SUNDAY
JANUARY 1, 1865
THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES

Summary of News.

We have, before we expected it, the glorious news of the capture of Savannah. A dispatch from Gen. Sherman at that city announcing the event to have occurred on the 21st. He begs the President to accept as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, 110 guns and plenty of ammunition, and about 25,000 bales of cotton. Gen. Foster reports to Gen. Grant the capture of 800 prisoners, 190 cars, 13 locomotives, 3 steamers and 38,000 bales of cotton. He also reports that Hardee, anticipating an assault by Sherman, escaped on the morning of the 20th with the main body of his infantry and light artillery, by crossing the river to Union Causeway, opposite the city. His “tactics” will probably direct him to proceed to Wilmington and aid in defending that menaced city.

A Nashville dispatch of the 24th reports the Tennessee river so high as to prevent the crossing by Hood. Thomas’s headquarters were at Columbia.

Lyon seems to still live, but the reports concerning his operations in Kentucky are rather vague and uncertain.

A report kills Mosby again. Some cavalry skirmishing in the Valley is reported.

Gold in New York on the 24th closed at 221 and cotton at 123. It will be observed that this was before the promulgation of the news from Savannah.

•••••

Balls.–A grand dance and Fireman’s Ball for the benefit of the Pioneer Fire Company No. 1, came off at their new hall on Magazine street last night. It was, as we understand, a very successful and happy reunion. We are glad to chronicle their enjoyment in dancing the New Year in accordance with the practice off the Vaterland, and wish the company all happiness.

A grand ball will be given to-night–also in accordance with the good old German custom–by the Turner Association of New Orleans, at the Verandah Hotel on Conti street between Chartres and New Levee streets. We wish our friends, who have favored us with an invitation, all happiness.

On next Saturday evening, the Hebrew Congregation Gates of Prayers will give a grand, fancy and masquerade ball for the benefit of the Masonic Hall, and will be, we have no doubt, a splendid affair. We are indebted to the managers for an invitation.

•••••

The great Circus still unfolds itself, day by day, a wonder. Wonderful feats of strength are performed by the cannon ball thrower, who, strange to say, never knocks his brains out tossing up and catching these uncomfortable things on the back of his neck, gyrating them as a juggler plays with billiard balls, and playing with what an ordinary man finds it difficult to manage, and what often places a man beyond earthly cares when they are sent from the cannon’s mouth. The great horseback rider, Robinson, is wonderful in the dexterity by which he sticks on that horse, either end up, feet pointing up in the direction of the circus valve, head somewhere down in the horse’s epigastric region, turning over ad circumbending all around the ring. Wonderful is the charming Miss Lucie, who plays, skips and jumps upon the back of a horse as much at ease as some little girls would be in the nursery, on the hearth-rug, under the immediate eye of mamma or nurse. If the histrionico-equestrian feats of Master Watson are not wonderful, as he stands on horseback, either as Falstaff, Shylock or Richard III, it is certainly entertaining to see Richard on that horse which he is famous for wanting, but is never supposed to get; to see Shylock weigh out a pound of flesh when shaky about the knees on a swift horse; and to see old Falstaff getting out of Shrewsbury fight on an actual and bona fide piece of horse flesh–not imaginary. It is also entertaining to see Madame De berg in her great feats. The above actions are all interspersed with first class fun by Dan Costello and his clever compatriots, while the famed steed, who understands English as the horse of Charles V understood High Dutch, by giving it to him in his ear, are all of the wonderful kind with the others. Last, but not least, the lions are terribly wonderful. Like Tilly Stowboy’s opinion of fortune-telling, “they frighten one so nice” with that low monotone of a roar, in which they believe themselves to be musical, and try to keep time with the orchestra in their howl, which were it not grotesque, would be horrible. A short expedition to Tivoli Circle will reveal to the eye all these wonders that have not been faithfully represented in this paragraph. Remember there is no circus to-night. Try Monday.

•••••

Academy of Music.–The Academy is crowding amusements on the boards, and no one visiting that place can complain of a lack of opportunity for enjoyment. “The House that Jack Built” goes off nightly with shouts of laughter and applause. A noon-day exhibition for families will be given to-morrow.

MONDAY
JANUARY 2, 1865
THE DAILY RICHMOND ENQUIRER (VA)

LATEST FROM THE UNITED STATES.
The Attack on Wilmington–A Wrangle About it.

Admiral Porter gives his official report of the attack on Wilmington, in which he furnishes, with minute precision, the details of the event–the arrival of the fleet, the detention of the transports by the storm, the explosion of a boat laden with two hundred and fifteen tons of powder within five hundred yards of Fort Fisher, for the purpose of blowing down that concern, but which only blew out some of the lights and broke some of the glasses of the fleet; the attack by the fleet, done in splendid style, on its own hook, Butler not yet having come up; the next day’s combined attack by the fleet and Butler’s troops, in which the latter, under Weitzel, after landing and capturing one or two subposts and two hundred prisoners in rear of Fort Fisher, came to the conclusion that Confederate grape and canister was too much for them, and fled again to the fleet; the “conspicuous daring” of two or three men while the land attack was going on, in penetrating to the rebel parapets, wounding eight rebels with a solitary musket shot, killing an orderly inside of a sally port, and capturing dispatches from General Whiting asking a light battery be sent him and the regret of Admiral Porter at the failure of Weitzel, who declared Fort Fisher impregnable to assault, from personal inspection within six hundred yards of the fort, &c., &c.

The Tribune gives the following review of the affair:

It is unpleasantly plain that the great Wilmington expedition has ended up in a wrangle. General Butler and Admiral Porter did not find themselves able to agree on the conduct of the enterprise, which depended for its success on their cordial co-operation. The dispatch of Admiral Porter, which is confused on many other points, is clear in this: that the land and naval forces could not be effectually combined.

It is remarkable that Admiral Porter began his attack on Fort Fisher without waiting for the arrival of the troops. The fort has been repeatedly declared on the highest authority impregnable by naval force alone. It would seem that Admiral Porter did not share the opinion of his official superior. There appeared to him to be an opportunity not to be lost; as he himself expressed it, the weather was too fine to be wasted. Accordingly the attack began at 2 o’clock on Saturday morning by the explosion of the torpedo boat Louisiana within five hundred yards of Fort Fisher. We had understood that this torpedo was intended especially to destroy the morale of the garrison, and that immediately upon their confusion, an assault should follow by the troops. We do not know how otherwise it was expected to take advantage of the explosion. But Admiral Porter chose to try the experiment when no troops had been landed or were even near the coast. Unless, therefore, he hoped that the walls of the fort should be actually blown down and the men within it destroyed by the torpedo, it is difficult to understand why the attempt was made at all; and even if these consequences had followed, it is equally difficult to see how they could have been taken advantage of. If no land force on our side was at hand to occupy and hold the demolished fort, the enemy could of course renew possession of the ruins at his leisure, and could cover them by the adjacent batteries.

But the explosion of the torpedo produced no visible effect. Admiral Porter says the shock was slight, and it appears from his reports that Fort Fisher, which remained unmolested from two till half past eleven, was subsequently able to continue an engagement of five hours’ duration with his powerful fleet. At the end of that time–about 5 o’clock on Saturday afternoon–the guns of the fort were silenced, and the fleet withdrew.

On the following day–Sunday, the 25th–Gen. Butler’s troops arrived. Under cover of the fire of the fleet, they, or a portion of them, were landed between 12 and 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon. Admiral Porter puts the number on shore at 3,000. The account which follows is unintelligible. From one sentence it appears that their re-embarkation began immediately, and without a demonstration against the fort. ->

From another, it appears that Maj. Gen. Weitzel and a party of skirmishers reconnoitered the fort; that a few of the soldiers actually entered the work; that one officer brought away the flag which had been shot from its staff; that a soldier fired a shot into the bomb-proof where the garrison were concealed, wounding eight or ten concealed rebels; that a rebel orderly arriving at the fort was killed and his dispatches captured; and that while all this was going on, the fleet was still shelling the fort, and succeeded in wounding a number of our own men. 

But it is nowhere indicated that anything like an assault took place. On the contrary, Gen. Weitzel reported an assault impracticable–an opinion in which Admiral Porter, though properly professing to under value his judgment in comparison with that of an able and experienced officer who had examine the ground in person, does not concur. But notwithstanding General Weitzel’s report, Admiral Porter proceeds to remark: “We drew off at sunset, leaving the iron-clads to fire through the night, expecting the troops would attack in the morning.” The reasons why they did not attack are set forth in the letter of Gen. Butler.

Our readers, if they have been able to follow us thus far, will probably agree that the whole business on which we have hesitatingly commented, is in great need of elucidation. For our part we have only to suggest again that there are two sides to the story, and that but one has been heard. We deplore the failure which has occurred, and still more keenly do we regret that any feelings of hostility should exist between the two branches of the military service of the United States, or between the leaders of the forces which were meant to co-operate against Wilmington. We care not to take sides in such a controversy. We care only that the whole truth should be known; and that blame should lie where, on the merits of the case, it properly belongs. Meanwhile, Wilmington remains and is likely to remain in possession of the rebels.

Gen. Butler’s letter states in substance that the strength of Fort Fisher had not been materially impaired by the fire from the fleet, and that its guns still swept the narrow strip of land by which alone it was possible for an assaulting column to approach. A portion of Lee’s forces had been sent from Richmond to strengthen the garrison, and Gen. Weitzel, who advanced his skirmish line within fifty yards of the fort, pronounced an attempt impracticable, except by the operation of a regular siege, which was not contemplated in the orders under which Gen. Butler was acting. The troops, therefore, we re-embarked and returned to Fortress Monroe.

•••••

The Hiring Season.–The hiring of servants for the present year commenced yesterday, and continued pretty briskly during the entire day. An ordinary cook, washer and ironer, without encumbrance, commanded from $400 to $600 and victuals and clothing. The government was in the market at an early hour, hiring at from $1,000 to $1,200 for blacksmiths and $900 for drivers. Housekeepers would ­­[improve] their interests by holding off for a few days, and thus enable agents and masters to learn how much Confederate money it takes to feed a Negro. After learning this fact they will doubtless be content to let them go for “victuals and clothes.”

•••••

German Shot.–A German, named William Wiiks, belonging to the Tredegar Battalion, was shot and killed on Friday night last while endeavoring to run the blockade. The fatal shot, we are informed, was fired by a member of his battalion. This was the second time that Wiiks had attempted to make his escape to Yankeedom. Wiiks resided on Oregon Hill, and leaves a wife and several small children.

TUESDAY
JANUARY 3, 1865
THE BOSTON HERALD

FROM THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
Dashing Charge of 300 Rebels on Our Pickets.

Washington, Jan. 2.–Information from the Army of the Potomac to the evening of Saturday is as follows:

“About daylight this morning our pickets on that portion of the front line between Forts Howard and Wadsworth, now occupied by the 1st and 3d brigades of the 1st corps, were surprised by about 300 rebels, who charged upon them without any previous warning, drove them back within their entrenchments, killing 2, wounding 3, and capturing 35. The rebels then gathered the blankets, knapsacks, etc., our men left at the picket posts, and retired to their own lines without losing a man.

“The attack was so entirely unexpected and the affair over so quickly, that the officers of our picket guard had not time to even give orders to the men with a view to resistance until they had fallen back upon the entrenchments. The assault was most furious, the enemy charging with yells and firing furiously as they advanced, very naturally inducing the belief that it was an attack in force. The scattering fire maintained by our pickets during their retreat was ineffective, and the enemy did not remain long enough for those behind the entrenchments to be aroused. Nothing further of interest has occurred here for the past few days. The weather continues extremely disagreeable. To-night we are having a fall of snow, which melts as fast as it descends.”

•••••

The Demonstration Against Wilmington.–A Washington dispatch to the New York Sunday Herald says much mortification is felt in official circles at the ridiculous fizzle of the military part of the Wilmington expedition. The naval officers claim that Fort Fisher could have been taken without difficulty, and that it only required that the enemy’s works should be moved on to deliver them into our hands. Commodore Rodgers, who has arrived in Washington, says that in his opinion the fort was already taken, and it only required that somebody should go in and occupy it. The fact that seven hundred of Butler’s force remained two days on the beach without being attacked, or even a shot being fired towards them, is cited as sufficient evidence that the enemy were not in force to resist a determined and persistent advance of even the comparatively small number of troops employed, which, there is reason to believe, exceeded the number available for the defence of the point.

•••••

Statistical.–During the past year over 100,000 foreigners arrived in the United States to become American citizens.

There were more people killed and wounded by railroad accidents last year than in any year since 1854. One hundred and forty accidents occurred; four hundred and four lives were lost, and one thousand eight hundred and forty-six persons were wounded.

During the past year the enormous sum of twenty-eight million five hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars was lost by fires in the loyal States, without counting losses under twenty thousand or losses by the war, as at Chambersburg. This amount exceeds the losses for any previous year within the last decade.

Out of the twelve Revolutionary patriots living on the 1st of January, 1863, but five survive to welcome this New Year.

Rebeldom.

A letter from Richmond states that the rigors of winter are being severely felt in the rebel capital among all classes. Wood at any price is scarce, and the poorer people are suffering far beyond the common measure for the scantiest necessaries of life. Their soup houses and other public establishments of charity  for relieving the wants of the needy are not possessed of the material wherewith to supply, in either proper quantity or quality, what their supervisors advertise in the journals to supply. It is further stated that the coming New Year’s dinner to Lee’s army is likely to fall very short of what it should be in point of nutritious elements, and that it will be far more of a feast on paper than in the yarning stomachs of the deluded rebel soldiery. In all respects, the public suffering is great, not only in Richmond, but everywhere within the rebel boundaries, save, perhaps, in some sections of Georgia.

Deserters from Lee’s army say that great efforts were made to conceal from them the loss of Savannah, and when this was no longer possible, equally great efforts were made to convince the soldiers that its loss was rather beneficial to the rebel cause than otherwise. “That’s always the way,” said a sturdy, dirty-looking rebel, “when Yank captures anything they tell us we would have been better off if we had let it go long ago.” They state that large numbers of Georgia troops are deserting and returning to their homes, not exactly seeing how it is necessary for them to remain and defend Richmond at the sacrifice of their own State.

A Washington dispatch to the New York Tribune says that parties fresh from the cotton districts represent the rebel armies to number 100,000 veterans, 50,000 militia, not equivalent to 5000 veterans, and 100,000 exempts ready under the law to be ranked into the service and available as soldiers at the end of six months. They say that this force will gradually be backed up by the progress of the war in Virginia, and probably compacted at Richmond. They declare that there will be no planting in the South this year, none whatever except in gardens and patches about the houses. Sherman’s march, and Hood’s defeat, and the uncertainty of Negro labor having utterly discouraged agriculture on a large scale, they predict the speedy disappearance by emigration of the white population of the cotton, rice and sugar States, and the population of the whole of them by b lacks, who they aver will be a model population for industry, thrift and social order. The trade of the Rebel States, after the close of the war, these well-informed parties declare, will be wholly in the hands of Jews. Yankees will have no chance.

Druid, the secession correspondent of the New York World, says: “If it be true, that the darkest hour is just before dawn, then the hour when Confederate independence will dawn must be close at hand, for the present moment is certainly the darkest, in a military point of view, that the South has ever experienced. I have some news from the South this morning, which is of a gloomier nature than I have ever received. The fall of Savannah is really a great blow to the South, and so it is felt at Richmond.”

When Druid talks this way, the South must indeed be badly off.

WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 4, 1865
NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT & STATE GAZETTE

European Interference in American Affairs.

We have uniformly expressed the opinion that there was no danger of European intervention in this contest between North and South, as long as each section of the Union was doing its utmost to destroy the prosperity of the other, and so long as the depredation of property and credit, and the loss of power, or the other result, a division of the country, was destined to destroy our National prestige. Our worst enemy could not do more than to waste four millions of our wealth a day, dilute our currency to its present worthlessness, impose such debts as ours upon posterity, and waste two million of human lives! The most insidious and malignant enemy of liberal institutions could do nothing more to degrade them than has been done in the destruction of rights and the capricious exhibition of despotic power that we have endured. No scare-crow effigies of warning against representative government could have been got up by the most skillful caricaturist more complete in is distortion, than the President and his Secretary Seward! For four years we have been doing the work of the despotisms, and the aristocracies, and of all enemies of free government, more effectually than they could have done.

So long, then, as the contest was an even one, and promised to be indefinitely prolonged, they have been willing to see it go on. When the preponderance of one side threatens to overthrow the other, and to terminate the contest by leaving the government and the country a unit, the case will be altered. Their interests will prompt them to interfere, and seek to relieve the balance; or so control the result as to leave two inimical and rival governments to neutralize each other’s power upon the Continent, instead of one great consolidated democracy!

We believe that at all times France has been ready to intervene so soon as England would join in the alliance. France will undertake no great war without her! Earl Russell, so long as he remains at the head of a ministry, will not take sides with a slaveholding confederacy in order to prolong the life of its peculiar institution. His family antecedents and his own forbid it. But if intervention is the policy decided on, a change of ministry can be managed without a crisis, and even without a contest. The political leaders in Parliament are like old members of a club, and they adjust a new ministry as they would a whist party, and “cut in” and “cut out,” still keeping the choice players within the circle of a score of men. Slavery, too, may be abolished, at least “in name,” at the South, and so relieving the “conscience” of England.

We shall have intervention then in one moment of apparent triumph, unless we are more fortunate and wise, and our adversaries abroad more forbearing and tolerant than the history of dynasties and of nations gives us much reason to hope for.

The question of European interference already presents itself. Spain, at this moment, threatens to attempt the re-conquest of Peru, of which indeed she has never yet recognized the independence. Forty years of actual independence has been lost upon her; and the diplomatist she recently sent to Lima was not delegated as an Envoy to a foreign power, but as “Commissioner Extraordinary,” the title which she originally gave to her delegates to the Colonies! ->

The Peruvian Minister, justly indignant at this, demanded explanations, but the Courier des Etats Unis, from which we gather the facts, says the Representative of Spain disdained all explanations, left in a vessel of war, and on the same day the order to seize the Chinchas Islands, was executed. The pretense was that Peru had refused justice in a case where Spanish subjects had been outraged, and one of them murdered. The delay of the Courts was all Spain could rightfully complain of. The seizure of the Chinchas, the principal source of revenue to Peru, was no proper retaliation for such an offence.

It is a false pretense upon which this conspiracy has been got up, and the real motive behind it is the overthrow of the Republican systems upon this Continent. They are willing to challenge war; and it is in fact already commenced by the seizure of the islands, which Peru threatens to recapture.

The re-establishment of monarchy in Mexico was but the first act in a grand drama, which has for its object to subvert the popular system of this country, whose influence is felt to be fatal to the dynasties of the Old World. The game is well played; but it would have been fatal to the players had not folly and fanaticism, and the tricks of base politicians laid us open to these machinations! In our divisions we have done half the work of our enemies.

Their hope lies in our persistence in our madness. Already they see in the Latin races of Mexico and the Southern continent organized into monarchies; the Anglo-Saxon race of the North, organized under a Vice-Royalty, ending perhaps in an hereditary monarchy. Between them is a torn and divided republic which, when all its cohesion is destroyed in the flames of war will fall asunder, and the several parts obeying the attraction of their position, will gravitate to one side or the other of this monarchical system.

Such is the cloud that lowers on our horizon, as we look beyond the closing year into that which is about to dawn  upon us.–Albany Argus.

•••••

Cotton in India.–The Calcutta Englishman says that from a report of the Board of Revenue it appears that, after making allowance for the effects of drought and other drawbacks, the out-turn of cotton this year in the northwestern provinces of India is estimated at 2,000,000 of maunds, against 1,135,688 maunds in the previous season.¹ Of this amount it is supposed about one-fourth will be retained for domestic consumption, and the remainder exported. The area under cultivation has increased upwards of fifty per cent. Owing to the high price of English cotton fabrics, their importation has largely diminished and the home manufacture of the natives has greatly increased.

THURSDAY
JANUARY 5, 1865
THE SALEM REGISTER (MA)

Correspondence of the Register.

U. S. S. Santiago de Cuba,
At Norfolk, Va., December 28, 1864.

Messrs. Editors:

We have just cast anchor here after a very pleasant and flying trip from New Inlet, N. C., in 24 hours, bearing dispatches for the Department.

The bombardment of “Fisher” commenced on the 24th inst., about noon, when the fleet, after some three hours devoted to obtaining their proper position in line, opened the fight at 5 minutes to one, by a shot from the Ironsides, which was quickly succeeded by a 15-inch shell from a Monitor, which lodged in one of the bomb-proofs of the Fort. However, the “Rebs” maintained a sullen silence until the wooden frigate Minnesota came up and took her position directly in front of the fortifications and at the head of our line of battle, when, on the instant she turned her broadside to them, they opened fire from all the guns they could possibly bring to bear upon her, to which she immediately replied with a full broadside, which made the sand fly around the old fort in the most approved style imaginable. And now the bombardment was really commenced, and from the moment the Minnesota first fired, the engagement became general, our vessels keeping up a continual fire of every description of projectiles upon the Rebel stronghold, from the ponderous 15-inch shell of the Monitors to the small 12 lb. shot from the guns of former blockade runners. Among the latter was our old friend, the Advance. After three hours of unceasing fire from both sides, the firing from the fort became gradually and beautifully less, until, at 4 o’clock, the “Rebs” ceased firing entirely, and at dark the fleet became quiet also, with the exception of now and then a shot from one of the Monitors.

Early the next morning, which was Christmas, the fight was renewed, and kept up during the day with more fury than ever, whilst the old Santiago, together with some dozen other vessels, was sent about three miles up the coast to silence a battery and cover the landing of the land forces. Here we remained during the entire day, shelling a small mound in which the “Rebs” had  68-pounder and 65 men. The men we took on board, and last night landed them at Fortress Monroe.

Another little incident and I close. On the night of the 23d, 6 men from the Agawam, commanded by Capt. Ryan of that vessel, rain in under the guns of Fort Fisher with a powder-boat containing about 300 tons of gunpowder, intended to be exploded near the fort, and expected to dismount the guns by the tremendous concussion. But, owing to some unforeseen circumstance, the affair was not so successful as the sanguine hopes of its planners had led them to anticipate, although undoubtedly the machine was some annoyance to the “Rebs,” as it was remarked that they fired no guns from the side on which the boat was blown up.–W. A. P.

•••••

Hood’s Invasion of Tennessee developed the following facts, according to a correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial:

First, and most noticeable, is the gradual decadence of martial spirit among the rebels, and a growing disgust of the rank and file for the war.

This fact is declared by more than one circumstance. The astonishing and disproportionate loss of commissioned officers, occupies a prominent place among these. Hood himself  notices and deplores it in his official report of the battle of Franklin. There he lost six general officers killed, six wounded, and one captured, by his own showing, besides one hundred and thirteen captured. Of one hundred and ninety-seven prisoners taken at Murfreesboro, twenty one were officers and four Generals, and four hundred and fifty one other officers have been taken here, exclusive of the sick and wounded at Franklin. What is the meaning of this?

If the rebels were raw troops, as at the beginning of the war, this might explain it, for in that case officers always must expose themselves more than afterward, in order to keep their men steady under fire. ->

It is not accounted for except on the supposition that their officers find it necessary to expose themselves in front in order to bring their men forward. The observation of every one who has witnessed this campaign confirms this. Their officers can often be seen riding conspicuously in front, and passionately exhorting their men to hold firm.

The poor fighting done by the rebels shows it. This has been remarked again and again in this campaign. At Franklin they made some desperate charges, but it was under the stimulus of the delusion that they would easily drive us back into the river. Since that time they have been spiritless, as compared with their former selves. The immense capture of artillery and small arms shows it. It is a capital disgrace to a soldier to throw away his piece, and none but disgusted or panic stricken men will do it. That it was the former is shown by the facts that a large part of the muskets were left standing against the works.

•••••

One of the Pictures of War.–A correspondent of the Chicago Journal relates the following interview of a Federal foraging party with a Tennessee farmer:

At another place we called on the owner, a man of over sixty years, well saved, but evidently much cast-down and disheartened. He was polite, and answered all questions studiously. On being asked what he had to spare, he answered, “Not much; indeed, nothing.” His wife and four children, standing beside him, said not a word, but the countenances of the whole group showed that the old man told the truth. “Indeed, I have nothing,” said he; “with one army and another campaigning through this part of Tennessee, they have stripped me of all I could spare and more, too.”

“Have you no horses or mules,” asked the officer. “Yes,” answered the man, “I have one more mule, which is entirely broken down; it was left by a trooper who took my last horse instead.” “No beef cattle?” was the next question. “No, not one,” was the answer. “Any hogs?” “Yes, sir, I have four pigs, which I had intended for my winter’s supply of meat.” “Any Negroes?” asked the officer. “No, not one; my servants all left me two or three months ago. I have not one on the place. I have to chop all my wood, and my wife and daughters do the in-doors, what they can.” “Any corn or wheat?” “No wheat, and only two or three barrels of corn,” was the reply. “Let’s see your mule,” said the officers. It was brought up, and was as the old man said.

“Show me those pigs,” was the next demand. When the old man heard this he could barely speak–his hopes were almost at an end. He showed the pigs, however; they were no more than such a family would need, nor as much. The officer then kindly said, “You may keep all these things; they will help you and can be of little good to us,” and gave the old man a safe-guard,” which might save his property from our troops. Three years ago this man owned a large, well-stocked plantation, had cattle and hogs in plenty, with servants to come at his call, and corn to sell or keep. Now he was sincerely thankful, and much moved, that we spared him his four little shoats, his pittance of corn, and his old mare mule, with which he hoped to make a small crop next spring. The war has been at his very door; he had seen it in all relations, and knew that it was vigorously prosecuted.

•••••

Deserting the Sinking Ship.–The Washington correspondent of the New York Express says the exodus from Gen. Lee’s army is almost incredible. Daily numbers reach Washington, having abandoned the rebel cause. At the existing rate of desertion, one month will deplete the rebel army confronting Gen. Grant fully as much as the average casualty of a general battle.

FRIDAY
JANUARY 6, 1865
THE CALEDONIAN (VT)

The Raiders Captured at Concord.

The Concord (N. H.) Monitor of Wednesday gives the following account of the circumstances under which six persons were arrested at Camp Gilmore the previous day, on the alleged charge, favored by the confession of some of their number, that they belonged to the St. Albans raiders recently discharged by Judge Coursol at Montreal in the singular manner already known to our readers:

“At a late hour on Saturday evening last, five persons, enlisted that day in the provost marshal general’s office at West Lebanon, arrived at Camp Gilmore and were turned over to a clerk at the headquarters, by the name of Charles Kraft, belonging to the 5th New Hampshire regiment, whose business it is to receive all new comers into camp, look them over, obtain their pictures, &c. The names of the persons were Frank True, Elias Atwaters, Wm. H. Cook, alias Wm. H. Brown, Henry C. Scott, alias Smith, and Henry Bowne.

“On Monday morning Kraft took Cook into a salon to have his picture taken, and while there Cook dropped a remark which aroused Kraft’s suspicions, and he immediately ingratiated himself into Cook’s confidence to such an extent that he admitted that he was one of the St. Albans raiders, and had just been discharged from jail in Canada.

“True was the next man called in to have his picture taken, and when he was accosted by Kraft with, ‘Here, you St. Albans raider, come and have your picture taken,’ True seemed to be somewhat surprised, and replied, ‘Who said I was a St. Albans raider?’ On being informed that Cook had divulged something, he admitted he was one of the party, and had recently been released from jail. The pictures of the rest of the party were taken during the day, Kraft managing to keep on good terms with them all.

At night the whole party, with Kraft and others, went to the sutlers’ quarters and indulged pretty freely in beer, and had a merry time generally. Kraft succeeded in gaining their confidence so entirely that they became quite communicative.

Atwaters said that he was one of the party, and saw the jeweller shot at St. Albans; that he went there armed with pistols; and that he stole a horse and rode off with it to Canada.

Cook said he lived in London, Canada, and that his wife was in this city and was coming to see him in the morning. In short, the whole party, with the exception of Bowne, boasted their participation in the affair, and were quite jubilant concerning it. They also disclosed their plans for the future sufficient to indicate their intention to desert. Atwaters did not want to desert here, but desired to go to the front, where he intended to desert to the rebel lines the first opportunity he could obtain. Cook and Scott were anxious to desert here, and offered Kraft $700 to get them out of camp, get drunk, and lose them, all of which he was ready to promise, of course.

Major Whittlesey was informed on Monday of Kraft’s suspicions, and desired a strict surveillance of their movements by him.

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning the woman purporting to be Cook’s wife made her appearance in camp, and was admitted, and held conversation with Cook, Scott and others. Cook called Kraft aside and, reminding him of their conversation of the night before, asked him if things had been got in readiness for them to carry out their design, and said further that his wife would leave camp immediately and aid them in getting out. He was told that everything would be ready as soon as Kraft could get his coat.

Soon after, the whole party were placed under arrest by order of Major Whittlesey, and the woman was searched, but no money excepting greenbacks or current bills on state banks were found in her possession. She was subjected to a close examination by several officers, and to several parties she substantially admitted that she was Cook’s wife; that they lived in London, Canada; and that Cook was an engineer, and had been employed on several boats on the St. Lawrence river. She recognized all of the party as having been at the house in London where she and Cook boarded, both before and after the raid; that Cook came home with a horse which he stole in Vermont, and with plenty of money; then she came to West Lebanon with Cook, Scott and True, and accompanied them to this city on Saturday evening–she going to a hotel and they to camp. She is a French Canadian, and can neither read or write.”

Union Soldier Killed by Bloodhounds.–A Federal officer who has reached Louisville after a stealthy and weary flight from prison in South Carolina says he was hunted by bloodhounds, and only escaped their fangs by the most incessant vigilance. At one time he threw the dogs off his scent by putting turpentine on the soles of his boots. Just previous to his escape from Columbia he saw a fellow officer, who had made an unsuccessful attempt at escape, brought in so horribly torn by bloodhounds that he died in a very few hours. This method of capturing fugitives from military prisons has become the main reliance of the rebels in all parts of the south. The flying parties, whatever their number at the start, of course break up into very small squads, and hounds are the surest agents for their capture.

•••••

The Rebel Generals on Arming the Slaves.–A Richmond correspondent of the Liverpool Courier, in a letter to that journal on the 5th of November, says he had been spending a day with Gen. Lee, who, in conversation upon the subject, said:

“I wish you to understand my views on this subject. I am favorable to the use of servants in our army. I think we can make better soldiers of them than Lincoln can. He claims to have two hundred thousand of them in his service. We can destroy the value of all such soldiers to him by using ours against them. I do not see why we should not have the use of such available material as well as he. I would hold out to them the certainty of freedom and a home when they shall have rendered efficient service. He has not given them a home, nor can he give them offices who can understand and manage them so well as we can.”

The writer further says that on the next day he had a conversation with the rebel Adjutant and Inspector General Cooper, who agreed with Gen. Lee in his views, and said:

“I would not wait the slow action of the legislature on the subject. We have already used them (Negroes) in the place of soldiers as teamsters and in engineer service. We can use them in other ways. There is no reason for delay. Let them be placed in the field, and give them freedom for faithful service to the state.”

•••••

In Brief.

Mosby, the guerrilla, is killed. He was shot by some Union scouts near Middlebury, Va. Thus ends the career of another great ruffian.

The plan is now generally adopted in Grant’s army, when burying the dead, to place in the grave with the body a sealed bottle, containing a paper on which is written the name and other particulars respecting the dead.

The great “Sanitary [Fair] Cheese” weighed 3930 pounds. It was made by eh Steel brothers, who selected 600 of the best of their 1400 cows, and detailed 30 men to make the cheese. The cows yielded 120 barrels of milk in three and a half days, and from this the curd was prepared.

While Dr. Samuel Johnson was courting his intended wife, in order to try her he said that he had no property, and once had an uncle that was hanged. To which the lady replied that she had no more property, and, although she never had a relative that was hanged, she had a number that deserved to be.

•••••

Leave Alone the Candy.–Adulterated confectionary is more plenty than ever now, in consequence of the high price of sugar. The most common substitute for sugar is a dry chalky substance originally imported from England. It costs the manufacturers a cent and a half a pound, and is used very freely by them. The poisonous substance enters most largely into almonds, sugar plums, lozenges, and such things. Better give them a wide berth.

•••••

They Give it Up.–A citizen of Chicago, who has all along been a secessionist, and who has just returned from Havana, Cuba, says the rebels and their sympathizers there and in Europe are in despair. Slidell says that the southern cause is beyond hope, and he gives it up. Nearly all the rebels abroad are equally despondent. They consider the rebellion a failure.

SATURDAY
JANUARY 7, 1865
COLUMBIAN WEEKLY REGISTER (CT)

The Assault on Fort Fisher–Heavy Loss of Colored Troops.

Washington, Dec. 28.–A special to the Tribune says:

Dispatches received at the Navy Department to-day present the picture of the disembarkation of 5,000 colored troops from the transports of Gen. Butler’s expedition. Their taking up a strong position, and holding it against a vigorous attack of Bragg’s troops, their then assuming then the offensive, and carrying, at the point of the bayonet, an earthwork in front of Fort Fisher, and from this advantage their dashing into Fort Fisher itself, which they entered, and whose flag they hauled down, are worthy of the highest commendation; but the handful of heroes being inexplicably small in numbers, could not hold their victory.

The expelled garrison, largely re-enforced, returned and retook the  fort, and drove out our black troops, with heavy loss.

The remnant of them were re-embarked, but the fleet remained at anchor, and the men-of-war opened their fire again upon the fort and the rebel troops.

It was known in the fleet that Lee had sent two divisions of his best troops to Bragg. It was also known that Hardee was hurrying up from Savannah, under orders to save Wilmington.

•••••

A Little of Everything.

The Augusta Register has learned through a gentleman just from Atlanta, that dwelling houses in that city are left in much better condition than was anticipated. It is only the business portion of the town that was demolished. The City Park has not been converted into a cemetery, as has been reported, nor were the vaults in the cemetery desecrated. The Yankees erected a monument in the cemetery, bearing an inscription to the memory of the gallant Twelfth Corps. They shot down their worn out horses in the streets. As reported, the enemy burned all the unoccupied houses between Atlanta and Decatur. Decatur was not much injured. The Court House and other public buildings were left standing, with the exception of the depot.

People who do everything in a “flurry” are seldom of much use to themselves or to those dependent on them or to the world at large. They are too much like the drone bees, which, though they make a great deal of noise, and seem more busy than the other bees, make no honey! The work which is done in a “flurry” is seldom done perfectly. A quaint writer pithily said that “we do our business soon enough, when we do it well.” Let the young avoid flurries.

Persons losing themselves in the forest or in a snow storm manifest invariably a tendency to turn round gradually to the left, to the extent even of eventually moving in a circle. The explanation is probably that the limbs and muscles of the right side are generally better developed than those of the left side; and under the excitement felt when one is lost, and in the absence of any guiding line, the superior energy of the right limbs throws the pedestrian round on the left.

It has just been discovered that some reckless tobacco dealer has taken to adulterating army tobacco by the addition of sumac. It is very injurious to those who use it, but lucrative to the speculator.

Many would like to be a Steuerweigerangverfassungsmussigberechtigt. In Germany it’s a chap who isn’t obliged to pay taxes. Such a class is rapidly getting a foothold in this country. ->

Government is determined to break up the business of publishing news for the information of the enemy, as was done in the case of the expedition under Admiral Porter. The Times and Commercial Advertiser of New York have received a warning from the War Department, and if again guilty of a like transgression, will be suspended. The parties who sent the information from Washington are under arrest, and, it is reported, have already been sent to Fort Lafayette.

The manner of advertising for a husband in Java is by placing an empty flower pot on the portico roof, which is as much to say, “A young lady is in the house. Husband wanted.”

When a distinguished gentleman heard that somebody had died worth a million of dollars, he observed, “Well, that’s quite a pretty sum to begin the next world with.”

San Francisco supports forty-five periodicals, viz: ten dailies, twenty-five weeklies, eight monthlies, one semi-weekly, one tri-weekly and two annuals. Three are German, three Spanish, two French, and one is owned, edited and supported principally by American gentlemen of African descent.

The debt of Vermont amounts to $1,640,845, or $521 for each inhabitant of the State.

There is an old woodsman in the Windsor Forest, England, who has spent a century in the forest. He has planted over 5000 oaks with his own hands, which are now huge trees. He regards them all as his children.

An intelligence office has been established in New York, to which all women out of work, or in need of assistance or counsel, are requested to apply. One important part of its business is to assist poor women in securing their meagre earnings from the rapacious employer, who, after cheating them down to starvation rates, often refuses to pay even that trivial amount. The Society proposes to befriend all such, and Judge Daly declared that he would spend $100 to vindicate a just claim of 25 cents.

•••••

How Pat Got A Board.–“What are you doing with that lumber?” cried a steamboat captain to an Irishman who was staggering towards the boat beneath the weight of a huge plank, just as the bell was ringing for the last time. “What am I doing! Sure, wasn’t it yerself as said, ‘All ye’s going, get a board,’ and isn’t this an illegant one entirely?” said the Hibernian triumphantly, amid the laughter of the spectators. The captain gave him his board and passage that trip.

•••••

French Reverse in Mexico.

San Francisco, Dec. 28.–Mexican advices by the Constitution say, since the defeat of the French at Chilapa, Nov. 15th, they arrived at Cirnarac, about 60 miles from the City of Mexico, in a completely demoralized condition. General Alvarez, with the patriot army, entered Acapulco on the 14th of December. The States of Guerrero and Oaxaca are now perfectly free from the Imperialist forces.

¹ An Indian maund weighs 82 pounds or 37.3 kilograms.