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

October 8.—The battle of Chaplin Hills, or Perryville, Ky., was this day fought between the Union army under General Buell, and the rebel forces under General Bragg, resulting, after an engagement of several hours’ duration, in the retreat of the rebels across Chaplin River. The loss on both sides was very severe. The Union Generals Jackson and Terrell were killed in this battle.— (Doc. 128.)

—Seventeen National Government wagons, a number of sutlers’ wagons, and about five hundred and fifty men of Gen. Sill’s advance column, under the command of Major Bradford, were this day captured in the vicinity of Frankfort, Ky., by the rebel forces under Gen. E. Kirby Smith.— A force of seventeen Union cavalrymen to-day dashed into Middleburgh, Loudon County, Va., and captured several wagons loaded with bacon belonging to the rebels.

October 6.—The rebel forces in Kentucky were flying in great haste from town to town, closely followed by the Union army under Gen. Buell. Yesterday a reconnoissance in the vicinity of Hardensville disclosed their presence, about twenty thousand strong; but, this morning, on the arrival of the advance column of the Union army, under Gen. Sill, it was discovered that they had fled in confusion toward Frankfort. General Sill followed them up, and arrived at Frankfort this evening, but only in time to see the last of the rebels flying from the opposite side of the town, in the direction of Lexington.

—A number of the citizens of Blackford County, Ind., collected, with arms in their hands, at Hartford, the county-town, for the purpose of resisting the draft They destroyed the ballot-box and enrolling papers, and compelled the commissioners and provost-marshal to resign.— Cincinnati Commercial, October 8.

—The rebels having succeeded in placing a battery at Cockpit Point, Va., on the Potomac, with a view to restore the blockade of that river, one of the Union fleet of gunboats ran into the Point to-day, and shelled it, entirely destroying the battery.—The Thirteenth regiment of New Hampshire volunteers, under the command of Col. A. F. Stevens, left Concord for the seat of war.

—Charles Sumner delivered an elaborate and powerful speech at Boston, Mass., indorsing the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, and advocating the cause of the African race, who, “slave as well as free,” must help the National Government. At the conclusion of his remarks, George Francis Train, being called for, took the platform, and, refusing to yield it, was carried off by the police.—Boston Transcript, October 7.

—A reconnoitring party of Union troops, consisting of the Sixth United States cavalry, supported by two guns of Robertson’s battery, left Bolivar Heights, near Harper’s Ferry, and proceeded to Halltown, Va., driving the rebel pickets before them. When near Charlestown, the Union advance came upon a force of rebels, and a short skirmish ensued, resulting in the flight of the latter. Soon afterwards the rebels commenced throwing shells, but the Union forces, having positive orders not to bring on a general engagement, withdrew after having obtained the desired information.

—The One Hundred and Forty-second regiment of New-York volunteers, Col. Roscius W. Judson, left Ogdensburgh for the seat of war.— The Eleventh regiment of Rhode Island volunteers, under command of Col. Edwin Metcalf, left Providence for Washington.

October 5.—Colonel Egan, in command of the Fortieth New-York regiment, crossed the Potomac at Nolan’s Ferry, on a reconnoitring expedition, and proceeded to Leesburgh, Va., where he captured a rebel wagon-train containing the personal effects and official papers of the rebel Gen. Longstreet, and a quantity of army supplies. Several fine horses, beef-cattle, and a caisson filled with ammunition, were also captured.

—General Crittenden’s corps left Bardstown, Ky., in pursuit of the retreating rebel army under General Bragg.—Union troops made a landing at Fort Point, near Galveston, Texas, but did not permanently occupy the island.—Richmond Dispatch, October25.

—The rebel forces under General Price, in full retreat from Corinth, pursued and harassed by the National forces under Gens. Ord and Hurlbut, reached the Hatchie River, where they made a stand. The Unionists attacked them, and, after seven hours’ hard fighting, the rebels broke and retreated in disorder, leaving their dead and wounded, and losing four hundred prisoners and two batteries.

—Scott’s rebel cavalry, at Frankfort, Ky., cut one span of the bridge leading to South-Frankfort, took all the paper and ink belonging to the State printer, and left for the South.—A Union force, under the command of Col. Bruce, attacked a party of rebels, six miles north of Glasgow, Ky., killing and capturing a few, and taking a number of horses and cattle.

—Jacksonville, Fla., was occupied by the Union forces under General Brannan.

October 4.—The battle of Corinth, Miss., was this day fought between the Union army, under Gen. Rosecrans, and the rebel forces, under Gens. Price, Van Dorn, and Lovell. The engagement resulted in a rout of the rebels. The loss on both sides was very severe, and particularly in officers. Gen. Hackleman fell mortally wounded while leading his brigade to the charge. General Oglesby was severely wounded. Nearly a thousand prisoners, besides the wounded, were left in the hands of the Nationals.—(Doc. 127.)

—At Frankfort, Kentucky, Richard Howes was inaugurated rebel Governor of that State. Gens. Bragg and Humphrey Marshall were present at the ceremonies, and made vituperative and bitter secession speeches. In the afternoon the railroad bridge leading out of the city was destroyed, and all the rebel infantry departed for the South, leaving Scott’s rebel cavalry in occupation.

—The Military Exemption Act passed the rebel Congress, in session at Richmond, Va. It exempts police for sections of country having dense negro population. Secures the liberty of the press, by exempting editors and such help as they require in their business; exempts employés of transportation and telegraph companies, ministers of the Gospel, physicians, shoemakers, tanners, blacksmiths, wagon-makers, millers, superintendents and employés on Government works, overseers of plantations, and one man to every five hundred head of cattle. The exemption act passed April twenty-first was repealed.—Richmond Examiner, October 6.

—The Secretary of War issued an order, publicly reprimanding Capt George H. Johnston for communicating an official report of a confidential character and for censuring his superior officers. —General Orders, No. 151.

—A large and enthusiastic meeting of citizens was held at the Cooper Institute, New-York City, for the purpose of expressing sympathy with the loyalists of Alabama, Mississippi, and East-Tennessee. Speeches were made by R. N. Havens, who presided, General W. K. Strong, Colonel R. H. Shannon, and Rev. Mr. Carter, of Tennessee.

—A Union gunboat ran past the rebel battery at Fort Point, Galveston, Texas, under a heavy fire, and the authorities of the town were notified that four days would be allowed for the removal of the women and children and the surrender of the town. The rebel battery was destroyed and the troops retreated to Virginia Point.—Richmond Dispatch, October 25.

—A fight occurred near Bardstown, Ky., between the advance-guard of Gen. Wood’s forces, under the command of Major Foster, and the rearguard of the rebel army, under Gen. Polk. The rebels were under cover of the undergrowth, from which they fired two or three volleys into the ranks of the Unionists with such effect that they became panic-stricken and fled back on the main body of the army, which, coming up, threw a few shells among the rebels and scattered them in all directions.—Cincinnati Commercial, Oct. 5.

—A company of the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania regiment, guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge at Paw Paw, were attacked by a superior rebel force and taken prisoners. At the same time a force of Union cavalry, under the command of Col. McReynolds, captured the encampment of the rebels, with two guns, ten wagons, and sixty horses.

October 3.—The rebel General Bragg issued an order from his headquarters at Lexington, Ky., ordering that the paper currency of the confederate States should be taken at its par value in all transactions whatever, public or private. The order also stated that the refusal to take it, or the exaction of exorbitant prices, would be treated as a military offence, and punished accordingly.

—The advance brigade of Gen. Geo. W. Morgan’s command, from Cumberland Gap, reached Greenupsburgh, Ky., after a march of sixteen days. Many of them were “hatless, shoeless, and naked.” They had marched twenty miles a day, skirmishing with the rebels as they advanced.

—Clement C. Clay, Senator from Alabama, submitted the following preamble and resolution in the rebel Congress in session at Richmond, Va,:

Whereas, It is notorious that many and most flagrant acts violative of the usages of war, of the rights of humanity and even of common decency, have been, and still are being, perpetrated by the forces of the United States upon the persons and property of citizens of the confederate States; and, whereas, such outrages cannot be fully known and believed whilst resting only in the oral statements of citizens in different and remote States, and in the hasty paragraphs of newspapers published in the different and remote localities;

Now, therefore, that the evidences of the said outrages may be collected and preserved in a permanent and credible form, and the truth of history thus vindicated, and the perpetrators delivered to the just indignation of present and future generations, •

Resolved, That a Committee of thirteen Senators, or of one from each State, be appointed by the President of the Senate, whose duty it shall be to take, or cause to be taken, in such manner and form as they shall prescribe, the testimony in relation to such outrages, and after making report at such time as they shall deem proper, the report and the testimony shall be deposited in the Department of Justice; and that the objects of this resolution may be attained, the Committee shall have power to send for persons and papers.

—A Union expedition, consisting of one thousand five hundred troops and seven gunboats, from Hilton Head, S. C, under command of Gen. Brannan, which had concentrated at St. John’s River, Fla., attacked and occupied the rebel fortifications on St John’s Bluff, capturing nine guns and a large quantity of munitions, provisions, and camp equipage abandoned by the rebels in their retreat The gunboats afterward ascended the river to Jacksonville, the rebels retreating at their approach.

—From his headquarters near Sharpsburgh, Md, General McClellan issued a congratulatory order to the army under his command, for the victories achieved by their bravery at the battles of South-Mountain and Antietam. Fourteen guns, thirty-nine colors, fifteen thousand five hundred stand of arms, and nearly six thousand prisoners taken from the enemy, were, he said, evidences of the completeness of their triumph.

—A joint resolution was adopted by the Virginia (rebel) Legislature, providing that no person within that State should be tried or imprisoned for driving therefrom or putting to death, by any means, any person, with or without arms, who might be found on that soil aiding or abetting, or in any other way giving effect in that State or its borders to the “lawless and fiendish proclamation”‘ of President Lincoln to liberate the slaves.— Richmond Dispatch, October 4.

—This morning a fight took place along the banks of the Blackwater River, in the vicinity of Franklin, Va., between three Union gunboats, Commodore Perry, Hunchback, and Whitehead, under the command of Capt Flusser, and a force of rebel troops nearly nine thousand strong, resulting, after an engagement of six hours’ duration, in the killing and wounding of a large number of the rebels, when the gunboats retired with a loss of nineteen killed and wounded.

—The ships Brilliant and Emily Farnham were this day captured by the rebel steamer Alabama, in lat 40°, Ion. 50° 30′, the crews taken off, the ships plundered of their provisions and valuables, and burned.

—A reconnoitring expedition, consisting of three regiments of infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and a battery of artillery, under the command of Acting Brig.-Gen. Spear, left Suffolk, Va., and proceeded to the Blackwater River opposite Franklin, where the rebels were discovered in considerable force. An artillery fight ensued, resulting in the retreat of the rebels with a loss of about thirty killed and sixty wounded. The Nationals then returned to camp.—National Intelligencer, October 7.

Erasmus Darwin Keyes (May 29, 1810 – October 14, 1895) was a businessman, banker, and military general, noted for leading the IV Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac during the first half of the American Civil War. (Wikipedia)

October 2.—Yesterday President Lincoln, accompanied by Major-General McClernand, of the army of the West, and others, visited Harper’s Ferry, Va.

—In the rebel House of Representatives, Mr. Foote reported a set of resolutions, the title of which was as follows: “Joint resolutions recognizing the practical neutrality of the States of California and Oregon, and of the Territories of Washington and Nevada, suggesting the advantages which would result to the people thereof upon an immediate assertion on their part of their independence of the United States; and proposing, upon their so doing, the formation of a league, offensive and defensive, between said States and Territories and the confederate States of America.”

—A fight took place near Olive Hill, Ky., between the home guards of Carter County and a thousand rebels under the guerrilla Morgan. Morgan commenced the attack, but, after several hours’ skirmishing, he was repulsed, losing several of his men. He retreated towards the Licking River, destroying thirty-five houses on his route.

—This day a Union force under command of General Foster, accompanied by gunboats, left Washington, N. C, and advanced upon Hamilton, taking possession of that place and driving the rebels toward Tarboro.

—General Scott’s letter, reviewing the course he pursued relative to the forts and arsenals at different points during the incipient stages of the rebellion, was published in the National Intelligencer.

—A series of skirmishes occurred to-day along the Bardstown turnpike, in the vicinity of Mount Washington, Ky., between the advance-guard of the Union army under General Buell and the rebel forces under General E. Kirby Smith.

October 1.—The advance of General Sill’s division, including the Fifth brigade, under Col. Edward N. Kirk, had an engagement with a body of rebel cavalry on the east bank of Floyd’s Fork, Ky., where they were heavily posted on the hills. Their pickets were engaged by a squadron of the Fourth Indiana cavalry and driven back upon the main body, where they were held in check until the infantry came up. Detachments of the Thirty-fourth Illinois and Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania were thrown forward as skirmishers, and drove them from their position. No sooner had the firing commenced than Col. Kirk, who had just sufficiently recovered from his wound received at Shiloh to take the field, dashed forward, directing all the movements and ever ready to take advantage of every position. After driving them about three miles, and being unable to overtake the flying enemy, a section of Capt Edgerton’s battery was brought to bear upon them at a distance of about one thousand yards, which only accelerated their retreat. The cavalry then charged and drove them some two miles farther, when, night coming on, the chase was abandoned and the troops went into camp. In their retreat, the rebels left behind a large quantity of small ammunition.—Louisville Journal.

—The rebel Legislature of Virginia, in session at Richmond, passed an act prohibiting the sale and removal of salt out of the State, and regulating its sale and distribution in the State.

—Colonel Barton, with a detachment of the Forty-eighth New-York regiment, under Captain Lent, and of the Third Rhode Island artillery, under Capt Gould, went up the Savannah River, and shelled a battery at Cranston’s Bluff, and a picket at the “Needles.” The rebels replied, but their guns were of so short a range that they were easily silenced.—The rebels evacuated Shelbyville, Ky.

—William E. Hamlin, having been appointed a special provost-marshal for the State of Rhode Island, this day issued a series of regulations, among which is the following: “It is expected that the citizens of the State will cheerfully and from a sense of duty, cooperate with this department in aiding the General Government in suppressing the existing rebellion, by promptly reporting to these headquarters the names of all disloyal persons, and by giving information of any treasonable practices, which shall come to their knowledge, to the end that the instructions of the Government may be fully and efficiently carried out”

—A fight occurred near Gallatin, Tenn., between a force of Union cavalry under the command of Col. Stokes, First Tennessee, and a large body of rebel guerrillas under Col. Bennett, resulting in a complete rout of the latter with a loss of forty killed, a large number wounded, and thirty-nine taken prisoners. Col. Bennett was wounded, and his brother, Robert Bennett, was among the prisoners.—Louisville Journal, Oct. 13.

—A party of nine National pickets captured a rifle-pit near Bachelor’s Creek, about fifteen miles from Newbern, N. C, and dispersed a superior force of rebels.—The Unionists in Camden County, N. C, petitioned President Lincoln for permission to drive all the rebel families out of the county. If granted, they promised two loyal regiments for the Union.

—The United States Western gunboat fleet was this day transferred from the War to the Navy Department.

—The Richmond Whig of this date speaks of President Lincoln’s proclamation as ordaining a servile insurrection in the confederate States, and says it is not misunderstood North or South. “It is a dash of the pen to destroy four thousand millions of our property, and is as much as a bid for the slaves to rise in insurrection, with the assurance of aid from the whole military and naval power of the United States.” It speaks of the cruelty of the Administration, and says Butler is a saint compared with his master. “Our military operations,” it says, “are henceforth to assume a very grave character. The fiend’s new programme will necessarily destroy all terms between us. The next campaign will be a tremendous one, both for the magnitude and character of the operations. Let our authorities prepare the whole strength of our people for the tremendous shock. The enemy is making great preparations, as well as issuing fiendish proclamations. We must respond with equal energy. If we do not, we are lost. But we will do it”

—A Force of Union troops, under the command of General Pleasanton, crossed the Potomac from Maryland into Virginia at Shepherdstown, for the purpose of making a reconnoissance. They advanced to Martinsburgh, which was occupied by Hampton’s brigade of rebel cavalry, and four pieces of artillery, which they engaged, and after a short contest drove them from the town. On their return, and when near Shepherdstown, the rebels attacked them, when a sharp skirmish took place, resulting in a retreat of the rebels, with a loss of about sixty killed, and nine or ten taken prisoners, with their horses and equipments. The Nationals had twelve men wounded, and three were taken prisoners.—(Doc. 214.)

—Majority and minority reports relative to President Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation, were submitted to the rebel Senate at Richmond, Va., by the judiciary committee, to whom the subject was referred.—In the rebel House of Representatives, Mr. Lyons, of Virginia, introduced a series of resolutions proclaiming the character of President Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation; exhorting the people of the rebel States to kill every officer, soldier, or sailor of the United States found within their borders; declaring that after the first January, 1863, no Union officer ought to be captured alive, or if recaptured should be immediately hanged; and offering a bounty of twenty dollars, and an annuity of twenty dollars for life to every slave and free negro who should, after the first of January next, kill a Unionist. The resolutions were referred to the committee on foreign affairs.

—The Union army under Gen. Buell left Louisville, and proceeded towards Bardstown, Ky.

September 30.—A fight took place at Newtonia, Mo., between a force of Union troops under the command of Gen. Salomon, and a body of rebels under Col. Cooper, resulting in the retreat of the Nationals.—(Doc. 213.)

—Commodore Harwood, commanding Potomac flotilla, reported to the Navy Department that the rebel bomb-proof magazines at Lower Shipping Point, Va., had been destroyed, under the superintendence of Lieut. Commander Magaw. They were seven in number, and the work was found heavier than was anticipated. A small body of rebel cavalry made its appearance, but dispersed upon the discharge of a volley of musketry from the Nationals.

—A fight took place at Russellville, Ky., between a force of Union troops under the command of Colonel Harrison, Seventeenth Kentucky, and a body of about three hundred and fifty rebels, resulting in a rout of the latter with a loss of thirty-five of their number killed and ten taken prisoners. — Grayson, Ky., was this day entered and occupied by a force of rebel troops.

—The Twenty-fourth regiment of New-Jersey volunteers, nine months’ men, left Camp Cadwalladcr, at Beverly, this morning in steamers, via Philadelphia, for the seat of war.

—Colonel Barton, of the Forty-eighth New York, with the left wing of his regiment, and with the steamboats Planter and Starlight, having guns aboard, started by order of Major-General Mitchel, to destroy the extensive salt-works at Bluffton, S. C. After a slight delay, occasioned by the Planter’s going aground, he arrived, and his men, under Captain Strickland, landed and drove in the pickets. The boats then ascended the river, and, at sight of them, the rebels, having no batteries, fled, leaving the expedition to accomplish its purpose and return in safety.

September 29.—General Jefferson C. Davis shot General William Nelson at the Gait House, in Louisville, Ky., killing him almost instantly.

— A. W. Bradford, Governor of Maryland, issued an order rendering the thanks of Maryland to General McClellan and the officers and men under his command, and to Governor Curtin and the militia of Pennsylvania, for the prompt expulsion of the rebel army from Maryland; also thanking the Maryland troops engaged in the battles.

— A Brigade of cavalry, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Karge, made a successful reconnoissance from Centreville, Va;, to Warrenton, capturing and paroling sixteen hundred rebels, a portion of whom were on duty, and the remainder in hospital On their return, Lieutenant York, when between Manassas and Bull Run, took a captain and twenty men of the Seventeenth South Carolina regiment prisoners, and paroled them.

— In the rebel House of Representatives, at Richmond, Va., Mr. Semmes, of Louisiana, submitted a joint resolution declaring President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to be “a gross violation of the usages of civilized warfare,” as well as “an invitation to an atrocious civil war,” and therefore should be counteracted by such severe retaliatory measures as, in the judgment of Jeff Davis, “may be best calculated to secure its withdrawal or arrest its execution.” A general debate thereupon ensued, in which the opinion was freely expressed that the “black flag” should be raised, and no quarter given during the remainder of the war. The resolution was then referred to the Judiciary Committee.—The Governor of Maryland ordered the draft in that State to be postponed until the fifteenth day of October.

— Brigadier-general Rodman died in a house not far from Hagerstown, Md., of the wound he received at the battle of Antietam.

— Major-General Halleck issued a circular to the Governors of the several States, urging them to fill up the vacancies of commissioned officers who had fallen in battles in such large numbers, by appointing deserving non-commissioned officers and privates who distinguished themselves in battle, and had evinced a capacity to command, to the vacant places.

—S. B. Buckner, Major-General of the rebel army, issued a proclamation at Bardstown, Ky., calling upon the people of the State to arise for the defence of the rights of the Confederacy, and no “longer to submit to make themselves instruments in the hands of New-England to make war upon our own interests, and upon the interests of our brothers of the South.”

—To-day a force of Union troops consisting of Farnsworth’s brigade of cavalry, accompanied by Gibson’s and Tidball’s batteries, crossed the Potomac from Maryland into Virginia below Shepherdstown. They reconnoitred the country for a distance of five or six miles, and discovered that the rebels still held their position in the vicinity of Winchester.

—The Twenty-second regiment of New-Jersey volunteers, nine months’ men, left Trenton for the seat of war. The regiment was fully equipped, and composed principally of young men from the farming districts.—Brig.-Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, having been assigned by General Wright to the command of the district of Western Virginia, entered upon his duties to-day, establishing his headquarters at Point Pleasant—A spirited cavalry skirmish took place near Sharpsburgh, Md., in which the rebels were dispersed, and a squad of them captured.—Baltimore American, September 30.

—Three hundred and sixty-three disloyal citizens of Carroll County, Mo., were assessed eleven thousand dollars by the Board of Commissioners appointed under General Order No. Three, for killing and wounding loyal soldiers and citizens, and for taking property belonging to said persons. The sums levied ranged from two to one thousand dollars on each person.