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

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.

March 4.—The English steamer Don, while attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, N. C, was captured by the National steamer Pequot—Michael Hahn was installed as Governor of Louisiana, at New-Orleans. An address was made by General Banks, and other interesting ceremonies performed.—Orders requiring the draft to be made on the tenth instant were suspended.

March 3.—The rebel schooner Arietta or Martha, was captured and destroyed off Tybee Island.

March 2.—General Custer’s expedition, which left Culpeper on the twenty-eighth of February to cooperate with the forces under General Kilpatrick, returned this day with only four men wounded slightly, and one rather badly. He captured and brought in about fifty prisoners, a large number of negroes, some three hundred horses, and destroyed a large quantity of valuable stores at Stannardsville, besides inflicting other damage to the rebels.— (Doc. 133.)

—President Lincoln directed that the sentences of all deserters who had been condemned to death, by court-martial, and that had not been otherwise acted upon by him, be mitigated to imprisonment during the war at the Dry Tortugas, Florida, where they would be sent under suitable guards by orders from the army commanders.—Captain Ross and twelve of his men, deserters from General Price’s rebel army, arrived at Van Buren, Arkansas.—Colonel A. D. Streigut made a report to the Committee on Military Affairs, of the lower house of Congress, in relation to the treatment the Union officers and soldiers received from the rebel authorities at Richmond and elsewhere in the South.—(Doc. 106.)

March 1.—President Lincoln signed the bill creating a Lieutenant-General of the Army of the United States, and immediately after nominated Major-General Grant for that position.—The English steamer Scotia was captured while endeavoring to run the blockade of Wilmington, N. C.—Francisco Garde, while riding two miles from his residence, two miles south of the village of Kinderhook, Illinois, was waylaid and shot by a party of rebel sympathizers. — The British schooner Lauretta, with a cargo of salt, was captured by the National bark Roebuck, two miles from the entrance of Indian River, Florida.