SUNDAY
JUNE 15, 1862
THE DAILY PICAYUNE (LA)

Political Status of the Negro.¹

The idea of the abolition fanatics and demagogues of the North, upon which all their military and political strategy rests, that there exists a mortal hate on the part of the slave population towards their owners, which may be made available for the organization of Negro troops to operate in the field, is one of the most absurd of all the crotchets² that fill the noodles of these pestilent factionists. In their canting and diabolical appeals these demagogues assume that the only class of people in the South, who are loyal, are the slaves, that they are all discontented and hostile to the whites, and only need encouragement and protection to induce their general rally around their professing friends, for the purpose of murdering their masters and desolating the country, in which they have been born and where all their ties and affections repose. This is only another form of the radical error of the abolition theory, that the slaves are discontented, unhappy and inimical to their masters, that they are so deficient in common sagacity and in domestic affections as not to appreciate the necessity and advantages of a relation which secures them protection, kindness and comfort.

The Negro has a long stride ye to make before he reaches the degree of intelligence of even the most ignorant class of whites, and they are a long way yet from any comprehension of, or belief in, the theories and sentimentalities of the ismatics³ and dreamers, who seek to delude the world with their “glittering generalities” and their high-sounding phrases. The minds of the Negroes have not yet embraced the most elementary ideas and truths of our civilization, and despite the great progress and improvement they have made in two or three generations, from a state of besotted barbarism, under the admirably devised educational system of the mild domestic servitude in which they have been held, it will require many years and generations of progress and development before they have attained an enlightenment and capacity that will qualify them to act and think intelligently upon subjects which even now greatly perplex the minds of a race that has enjoyed all the advantages of civilization for two thousand years.

Sixteen hundred years of Christianity and civilization, guided by the lights and examples of the highly cultivated races who, even before the dawn of Christianity, had reached a very high point of moral, intellectual and scientific development, had passed over the white race, before the simplest ideas of republican government flashed upon the minds of even the leading intellectuals of that race. Nearly all those political ideas which are now regarded fundamental and sacramental among the people of this continent, began with our revolution of ’76 and the French revolution of 1787. And this conclusion was reached after many centuries of gradual progress, investigation, thought and discussion. No permanent or wholesome change in social and political systems can be achieved in any other way. A people must be educated politically, as well as in the rudimental elements of science.

The most highly gifted foreigners frequently experience the greatest difficulty in comprehending the simplest truths of our political system. How infinitely absurd, then, is the idea that the African slave, whose parents, two centuries ago, were roaming savages, perhaps cannibals, in the most benighted region of the earth, can be brought to comprehend the duties of a citizen under our political system, and to assume a position on a level with the white offspring of two thousand years of freedom and civilization! The inevitable conclusion from this theory is, that the black race is superior to the white; that, in two hundred years, that race has reached a point which it has taken the other two thousand years to gain. Either this, or the conclusion that slavery has proved a far better tutelage and discipline to prepare men to exercise political rights than the freedom so long enjoyed by the white race, is inevitable. The first conclusion is too wild and absurd for serious remark, and the last would, if true, be the highest vindication of the institution of slavery.

Nor is it entirely destitute of force and truth. Slavery has supplied the very best probation through which the Negro may be gradually conducted to a full knowledge and comprehension of all his social and political duties. It ahs certainly advanced him, with no inconsiderable progress, in the domestic arts and social ideas. If the Abolitionist could achieve his purpose, he would suddenly arrest this progress and hurl the African back to his original barbarism and cannibalism. Thus he would prove,

as the slightest reflection will satisfy all sober minded people is already the case, the most efficient foe to his own scheme. He has already illustrated the truth, in San Domingo and Jamaica. He seeks to add another illustration in this fair country. Hence these attempts to bring out “the loyalty” of the Negro, on the false and absurd assumption that he is hostile to his master, and has views and ideas different from his.

Such efforts will be in vain and hurtful only to the parties who attempt them, whilst they will add enormously to the bitterness that now prevails between the belligerents of the North and South, and will involve a few of the unfortunate creatures who may be deluded by the arts and pretences of demagogues and hypocrites in wretchedness and misery, and the general result of all such schemes will be to demonstrate and attest the fidelity of the Negroes to their masters and their identification and sympathy with them, in all their relations and in all circumstances.

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Telegraphing Direct from Boston to Utah.—Considerable interest having been manifested concerning the telegraphic experiment on the night of February 1st, 1862, in working from Boston to Salt Lake City, the Boston Journal gives the following interesting facts regarding it:

The distance by the route followed was three thousand two hundred and forty miles. Repeaters were used respectively at New York, 234 miles; Pittsburgh, Pa., 709, Cleveland, Ohio, 795, Chicago, Ill., 1159, and Omaha, Nebraska Territory, 1984 miles—five repeaters in all. The total amount of battery used was about 750 cups of Grove.⁴ The longest uninterrupted circuit was from Omaha to Salt Lake, a distance of a little more than 1200 miles. At Salt Lake, Omaha and Chicago, the weather was clear and cold; at Cleveland, snowing; at Pittsburgh, clear and cold; at all points east of Pittsburgh, it was snowing violently, and had been all day. Some of the conversation was quite interesting, and at times, amusing. Chicago sleighing had almost worn out. Omaha inquired of Boston the price of wooden nutmegs, showing an ignorance of (our) domestic manufactures. The conversation with Salt Lake was not publicly interesting. The same evening conversation was also made with St. Louis and Louisville. The general anticipation of one and all in the conversation of the evening brought the telegraphing fraternity of a very large geographical surface, as it were, into one room, and each participant was struck with the vastness of the undertaking.

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Netting Trout Streams.—The man who would net a trout stream would—well, we can hardly imagine any mean thing he would not do. A Boston paper learns from various quarters that this practice has become so general this spring, that many streams in Connecticut and New Hampshire, which used to furnish excellent sport for fishermen, are all but cleaned out. This shameless and criminal process will account, no doubt, for some of the immense hauls boasted of in the papers, and to reduce which the only cure, suggested by a veteran piscator, is club-law. When nets become accessories of trout fishers, the poetry of the gentle craft turns to the meanest kind of prose.

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The ukase⁵ against unmuzzled dogs and their negligent owners begins to work. So do the poisoned sausages. We hope the experience of the last week will have a marked effect during that on which we now enter. Remember, the dog found in the streets without a muzzle incurs the death penalty, and his proprietor, who does not care enough for him to muzzle him or keep him at home, is militarily and summarily mulcted⁶ in a fine.

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The lovers of good living will see with satisfaction that that favorite resort for such indulgence, Victor’s, in Toulouse street, reopens to-day. The luxuries of life, in their due season, are always obtainable at Victor’s, and they are always well served up, which is a great point.

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Ice creameries and soda shops are beginning to drive a good business as the season deepens and the ice cargoes arrive.

MONDAY
JUNE 16, 1862
THE MACON DAILY TELEGRAPH (GA)⁷

The Details of the Evacuation of Corinth.

A correspondent of the Edgefield Advertiser, writing from Okalona, Miss., on the 2nd inst., says:

I went to Corinth yesterday to get with my regiment, the 4th Mississippi, but when I arrived there I found everything in confusion and bustle—the streets filled to overflowing with sick and disabled soldiers, as well as thousands well and hearty, all crowding, rushing like a mighty avalanche towards the cars. It was some little time before we could learn the meaning of the strange scene enacted before us, and when we did, we were surprised to learn that orders had been given for the evacuation of the place. We were forbid leaving the cars, and it is well we were, for if we had got off we would have had the pleasure of walking back down the road. The tents had all been struck, and the main part of the army were reported to be sleeping on their arms in the intrenchments, and it would have been as easy to “find a needle in a hay stack” as to have found any particular regiment in this vast army, while in line of battle. Large quantities of tents and ordnance stores, that could not be removed from Corinth, were ordered to be burned, which was put in execution on Friday. All the houses in the business part of town, as well as the railroad depot and hotels, were fired, and at last accounts, Corinth was a heap of smoldering ruins. Our army has fallen back to Booneville, twenty-two miles this side of Corinth, on the Mobile Road, where it will probably make a stand until Halleck advances.

It is not for me to say whether the move from Corinth be a good one or not. All I know is, that it has a terribly demoralizing effect upon our army, and many declare they will quit the service and go home. Indeed the Tennesseeans are now deserting every day. The move has taken some of Beauregard’s laurels away from him, and not a few of those who heretofore were foremost in his praise are now the most bitter in denouncing him.

He has tried to fight the enemy, day after day, for the last six weeks without success. As soon as he advanced the enemy would retreat to their gunboats and entrenchments –consequently, the only way to get a fair fight out of them was evidently to fall back. It is wrong to censure a move until we know the effects of it. But while there are still some abusing Beauregard, all the army are most lavish in their praise of price—the Missouri hero and patriot. His division of the army has been continually skirmishing with the enemy ever since he came here. The fact is, Price is the Washington of the revolution.

What position Beauregard intends to place our army in, so as [to] check the advance of the Northern hordes, and protect the Mobile and Ohio, and the Mississippi Central Rail Roads, can only be determined by time. That we will succeed in whipping the Federals there is no doubt, and I think it perfectly justifiable in falling back unless he is sure of a victory.

Our army has suffered immensely from sickness at Corinth, and the whole country from there to Columbus, Miss., is one vast hospital. We have some two thousand sick here alone. It is heart rending to witness the suffering our poor soldiers undergo.

From Jackson.

Again Jackson telegraphs the War Department that through the blessing of God he has been victorious, and has completely routed the enemy, capturing six pieces of his artillery. The telegrams from other sources, published yesterday, announced that an attack had been made upon Jackson by the combined forces under Shields and Fremont, near Port Republic, in Rockingham county, the enemy appearing on the opposite bank of the North and Shenandoah rivers. The battle was a furious one, and the loss on both sides heavy; but our forces fought so desperately against the superior force brought against them that the enemy were forced to  give way and beat a hasty retreat. They were closely pursued by the cavalry, who were close upon their heels at the last accounts. The battles occurred on Sunday and Monday, June 8th and 9th. Our losses in the engagements are upwards of five hundred, but the Federal loss is known to be more severe. Fremont, who is blockading the roads on his retreat, is closely pressed by Ewell, and can hardly escape without the loss of many of his men. If Jackson had an adequate force, or even one equal to that of the enemy, the whole of these two invading armies would be destroyed as effectually as Banks’s army was two weeks ago.

The success of glorious “Stonewall” in the Valley cannot fail to raise a high old panic among the functionaries of Washington, and divert, in a measure, the plans of McClellan opposite Richmond. The result of these splendid victories is too evident to need comment; and it is therefore unnecessary to urge that immediate reinforcements be sent to Jackson, that he may be able to follow up the advantages already gained. These operations in the Valley are as surely aids to the defence of Richmond as any along the line of the Chickahominy.—Richmond Dispatch.

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From Beauregard.—The only reference in the Herald, of Saturday, to the command of Gen. Beauregard, is the following:

The rebel armies of the Southwest, concentrated into the army of Beauregard, appear to have become so disheartened and demoralized and broken up, with his evacuation of Corinth, as to justify the conclusion that he will never be able to ally together again for battle fifty thousand of his late imposing force of one hundred and twenty thousand men.

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An Awful Calamity.—The Charlotte (N.C.) Bulletin, of June 11th, says: We learn by passengers who arrived in the train from Raleigh, yesterday morning, that the Powder Mill in Raleigh, owned by Messrs. Waterhouse & Bowes, was blown up on Monday last, and that the Superintendent and three operatives were killed. The main building was totally ruined and about 2,000 pounds of powder lost. This is a great calamity and will be sensibly felt.

TUESDAY
JUNE 17, 1862
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT (CT)

“Ho! for Charleston.”—The 7th Conn. Regiment have left Tybee Island, turned over Fort Pulaski, all their teams, heavy baggage, &c., to the 48th N.Y., and are now with a large force of infantry, cavalry and artillery close upon Charleston, or within the city. The city is to be taken before molesting Forts Sumter and Moultrie. The attack was to have been made before this, and we may look daily for news of the taking of Charleston. As our correspondent says, we should like to see that hot-bed of secession laid level, the ground ploughed up and sown with wild oats, and forever to remain a desert. We regret that the rules of the War Department forbid our publishing in detail the means used to deceive the rebels, and keep a strong force at Savannah to defend that city from anticipated attack, while our forces were being removed to Charleston. Yankee ingenuity was turned to good account.

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Southern Cavaliers vs. Northern Puritans.—The following article appeared in the Louisville-Bowling Green-Nashville Courier during its publication in the last-named place. It is worth republication just now. We commend the extract to the Hartford Times.

“This has been called a fratricidal war by some, by others an irrepressible conflict between freedom and slavery. We respectfully take issue with the authors of both these ideas. We are not the brothers of the Yankees, and the slavery question is merely the pretext, not the cause of the war. The true irrepressible conflict lies fundamentally in the hereditary hostility, the sacred animosity, the eternal antagonism between the two races engaged.

“The Norman cavalier cannot brook the vulgar familiarity of the Saxon Yankee, while the latter is continually devising some plan to bring down his aristocratic neighbor to his own detested level. Thus was the contest waged in the old United States. So long as Dickenson doughfaces were to be bought, and Cochrane cowards to be frightened, so long was the Union tolerable to Southern men; but when, owing to divisions in our ranks, the Yankee hirelings placed one of their spawn over us, political connection became unendurable, and separation necessary to preserve our self-respect.

“As our Norman kinsmen in England, always a minority, have ruled their Saxon countrymen in political vassalage up to the present day, so have we, the ‘slave oligarchs,’ governed the Yankees till within a twelvemonth. We framed the Constitution, for seventy years moulded the policy of the government, and placed our own men, or ‘northern men with southern principles,’ in power.

“On the 6th of November, 1860, the Puritans emancipated themselves, and are now in violent insurrection against their former owners. This insane holiday will not last long, however, for, dastards in fight, and incapable of self-government, they will inevitably again fall under the control of the superior race. A few more Bull Run thrashings will bring them once more under the yoke as docile as the most loyal of our Ethiopian ‘chattels.’ ”

New Uniform.—The police will in a few days make their appearance in their summer uniform, which is composed of pants and vest of heavy drab linen duck, with steel buttons on the vest, blue frock coat with brass buttons, and panama hat with broad brim, having a wide ribbon with the word “police” and the number in gold letters. It is the same style as that of the New York police, where the present style originated.

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Music on Sunday.—Several complaints having been made about the use of bands of music on the Sabbath, causing considerable annoyance during sermon time, perhaps the system used by the military in the large cities would work well—at any rate there could be no harm in trying. It is to stop playing a few rods⁸ from the church and commence again when a few rods further on. It has been found to work well in other places—why not here? Should the armory band have occasion to come out on Sunday again, we hope they will try the plan and set an example.

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It is a singular fact that the sick soldiers in a hospital, as a general rule, are not anxious to re-enter the service, while all those wounded are impatient to be in the ranks again. The desire of revenge for the pain inflicted by the enemy probably accounts in a great degree for the feelings of the latter class.

The increase of tolls on the New York canals, from the 1st of May to June 7, over the amount collected last year during the same time, is $296,602.

A surgeon writing from McClellan’s army, speaking of operations upon the field at the battle of Fair Oaks, says he removed limbs and cut out bullets without using chloroform, the patients being so excited by the noise of artillery and musketry as not to mind the pain.

Gov. Bradford and Ex-Gov. Hicks, of Maryland, are both said to favor a special session of the Legislature to take into consideration the President’s Emancipation Message, and there are many evidences of an inclination on the part of the slaveholders of the State to heed “the signs of the times.”

Col. John Owen, a notorious bushwhacker, was taken on his farm in Monroe county, Missouri, on the 7th inst., and in accordance with the orders of Gen. Schofield, he was fastened to a stump, and the contents of eight muskets found their way into his body. He begged hard to be treated as a prisoner of war.

When the rebellion broke out, a nephew of the rebel General John B. Magruder, was residing and earning an honest living for his family in Camden, New Jersey. The nephew went South, to look after the rights of the seceded States, and is now a soldier under the command of his uncle, while his wife and children are supported by the Poor Commissions of Camden county.

A dispatch boat having been fired into by guerilla bands, Com. Farragut, in accordance with a previous threat, shelled Baton Rouge from the Hartford and Richmond, killing and wounding several persons. The mayor hastened to deny all complicity, and said the guerillas were from Beauregard’s army. It is the intention of the fleet to run by Vicksburg and attack the rebel fleet on the Azor river, one of which is iron-plated.

WEDNESDAY
JUNE 18, 1862
THE CONSTITUTION (CT)

ENGLAND AND MEXICO.

It now appears from the English papers that it is the expectation and wish of the British government that France should remain in the sole occupancy of Mexico. This is a new feature of the Mexican business, and must have no little interest for Americans. When the triple alliance was formed, and the English, French and Spanish forces landed in Mexico, it was given out that the object of the allies was to procure indemnity for losses sustained and security to the property and lives of foreigners resident there. It was expressly set forth that there would be no interference in the internal affairs of Mexico. Their mission was represented as the most pacific and inoffensive one imaginable, and the people of this country were disarmed of all suspicion. We next learned that after a useless display of their forces in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz, the English and Spanish troops were suddenly withdrawn, and their commissioners had left Mexico. France was left in sole possession. The reason and design of these movements did not appear then, but is beginning to appear now through the medium of the English newspapers.

The whole subject has been discussed, as is affirmed, in Cabinet Council, and it is decided that France shall take possession of Mexico, and reduce it to the condition of a French colony. In order to get rid of the obligation of that part of the treaty in which they disavowed all design of interference with the internal affairs of Mexico, they announce that the treaty has lapsed and does not now exist. The English papers favor the designs of France and commend the course of their government. The London Times seems particularly pleased with the prospect, and sees no reason why England with her immense colonial possessions should object to France enriching herself in the same way.

The course of England in this whole matter is suspicious. It would appear as if it was the design from the beginning to place France in military possession of Mexico. Of course, such a design was not conceived out of any good will towards this country, but just the reverse. It would place the American republic between the territories of the two great powers of Europe, and they could then not only prevent our further expansion, but would be in a position to take advantage of any future opportunities which might occur to interfere in their own behalf. The ill will of England towards America appears in the whole of this Mexican business. Evidently the British government would rather that France, its old rival, should grow stronger provided thereby a prospect is opened that the United States will grow weaker.

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The Bells which were taken from the churches of New Orleans by order of Gen. Beauregard have been shipped to New York by order of Gen. Butler. The New Orleans Delta wants them united in one casting, and placed on the roof of Faneuil Hall.

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Emancipation.—A colony of one hundred and fifty colored persons, mostly from Washington and vicinity, have embarked on a vessel at Alexandria direct for Hayti. This movement is quite encouraging to the agents of Hayti now in Washington.

Utah.—Measures will shortly be taken to urge the admission of Utah as a state into the Union.

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Eclipse.—Among the “local” intelligence of the week we notice the total eclipse of the moon, which came off according to appointment on Wednesday night. Those who saw it say it happened precisely as the astronomers said it would, which shows the great punctuality of our satellite. It is reported also that there were several lunar eclipses that night, all but one of which were caused by the clouds.

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Col. Corcoran.—The extraordinary treatment which Col. Corcoran has received since he has been a prisoner in the hands of the rebels is itself sufficient to disgrace their cause forever. Although a prisoner of war and entitled to be treated as such, he has received the most barbarous and inhuman usage. For months he was kept in a small cell used for condemned criminals. He has been subjected to the most tyrannical treatment, and compelled to undergo almost unheard of hardships. Our government has long been anxious to procure the release of Col. Corcoran, and has used all the means in its power to do so. It finally condescended to the exchange of the men taken as pirates for Col. Corcoran, and an arrangement to that effect was agreed to. But the rebels refused to release the Colonel although the pirates were taken down to Fortress Monroe to be exchanged. Instead of standing by their bargain, they now demand that Gen. Buckner shall be exchanged for Gen. Prentiss and refuse to release Corcoran unless this is done. We hope that Buckner never will be given up. He is one of those deep-dyed traitors, with whom the government should have a reckoning when the war is over. Col. Corcoran himself would not wish for a release on such conditions.

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Female Rebels.—The New York Times very properly says that the female demonstrations in favor of secession in some of the southern cities have been treated with too much regard by our northern soldiers. Nothing was ever gained anywhere by contending with women. The game is not worth the powder, and any man who enters the lists against them is sure to belittle himself in his own estimation, and is apt to have his motives misconstrued by others. There have been times during the war when women have acted as spies, and have rendered aid to the enemy. In such cases it has been necessary to place them under restraint. But the cases to which we allude are of a different character. Their petty exhibitions of spite against the Union cause, their feminine methods of showing their dislike of our soldiers by making faces at them, turning their backs on them and other ways they have of showing their preferences can do no harm to anybody and are not worth minding. The best way to crush out these female rebel demonstrations is not to notice them, for a woman knows she is powerless the moment she ceases to attract attention.

THURSDAY
JUNE 19, 1862
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SENTINEL

News From Vicksburg.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE BOMBARDMENT.

Richmond papers received at Washington contain extracts from the Vicksburg Press, which testify to the brilliant operations of our fleet in that vicinity. News from Vicksburg to the 30th ult., published in the Richmond Examiner of the 9th inst., says: “Two of the enemy’s gunboats amused themselves by throwing shot and shell into the heart of Vicksburg. About 125 missiles were thrown during that time, but comparatively  few of which appeared to be directed at our forts. We have heard of no casualties beyond considerably damaging some private residences and one or two churches.” The reports of Vicksburg papers state that De Soto, Miss., has been destroyed by our fleet, and add that, “but three little buildings now mark the spot which once gloried in the title of a city.” The same report adds that the federal gunboats shelled the town of Grand Gulf, Monday, and then transports landed a number of troops, who pillaged and sacked the town of everything they could lay their hands on.

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News From Memphis.
A LATER DISPATCH—ARRIVAL FROM ARKANSAS.

Memphis remains unusually quiet and orderly, and business is slowly reviving. Thus far the amount of rebel property seized amounts to only $50,000. Capt. Dill of the provost guard estimates the amount of cotton, sugar, &c., concealed for shipping to be $150,000 worth. This is rapidly its way to the levee. The number of absentees has been over-estimated. Many have returned, while those who go on upward boats are mostly members of sundered families. The mayor and city council are of Union proclivities as a general thing, and exercise their functions in harmony with the military rule; their continued good conduct is a renewed assurance of this. There are only two or three places in the city where either confederate scrip or post office stamps are worth anything. The most prominent rebel citizens will not take the scrip. An arrival at Memphis direct from Madison, Arkansas, brings information that Gen. Curtis had not reached Little Rock, but was approaching it from Searcy. He would meet with no opposition.

An agent of the treasury department is on his way to reopen the federal custom house in Memphis. There have been about 30 applications for the office of postmaster by prominent citizens of Memphis. There is as yet but one national flag flying from a private residence, and that is from the house of Mr. Gage.

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Congress.—The tax bill has passed the Senate, but with very material alterations in the bill as it passed the House, only one Senator voting against it—Powell of Kentucky. The bill has gone to the Committee of Way and Means in the House. This committee has reported back the bill, Mr. Stevens stating that the Senate made 314 amendments, a large number of them unimportant in their character, and in order to facilitate a definite action, he moved a general non-concurrence in all the amendments, and then asked for a committee of conference. Some debate followed, when the motion was adopted, 88 against 58. The Senate also passed the House bills prohibiting slavery in the territories, and prescribing an additional oath to grand and petit jurors. A bill donating lands for agricultural colleges has also passed the Senate, by a vote of 30 to 7. A motion has passed the House instructing the Judiciary Committee to enquire into the alleged conduct of Ben Wood of New York, as the government has information that Ben has been communicating or attempting to communicate intelligence to the rebels. Wood is a hard-shell of the Vallandigham and New Hampshire democracy stripe, and we trust he may have a thorough ventilating.

Defeat of the French in Mexico.—The French have suffered a terrible defeat in Mexico. The battle was fought near Puebla, May 8th. The French with their famous Zouaves ad Chasseurs de Vincennes, made a fierce attack upon the Mexicans, but were repulsed with great loss. The Mexicans were entrenched, but they advanced from their fortifications and attacked the French in flank. One report makes the contending forces about equal—some 5000 each—while others state the French at that number and the Mexicans at 14,000. The Mexican commander, in giving his official report, says: “The haughty French soldier has been humbled on this anniversary of the death of Napoleon the First, and for the first time, according to the prisoners, have they found themselves compelled to fly before their enemy, bearing their flag without the glory which they had conquered in a thousand battles.”

Five hundred of the French are reported killed, and 700 taken prisoners, who were released, as there was not food enough to feed them.

The Mexicans are actively fortifying the Capital, and the French will march against it when reinforcements arrive.

A statement is current in Havana that the French designs are not so much against Mexico as against the United States. There is great disaffection among the French officers, leading to appeals to Napoleon.

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Gen. Butler and the Women.—The order of Gen. Butler in relation to the women who insult our soldiers in New Orleans has been sharply criticized. A gentleman just returned from that city, where he has resided ever since the war broke out, says we can have no conception of the indignities our brave fellows are compelled to suffer at the hands of these fiends in petticoats. All sense of shame and decency appears to have departed out of them. They rival the most degraded street-walkers, not only in ribaldry, but in obscenity. Women who have been regarded as the pattern of refinement and good breeding, indulge in language toward our officers and men which no decent journalist would dare put in print. Presuming upon the privileges of the sex, they not only assail them with the tongue, but with more material weapons. Buckets of slops are emptied upon them as they pass; decayed oranges and rotten eggs are hurled at them; and every insult a depraved fancy can invent is offered to the hated Federals.

The forbearance of our troops, this gentleman says, is wonderful. They endure the jibes and persecutions of the unsexed wenches with a philosophy that nothing can overthrow. But the nuisance was fast becoming intolerable. The offenders were presuming upon the chivalry of troops to commit physical assaults. Something like the order of Gen. Butler became imperative. If women pretending to be decent, imitated the conduct of “women of the town,” it was proper that something like the same punishment should be meted out to them.—Albany Evening Journal.

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A Rebel Raid from Richmond.

Fifteen hundred rebel cavalry and six pieces of artillery made an advance toward Gen. McClellan’s lines, on Friday, frightened our folks considerably, and caused a general stampede of non-combatants from White House. The object of the rebels was to burn the railroad bridge at Tunstall’s station, but they were foiled in this, and only succeeded in capturing a few teams and teamsters, and in killing a few of our men by firing into a railroad train. The rebels exhibit a good deal of “dash,” especially where they see a weak point to dash upon. It is impossible to have every point in military lines extending many miles, always guarded. Secesh inhabitants about our lines before Richmond have been arrested on charge of giving the enemy information.

FRIDAY
JUNE 20, 1862
THE LIBERATOR (MA)

WOMAN AND THE PRESS.

On Friday afternoon, May 30, a meeting was held in Studio Building, Boston, for conference in regard to a new periodical to be devoted to the interests of Women. While none questioned the value and the need of such an instrument in the Women’s Rights cause, the difficulties that would endanger or even defeat the enterprise were fully discussed, but with this result--that the experiment should be made. For the furtherance, therefore, of so desirable an object, we insert and call attention to the following:

PROSPECTUS OF THE WOMAN’S JOURNAL.

When we consider that there is scarcely a party, sect, or business organization which is not represented in the press, it appears strange that women, constituting one half of humanity, should [not] have an organ, in America, especially devoted to the promotion of their interests, particularly as these interests have excited more wide-spread attention in this country than in any other, while in no other country can the double power of free speech and a free press be made so effective in their behalf. This appears stranger from the fact that conservative England has successfully supported a journal of this sort for years with acknowledged utility.

America needs such a journal to centralize and give impetus to the efforts which are being made in various direction to advance the interests of woman. It needs it most of all at this time, when the civil war is calling forth the capabilities of woman in an unwonted degree, both as actors and sufferers—when so many on both sides are seen to exert a most potent influence over the destinies of this nation, while so many others are forced by the loss of husbands, sons and brothers, to seek employment for the support of themselves and families. Social problems, too, are gradually becoming solved by the progress of events, which will leave to that of woman the most prominent place henceforth.

To meet this want of the times, we propose to establish a Woman’s Journal, based on the motto, “Equal Rights for all Mankind,” and designed especially to treat of all questions pertaining to the interests of women, and to furnish an impartial platform for the free discussion of those interests in their various phases. It will aim to collect and compare the divers theories promulgated on the subject, to chronicle and centralize the efforts made in the behalf of women, in this country and elsewhere, and to render all possible aid to such undertakings, while at the same time it will neglect no field of intellectual effort or human progress of general interest to men of culture. It will comprise reviews of current social and political events, articles on literature, education, hygiene, etc., a feuilleton⁹ composed chiefly of translations from foreign literature—in short, whatever may contribute to make it a useful and entertaining family paper. Its columns will be open, and respectful attention insured, to all thinkers on the subjects of which it treats, under the usual editorial discretion, only requiring that they shall accept, a priori, the motto of the paper, and shall abstain from all personal discussion. . . .

The Journal will be issued semi-monthly, in octavo form, sixteen pages, at Two Dollars per annum, the first number appearing on the 1st of October next, and will be published in Boston.

Fiendish Outrage on Humanity.

The correspondent of the Chicago Journal, five miles north of the crossing of the Little Red River, on the Des Arc Road, May 23, says:

“I must hasten to tell you of one of the most diabolical deeds, perpetrated near our present camp lately, that has blackened the pages of the history of this infernal rebellion. Gen. Osterhaus with his division was in advance of the army, and had reached the crossing of the Little Red River on the road from Batesville to Des Arc, and was encamped on the north side of the river, while their engineers were constructing bridges and other works, and on last Monday a forage party was sent out about two or three miles to the southeast, under the protection of detachments from company F, Lieut. Fischer; company G, Captain Wilhelm; and company H, Lieut. Nein, in all about 60 men of the 17th Missouri Infantry, and while companies F and G were guarding the wagons while loading, company H was sent out as a picket about two miles, where they were attacked by a band of between five and six hundred, and before they could be reinforced by the others, the whole of them were either killed or wounded, except one man.

“Seven or eight were killed at the first fire, and eight more of the wounded were either shot, stabbed or their throats cut, after they were entirely helpless from their wounds, and in many cases had asked for mercy, but they were told that they neither asked nor gave any quarter. This was done very speedily, the rebels carrying off their wounded with them. As soon as this was known in camp, a surgeon and ambulances were sent out to take care of the wounded men, and next morning the surgeon was found hung to a tree, and literally hacked to pieces by sabers. This surgeon, whose name I could not learn, was assistant to Dr. Lyon, brother of the brave and lamented General Nathaniel Lyon, who fell at the battle of Wilson’s Creek, in Missouri, August last. This Dr. Lyon is Surgeon to the ‘Lyon Legion,’ (3rd Missouri.) But this chapter of barbarian atrocities is not quite yet full. The Drum-Major of the 17th Missouri, who had for some reason accompanied the expedition, was found murdered, and his ears cut off close to his head, and his tongue cut by the roots.

“I have part of this account from the Surgeon of the 19th Missouri, who was hindered from going to the scene of slaughter himself; but a splendid case of surgical instruments and packages of assorted bandages, and everything else necessary for immediate use, in case of battle, belonging to him, were with the ambulances, and fell into the hands of the fiends. The horses of the ambulances were taken and the ambulances themselves broken up. A part of this story I have from one of the wounded men, who was himself shot in the bowels, after asking for mercy. Lieut. Nein, after having surrendered, was shot by his captor, with his own pistol, which he had just given up, the ball lodging in his shoulder instead of his head, for which it was intended. The whole number killed and murdered is seventeen, and over thirty others wounded. A large force was dispatched to try to take this band, but have not yet succeeded in doing so. They were, part of them, Texas Rangers, and part of them Butternuts, all under command of ‘Hicks’ and ‘McKeel.’ ”

SATURDAY
JUNE 21, 1862
THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER

A Rebel Fleet at Nassau.—An extract from a private letter from Nassau, N.P., June 9th, published in the Evening Post, says:

“There are now here eleven fast iron steamers, and others are arriving daily at the private rendezvous, Cochrane’s anchorage.

“A large steamer from England hove to off the bar yesterday and landed her passengers, when she also proceeded to the anchorage. Among her passengers are the notorious pirate Semmes and his officers, of the Sumter. I presume he has come here to take charge of the Oreto, or else he is on his way to Charleston, where, we hear, the rebels have two formidable steel-plated rams nearly ready for launching. I wish the government would keep a lookout for the Nassau fleet; it is a formidable one, capable of repeating the mischief done by the Nashville and Sumter.”

The Boston Traveller published the other day a statement, on authority of a passenger from England, that two steamers were loading at Queenstown with powder and arms for Nassau, intending to run the blockade. One of the steamers was the Julia Usher, of four hundred and sixty-seven tons burthen, Captain Jenkins, reported to be owned in Liverpool. She filled up with one thousand barrels of powder in the night time, and would sail immediately. This vessel is, in reality, the Annie Childs, which ran out of a southern port some months since and took a cargo of cotton, &c., to Liverpool. The name of the other was not learned. Inhabitants of Queenstown state that two other vessels sailed the previous week for the purpose of running the blockade.

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The Contrabands at Port Royal.—Rev. Dr. Peck, who has been laboring among the freed Negroes at Port Royal, S. C., returned by the Arago, worn down by the extraordinary labor he has performed. He states that the planting of corn and cotton went on finely, the latter under the special encouragement of the treasury department (recently transferred to the war department,) the Negroes receiving one dollar per acre, equal to fifty cents per day, being ample wages and double the usual amount heretofore paid to them for similar services. The contrabands are expected to hoe and gather the cotton crop, and receive the same liberal pay in cash or clothing for their labor. The school at Port Royal averages about fifty scholars per day, and many who did not know their letters on the 1st of January, now read the New Testament fluently. The regiment of South Carolina volunteers made a sweep among their most useful and industrious men, taking from the schools and the plantations and the public works, many whose services were considered almost indispensable; but they volunteered to join the army, and Dr. Peck says they make excellent soldiers, easily acquiring a knowledge of the tactics needed for efficiency in the day of battle. On this point there is a wide diversity of opinion, and the white soldiers and officers generally distrust the fighting capacity of the blacks.¹⁰

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“Stone Blockades.”

It is known to all our readers that some months ago the British Government instructed Lord Lyons to make representations against the obstruction of Charleston harbor by the sinking of vessels filled with stones in one or more of its channels. By the London Times, and by other organs of British sentiments, this proceeding was denounced as an outrage against the commerce of the world, chiefly for the reason that ports thus closed would be, it was alleged,

perpetually closed against trade. We ventured at the time to intimate that this protest, besides being one-sided, (no similar representations having been made against the similar acts of the insurgents in excluding their ports,) was in point of fact without foundation on the ground assumed by the British Government, as the obstructions thus laid by our Government were meant to be temporary in their operation, and, if not removed by natural causes, would be speedily displaced at the proper time by artificial means.

Recent experiments have come to justify this prediction. On the coast of Georgia channels have been cleared by submarine blasting. In North Carolina the channel leading from Pamlico Sound to Beaufort has been effectually cleared of about a dozen schooners sank by the rebels to prevent the approach of the Federal fleet. Messrs. Maillefert and Hayden, connected with the New York Submarine Engineering Company, who were employed by the Government for this purpose, raised a number of vessels entire. Others were blown into fragments, which floated off with the tide. Vessels obstructing the Neuse river, below Newbern, have been removed in a similar way. The work is still in progress, and is attended with no difficulty.

The fact is noticeable as showing the absurdity of the charges of the foreign newspaper press when treating of this topic; and the satisfactory assurance it affords that when the proper times arrives all the ports on the Southern coast can be restored to their former condition will, we presume, be received by the British Government as a quietus to all the apprehensions that were at one time cherished on the subject. And in this view we suppose that Lord Lyons will hardly be instructed by his Government to make any representations to the Confederate “belligerents” against the obstructions they have recently laid down in the channel of the James river, more as it would seem, to the annoyance of our gunboats than to the disgust of the “guardians of civilization.”

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Cotton Burning.

The London Star of May 27th thus appreciates the Confederate policy of cotton burning:

“If it be true that thousands of bales of goods—incapable of being converted into munitions of war, and absolutely secure, as private property, from confiscation by the federals—are being burnt or rolled into the river, the Confederates are committing social as well as political suicide. It is an act that has no comparison in modern history. It is not, like the destruction of Moscow, an act of desperate patriotism, for it impoverishes the vanquished without in the least injuring the victors. If all the cotton, tobacco, and sugar between Richmond and Mobile were given to the flames, it would not retard by an hour the fall of those cities, nor enhance by a dollar the cost of the conquest. Neither can it be supposed, except by men whose offences and disasters have phrenzied their intellects, that these huge incendiarisms will attract the slightest favor to their cause across the Atlantic. They must be mad, indeed, to reckon that England and France will come to the help of men who are wantonly injuring themselves and the subjects of those Powers. The only kindness that Europe can show them is to advise that they abstain from such barbarian outrages, and make their peace as quickly as they can with the Government that is as superior in right as in strength, having both the right and the power to retaliate upon such atrocities by a splendid act of mercy to mankind.”

¹ Probably the most astounding article I’ve transcribed to date. If slavery was so great, why didn’t more whites sign up for it?

² This is another meaning of the word crotchet, having nothing to do with stitchery; here it means “odd fancies or whimsical notions.”

³ ismatic means “addicted to fads.” 

⁴ This seemingly unintelligible reference is to Grove’s two-fluid galvanic battery. “A porous cup has within it a ribband of platinum, which is the negative plate; amalgamated zinc in the outer jar is the positive plate. Dilute sulphuric acid (10% solution) is placed in the outer jar, and strong nitric acid (40° B.) as a depolarizer in the porous cups. Its E. M. F. is 1.96 volts.” (www.diclib.com) So “750 cups of Grove” would mean 750 batteries along the line.

⁵ “ukase” means “any order or proclamation by an absolute or arbitrary authority.”

⁶ “mulct” means “to punish a person by fine.”

⁷ Seeing as how New Orleans has now been a Union-occupied city for over a month, the weekly Confederate paper will henceforth be drawn from other states (usually Georgia, Virginia or Texas). As only New Orleans and New York seem to have published a Sunday edition, The Daily Delta and The Times-Picayune will still be around on that day of the week—but they can only publish what the Yankees allow them to.

⁸ A rod is a unit of measure used in surveying, being 16½ feet in length or one-quarter of a chain.

⁹ French for “serial” or “series.”

¹⁰ Contrast this with the 1 February 1862 article in The Liberator, which ended with, “The Navy, although a large proportion of its highest officers are from the slave States, has not been in the habit of examining a seaman’s complexion before shipping him. ‘Can you fight?’ is the only question.”