonging to the Eighth regiment of Missouri cavalry who were captured on the nineteenth by a band of rebel guerrillas in Dallas County, having been carried to Cedar County, Mo., were stripped of their clothing and inhumanly shot. Immediately after this, the guerrillas proceeded to the house of Obadiah Smith, a Baptist minister in-Cedar County, and on his attempting to escape they shot him.—St. Louis Democrat.

—The cargo of the steamer Wave (destroyed by the rebels to prevent her from falling into the hands of the Unionists) was this day captured in the vicinity of Bayou Cocodue, La., by an expeditionary force under the command of General Dwight— (Doc . 171.)

—A portion of General Reynolds’s national forces entered and occupied McMinnville, Tenn.— Major McGee, of the Third Virginia cavalry with sections of Rowan’s, Utt’s, and White’s cavalry, encountered a force of three hundred rebels at a point near Strasburgh, Va., and after a brief and brilliant fight drove them from their position. One man of Rowan’s company was killed, and mother wounded. The rebel loss was five killed, and nine wounded, beside twenty-five prisoners and forty horses.

—Six gunboats and twelve barges succeeded in passing the rebel batteries at Vicksburgh tonight,—National Intelligencer.

April 21.—Captain Laypole, with seven men of the Fifth and Sixth Virginia rebel cavalry, were captured near Berryville, Va., by a party of the Second Virginia loyal infantry and New-York First cavalry, under Lieutenants Powel and Wykoff.—Colonel McReynolds’s Despatch.

—At Nashville, Tenn., by order of Brigadier-General R. B. Mitchell, all white persons over the age of eighteen years residing within the lines of his command were compelled to subscribe to the oath of allegiance or non-combatant’s parole, or to go South.