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

March 3.—The rebel Brig.-Gens. Simon Bolivar Buckner and Lloyd Tilghman, arrived at Boston, Mass., and were immediately sent to Fort Warren, in the harbor. It was not generally known that they were to arrive, but there was a crowd present large enough and noisy enough to make it decidedly unpleasant, both to the prisoners and the officers who had them in charge. They occupied a car situated in the middle of the long train. The crowd pressed round this car as soon as the Generals were discovered, and commenced hissing, groaning and howling in a manner calculated to give the occupants an impression not altogether favorable to the citizens of the “Yankee capital.”

United States Marshal Keyes, Deputy-Sheriff Jones, and Capt. McKim, Assistant United States Quartermaster, went into the car attended by a number of policemen. They soon appeared with the two Generals, and conducted them to the front of the depot, followed by the crowd, which was rapidly swelling in numbers. The prisoners jumped into a hack in waiting there, and were followed by Marshal Keyes and Col. Cutts. Sheriff Jones mounted the box with the driver. As they drove off, the crowd amused itself by groaning vehemently for Jeff. Davis. The hack was driven rapidly to Union Wharf, where the prisoners and officers went on board the steamer May Queen, and started soon after for Fort Warren.

The guard of soldiers did not leave the car in which they had arrived at the depot until the prisoners had been driven off in the hack. When they marched out into the street, some persons in the crowd which still lingered about the place were belligerently inclined. One fellow appealed to his comrade to know if they were going to let “rebels” run loose about the streets; to which appeal one of said comrades made bold to reply that they “warn’t goin’ ter du nuthin’ er that sort.” A policeman made proclamation that the soldiers were good Union men and true, and the crowd thereupon set up a mighty cheer, and poured in compliments upon the soldiers. — Boston Courier, March 5.

—The Richmond Examiner of this date has the following: “The Yankees in Richmond, who have been trading and peddling in the necessities of the war, are showing characteristic acuteness in eluding the draft for military service. Their management is to get some contract from the government, no matter how petty, and then plead the exemption of public contractors. Of course these creatures are close calculators, and are quite willing to take petty contracts, even at losing prices, to save thereby the unpleasantness of fighting, or the cost of obtaining a substitute.

“We can count on our fingers a score of instances of this management, by well-known Yankee merchants and tradesmen in Richmond. We hear of a Yankee dealer effecting the exemption of himself and workmen from military service, by some paltry contract for official upholstery; of another, a coachmaker, getting a contract for haversacks, or some other trifle; and of a third ‘son of the Puritans,’ a bonnet-maker, or manmiliner, notoriously unsound on the Southern question, who has screwed himself into the employment of the government as a travelling agent to purchase leather.”

—The Senate of the United States confirmed Gens. McDowell, Buell, Burnside, McClernand, C. F. Smith, Lew. Wallace, and Sigel, as major generals, and the following as brigadiers: Speed of Tennessee, Col. Logan of Illinois, Col. McArthur of Iowa, Col. Lauman of Iowa, Col. Wallace of Indiana, Col. McCook of Ohio, Col. Berry of Maine, and Col. Ferry of Connecticut

Both Houses of Congress passed the bill giving generals in command of divisions, staffs—one assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major; one inspector-general, with the rank of major; three aids, with the rank of captains, and making the senior officer in command of artillery the commander of all artillery in the division, and giving him a position on the staff of the general.

— At ten o’clock this morning, the Twenty-seventh, Fifty-second, and Fifty-fifth Illinois regiments, hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the fortifications at Columbus, Ky.

The gunboats Cincinnati, (flag-ship,) Louisville, Carondelet, St. Louis, and Lexington, four mortar-boats in tow of the steamer Lake Erie, and the Twenty-seventh Illinois, Col. Buford, Fifty-second Illinois, Col. Roberts, and Fifty-fifth, Major Sanger, Acting – Colonel, upon the transports Aleck Scott, Illinois, Magill, and Ike Hammett, left Cairo this morning at four o’clock, for Columbus. The fleet arrived at Lucas Bend, about two miles above Columbus, at six o’clock, and was drawn up in line-of-battle order. The drums beat to quarters, and the guns were manned, ready for action. Two tugs were sent in advance, reconnoitring, but failed to provoke a shot from the enemy. Everything about the works was quiet The glasses revealed stragglers on the bluffs and water-batteries, and in a few moments a flag was waved, but its character could not be made out

The fleet gradually neared the town, and lay in the stream off the Belmont battle-field; while scouts were sent out upon tugs toward the rebel works. The tugs approached cautiously until within a quarter of a mile of the batteries, and finding the works deserted, both set off at top speed for the honor of landing first.

The scouts rushed on the double quick to the top of the bluff, and unfurled the Stars and Stripes, saluted by the crews of the gunboats as they steamed up to the town. The transports landed their troops, and Columbus was “occupied.” The works were entirely deserted, and the barracks, or rather rough board and log-cabins, were burned.

An immense amount of coal, stores, and ordnance fell into the hands of the National troops. Many of the rebel cannon were thrown into the river, but six thirty-two – pounders, some howitzers, and an almost innumerable quantity of grape, canister, shell, and round-shot, were found in the batteries. The fortifications were very extensive, and the natural position was almost impregnable.

Columbus was completely deserted, every building was thoroughly ransacked and its contents destroyed by the rebels. The rebels commenced leaving on Thursday last, and finished yesterday.—(Doc. 73.)

— Gen. Banks’s forces occupied Martinsburgh, Va., without opposition. Among the many prisoners taken was Rev. T. J. McNeigh, Chaplain of the Second Virginia infantry. He was captured by company K, Michigan cavalry, Capt Mann, near Perryville.

—The steamer Atlantic sailed from New-York for Port Royal, S. C, with a large cargo of army stores, and about sixty persons, who accompany Mr. Edward L. Pierce, the Government agent in charge of the plantations and contrabands at Port Royal. These persons were all recommended by the National Freedman’s Relief Association, and its auxiliary, the Educational Committee, at Boston. Three fourths of the whole number are men who are to be the superintendents of the abandoned estates, and will direct the labors of the negroes, who are to be employed in such agricultural pursuits as cotton-culture and raising vegetables for their own support and for the use of the army at that point.

Twelve or fifteen of the passengers are ladies, who will become teachers of an industrial school, which will be at once established at Port Royal, under the superintendence of Rev. M. French, of New-York. Mrs. Senator Harlan of Iowa, is among the ladies, and will assist in some department of the work. Rev. Dr. Floy, of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New-York, is passenger by the Atlantic. He goes to Port Royal for the purpose of preparing for missionary efforts among the negroes.

A portion of the superintendents and teachers receive compensation from the associations in New-York and Boston; but some are volunteers. Among the number are men of almost all trades, and some professions. There are several physicians and one or two clergymen.

All the superintendents and teachers were requested to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, previous to going on board the steamer. Twenty-seven gentlemen and four ladies from Boston; twenty-one gentlemen and seven ladies from New-York, and Miss Susan Walker, Mrs. Walter R. Johnson, and Miss Mary Donalson, from Washington and Philadelphia, subscribed to the oath. No man who would not, in case of necessity, fight for his country was permitted to go to Port Royal to assist in the management of the contrabands.—(Doc. 74.)

—Four regiments of rebels, with a four-gun battery, attempted to flank Colonel Geary, near Lovettsville, Va., but were driven off without a skirmish.

—An engagement took place between the National forces, under command of Gen. Pope, and the rebels, about two miles north of New-Madrid, Mo. After a fight of between two and three 1hours, the National forces retired a short distance, having met with a slight loss from the fire of the rebel gunboats.—(Doc. 75.)

—An order, dated at St Louis, Mo., was issued to-day by Maj.-Gen. Halleck, U.S.A., establishing regulations “for the conduct of restored intercourse between the loyal section of the Department of Missouri, and the counties on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers,” in Tennessee. By it, all vessels running in trade on those rivers, to and from St. Louis, are ordered to take out a special license for that purpose, and be subject to the revenue laws of the United States, and to the regulations and instructions of the Treasury Department. Surveyors and other officers of the customs, or, in their absence, the nearest military commander, were directed to see to the proper execution of the order.

—The town of Fernandina, Fla., surrendered to-day to the United States forces under command of Commodore S. F. Du Pont and Brig. Gen. H. G. Wright. The expedition for its reduction sailed from Port Royal, S. C, on the twenty-seventh of February, and after some delays, owing to the difficult and narrow channels, and frequent reconnoissances, the harbor was entered to-day by the United States steamer Ottawa, Lieutenant Commanding Thomas H. Stevens, and the place found deserted, the rebels being in full retreat, and all the fortifications abandoned. — (Doc. 76.)

March 2. — An engagement took place this day between the National gunboats Tyler and Lexington and a rebel battery at Pittsburgh, Tennessee, resulting in the defeat and total rout of the rebels, with a loss of five killed and missing and five wounded on the National side. The number of rebels killed was not known.— (Doc. 72.)

—Gen. Frederick W. Lander died in his camp, at Paw Paw, Western Virginia, this afternoon, from congestion of the brain, superinduced by the debilitating effects of the wound he received near Edwards’s Ferry, in his reconnoissance the day after the fall of Col. Baker. The country loses, in the death of Gen. Lander, one of its bravest and most energetic officers, and one who had given the highest promise of valuable service in this its time of greatest need.—N. Y. Tribune, March 3.

—At Perryville, Md., a National color, the gift of Mrs. John D. Jones, of New-York, was presented to the First battalion of the Eleventh regiment of United States infantry.

March 1.—Last evening the second battalion of Ohio cavalry arrived at Independence—in the capacity of a patrol guard, and this morning a portion of Col. Parker’s rebel force rode into the town and commenced firing upon the sentries and scouts of the Federals, but almost immediately retreated, followed by the Ohio boys, who kept up a sharp and spirited firing; but owing to the thick fog, it was comparatively ineffective, the rebels scattering to evade pursuit. One of the Federals was killed—private Hickins, of company L. Five rebel prisoners were taken, one of whom stated that Col. Parker was killed in the pursuit.—Louisville Journal, March 4.

—The Mobile Register says: Since the late reverses to our arms, we notice quite a deplorable disposition to growl and grumble against the government of the Confederacy; to charge upon it the responsibility of these disasters, and to complain generally of the administration of affairs. This seems to us all wrong—transparently and absurdly wrong. It evidences no judgment, and is far from speaking well for the possession of those stable qualities of fortitude and patient determination which it is believed the Southern race possesses, and which are essential to our success in this war, and to the maintainance of a sustained career of national greatness in the future. If our confidence in the ability and rectitude of our government is so little that it is to be overthrown by a few insignificant reverses; if our patriotism is of so poor a quality that it may feel disheartened by them, we are not the people to deserve, or to win, or to sustain our independence.

It is as unjust to the government to charge it with the responsibility of losses as it would be to charge with cowardice and inefficiency the brave men who are directly their victims, and experience the misfortunes of war through stress of circumstances and overpowering numbers. We must make up our minds to bear a certain amount of disaster. It is impossible that such a war as this should be a career of uninterrupted successes. We are engaged with an enemy who marshals the most majestic military strength that modern times have witnessed. He assails us along land and coast frontiers of near five thousand miles in extent. Is it possible that our government should have the means or the prescience to make every post impregnable which the foe may choose to select for an assault with overwhelming force f

The enemy is ranging along our lines on coast and frontier, and is prepared at any moment to concentrate an overwhelming force at any weak point he may detect. Our government has neither the men nor munitions, nor the supernatural foresight to enable it to have a powerful force at any position which the enemy may choose to select. With such a foe we must force ourselves to the conclusion — rendered doubly distasteful by our invariable successes in its outset—that the war is a war of “give and take.” We must take the bad with the good, and may conceive ourselves especially fortunate if the latter so far predominates that the war will be shortened as much by the successes of our arms as by the self-exhaustion of the enemy’s efforts.

We should not be disheartened if we hear of a succession of such small successes as have encouraged them, as a consequence of the grand advance and general offensive policy of the enemy. These effect little to directly weaken our vital strength, while they nerve the valor and determination of the nation to its best efforts and sternest resolve. We make them pay dearly for these small successes, and trace in blood every step that they advance upon our soil, and they do not weaken our vital strength, for our grand armies remain intact, and must be overthrown and destroyed ere the cause of the South will look gloomy.

To keep the grand armies of Kentucky and Virginia strong, and to strengthen them, will be the policy of the government, and we may probably soon hear that the forces, which are popularly considered already too small at some points, are being weakened to reenforce the grand armies. It may be that some of these points, where the forces have been so weakened, will be successfully attacked. Grumblers will then have a fine text, of course. But let them not be heeded. The great armies are the true bulwarks of our safety. On them we must rely when the enemy attempt to pour their solid columns of a hundred or a hundred and fifty thousand men into the country. How could such forces be confronted with our troops scattered in squads of five thousand to twenty-five thousand at all the divers points on coast and inland frontier which the people adjacent thereto think should certainly be defended by the best efforts of the government? We must keep our great armies massed in such strength as to be able to give battle to the strongest armies of the enemy.

—John Minor Botts, Valentine Heckler, Franklin Stearns, and others were arrested in Richmond, Va., and committed to prison for “treason” against the Southern Confederacy, having openly avowed their sympathy for the Union, and loudly proclaimed their denunciations of the rebellion. The Richmond Examiner of March third, gives the following minute account of the affair:

“On Saturday night, Capt. Goodwin, by order of the government, proceeded with a party of select men to the farm of John Minor Botts, and took him and all of his papers and private correspondence, in custody. Leaving an officer in charge of the papers and house of Botts, Capt. Goodwin brought him prisoner to this city, and lodged him in McDaniel’s negro-jail, situated in Blankinship’s alley, some fifty yards north of Franklin street.

Capt. Goodwin then went to the farms of Valentine Heckler and Franklin Stearns, and took both of these well-known Union men, and all of their papers and letters, and brought them to this city.

Botts’ and Heckler’s letters and papers have not yet been examined. Stearns’ have undergone only a cursory examination, and so far, nothing of interest has been found among them, except several letters from his friend Botts, begging for money.

We are under the impression that, as yet, the government is in possession of no positive information that would convict Botts of treason. But he is known to be the recognised leader of all the disaffected— all the low Germans of the Red Republican, Carl Schurz school, and of the vile remnant of the Union Party.

Against Stearns’ and Heckler’s loyalty the government has been for a month in the possession of the most conclusive evidence; and it feels confident of its ability to prove that both of these men have been loud in their denunciations of what they have been pleased to term the “Rebellion,” and have, over and again, expressed their willingness to sacrifice their entire property to restore the dominion in the South of the United States Government.

The man Wardwell, another party arrested, has, since the beginning of the war, been known to every citizen as a blatant and defiant Union man.

Miller, who has also been lodged in jail, is the chief or high-priest of the secret Black or Red German Republican Societies of Richmond, some of whose members, it can be proved, have, since the reverse of our army at Fort Donelson, boasted that they had thousands of arms and abundance of ammunition concealed in the city, and that the men were enrolled who would use them on the first approach of the Yankee army.

An Irishman, named John M. Higgins, has also been arrested and put in the same prison. Higgins is a connection of Col. Corcoran, of the Yankee army. Two of Higgins’ aunts married two of Corcoran’s uncles. A letter from Corcoran to Higgins, advising the latter to send his wife and family North, and containing assurances that he (Corcoran) would have them safely conveyed under flag of truce, has recently been intercepted by our government Whether our government has any evidence of Higgins’ intention to follow Corcoran’s counsel has not transpired.

It is said that Stearns, the whisky man, on approaching the prison, surveyed it with a most contemptuous expression, and remarked: “If you are going to imprison all the Union men, you will have to provide a much larger jail than this.” Mr. Stearns will, we think, be not a little mistaken in his calculations. If the government use its power wisely and firmly, this great Union party, on which Stearns, and others like him, have based such great expectations, will, in a day, dwindle into ridiculously small proportions. By neglect, idle, ignorant, and vicious persons have been allowed with impunity to boast their treason in our streets.

The rumor that the above-mentioned parties had been arrested was on every tongue yesterday morning, but no one could, with certainty, say whence the rumor originated, or whether it was authentic And not until a late hour in the evening was it known to be a fact that the parties were confined in McDaniel’s jail Very soon after the information became generally diffused, a crowd collected in the vicinity, and the matter was freely discussed. Not a man was there but expressed himself in unmeasured terms of approbation of the course of the government. The only apprehension that seemed to be felt was, that the government would not be thorough and summary enough in its treatment of traitors. The universal Yankee sympathizers dangling from as many lamp-posts would have a most wholesome and salutary effect.

While standing in the crowd, near the jail, our attention was attracted to a great quantity of burning paper flying out of one of the chimneys. It was immediately suggested that the prisoners, not having been properly searched, were destroying private and perhaps treasonable documents which they had about them.

We have reason to believe that many other arrests will be effected within the next twenty-four hours. We forego to mention names, lest we might throw some impediment in the way of the authorities.

Now that the government appears really in earnest in the suppression of treason, it becomes every citizen who knows a man or set of men inimical to our country and cause to point them out.—Richmond Examiner, March. 3.

—The rebels have established powder-mills in Virginia, South-Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, and have au abundance of powder, such as it is —a very weak article and deficient in power. As an evidence of this, it may be stated that many of the Federal soldiers wounded at Fort Donelson picked the buckshot out of their merely skin-deep wounds without the assistance of surgeons. —St. Louis Daily News.

—Yesterday Lieut. Orlando Houston, of Capt. Carlin’s Second Ohio battery, while on a foraging expedition ten miles west of Gen. Curtis’s camp in Missouri, was attacked by three companies of Texas Rangers, and himself, eight men, and three horses captured. The balance of the Lieutenant’s men retreated to camp, bringing in their wagons, forage, and a fine stallion which they captured. No lives were lost on the National side.—N. Y. Commercial, March 11.

—The Raleigh (N. C.) State Journal of this date, has the following: “We have no more doubt of the ultimate independence of the South than we have that there is a heaven above us. The simple virtue of patience and endurance on the part of the people of the South will break down the war and the Government of the North, as surely as the war now rages. It is this truth which tends to strengthen the belief of our independence, and the short duration of the war, amongst the statesmen of Europe. Let us, then, continue to show to the world that subjugation is simply impossible, and the war will speedily end without the intervention of Europe. But we predict that our recognition as a government will shortly be announced.”

—Yesterday the National steamer Mount Vernon captured the British schooner British Queen — which was attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, N. C. She was sent with a prize crew to Philadelphia.

—Gen. Curtis, at Camp Halleck, in Arkansas, in reply to a private communication from a citizen of that State, relative to the subordination of the National troops of his army, issued an address to the people of the South-west, in which he asserts that the legitimate object of war is peace, “that peaceable persons shall be protected,” and advises those in arms against the Government to disband and return to their proper employments, assuring them safety and the fullest protection.—(Doc 71.)

February 28.—The British ship Labuan, of Hull, England, arrived at New York, in charge of a prize-crew from the United States sloop-of-war Portsmouth. She was captured by the Portsmouth a few miles to the northward of Brecca Chica, a small village near the Rio Grande, and it is supposed that she intended to run the blockade. The vessel is worth £33,000. Her cargo consists of a large quantity of blankets, etc.

—Counterfeit five-dollar Treasury notes made their appearance in New-York. They were excellent imitations of the genuine. The letters “U.S.,” one within the other, on the shield in the goddess of liberty, being left out.

—This day was observed throughout the Confederate States, in accordance with a proclamation issued by Jefferson Davis, as a day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer.” The rebel President appointed the day as a fitting occasion on which to make a grateful acknowledgment of the watchful care of Providence during the existence of the provisional government.

—The rebel steamer Nashville, from Southampton, England, commanded by R. P. Pegram, of the confederate navy, ran the blockade of Beaufort, North-Carolina, and reached the town this morning in safety.—(Doc. 68.)

—The United States transport steamer Mississippi, having on board Major-General B. F. Butler and fourteen hundred troops, ran aground on Frying-pan Shoals, off Wilmington, N. C, while on her way from Boston, Mass., to Ship Island, in the Gulf of Mexico. Her situation being discovered by Commander O. S. Glisson, U.S.N., he immediately went to her assistance with the steamer Mount Vernon; and after laboring in vain for many hours, during which about three hundred troops were transported to the Mount Vernon, the Mississippi was finally got off at about seven o’clock in the evening. The troops were then transferred back to the Mississippi, and every man saved.—(Doc. 69.)

—Charlestown, Va., situated on the line of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad, eight miles southwest of Harper’s Ferry, was this day occupied by the National troops.

—Capt. Nolen, of the Seventh Illinois cavalry, with sixty-four men, while making a reconnoissance of the country west of Charleston, Mo., came across ninety rebel cavalry, commanded by Jeff. Thompson, and after pursuing them a long distance, forced them to make a stand about five miles below Sikeston.

Thompson’s artillery was planted in the road in such a manner as to command all approaches, and the National forces were compelled to charge in the face of his battery. This they did with great gallantry, and succeeded in capturing four guns and putting the confederates to flight, with a loss of one man, who straggled from the command and was taken prisoner. The rebel loss was not ascertained.—Cincinnati Gazette, March 4.

February 27.—John Gold and Elias Paulding were arraigned in the Mayor’s Court, at Richmond, Va., for avowing themselves subjects of the Lincoln Government, and expressing sentiments disloyal to the Southern Confederacy. John Gold is an Irishman; Elias Paulding, the other prisoner, is a man about fifty years of age, and apparently an American. William Hammond, a McCulloch Ranger, and another member of the same company, were sworn as witnesses.

Hammond deposed: I was taking supper last night at Ford’s, and the conversation at the table turned on the late affair at Roanoke Island, and the subsequent treatment of our men by the Yankees. I said we had been treated about as well as prisoners of war could expect Gold spoke up, and asked if any one ever had been maltreated under the Stars and Stripes. He said he himself was a soldier, and a member of the Polish Brigade. That he had been dragged to the recruiting office in New-Orleans with a halter about his neck, and forced to enlist. He said he was a citizen of Philadelphia—that the Star Spangled Banner had once waved over this city, and would soon do it again. This man Paulding, at this, spoke up and said: “That’s so.” I then left the table and went into the front-room, and when Gold and Paulding came out, I arrested Gold, and told my comrade to arrest Paulding, and we carried them to the watch-house.

At the watch-house Gold repeated that he was a citizen of Philadelphia, and had a wife and four children there, and said he claimed the protection of the United States, and that he did not recognise the Confederate Government. He showed a medical discharge from the Polish Brigade, and a recommendation from some of the authorities here to the authorities at the Portsmouth Navy-Yard to give him employment. If he had said all this to me anywhere in the neighborhood of Greenbriar River, I should not have troubled your Honor with him—I should have shot him on the spot.

Gold made no denial of having used the language imputed to him. Mr. Paulding said: “Whatever I said last night was but idle talk. I was drunk.”

Mayor—Idle talk may induce idle fools to believe and act. You wish to establish a new banner in this city. If ever the Stars and Stripes, of which you speak, again wave over this building, it will be after the best blood of this city has been shed. If you do not keep liquor out of your mouth, it may cause you to be hung for treason.

Both prisoners were turned over to the confederate authorities.—Richmond Examiner, February 28.

—Mr. Ericsson’s iron-clad steamer the Monitor, went to sea from New-York, to-day, for some unknown destination. Mr. Ericsson is on board, and desires to test the invulnerability of his ship by engaging the strongest battery of the enemy which can be got at. The Monitor carries only two eleven-inch columbiads. Lieut. Worden, who commands the battery, is an officer of great experience and tried courage, and the sailors and gunners are picked men.

—In the rebel Senate, at Richmond, Va., A. B. Hill and J. J. Pettigrew, were confirmed as Brigadier-Generals. A resolution was unanimously passed to entertain no peace propositions excluding any portion of the soil of any of the Confederate States, and declaring that the war be continued until the enemy be expelled entirely from the Confederacy.

—In the United States Senate, Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, introduced a Confiscation bill as a substitute for that introduced by Mr. Trumbull. It confiscates the property, of all kinds, of those who have levied war against the United States or adhered to its enemies, during the natural life of the owners for the benefit of loyal citizens who have suffered losses by the rebellion.

—The Evacuation of the city of Columbus, Ky., was commenced by the rebels this day.

—The Secretary of War appointed Major-General Dix and Edwards Pierrepont, of New York, Special Commissioners to examine into the cases of the political prisoners still remaining in military custody, and to determine whether, in view of the public safety and the existing rebellion, they should be discharged, remain in military custody, or bo remitted to the civil tribunals for trial. The examination to be ex parte and summary, and at such times and places as the Commissioners should direct.

—Martial law was, by a proclamation of Jefferson Davis, declared to be extended over the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., and the surrounding country to the distance of ten miles from said cities. The writ of habeas corpus was also declared suspended within these limits.— (Doc. 67.)

February 26.—This day, in the Maryland House of Delegates, Reverdy Johnson, of Baltimore County, submitted the following: Preamble and Resolution on the subject of the course the State will pursue in the present rebellion.

Whereas, Jefferson Davis, a pretended president of a pretended confederacy, in a paper styled an inaugural, delivered by him in Richmond, Va., on the twenty-second inst, has repeated an assertion often recklessly uttered in public bodies of the so-called Confederate States, that “Maryland, already united to us by hallowed memories and material interests, will, when able to speak with unstifled voice, unite her destiny to the South;”

And whereas, it is due to the intelligence, patriotism and good name of our people that such assertion be at once repudiated by their Representatives here assembled; therefore be it

Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That such assertion is an unfounded and gross calumny upon the people of the State, who, sincerely lamenting the madness and self-inflicted misfortunes of our brethren of the South, acting under a delusion caused by the arts of the aspiring and criminal ambition of a few designing men, are but admonished by the sad condition of such brethren, of the fatal results sure to follow from the course which they have pursued, and are more and more convinced of the obligation, alike of interest and of duty, to abide, with undying attachment, to the Union devised for us by our fathers, as absolutely necessary to our social and political happiness, and the preservation of the very liberty which they fought and bled to achieve for us.

—This night Capt. Montgomery, of Wright’s battalion, with his company, was surprised at Keittsville, Barry Co., Mo., by eight hundred and fifty rebels, supposed to belong to McBride’s division, but who represented themselves as Texas Rangers. They fired into the house occupied by the National troops, killing two and wounding one. One of the rebels was killed, the rest fled, taking with them about seventy horses.

Two wagons, loaded with sutler’s stores, were burned at Major Harbine’s farm, two miles beyond Keittsville.

—The Fifteenth regiment of Maine volunteers arrived from Augusta at Portland, and embarked on board the ship Great Republic.

—In the Confederate Congress at Richmond, Va., Senator Simms, of Kentucky, offered resolutions, declaring that the people of the Confederate States will, to the last extremity, maintain and defend their right to self-government and the government established by them, and to this end do pledge their last man and their last dollar for the prosecution of the war, until their independence is acknowledged; and also, that they will submit to any sacrifice, and endure any trial, however severe, and firmly relying upon the justice of their cause, and humbly trusting in the providence of God, will maintain their position before the world and high Heaven, while they have a voice to raise, or an arm to defend. The resolutions were referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.—(Doc. 65.)

—The President of the United States approved the Loan and Treasury Bill, and the measure became the law of the land. It creates a national currency of United States notes, of the denominations of five dollars and upwards, made lawful money, and a legal tender for all debts, public and private, and in all payments to and from the Government, other than for customs duties to the United States, and interest on the public debt by the United States. The total amount of this currency authorized is not to exceed one hundred and fifty million dollars, including the sixty million dollars of United States notes issued under the Act of July seventeenth. These being made receivable by that act, for all public dues, are now authorized to be accepted in place of gold, for customs duties; but the whole issue is to be withdrawn and cancelled, and regular legal tender United States notes substituted, as soon as practicable. The customs duties, whether in gold or United States notes, are specifically pledged for the interest on the public debt, which is to be invariably paid in gold.

The loan authorized by this act is limited to five hundred million dollars, on the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the service of the remaining four months of the present fiscal year, and the succeeding fiscal year. Only one form of loan is prescribed—a twenty year six per cent stock, coupon or registered, which may be redeemed, at the pleasure of the Government, at any time after five years, at the par value thereof. Into this stock the United States notes of circulation are made convertible, the conversion not to affect the sum total of United States notes, legal tender, which the Treasury is authorized to keep in circulation.

—The National gunboat R. B. Forbes, having run ashore near Nag’s Head, N. C, was set on fire this morning, and totally destroyed. The rebels threatened to take her, but the captain by his great coolness prevented.

—A meeting of cotton and tobacco-planters, was held in Richmond, Va., to take into consideration the voluntary destruction of the cotton and tobacco crop, in view of the fact that the enemy’s efforts were mainly directed toward robbing the South of the accumulation of these two great staples:

“On motion of Col. C. M. F. Garnett, Gen. Thomas J. Green, of North-Carolina, was called to the chair, and R. R. Rhodes, Esq., Commissioner of Patents, appointed Secretary. The Chairman explained the objects of the meeting, saying that as cotton was king and tobacco vice-regal, it was proposed to ascertain how far they could be made to subserve the cause of our independence.

“An eloquent address was delivered by Dr. C. K. Marshall, of Mississippi, in which he advocated the purchase of the cotton and tobacco crop by the government, and its destruction, if necessary. He deprecated reliance on foreign intervention, saying that we must fight out the battle ourselves.

“Gov. Brown, of Mississippi, being called upon, responded in a few spirited remarks, in the course of which the extortioners and the Yankee acquisitiveness of the shopkeepers and moneymakers who have selected Richmond as the theatre of their exploits, were alluded to in terms of withering contempt.

“The Mayor responded, defending the resident population from any charge tending to impugn their devotion to the cause of Southern rights.

“Thomas H. Wynne, Esq., of the House of Delegates, spoke effectively in vindication of his fellow-citizens from the charge of want of appreciation or patriotism, showing that these entitled to be called citizens of the metropolis had, since the commencement of the war, met the requirements of the crisis. The city, he said, had sent to the field a soldier for every voter.

“Gov. Brown briefly responded, again excoriating the extortioners and cheating shopkeepers now domiciled in our midst”—(Doc. 66.)

—The Raleigh (N. C.) Register of this date, has an editorial which begins by saying that “it would be criminal as well as idle to deny that the present is the most gloomy period that the South has witnessed since the commencement of the war,” and the editor in the most earnest manner calls upon the people to remain by their colors and fight to the last.

February 25.—General Henry Heth and staff have arrived at Lewisburgh, Va. He takes command of the forces of Kanawha. He was greeted with great applause by the troops, many of whom were in his old command, and all knew him by reputation. Great confidence is felt in this young and talented officer, and no one could have been sent who gives so universal satisfaction.—Richmond Dispatch, February 28.

—The Savannah Republican of this date says: A reconnoissance by the steamer Savannah, yesterday, brought to light all the movements of the enemy in our river. They have erected three batteries, which effectually cut off all communication with the Fort—one of four guns, on Venus’s Point, one of the same number of guns on a small marsh, just above Long Island, and commanding the south channel, and the third on boats moored in Mud River. The three are located in the form of a triangle, and could not be passed by any vessel in our service. The guns are all of a heavy calibre, most of them throwing shot to the distance of three miles. A number were fired at the Savannah, but they all fell short.

—Major Ferdinand Lacomte formally received his appointment on Major-General McClellan’s staff. He is considered one of the most intelligent, energetic officers in the Swiss service, and is known as an author as well as a soldier. He obtained leave of absence from his own government to enter the National army.

—The city of Nashville, on the Cumberland River, capital of Tennessee, was occupied this morning by the National forces under command of General Nelson, U.S.A. No opposition was made to the landing of the troops, who had been conveyed from Clarksville by steamer. The greatest panic prevailed in the city on the announcement of the approach of the National soldiers. Large numbers of the inhabitants fled with the retreating rebel army, and a vast amount of property was wantonly destroyed by the fugitives.— (Doc. 63.)

—The Ninth Ohio and Second Minnesota regiments this afternoon received two splendid flags from the loyal ladies of Louisville, in commemoration of their victory at Mill Springs on January nineteenth. Considerable enthusiasm attended the presentation.—Louisville Journal, Feb. 26.

—An important order was issued from the War Department at Washington, in relation to the transmission of intelligence in regard to military operations. All the telegraph lines in the United States (loyal States, we presume, is meant) were taken possession of by the War Department, and all telegraphic communications in respect to military operations, not authorized by the War Department, were forbidden. Newspapers publishing military intelligence, however obtained, and by whatever medium received, not authorized by the official authority, were excluded thereafter from receiving intelligence by telegraph, or transmitting their papers by railroad.

—The rebel General Sterling Price sent an official report of his retreat from the State of Missouri, to the disloyal Governor C. F. Jackson, dated at Camp on Cove Creek, Arkansas. He states that, having occupied Springfield, Mo., for the purpose of being within reach of supplies, etc., he was attacked by superior numbers of National troops on the twelfth inst., and deemed it prudent to retreat. After a fatiguing march of over four days’ duration, with continual skirmishing with the National troops, he succeeded in reaching Cross Hollows, Arkansas, with a loss of from four to six killed and fifteen or eighteen wounded.— (Doc. 64.)

February 24.—A slight skirmish took place at Mason’s Neck, in the neighborhood of Occoquan, Va., between a body of Texan rangers and a party of National troops. The rangers fired from a house in which they took refuge. Two of the Nationals, belonging to the New-York Thirty-seventh regiment, were killed, and another man was wounded. The loss of the rebels was not ascertained.—-N. Y. Herald, February 26.

—The Twelfth regiment of Connecticut volunteers, under the command of Colonel Henry C. Deming, left New-Haven for the seat of war at Ship Island, Gulf of Mexico.

—Cols. Wood, of the Fourteenth New-York, Lee, of the Twentieth Massachusetts, and Cogswell, of the Tammany regiment, (N. Y. S. V.,) arrived at Baltimore from Fortress Monroe, having been released by the rebels. Colonel Wood, who was present at the inauguration of Jeff. Davis, states that there was no enthusiasm manifested on the occasion.

—Bishop Thomas F. Davis, of the Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Church of South Carolina, now in session at Charleston, has pronounced an address, in which he states that prior Conventions of the Church in the Confederate States had declared that “we were no longer, as a Church, in administrative union with the Church in the United States.”—N. Y. Times, February 23.

—An expedition, composed of four iron-clad gunboats and two mortar-boats, with the Twenty-seventh Illinois and a battalion of the Eighth Wisconsin Regiments, made a reconnoisance from Cairo, Illinois, down the Mississippi river this morning, and discovered that the rebels had seized all the flatboats and skiffs as far up as they dared to come; also that there had been a movement among the troops at Columbus. The gunboats and mortar-boats getting into position on the Missouri side of the river when a rebel steamer, with a white flag, made its appearance, some rebel officers came on board the Cincinnati, and a consultation took place.—Cincinnati Gazette.

— Harper’s Ferry, Va., was occupied by the National forces, under the command of General Banks. The troops were unopposed, and found all the necessaries for a permanent occupation.

—Lieut. A. C. Rhind, U. S. N., went, with Lieut. Prentiss and three men, on an expedition to Bear Bluff, opposite White Point, on North-Edisto River, S. C, where the rebels were erecting a battery. Two men were found, as picket guards, in the magazine of the unfinished battery, asleep. In attempting to secure them, one was shot by the accidental discharge of a pistol in the hands of Lieutenant Rhind. The other was captured.— (Doc. 62.)

February 23.—Gen. Buell, with three hundred mounted men and a battery of artillery, took possession of Gallatin, Tenn.—New-York Herald, March 3.

—This day Fayetteville, Arkansas, (a town on White River, one hundred and ninety-six miles northwest of Little Rock,) was captured by Gen. Curtis. The rebels fled in great confusion across the Boston Mountains. They burnt a portion of the town before they retired, besides perpetrating an act of cowardly vandalism, which it is almost difficult to believe, had it not been too fatally verified. The rebels left a quantity of poisoned meat behind them, which unhappily was partaken of by the National troops, and resulted in poisoning forty officers and men of the Fifth Missouri cavalry, among them one or two valuable commanding officers. Such deeds entitle the perpetrators to no mercy.—(Doc. 60.)

—The Eighty-first regiment of New-York volunteers, under the command of Col. Edwin Rose, arrived in New-York from Albany.

—Gen. Halleck issued an order, to be read to all the troops under his command, defining the policy to be pursued by the forces as they advance. Private property is to be strictly respected, and all non-combatants are to be regarded as neutrals in the existing war; these, however, who give any aid to the secessionists are to be regarded as belligerents, and treated as such. Regarding the slavery question as a matter in which the civil and not the military authorities have jurisdiction, he prohibits the admission of fugitive slaves within the lines of the army, except by special order of the generals commanding.—(Doc. 61.)

—Nashville, Tenn., was evacuated by the rebel troops this day.