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

June 29.—The British steamer Ann was cut out from under the guns of Fort Morgan, at the mouth of Mobile Bay, by the United States steamer Kanawha. She ran in during the night, passed the blockading fleet, and as it was very dark, she could not be seen by the vessels.

Lights had been kept burning on the fort ah night, so that she had no trouble in finding the channel. This morning she was discovered by the Susquehanna, within a half-mile of the fort, unloading her cargo into a rebel steamer alongside. The Susquehanna, accompanied by the Kanawha, then got under weigh, and steamed within gunshot and opened fire, which was returned by the fort, and kept up for an hour on both sides. In the mean time the crew deserted the steamer. She was soon discovered to be adrift, and dropped down with the current about a mile, when the Kanawha was ordered to go in and bring her out, which she did under a heavy fire from the fort.

—The battles of Peach Orchard and Savage’s Station, Va., were fought this day.—(Doc. 78 and Supplement.)

—A fight took place at Henderson, Ky., between a company of the Louisville Provost-Guard, supported by a detachment of Captain Andrew’s Michigan battery, and a force of rebel guerrillas, which resulted in the complete rout of the latter.

—Moorefield, Va., was this day captured by a body of Ashby’s cavalry, eighty-six in number, under the command of Colonel Harris. A large company of the Maryland Home Guard occupied the place at the time, but they made no defence, having been informed that the rebel force was four thousand strong. They were taken prisoners, and were released next day.

—General Halleck, at Corinth, Miss., issued an order authorizing the protection of the mail service in his department.—The bombardment of Vicksburgh was continued to-day. The firing commenced at noon, and, with the exception of an intermission of an hour, did not cease until about twelve o’clock at night.

June 28.—A small party of Union troops under the command of Lieutenant Glenn, was this day attacked by a body of Indians near Rocky Ridge, Utah. Two white men and one Indian were killed.—The rebel General Hindman burned the railroad bridge at Madison, Arkansas, fearing that General Curtis would pass that way to the Mississippi.

—Five clergymen, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States, were this day imprisoned in Nashville, Tenn., by order of Andrew Johnson, Governor of the State.

—The battle of the Chickahominy, Va., took place this day.—(Doc. 78.)

—Flag-officer D. G. Farragut reported to the Secretary of the Navy that the Union fleet passed up above Vicksburgh, silencing the shore batteries while passing, and that he had communicated with Gen. Halleck and Commodore Davis. —Official Despatch.—(Doc. 143.)

June 27.—The work of cutting off Vicksburgh from the Mississippi River, by means of a canal, was this day commenced, under the supervision of General Williams of the Union army.—(Doc. 142.)

—To-day the bombardment of Vicksburgh, by the Union fleet, was renewed.

—The London Herald of this day in an article on the aspect of affairs in America, declared the Union “a nuisance among nations.”

—A skirmish took place at Williams’s bridge, on the Amite River, La., between a small force of Union troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Keith, Twenty-first Indiana volunteers, and a body of rebels, resulting in the utter rout of the latter. On returning to Baton Rouge, on the same day, and when within a mile or two of that place, Colonel Keith encountered another band of rebels, and after a sharp fight defeated them.—(Doc. 83.)

—Major-General John C. Fremont having requested to be relieved from the command of the First army corps of the Army of Virginia, because, as he says, the position assigned him by the appointment of Major-Gen. Pope as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Virginia is subordinate and inferior to those heretofore held by him, and to remain in the subordinate command now assigned would, as he says, largely reduce his rank and consideration in the service. It is ordered that Major-General John C. Fremont be relieved from command. Second, That Brigadier-General Rufus King be and he is hereby assigned to the command of the First army corps of the Army of Virginia, in place of General Fremont, relieved. —Secretary Stanton’s Order.

—The British steamer Modern Greece, laden with arms and other munitions of war, ran aground three quarters of a mile east of Fort Fisher, N. C. The blockading fleet fired on her with a view of destroying her, but the fort opened fire on them, when they retired. — Mobile Evening News, June 30.

—A small skirmish occurred at Swift Creek bridge, N. C, between a body of Union troops and marine artillery under the command of Col. Howard, and a force of the rebels, which resulted in the complete rout of the latter.

—G. F. Shepley, Military Commandant of New Orleans, by order and approval of Gen. Butler, suspended the municipal government of that city, until such time as there should be a sufficient number of the citizens of New-Orleans loyal to their country and their Constitution to entitle them to resume the right of self-governmen.t In the mean time he appointed two bodies to perform the duties of Aldermen and Assistant-Aldermen; the one to be known as the “Bureau of Finances,” and the other the “Bureau of Streets and Landings,” while he, the Military Commandant, would act in the capacity of Mayor.

—The battle of Gaines’s Mills, Va., one of the “seven days’ contests,” was fought this day.— White-House, Va., was evacuated by the Union forces under General McClellan.—(Doc. 78.)

— A Severe fight took place near Village Creek, Arkansas, between two battalions of the Ninth Illinois cavalry, commanded by Colonel Albert G. Brackett, and a considerable body of rebel troops. The rebels had chosen a position of great strength, and Colonel Brackett, although repeatedly making the attempt, found it impossible to dislodge them. He fought them until dark, when he withdrew his men, having two killed and thirty-one wounded.—(Doc. 141.)

June 26.—West H. Humphreys, convicted of having acted as a Judge under the rebel government, was impeached by the Senate of the United States, and sentenced to be removed from his office, and to be forever disqualified from holding any office of profit or honor under the government of the United States.

— The Union mortar-fleet on the Mississippi, under the command of Commodore Porter, commenced to shell the rebel batteries before Vicksburgh. The bombardment lasted for three hours without any result. ,

— The National forces under Majors-General Fremont, Banks, and McDowell were consolidated into one army, called the army of Virginia, and Major-General Pope was assigned by the President to the chief command. The forces under General Fremont constituted the First army corps, to be commanded by General Fremont. The forces under General Banks constituted the Second army corps, to be commanded by him. The forces under Gen. McDowell constituted the Third army corps, to be commanded by him.

—Lieutenant-colonel Alfred W. Ellet, commanding Union ram-flotilla on the Mississippi, went up the Yazoo River with two rams, for the purpose of capturing three rebel gunboats. On his approach the rebels set fire to their boats and started them down on him, compelling him to leave the river to escape the destruction of his vessels. The rebel vessels were entirely consumed.—Lieut.-Colonel Ellet’s Report.

— Nine vessels of the gunboat fleet, under command of Captain Rodgers, entered the Appomattox River, Va., and when about six miles from its mouth, were attacked by the rebels. The squadron opened fire in return, and after shelling him for an hour, the enemy retired. The object of the expedition was to discover the condition of the river, and was entirely successful.

It was ascertained that the rebels had blocked it up, about seven miles from its mouth, with sunken vessels laden with stone, etc. — New Haven Palladium.

— The rebel schooner Zaide, while attempting to run the blockade, was run ashore in the mouth of Cape Fear River, by the blockading fleet off Wilmington, N. C, and burned.

—The battle of Mechanicsville, Va., was fought this day. It commenced at noon and lasted until dark. The Unionists opened with artillery at long-range, but the rebels finding themselves weak in this arm, came into close conflict. The fight increased in fury as it progressed, and it finally became one of the most terrific combats of the war. After losing more than a thousand men, the rebels retreated.—(Doc. 78.)

June 25.—The division of the army of the Potomac under command of General Hooker, this day advanced in the vicinity of the Chickahominy River, with a view of occupying a new position. The advance was resisted with great determination by the rebels. They fought for seven hours, when they retreated with great loss, leaving the Unionists in the position desired. The loss of the Union army was about two hundred in killed and wounded. This battle was the first of a series of conflicts, lasting over seven days, and resulting in the retreat of the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Major-General McClellan, to the James River, under the protection of the fleet of Union gunboats.—(Docs. 77 and 78.)

—Yesterday the United States steamer Monticello, Lieut. Commanding D. L. Braine, picked up at sea, in an open boat, eight contrabands from Little River Inlet, South-Carolina, from whom information was obtained that two schooners were preparing to run the blockade, laden with cotton and turpentine, and that the cargo was already in the warehouse, near the wharf, ready for shipment. This evening Captain Glisson ordered an expedition to be fitted out, to consist of an armed boat from each vessel, and ordered Lieutenant Braine, of the Monticello, to proceed to the Inlet with the boats and send the expedition in.

The duty was ably performed by Lieutenants Braine and Bunce, with the officers and men under them, the reports of whom show that the town was entirely deserted. The schooners were found at the wharf, and were not considered worth the trouble of bringing away. They found at the wharf and in warehouses two hundred barrels of turpentine, sixty bales of cotton, and fifty-three barrels rosin, the whole of which was destroyed by fire.—Capt. Glisson’s report. .

— General Butler ordered, that “all the property in New-Orleans belonging to General D. E. Twiggs, and of his minor son, the income of which he has received, and under the charge of his agent, H. W. Palfrey, Esq., consisting of real estate, bonds, notes of hand, treasury notes of the United States, slaves, household furniture, etc., is hereby sequestered, to be held to await the action of the United States Government.”

— The Union ram fleet arrived off Vicksburgh, Miss., yesterday, and to-day communicated with Commodore Farragut, commanding fleet of gunboats.

— A large body of rebel cavalry under Jackson, this day visited a number of plantations in the vicinity of Memphis, Tenn., on the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, burning great quantities of cotton and arresting all persons found purchasing that staple. — Memphis Avalanche, June 27.

—A Union force, under the command of Gen. Williams, consisting of four regiments of infantry and nearly two batteries of artillery, left Baton Rouge, La., on the twentieth, and arrived at Vicksburgh, Miss., this day.—(Doc. 142.)

— A train of cars on the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, laden with a company of Union troops, eighty mule-teams with provender, etc., was this day captured by a large force of rebel cavalry, in the vicinity of Germantown, Tennessee. The rebels destroyed the locomotive, burned the cars, and killed ten men.

June 24. —-Earl Van Dorn, rebel General, at Jackson, Miss., issued an order assuming the command over the “Department of Louisiana,” and recommending “that all persons living within eight miles of the Mississippi River remove their families and servants to the interior, as it was the intention to defend the Department to the last extremity.”

—President Lincoln visited West-Point, New York.—Captain Jocknick of the Third New-York cavalry, made a successful reconnoissance from Washington, N. C, to Tranter’s Creek.—(Doc. 140.)

— Major-General J. C. Hindman, of the rebel army issued a proclamation to the people of Arkansas, calling upon them to assist him in preventing General Curtis from joining the Union fleet on the Mississippi.

June 23.—The London Times, of this date, said that whatever might be the result of the civil war in America, it was plain that it had reached a point at which it was a scandal to humanity. It had become a war of extermination. Utter destruction might be possible, or even imminent, but submission was as far off as ever. Persons who listened to the excited railers on either side might think that there was no alternative but to let a flood of blood pass over the land; but, at that calm distance, it might perhaps be wisely calculated that such voices did not represent the mind of the American people. Both parties ought by this time to be tired of the strife. There had been blood enough shed, fortunes enough made, losses enough suffered, and wrongs enough inflicted and endured. The opportunity ought to be either present or at hand when some potent American voice, prudently calling, “Peace,” might awaken an universal echo.

—Martial law was proclaimed in the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., by order of Brig. General E. L. Viele, Military Governor.

— Brigadier- General Schofield, Military Commandant District of Missouri, this day issued a General Order from his headquarters, St Louis, warning the rebels and rebel sympathizers in Missouri that he would hold them responsible in their property and persons for any damages that might thereafter be committed by the lawless bands of armed men which they had brought into existence, subsisted, encouraged, and sustained up to that time.

—The Third battalion, Fifth Pennsylvania cavalry. Col. Campbell, stationed at Gloucester Point, made a reconnoissance under the command of Major Wilson, into the counties of Gloucester and Mathews, Va., for the purpose of capturing a body of rebel cavalry, who were overrunning those counties, arresting deserters, and impressing others into their service who were unwilling to volunteer.

On arriving at Mathews’s Court-House, Major Wilson found he was a day too late. The rebel cavalry had been there, and arrested twenty-four men as being deserters from their army.

Samuel Wylie Crawford (Wikipedia) was the surgeon on duty at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, during the Confederate bombardment in 1861, which represented the start of the Civil War. Despite his purely medical background, he was in command of several of the artillery pieces returning fire from the fort.

A month after Fort Sumter, Crawford decided on a fundamental career change and accepted a commission as a major in the 13th U.S. Infantry. He served as Assistant Inspector General of the Department of the Ohio starting in September 1861. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on April 25, 1862, and led a brigade in the Department of the Shenandoah, participating in the Valley Campaign against Stonewall Jackson, but the brigade saw no actual combat.

June 22.—Yesterday thirty Sisters of Charity arrived at Fortress Monroe, and to-day left for White-House Point, Va., for the purpose of ministering to the sick and wounded soldiers of the army of the Potomac.

—A detachment of the Sixth Illinois cavalry made a descent on a squadron of rebel cavalry guarding a train near Coldwater station, on the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad, and captured twenty-five prisoners and about twenty thousand pounds of bacon which was on the train. They then destroyed the bridges on the road, rendering it impassable.

A party of the Eighth Vermont regiment, stationed at Algiers, near New-Orleans, La., took an engine and a car and went out a short distance on the Opelousas Railroad on a reconnoissance. They had proceeded but a few miles when they were fired upon by a party of guerrillas, and had three men killed and eight wounded.

June 21.—At New-Orleans, La., a large and enthusiastic Union meeting was held at Union Hall, in the Fourth district. The meeting was called to order by D. S. Dewees, Esq., who nominated Edwin White, Esq., as Chairman of the meeting. The following named gentlemen were appointed Vice-Presidents: Robert Watson, C. Auch, W. A. Bills, and Win. McDuff. L. M. Day, Esq., was appointed Secretary. Able and eloquent addresses were made by the President, Judge Hiestand, and D. S. Dewees, Esq. The meeting was characterized by great unanimity of feeling, and the addresses of the several gentlemen were received with universal demonstrations of appreciation. In the evening a festival took place at the Planter’s Hotel, the patriotic hostess of which is Madame De Bare. A grand Union ball was given, which was numerously attended.

—A series of skirmishes took place between a force of Union troops, under the command of Col. Sill, and a considerable body of rebel infantry and artillery, at the mouth of Battle Creek, Tennessee.—(Doc. 138.)

—Colonel Charles Ellett, commander of the ram squadron of the United States, on the Mississippi River, died at Cairo, Ill., while on his way to New-Albany, Ind.—The Seventh, Twenty-second, Thirty-seventh, and Forty-seventh regiments New-York State militia were mustered into the service of the United States Government for three months.

—A Fight took place near Fair Oaks, Va., between the pickets of the Union army, supported by a redoubt, and a large attacking force of rebels, in which the rebels were repulsed with great loss in killed and wounded. The Unionists lost two killed and seven wounded.

—General Butler, commanding Department of the Gulf, issued the following order at New Orleans:

“Any vessel attempting to leave this port and take away any person of color who did not come here on board of her, and has not a pass from these headquarters, will be liable to confiscation, and her master punished by imprisonment.

“No vessel shall so leave the port until the master shall take an oath that he has not any such person on board, and will not allow any such to come on board.”

—The rebels kept up a continuous shower of shells along the lines of the Union army before Richmond. They opened upon Gen. Hooker’s advance, but did no damage. Gen. Hooker replied from his batteries, by throwing heavy shells among their artillerymen, which caused them to retire.

—A reconnoissance was made by Captain Keenan, with two companies of the Pennsylvania cavalry, to the James River, Va. He successfully passed the rebel pickets and communicated with the Union gunboat Galena.

—An engagement took place at Simon’s Bluff, Wadmelaw Sound, S. C, between the United States gunboats Crusader and Planter, and a body of rebels stationed at that place.—(Doc. 139.)