SUNDAY
APRIL 13, 1862
THE DAILY PICAYUNE (LA)

THE FEDERAL BOASTINGS.

The Federal General Prentiss, captured at the battle of Shiloh, is, by all accounts, a very free talker, although he is not a very successful fighter. He carries on a windy war against the Confederates, within their lines, more stoutly than he did on the field. They are complaisant listeners, and obliging reporters, while he discourses copiously of the power and determination of the North to overrun, conquer and hold the Southern States, and of the celerity with which they are going to accomplish that feat. They have unlimited command of men and money, and they will use them without stint. They can arm and send two hundred thousand men down the valley, and keep sending them till the work is finished. But he has no idea that it is going to take long. They are about ready to overwhelm Beauregard and his army; that done they will occupy the whole of the Mississippi valley, and this within thirty days. After that, we suppose, the Yankee millennium—a reign of the salute for a thousand years.

Something in his is worth considering—not much—but what there is, is suggestive.

Large license of speech may be allowed for in garrulous captive, whiling away the hours of compulsory leisure, by amplifying and glorifying his own side. Something is due to the desire of appearing magnificent in the eyes of his captors, and something to the desire of producing an impression upon them of the resources and strength at the command of his friends. Separating all that from the current of his speech-making, there remains the undoubting belief of inevitable superiority and the confidence of early triumph.

Of this confidence his hearers doubtless have their own opinion. They understand, as he might have done, from the incidents which brought him here, where he is, that the issue of a battle is not to be counted on with certainty, when a general marches forth with gasconading proclamations of what he expects to do. Numbers and arrogance are not infallible, and a good cause, in valiant hands, has more than once beaten the heavier battalions of an enemy, prosecuting an unjust war, on the soil of a liberty-loving people.

They might have told him, too, that a battle lost is not the subjugation of a people nor the occupation of ports or towns the conquest of a country. In such a war as the North s making upon us, peace never comes but with the repulse and retreat of the invader, or the ghastly solitude of an exterminated people. Even a victory wins costly and barren successes, ashes and dust to the lips of the greedy invader. The defeated rally for new struggles. A remnant always remains to keep the  fires of liberty alive, even in the embers, to watch for the hour when they shall be rekindled, and consume the tyrant, to furnish forth martyrs, and to harden new generations into patriot soldiers. Every drop of innocent blood shed in defence of home, liberty and country, cries out incessantly for to kindred blood for justice on the assassins. They have sounded only the shallows of the human heart, or are themselves of the kind whose instincts are all cowardly and base, who do not see the unfailing product of these Federal advances, as this conflict grows to its full enormity in all eyes, accumulating hate, deeper resolves, and an animosity of race, extinguishable only for the uses of conquest, by the exodus or destruction of eight millions of people, or their descendants.

A good many Northern people do not believe this. By some inexplicable perversion of ideas they think the bayonet and the scourge persuasions to brotherhood, and instruments for propagating republicanism. There are others who are willing to encounter all the risks for an object, simply not caring for the future so the present greed is satisfied. But there are some who positively desire it—who promote the war for this as for one of the ends of their desire—who avow the incompatibility of the existence of a common government over the North and the South, until the Southern institutions are entirely remodeled, new social and political organizations created, and a set of inhabitants introduced

who are in harmony with Northern ideas and content with Northern rule. To our vision, as enemies, there is no difference among those classes. They who support, carry on or fight this war against us, are all alike, to our understanding, in the deadly malevolence of doom which they pronounce against us, and undistinguishable in the mass of those against whom eternal warfare is sworn by the men, women and children of the outraged South. There is neither honor nor safety, only the chance of a degraded existence as despised servitors of brutal masters, except in fighting, and continuing to fight out this battle, with all our strength and means, at all places and in all times, to give no foot of ground which is not bought at the heaviest cost and loss, and to be kept fearfully at a cost not less than that of winning it; to make silent or enforced submission in the presence of the Federal masses a perpetual terror; to compel the invader to hold whatever he may acquire as within an entrenched camp, to be abandoned whenever he moves, and surround him with the nameless fear of a people watching at all times for the chance to turn upon him, and chase and slay him, as the murderer of their country and kin. . .

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Sickness and Death in Grant’s Army.—The correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, writing from Savannah, on the Tennessee, on the 29th ult., tells the following story of suffering. If such were the conditions of Grant’s army before the battle, who can imagine its awful suffering now. Surely the invaders are meeting their deserts:

“The conditions of many of the troops (he says) is not satisfactory. The week or two spent by many of them on the boats were fruitful of disease. For all except those who slept on the hurricane deck, the ventilation was terrible, and for them there was hot sun and thunderstorms alternately. There was no opportunity for bathing; three-fourths of them didn’t even get to wash their hands and faces; their meals were irregular and provisions ill-cooked, or not cooked at all, while the river water was just about the worst river water ever used for drinking, and without exercise and with nothing else to do, of course they kept eating all the time. As a result, some of the regiments have had half their men on the sick list. There is not an unusual proportion of serious sickness, and a prospect of a fight would speedily clear the hospitals; but the number of trifling cases is enormous. The new Ohio regiments suffer severely in this respect, and their officers, unused to such hardships, have been applying for leaves of absence by the dozen. To help matters, we have two or three cases of small-pox. There is one in Gen. Wallace’s division, one or two in the hospital here, and rumor tells of more in Gen. Sherman’s division. Here and with Gen. Wallace the cases are carefully isolated, and as the soldiers require no second telling to keep them away from the dangerous hospitals, there is little fear of further infection.

“Hospital accommodations and supplies are very deficient in many of the brigades. Major Fry, of Indiana, staff surgeon of the third division, reported the other day a great lack of medicines, want of hospital necessities, and half his surgeons absent on leave, or unfit for duty, with sick lists swelling, and more work for the full corps of surgeons than ever before, except after an action.

“Under such circumstances, and with official information that there were hospital accommodations here, Dr. Fry sent in a boatload of the most seriously sick from that division to report to General Grant’s medical director. That officer sent them back without explanation. They were sent down a second time, and a second time they were returned.

“By this time several had died, and more were in a dying condition.  There was not plank enough to make coffins for the dead, and for a coffin for one, boards were actually taken out of a steamboat state room! Gen. Wallace, on learning the facts, immediately ordered the boat to proceed forthwith to Evansville, Indiana, without landing at intermediate points, and to deliver the sick over to the care of the Mayor of that city. Some official inquiry was made into the matter.”

MONDAY
APRIL 14, 1862
LOWELL DAILY CITIZEN & NEWS (MA)

From Yorktown.—The New York Post’s correspondent, in camp near Yorktown, April 7th, gives the following sketch of affairs:

Our camps lie just back of the forest, which hides us imperfectly from the observation of the enemy. The lines are so near together that the rebel shells often fall among our tents. Our upper battery is situated in an opening in the woods, and is plainly in sight of the rebel works; so near them, in fact, that the shells tear up the ground and have killed our horses at a murderous rate. Two of our men in this battery have been killed, and three wounded.

General McClellan passed the whole of yesterday in the advanced camp, and it was supposed that his presence indicated an immediate attack upon the enemy; but to-day there are no signs of action and the rebels are silent as mice.

Not the least remarkable among the incidents of the siege is the defiance cast back and forth by the opposing armies in the stirring notes of the military bands. In the soft twilight of these lovely spring days the bands of the rebel regiments saucily play the air of “Dixie,” and the lines are so close together that the music is distinctly heard in our camp, while we send back the glorious strains of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and drown the cheers of the enemy with shouts that find a ringing echo in the woods. Our troops are eager to set upon the enemy, and are full of confidence and enthusiasm

From one o’clock to three on Saturday I stood so near our batteries as to be able to assist in carrying away the bodies of two of our men who were killed by the fire of the enemy, and of one who was wounded at a gun while engaged in loading it. Another ball killed two horses, and another broke a spoke in a wheel, and still another went under the root of a tree within ten feet of me. This was rather warm work, and in company with the surgeon (who was too useful a man to be put in such imminent risk) I instantly made a retreat to the shelter of a large pine tree, which was immediately struck and barked by a rebel shell, at the distance of some ten feet above our heads.

The country hereabouts is almost a level plain, skirted by heavy forests, but sparsely inhabited. It produces large quantities of corn and wheat, some tobacco, and an abundance of peaches, but other fruits are scarce. The wood is chiefly hard pine, and a large proportion of the forest is swampy, but when cleared up and drained the land dries and makes an excellent wheat region.

The people are mostly large landowners, and apparently wealthy, possessing fine mansions and beautiful sites and grounds. On the James river the dwellings have been burned for a distance of several miles; but on the York river, and in the immediate vicinity of our camp, they are still standing, hastily forsaken by their owners, without an attempt to remove any other property than their private papers. In many instances an abundance of provisions and live stock have been found upon these deserted premises. Occasionally a Negro is left behind, and still more rarely a few whites of the poorer class. These latter are all arrant secessionists.

War Items and Movements.—Dispatches received in Boston this morning from Fort Monroe, report the Merrimac still remaining off Craney Island, with a cluster of tugs about her. This has led to the surmise that the Merrimac may have got aground.

On Saturday General Banks sent a dispatch to Secretary Stanton, saying that information of the death of Beauregard¹ had come direct from rebel sources, near Mount Jackson.

Gen. Banks occupies Warrenton. The next important point on the way to Richmond is Gordonsville, where several railways connect. Between Gordonsville and Richmond the last report is that not above 5000 rebels are to be found.

A balloon reconnoissance bear Yorktown shows that the rebels have materially strengthened their forces in that neighborhood since the advance of our troops. On Thursday several vessels were seen to land troops at Yorktown and also at Gloucester, opposite, which had not been occupied up to that time. Reinforcements have also been received from Norfolk by way of James river. On Friday the 12th New York had a brisk skirmish with a rebel regiment in front of their works near York river. The New York boys poured in a deadly fire at musket range, when the rebels retired. Later in the day another skirmish occurred, the rebels burning a dwelling used by our troops. Several rebels were killed and three of our men wounded.

The army is busily occupied in preparing for an advance.

A letter from Secretary Welles to Flag-Officer Goldsborough, under date of the 5th, intimates that vessels may make their appearance at Old Point for the purpose of trading with the army and naval forces, without permission. If such are discovered, the commodore is to seize and send them into that port. It looks as though some of the prizes taken by the Merrimac might belong to the kind of craft described. It seems they were warned off their anchoring ground one day in advance of the attack, but did not budge. The men on one of the vessels, it would seem, made no effort to escape by small boats. The whole matter has an ugly look.

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Various Items.—The secretary of war has received information that Huntsville, Alabama, was occupied Friday by Gen. Mitchell, without much resistance. Two hundred prisoners were taken; also fifteen locomotives, and a large amount of rolling stock.

The islands in the Mississippi, above the mouth of the Ohio are all named, and below the Ohio they are numbered. Island No. 1 is below Cairo, and they continue south in numerical order to No. 125, at or near Tunica Bend in Louisiana, about 120 miles above New Orleans. From that point to the mouth of the river is clear of all islands.

TUESDAY
APRIL 15, 1862
THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN (MA)

How Can We Mulct¹ the Rebels?

We ought to make the traitors, who have involved the country in war, pay the expense, as far as their property will go. There is no difference of opinion on this point. The only question is, How to do it? Various plans are before Congress, the most prominent of which is that of Senator Trumbull of Illinois, which he has defended in an able speech. The moral appeal he makes is very effective. He says:

“Suppose ye, that I go back to Illinois, among the relatives of those who have been cruelly destroyed, and propose to levy taxes upon them in order to conciliate and compensate the murderers—for that is really what exempting rebel property from confiscation amounts to? Sir, I know not if they would submit to such injustice; and yet, there are those who not only talk of an amnesty to the men who have brought these troubles upon the country, but oppose providing the mild punishment of confiscation of property for those who shall continue hereafter to war upon the government, and whose persons are beyond our reach. I am surprised that a bill of this character should meet with opposition from senators of the border states whose loyal citizens the rebels, whenever they have had the power, have robbed, plundered, and driven from their homes. Do gentlemen regard it as conciliatory to oblige us to lay taxes upon those whose habitations have been consumed, to reward those who have burned them? Upon those whose whole property has been stolen, to reward the thieves? Upon those whose relatives have been slain, to compensate the murderers? In my judgment, justice, humanity, and mercy herself, all demand that we at once provide that the supporters of this cruel and wicked rebellion should henceforth be made to feel its burdens.”

No loyal man can fail to respond heartily to this, and no traitor can complain that it is in any degree unjust or unreasonable.  Confiscation of property has always been a penalty for treason, and there has been no case in history in which the crime more fully deserved the most rigorous exaction of this penalty, than the present, when the loyal people of the country are called to pour out their blood and treasure without stint for the defense of the Union. The government has the undisputed right to inflict this penalty. It only remains that Congress shall devise and enact some measure which shall be practicable in application, and which shall accomplish the object without creating new and more formidable obstacles than already exist to the restoration of the Union. Just here lies the real difficulty, and the members of Congress feel it. The constitutional difficulty is easily provided for, and it may be that Mr. Trumbull’s bill will be found unexceptionable on that score, as he earnestly contends. But it is evident that a wise discrimination must be made between the leaders of the rebellion and those who have been misled or forced into it. The attempt to confiscate the property of all who have actually been engaged in the rebellion could not succeed. It would bring under the hammer nearly all the property in eleven states of the Union, which is not to be thought of. And what is still more to be deprecated, it would inspire the entire South with the energy of despair, and after that the restoration of the Union by the 

act of the southern people would be out of the question, and we should have the formidable work before us of utterly subjugating that whole section—perhaps of devastating and re-peopling it. It is within the limits of the possible that it may come to that, as things are, in the cotton and Gulf states, by the obstinacy of their people. If so we must accept the work they force upon us, and do it as best we can, using whatever instruments God and nature have placed in our hands. But we must not by any intemperate and indiscriminate legislation create so terrible a necessity. Hence it becomes the duty of Congress to consider this whole subject dispassionately and thoroughly before proceeding to any act which may involve such tremendous consequences. We know that there are some loyal men who are willing to see the rebellion assume the largest proportions and the utmost popular strength in the South, in order that the government may be impelled by necessity to arm the Negroes against their masters and give up the South to general devastation. We cannot sympathize with the feeling nor the policy, much as the removal of slavery is to be desired. The work of patriotism is preservation and not destruction, and only the latter as a means of the former, and when that end cannot otherwise be attained. Mr. Trumbull concluded his argument for confiscation with this appeal:

“Having, as I think, shown that the right to confiscate enemies’ property exists; that for this purpose the rebels may properly be treated as enemies; that confiscation can be effected only by an act of Congress; that the bill under consideration is constitutional, and that it is both wise and expedient to take from those who shall continue to fight against the government after the passage of this act, and whose persons are beyond the reach of punishment, their property and their slaves, so far as they are within our reach, I appeal to all those who favor these views to stand together, and let us pass this bill at as early a day as possible, with such modifications and amendments as may be thought advisable, not losing sight of the great object in view. It is no time to talk of amnesties and conciliation, when the habitations of loyal citizens are being plundered and their lives destroyed. When the rebels, whose hands are dripping with the blood of loyal citizens, shall have grounded their arms, it will be time enough to talk of clemency; but to have our sympathies excited in their behalf now, when fighting to overthrow the government, is cruel to the loyal men who have rallied to its support.”

But Mr. Trumbull and those who sympathize with him must not forget that justice and sound policy are not to be disregarded in a matter of this kind, even if the idea of clemency is shut out. The traitors deserve to be mulcted to the utmost possible extent, but let it be so done that the measure shall weaken instead of consolidating the rebellion, otherwise it may cost much more than we shall realize by it. Confiscation cannot amount to a great deal until the war is virtually ended; there is therefore no call for hasty legislation, and it is to be hoped that no act will be passed by Congress without the fullest consideration of its bearing and consequences.

WEDNESDAY
APRIL 16, 1862
THE CONSTITUTION (CT)

THE VICTORY IN THE SOUTHWEST.

Details of the great battle near Pittsburg landing, Tenn., are received slowly. The attack was made about four o’clock on Sunday morning, and the brigades of Prentiss and Sherman, which were in the advance, were driven back to the river. Here the enemy were held in check by the fire from our gunboats. In this assault General Prentiss and two regiments were taken prisoners. General Grant then came up with the troops from Savannah, when the contest waged with vigor all day. General Buell, with General Nelson’s division, arrived at about four o’clock and aided the nearly exhausted troops of General Grant to keep the field. Polk and Beauregard, who were in the advance, suspended the attack at six o’clock, and the contestants slept upon their arms.

During the night the remainder of General Buell’s force and General Lew. Wallace’s division of General Grant’s column, reinforced, and the next morning the contest was resumed.

The Union troops fought vigorously, drove the enemy back, and occupied the position held by them on the morning of Sunday. The rebels were routed and followed by a large body of cavalry, who, it is reported, have occupied the rebel position at Corinth. Our loss is severe, and variously estimated at from six hundred to one thousand killed, and from three thousand to four thousand wounded. The rebel loss greatly exceeds that number.

Cincinnati, Friday, April 11.—The latest and most authentic intelligence received from Pittsburg Landing estimates our loss at seven thousand, including two thousand men who were taken prisoners by our enemy.

It is still reported that our forces have captured Corinth, Mississippi, and that immense supplies of provisions and munitions of war have been taken; but this news lacks confirmation.

The tidings direct from Pittsburg Landing are no later than Monday night. The correspondent of the Gazette, who left at that time, reports that it would be impossible for the rebels to make a stand, their retreat having culminated in a headlong flight.

There is no longer any reason to doubt that the enemy sustained a terrible and disastrous defeat. They risked the fortune of their army upon the issue of the battle, and, after their failure to surprise our forces, fought with desperation, but the sustained bravery of our troops won the day gloriously.³

The flying rebels are represented as having been broken and dispirited to the last degree. Their defeat was overwhelming.

There is as yet no contradiction of the reported death of Gen. Sidney Johnston, nor of the wounding of Beauregard.

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Two More Iron-Cased Steamers.—The work upon the second iron-plated steamer, at Greenpoint, is pushed with the utmost speed, day and night, and it is hoped that she will be ready for sea during the present month. The vessel will be much larger than the Monitor, will carry eighteen guns of the largest caliber, and will be practically invulnerable. It is confidently believed that she will be the fastest of this slow species of war vessels ever constructed. The third iron-clad steamer provided for in the original appropriation is in process of construction at Philadelphia. The news of what the Confederates are doing in the same line of business will doubtless lead to the hurrying of the work upon this steamer, so as to ensure her completion as soon as possible.

A  Heroic Sailor—When the record of the war comes to be written, not the least interesting feature of it will be the heroic deeds of the humble men who compose the rank and file of the army and navy. Instances of individual heroism and self-sacrifice are already presenting themselves in abundance, and when the conflict is happily ended will furnish a rich harvest of materials for the analyst and historian. One of the most conspicuous of these in any chronicle of the war must be the case of the gallant tar, John Davis, whose courage in the attack on Elizabeth City, North Carolina, is made the subject of special mention by his immediate Commander and by Commodore Goldsborough, who thus unite to make manifest the bond of true chivalry which binds all brave men, however widely separated their station. The following is the story of this brave sailor:

“Lieut. J. C. Chapin, commanding United States steamer Valley City, off Roanoke Island, writes to Commodore Goldsborough, under date of February 25th, noticing a magnanimous act of bravery by John Davis, gunner’s mate on board his vessel, at the taking of Elizabeth City. He says John Davis was at his station during the action, in the magazine issuing powder, when a shell from the enemy’s battery penetrated into the magazine and exploded outside of it. He threw himself over a barrel of powder, protecting it with his own body from the fire, while at the same time passing out the powder for the guns. Commodore Goldsborough, in transmitting this letter to the Navy Department, says: ‘It affords me infinite pleasure to forward this communication to the Navy Department, to whose especial consideration I beg leave to recommend the gallant and noble sailor alluded to,’ and he adds in a postscript, ‘Davis actually seated himself on the barrel, the top being out, and in this position he remained until the flames were extinguished.’ ”

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Bibles in the Army and Navy.—By recently published report of the New York Bible Society, it appears that during 1861 the military committee distributed, in addition to the work among the volunteers, 6,114 volumes—2,057 Bibles and 4,057 Testaments. Of these there have been furnished to Governor’s Island, 1,632 volumes; to Hatteras prisoners of war, 550 Bibles; to the state prisoners and soldiers at Fort Lafayette, 400 volumes; and 10 Bibles and 800 Testaments have been given to the army medical department for distribution through medicine chests. The Committee on Naval Stations distributed 3,381 volumes—92 Bibles and 2,893 Testaments—at a cost of $603.16. The total issue has been—of Bibles, 12,753, and Testaments, 120,873.

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Union Wringing Machine.—Very few who are at all acquainted with the machine for wringing clothes now in general use, are willing to be without one. They are most important aids to the hard work which attends washing day. The Union Wringer is regarded as among the best now before the public, and has some peculiar advantages. Its rollers are not large, and are regulated in their position by a powerful spring just above them. They will wring out the water equally well from a large and a small article, and will receive any garment which will go into the wash tub. Its work is always done thoroughly. One of the advantages of this machine is its cheapness. It costs but $5. Messrs. G. W. Dart and Haynes are agents for its sale in this State.

THURSDAY
APRIL 17, 1862
ST. ALBAN'S DAILY MESSENGER (VT)

“The Bill-Poster’s Dream.”

One of the shrewdest and most waggish comical engravings conceivable, has just been published by Ross & Tousey, of New York, under the above title. A bill-poster, with tattered garments, has fallen asleep by a gas lamp post at a street corner, with meerschaum pipe in hand, and paste pail and “posters” standing by. Before him rises a shed, covered with bills of all styles, in white, red, yellow and blue paper, posted over and under each other in all shapes, and it is upon the quaint readings which their combination makes that the wit depends. They are, for instance: “People’s Candidate for Mayor,--The Hippopotamus;” “Miss Cushman will take—Brandreth’s Pills—through by daylight;” “Henry Ward Beecher’s—Grand Tight Rope Performance at the Melodeon;” “For Sing Sing direct—Fernando Wood;” “Restorative for the hair—use Spaulding’s prepared Glue;” “The American Temperance Society will—try Binninger’s London Cordial Gin;” “Edward Everett—will open in a few days a new—oyster saloon at the—Coal Yard;” “Republican nomination for mayor—Miss Lucy Stone—or any other man;” “Fashion Course, Great match between Ethan Allen and—the Fat Woman;” with a score of others of like character.

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Stocks of Grain.

The amount of grain reported in store at the West, awaiting transportation, is great beyond all previous experience.¹ There is reported as in store at the places and dates named, as follows:

Of corn in store, the following is the estimate:

The Illinois Central Railroad has in store over 1,000,000 bushels. In the City of New York there is already stored 1,250,000 bushels of corn. Besides there are millions of bushels in smaller lots, at various points on the lakes and in the granaries of farmers, all waiting for a chance to get to market. The Chicago Journal says the aggregate at the upper lake ports will be increased before navigation fully opens, to about 16,000,000 bushels, furnishing cargoes for 1,000 lake vessels to begin with

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President Lincoln.—“S.B.” of the Springfield Republican, who is, we presume, Samuel Bowles, in a chapter of Washington gossip, says:

Nobody is making reputation faster and surer now than President Lincoln. When Congress assembled he was at a  discount in both branches, and many of his old political friends treated him with marked neglect and discourtesy. Now all are hastening to do him reverence. His integrity, his wisdom, his caution, his strength as a man and a statesman are warmly admitted on all hands; and he has more than any other man in the nation, the respect and confidence of Congress and the people, conservatives and radicals, the army and civilians. He does not move fast, but he moves sure and strong.

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Our Iron-Clad Navy.—The iron-clad frigate in course of construction near Philadelphia is progressing quite rapidly, some of the 4-1/2 inch plates having already been placed on the bow. The work of putting the plates on the side of the vessel was to have commenced on Tuesday. The plates are bent to suit the formation of the vessel, and but a short time is required to fasten them on the vessel, large iron screws about two feet long being used for the purpose of keeping them in place. A large number of plates for the spar deck have already been laid.

Hints to Equestrians and Pedestrians
or Laws of the Highway and Byway.

It is well understood must turn to the right on meeting, whether on foot, in a carriage, or on horseback. In meeting, each party is entitled to one half of the way. If there are twenty persons meeting one, he is entitled to half of the way. The numbers make no difference, a dozen persons in a party cannot exclude the single individual from his half of the pathway at meeting. If the path is only wide enough for two persons, the parties, if more than one in each, must defile past each other.

Persons are apt to think that a party of two meeting a  single person are entitled to the whole path. Such is not the case, they must not crowd the individual from his half of the pathway. When the rod or path lies in such a position that one party cannot turn to the right, that person is entitled to the whole path, but under no other conditions.

Females are apt to think that men must grant to them the whole path, and where two are abreast they are often disinclined to abandon any portion of the walk to the men. Where there is ample room this is all well enough, and the men are usually polite enough to make a  wide semicircle around them. But where the path is only wide enough for two, it is simply brazen and impudent to monopolize the whole path and drive a man into the mud or dust. It is not impolite in him not to yield under such circumstances, for ladies would not place him in such a position.

It is very amusing to see country people or those who have just come into a town to live, continually dodging from one side to the other to give the female the inner side of the pathway. There is something in it so perfectly ridiculous from the fact that it is an attempt at supposed politeness, that it provokes the merriment of lookers on. The fact is that a lady’s place, in the street when walking with a gentleman, is always on his right arm. In a crowded thoroughfare a lady upon the left hand of a gentleman would get all the thumps and collisions of the throng while he would be safe and comfortable. On his right hand the thing would be reversed, and he would be her protector. A lady’s place is always on the right arm of her male companion, whether it gives her the inside or outside of the pathway. A few hours travelling in Broadway would teach this rule so that it would not be forgotten.

When persons meet at the corners of streets, it is the duty of the one who can, to turn to the right. This rule applies equally to carriages. The law gives to the person who cannot turn to the right to pass behind the other, the right of way; and if the other damages him, he is liable for it. But if one of the parties can pass behind the other, by turning to the right, he must do so, or halt till the other passes. This rule avoids all collisions.

Foot passengers have the right of crosswalks in a town. The have no right to obstruct or impede carriages, and are required to exercise ordinary care, and doing so, they [are] entitled to the cross-walk in preference to carriages. Carriages, in [the] street, are expected to move slowly and circumspectly. They have no right to dash along rapidly. They may do so in the country but not in the town. The town is full of footmen, crossing and re-crossing the street on sidewalks made for them; and carriages are not allowed, although they are tolerated, to move rapidly along the streets. But they do at their peril, and are held strictly accountable for all accidents which may occur from such a violation of the law. When it is apparent that an approaching carriage can reach and pass over a crosswalk before a footman, approaching the same point, could pass it, [it] is the duty of the footman to pause, and allow the carriage to pass. But if the footman was already on the spot, the fast-driven carriage must pause for the footman. Drivers seem to think that the carriage way is their own. But they must recollect that the crosswalks belong to footmen and they must exercise much caution in passing over them, so as not to run against or injure pedestrians.—Syracuse Courier and Union.

FRIDAY
APRIL 18, 1862
THE BOSTON HERALD

FROM NEAR YORKTOWN.
OUR GUNBOATS EXCHANGING SHOTS WITH REBEL BATTERIES.

Tuesday and Wednesday the gunboats amused themselves by shelling the woods below Gloucester. One of them approached within two miles of Yorktown yesterday morning, when the rebels opened fire from a new battery concealed in the woods. The boat having obtained the position of their guns returned to her position without receiving any damage.

The firing to-day was renewed at long intervals.

Te rebels yesterday morning with 1000 men commenced to strengthen a battery, located about three miles to the left of Yorktown, when a battery was brought to bear upon them, causing them to beat a hasty retreat. The rebels opened with their heavy guns when a second battery was brought forward. A brisk fire was now kept up for about four hours, during which [time] three of the enemy’s guns were dismounted, when both [sides] ceased for a while, but it was resumed on our part late in the afternoon and continued till daylight this morning, effectually preventing the rebels from repairing the damage they had sustained. The loss of the enemy must have been considerable, as the firing of our artillery was very accurate. Our loss was sergeant Baker, 2d Mich., killed; and F. Page, Co. K, 3d Mich., both feet shot off. Also four horses were killed.

Yesterday Richard Painter, of Col. Berdan’s sharpshooters, was probably fatally shot while on picket duty.

Other engagements took place yesterday further to the left and near James river in which our troops showed very great gallantry. The results have not yet been fully ascertained.

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The 23d Regiment, M.V.—We have seen a letter from an officer of the 23d regiment, dated 11th inst., which announced that that regiment was to leave their camp at Newbern that day to move ten miles further up the river, where a bridge was to be built over a creek. The advance was to be permanent. The regiment had jus got a fine camp arranged at Newbern, with a well dug, ovens built, and everything tidy and convenient. “Fun ahead,” writes the officer.

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Hollins’ Ram a Failure.—The iron-plated ram Manassas, known as Col. Hollins’ “Turtle,” is regarded as a failure in the South. It has but one gun, a 9-inch Dahlgren, and when fired it draws blood from the eyes and ears of the crew by the concussion of the atmosphere, and has a number of times broken the engines. It draws nine feet of water, and is lying unemployed at the New Orleans levee.

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A Safe Recruit.—A young man who applied at a recruiting station for enlistment was asked :if he could sleep on the point of a bayonet,” when he promptly replied by saying “he could try it as he had often slept on a pint of whisky, and the kind they used where he came from would kill father than any shooting iron he ever saw.”

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Cowards.—When a number of Federal (Ohio) regiments, panic stricken, fled from the field of battle at Pittsburg, Gen. Buell fired on some of them with blank cartridges, but was unable to stop their retreat.

A Commemoration.—The 19th of April will be celebrated in Worcester, in commemoration of the marching of the minute men for Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775, under command of captains Bigelow and Flagg, of the Worcester Light Infantry passing Baltimore on the 19th of April, 1861, and also of the dedication of the Bigelow monument. The Tatnuck “Fremont” Guards, and other volunteers, will parade as the minute men of 1775, and the McClellan Guards and Highland Cavalry as the minute men of 1862.

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A Veteran.—Early last evening, an old man was found by officer Currior of the Second Station, wandering about the streets in quest of lodgings. He had a wooden leg, was poorly dressed and was indeed an object of commiseration. He was accompanied to the station house, and there his story gained for him much sympathy. He gave his name as Joseph Simmons, and his age as ninety-four. A Frenchman by birth, he came to this country in 1793, then being twenty-five years old. He lost his leg many years ago while lumbering in Maine. His wife died ten years ago at the age of eighty-three, and all his children, nine in number, have also died, leaving him alone in the world. He had come from Buffalo, and was on his way to Frye’s Village, near Lawrence, where the graves of his wife and children are. He had travelled on foot a part of the day, and the night before he had slept out of doors. Notwithstanding his extreme age his facilities seemed but little impaired, and he displayed as much agility as a wooden-legged man could be supposed to have. His mother lived to the extreme old age of one hundred and fifteen, and his father to the age of one hundred and ten. He had by no means the air of a beggar, and when a supper was given him, wished to pay for it himself. He would not tell at first at first how much money he had, but it was found out that he had only a small sum—forty cents—and with this the  poor old man was expecting to pay his way. A purse of $4 of $5 was quickly made up for him by the officers and several other persons present, and he was furnished with the best accommodations the place afforded.

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Iron-Clad Floating Batteries to Take the Place of Coast Fortifications.

New York, April 17.—Special dispatches from Washington state that the bill to extend and increase our coast fortifications will be abandoned in Congress and the money devoted to the construction of iron-clad floating batteries.

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SATURDAY
APRIL 19, 1862
BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER / VERMONT JOURNAL

Com. Foote’s Attack on Fort Pillow.
THE BALL OPENED.

The navy department received a telegram from Com. Foote, Wednesday morning, saying he is ready to attack Fort Pillow, having succeeded in getting a position for his gunboats in the river below the fort, and has no doubt of success.

The secretary of the navy has also received the following:

Cairo, Ill., April 15.—The flotilla has been within three-quarters of a mile of Fort Pillow and then returning took up a position two miles further up. The rebel gunboats escaped below the fort. Ten mortar boats were in position and had opened fire; this is up to six o’clock Tuesday evening. Gen. Pope’s command was occupying the Arkansas side of the river.

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The Rebel Retreat.—Evidence accumulates of disorder in the rebel retreat from Pittsburg Landing. The correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, says:

“A mile or two out from Shiloh (the church in the edge of our lines, where Beauregard had his headquarters), long trains of wagons, mostly loaded with provisions, got fast in the mud. They abandoned them, but took care to go along before leaving and break off all the tongues. The amount of provisions abandoned was immense.

“The rebels had evidently come to stay. Flour was scattered over acres on acres on either side of the road, till in places it looked as it if had snowed flour, and that the storm was heavier than had ever been seen before by the oldest inhabitants.

“There were some signs, too, of rapid retreat Monday evening. In one place, sabres, muskets, and accoutrements could be picked up in any quantity. Elsewhere, through the woods and along the road, were abandoned blankets, clothes, and arms of every description.”

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The Merrimack.—The disappearance of the Merrimack from Hampton Roads for a few days gives color to the report that at her last appearance a heavy gun burst as she gave her parting salute to our fleet. Artillerists noticed, at the last discharge, a peculiar sound, which is said to be an infallible sound of bursting; her shell fell very short; there was an unusually heavy cloud of smoke in her port, and some commotion visible on board. There is some reason then to believe that she met with some such disaster, and that this may have kept her in port.

But unless she met with some very heavy misfortune, there seems to be ground for looking for her very early. The rebels understand that the Galena is to be expected very soon, and that the position of affairs in the Roads must be materially changed, when we have two iron-clad steamers there. So long as we had but one they had their choice between the offensive and defensive. They may not have it after the new steamer arrives, and hence it seems possible that they may risk their fortunes upon an attack on the Monitor alone.

The Martyrdom of King Cotton.—The rebel cabinet pretend to have evidence of a secret understanding between Secretary Seward and the French and English governments, to the effect that Mr. Seward has promised France and England all the cotton they want as soon as our armies get possession of the South, on condition that neither of these powers were to interfere with our blockade. On this statement they justify their destruction of the cotton, which is done by the rebel agents, whether the owners consent or not. A letter from Washington, N. C., says:

“The recent order issued by the rebel authorities at Richmond, to burn all the cotton, has been carried into effect all through these eastern counties, and we hear that the whole southern confederacy is illuminated by the cotton fires from one end to the other. Armed bands detailed for this duty are riding night and day all throughout this state seizing the cotton from every planter, Union and rebels alike, and applying the torch. Our route from Newbern to this city was illuminated by the cotton fires, and on arriving here we learn that rich and poor alike are obliged to deliver up this costly material to cotton burners, who are authorized to shoot down the first man who refuses to deliver up his cotton for this purpose.”

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The rebels now propose to “suspend diplomatic relations with France and England for the present.” As they have never succeeded in establishing any, we don’t see how they can carry out their plans.

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Importations of Foreign Merchandise.—In spite of the high tariff, war, and rumors of war, our importations of foreign merchandise are showing a remarkably healthy condition. Week before last the value of goods of all descriptions brought into New York amounted to four and a third million dollars, in round numbers. This was somewhat in excess of that imported in the corresponding week in 1860; and though nearly a million less than in the same week last year, it must be borne in mind that in the latter a large proportion was entered for warehousing, while this year nearly all goes directly into consumption. Taking the three months past, we find that our total importations are forty-six and a half millions, a decrease of four millions as compared with the same period in 1861, and of twenty millions in 1860.

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The Committee on the Conduct of the War have completed the examination of witnesses in regard to the alleged atrocities of the rebels at Bull Run. Members of the Committee say it is true that in many cases the graves of our soldiers were opened, and the bones of the dead carried off to be used as trinkets, the trophies for the secession ladies to append to their guard chains.⁵ Skulls were also taken for drinking cups. Those of our dead interred by them were placed face down, marred, and in repeated instances buries one across the other. The Committee are receiving intelligence from Pea Ridge, showing that our dead were not only scalped by the rebel Indian allies, but in other respects outraged, and their brains beaten out by clubs.

¹ Not true. General P. G. T. Beauregard would die in his sleep in New Orleans February 1893.

² “mulct” means “to punish a person by fine.”

³ The bravery of the Union (and Confederate) troops in incontestable. However, “surprise” is exactly what Johnston and Beauregard achieved, and their advance on Sunday was stopped, according to the latter, not by the Yankee army, but by the “iron-clad gunboats, which alone saved him from complete disaster.” Northern General Halleck (Grant’s superior), wrote that “only the Union gunboats had kept Grant’s army from being destroyed.” Lincoln’s friend and personal advisor, Leonard Swett, who toured the battlefield three weeks later, interviewing participants, told his boss, “From all I could learn I believe the gunboats Lexington and Tyler, commanded by Lieutenants Shirk and Gwin, saved our army from defeat.” See usnlp.org/How_USN_Won.html.

⁴ It is one of the supreme—and lesser known—ironies of the war that the machine that made cotton profitable, the cotton gin, was invented by a Northerner, Eli Whitney, while the reaper, which allowed for the automated harvesting of wheat on a massive scale, was invented by a Southerner,  Cyrus McCormick.. The  increase in the ability of the North to harvest the bounty of the plains allowed them to not only feed their own growing population, but to supply 40% of Britain’s food needs during the war. Thus, while the South hoped “King Cotton” would bring England into the war on their side, “King Wheat” ensured British neutrality—despite all the political posturing and threatening words in the newspapers, all the Lincoln government had top do was stop wheat shipments to the U.K.

⁵ A guard chain is a short length of decorative links intended to act as a failsafe should the clasp on a piece of jewelry fail. As for the supposed practice of suspending bits of bone from the chain, think of a charm bracelet or watch fob.