SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 15, 1863
THE DAILY PICAYUNE (LA)

L A T E R
THROUGH SOUTHERN SOURCES.

Interesting from Vicksburg.

The correspondent of the Appeal, under date of the 7th inst., says:

“The apparent inaction of the enemy for the past few days in only indicative of what is coming, and no one must deceive himself by hoping that the crisis can be long postponed. The present quiet of the enemy is but a short truce. At the uttermost the weather and state of the river can only delay the collision but a few days. The aspect of the enemy was never more menacing than at this moment. In a few hours perhaps the tocsin of alarm may sound in our ears and call to arms the whole strength of our army. There is now no longer any doubt but that the whole force of the enemy is concentrated within seeing distance of the city, and the mortar boats were being towed down yesterday to a point near the grand rendezvous of the fleet. Every moment may announce the commencement of the attack.

“Every available force, naval and land, will be called into requisition to assist in the great work before them. The stage of the river is favorable to operations by water, and by delay will prove equally unfavorable for the purpose of assault by land, and under these circumstances it becomes an imperative necessity to commence operations soon.

“A considerable degree of apprehension was manifested yesterday evening at the supposition that an attack might be contemplated during the night. This suspicion arose from certain movements of the ferry boat below, which is in a lake behind the levee, and being noticed to be under a full head of steam, as was also the ram, and imaginary reports circulated freely that the enemy was throwing a force across the river at Warrenton. It was, however, soon ascertained that these rumors were groundless, and no attempt being made by the enemy, every thing remained quiet during the night. This morning the same old status is observed that has marked the past week. Some movements of the fleet at the mouth of the Yazoo would seem to indicate that a movement up that river might be on the tapis.”

In his letter of the 8th, the same correspondent says:

“On Saturday a great degree of curiosity was created in this city on account of certain movements among the enemy over the river, which indicate that something was going on, but the precise nature of which could not be made out. It was, however, discovered that the Federals were going aboard the transports, and that a great portion of their tents had been struck, looking very much as if a general evacuation was being effected. The rising river of course received the credit of driving the thieving vandals out of the swamp. Later in the day it was ascertained from reliable sources that the enemy had thrown a large force across the peninsula to a point below the canal, and that they were engaged in erecting batteries on the Louisiana side opposite Warrenton. >

 Of course there could be no use for batteries in that vicinity unless for the protection of their boats in carrying the troops over the river, and their plans are now beginning to develop, so that we can see what they are driving at. The attempt to cross the Mississippi is to be made at Warrenton, where they hope the low land on this side will prevent our forces from interrupting the transit.

“But the manner of accomplishing this feat is not yet wholly understood, and the means with which they intend to effect it are not apparent. It is now conceded by the Federals themselves, and confirmed by all the deserters and captives who have reached here, that the canal is a failure, and that the transports will never be able to go from river to river through this ditch. And on this account they are marching their troops overland to a point opposite Warrenton. Now, the question arises, how will they cross over without the transports? Pontoons won’t do, and the little ferry boat won’t do either, nor can the gunboats do much at that business.

“Yankee ingenuity, however, will no doubt adopt some new plan by which this dangerous transit is to be effected. Unless the transports go through the canal, they will never be able to get below the city, and the navigation of the canal not allowing such a voyage, they will be compelled to remain above. An attempt will no doubt be made to run the batteries by a few more of the gunboats, but these will be of very little use in carrying troops, and as fast as they can be landed in small parties the Confederate troops would gobble them all up, in spite of the gunboats.

“As usual, the reveille could be distinctly heard this morning, and the motion among the fleet was also indicative of activity. The most unaccountable proceeding that could be noticed was the going away of the gunboats—whither they are bound or what their object, no one can tell; but it is certain that some of them have been seen going up the river this morning.

“It would not be surprising to hear that our cavalry had reached some point on the river above and made sad havoc with the enemy, which requires the gunboats to go up and see what is going on. This is the only way in which this movement can be accounted for, especially as they did not attempt an advance up the Yazoo, as had been expected. If the gunboats should be withdrawn from here the assault may be delayed for some time.”

From the letter of the 9th we take the following:

“On Saturday evening the transports started up the river, and, having been seen to embark the troops during the day, the affair looked like an evacuation; but yesterday morning the boats were back again at their old anchorage. It is supposed the troops were carried some distance—perhaps to Milliken’s Bend—and landed on higher grand than they are at present encamped. The going up of the gunboats the following day may have been as a protection to the camp, though no definite information has yet been received of this movement.”

MONDAY
FEBRUARY 16, 1863
THE MACON DAILY TELEGRAPH (GA)

THE NORTHERN REBELLION.

The progress of Northern disorganization is one of the most interesting developments of the time. It is not for men to attempt to dive into futurity or fathom the purposes and plans of omnipotence, but it does appear to us exceedingly difficult to account for the action of the Black Republican party, on any other hypothesis than “judicial blindness”—that madness which the gods are said to inflict as the initial step to destruction. What else could have prompted Lincoln to his proclamation—his party to enact the 150,000 Negro soldier bill—or Wilson in the Senate to bring forward his bill for quashing the banks—annulling the habeas corpus, and divesting the States of all control of their militia? Each of these measures, considered in connection with existing Northern sentiment, seems to be like the application of salt to sore eyes—caustic to quick flesh, or fire to tow.

From the first, the abolition question has been a fruitful theme of discord in the Federal army. Congress, alive to the great danger of demoralization from this source, was careful, at the outset, by a solemn and almost unanimous resolution, to disavow and ignore all other objects than the single one of “restoring the Union,” and every official document emanating from the Government reiterated this position. The whole northern army was organized upon this foundation—organized, as we believe, more than one half strong abolitionists; but it was hardly in the field before the movements of the black republican party in Congress, and the talk of the black republican papers, began to stir up strife and mutiny. Nothing prevented a still greater discontent but pointing to the record and the frequent and solemn affirmations that, however much the political abolitionists might plot and rave, the administration stood firm on the platform of war for the Union and nothing but the Union. And up to September last, it did indeed seem that Lincoln meant to be true to the pledges under which his army was raised.

Then, like a clap of thunder, comes his proclamation. But there was a ready apology. It was a plan only to deprive the rebels of the help of their slaves—not to stir up insurrection or enlist servile allies in active war. Now, on the back of this, and to cap the climax of the systematic deception by which anti-abolitionists have been betrayed into the position of involuntary tools and strikers for the maddest incendiary schemes of run mad abolitionists, comes Stevens’ bill to crown the infamous treachery of the Lincoln administration. If the South had been called upon to name the most suicidal step which Lincoln should be forced to adopt, she could have indicated no other.

Again, the opposition States are inflamed with extreme jealousy of the Lincoln administration, and extreme jealousy of the political abolitionism of New England. Threats of revolt on their part have been the subject of daily telegrams for weeks past. Now, just at this critical conjuncture, at a time when it would seem that little was needed to fan this discontent and distrust into open hostility, comes this proposition to draw their teeth—to take away from them the control of their militia, to empower Lincoln to suspend habeas corpus, and put their banks in limbo. And as if to make the matter as offensive as possible, these propositions must be brought forward by the burly abolition Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts. It is New England which undertakes to chain up the opposition States of the Middle and West. Surely, whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad!

At the moment when all terror of Lincoln despotism is gone, these wise tacticians are bent upon pushing it by law to the extremity of a despotic domination alike over the sovereignty of the States and the rights of the people. It was, we suppose, in a debate upon Wilson’s bill, that the Indiana and Illinois Senators are represented to have used the strange language set forth in the telegrams to-day. Propositions like these will develop a corresponding opposition. The more monstrous the stretch for power, the more violent will be the resistance—and the greater the opposition, the stronger the necessity for sweeping measures to put it down. The two will go on to provoke antagonism, till the clash of arms will be the result. The controversy is already passed reason or reconstruction, and yet the Abolitionists seem as blind to their peril as they were when they undertook to crush out the rebellion in the South. In fact, they seem just as anxious now as then to sharpen the issue, probably in the hope to overthrow their opponents between the two forces of Federal power and patronage and a large popular minority in their own States.

MEDIATION BY FRANCE!

Richmond, Feb. 14.—Northern papers of the 12th were received here last night.

The Europa has arrived at Halifax, and it is reported that she brings propositions from Napoleon offering mediation between North and South, on the basis that both appoint Commissioners to meet in Montreal or Mexico to arrange the preliminaries of peace.

A Washington telegram to the New York Express says it is reported that Seward has rejected the proposition. The Washington Chronicle denies that there has been any such indication from Government. It adds, there is no reason to doubt that portion of the news, which states that a suspension of hostilities is included in the terms.

The reported rejection of the mediation proposition caused gold to advance in New York from 152½ to 156, but subsequently fell to 154½.

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MARVELLOUS NEWS FROM THE WEST.
Reported Secession Movements.

Mobile, Feb. 13.—The Southern Crisis of the 11th instant, published at Jackson, Miss., learns from distinguished citizens of the Northwestern States, that the States of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, have determined to stop the war, and make terms of peace with the Confederate States at all hazards. They are resolved that the war against the Confederate States shall cease—otherwise the Northwest will war against the aggressor.

Citizens of these States drafted or enrolled are leaving the Federal army by the hundreds and by regiments, and there is no power to control this movement. Of one hundred and fifty thousand men under Grant and McClernand, only forty thousand effective soldiers remain, and that number is daily diminishing by mortality from sickness and voluntary abandonment.

The Legislatures of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky will convene at Frankfort in General Convention on the eighteenth day of February, to agree upon the institution of a Northwestern Confederacy, and propose terms of peace and commerce with the Confederate States bordering on the Mississippi and tributaries. They will propose a treaty offensive and defensive with the South, or an adoption of the Confederate States Constitution to incorporate these new members with the Confederacy, if agreeable to the people of the Confederate States. But, in any event, relations of peace, amity and commerce with the South.

Commissioners will bear the result of the deliberations of this Convention to Richmond, empowered to treat with the Confederate Government for a final and satisfactory adjustment of all interests.

This action will be taken openly with a serious and dignified determination. The terms of adjustment will be submitted for ratification to the people of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana at the ballot box. When thus ratified, separation from the United States will be irrevocably perfected. This information says it is expected that no more general engagements will take place. By the first of April there will be a practical cessation of hostilities in the Southwest, and by the first of June a permanent peace, unless the republicans wage war against the Northwest.

TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 17, 1863
PORTLAND DAILY ADVERTISER (ME)

Another Exploit of the Queen of the West.—The Union Ram Queen [of the West], which a few days ago ran the rebel blockade at Vicksburg, has returned to Milliken’s Bend. Below Vicksburg she found and destroyed three steamboats loaded with provisions for the rebel army. She took fifty-six prisoners, one of whom was a Colonel. The Queen went near enough to Port Hudson to draw the fire from the upper battery. Colonel Ellett,¹ commanding the vessel, makes the following report to Admiral Porter of his attempt to destroy a rebel steamer lying before Vicksburg:

U.S. Steam Ram Queen of the West,
Below Vicksburg, Feb. 2, 1863.

Admiral: In compliance with your instructions, I started on the Queen of the West at 3½ o’clock this morning to pass the batteries at Vicksburg and sink the rebel steamer lying before the city. When we finally rounded the point, the sun had risen, and any advantage which would have resulted from the darkness was lost to us.

The rebels opened a heavy fire upon us as we neared the city, but we were only struck three times before reaching the steamer. She was lying in nearly the same position that the Arkansas occupied when General Ellet ran the Queen into her on a former occasion. The same causes which prevented the destruction of the Arkansas then, saved the City of Vicksburg this morning. Her position was such that it we had run obliquely into her as we came down, the bow of the Queen would inevitably have glanced. We were compelled to partially round in order to strike. The consequence was that, at the very moment of collision, the current, very rapid and strong at this point, caught the stern of my boat and, acting on her bow as a pivot, swung her round so rapidly that nearly all her momentum was lost.

I had anticipated this, and therefore caused the starboard bow gun to be shotted with three of the incendiary projectiles recommended in your orders. As we swung around, Sergeant J. H. Campbell, detailed for that purpose, fired this gun. A 64-pound shell crashed through the barricade just before he reached the spot, but he did not hesitate. The discharge took place at exactly the right moment, and set the rebel steamer in flames, which they subsequently succeeded in extinguishing. At this moment one of the enemy’s shells set the cotton near the starboard wheel on fire, while the discharge of our own gun ignited that portion which was on the bow. The flames spread rapidly, and the dense smoke rolled into the engine room, suffocating the engineers.²

I saw that if I attempted to run into the City of Vicksburg again, my boat would certainly be burned. I ordered her to be headed down stream, and ordered every man to extinguish the flames. After much exertion we finally put the fire out by cutting the burning bales loose. The enemy, of course, were not idle. We were struck twelve times, and though the cabin door was knocked to pieces, no material injury to the boat was inflicted. About two regiments of rebel sharpshooters in rifle-pits kept up a continual fire, but did no damage. The Queen was struck twice in the hull, but above the water line. One of our guns was dismounted and ruined. I can only speak in the highest terms of the conduct of every man on board. All behaved with cool, determined courage.

I remain very respectfully,

Charles Rivers Ellet,
Commanding Ram Fleet.

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A Reign of Terror.
Women and Children Destroyed by Rebel Bloodhounds.

New York, Feb. 16.—Memphis letters of the 11th state that there is a perfect reign of terror in northern Alabama and Mississippi. Guerrillas and bloodhounds are on the track of Union men, who flee to the woods to avoid conscription. A young girl carrying food to her father was torn to pieces by bloodhounds. Not less than 1,000 Union men have reached Corinth. A regiment is forming there which already numbers six full companies. A number of Unionists have been shot and hung and their houses burned. Two women in Tuscumbia county were torn to pieces by bloodhounds. 

A New Point of Attack.
Another Navigation Channel in Rear of Vicksburg.

New York, Feb. 16.—The Helena correspondent of the Missouri Democrat, under date of the 3d, says that on the 2d of February, by order of Gen. Grant, Gen. Gorman with about 500 men moved down the Yazoo Pass, which is about six miles below Helena and near Delta, on the Mississippi side. After removing some drift and large trees, they succeeded in landing their boats at the levee. The levee is built across the Bayou or Pass leading from the Mississippi river into the Cold Water, about fifteen miles above its mouth. The water south of the levee is about 10 feet below [the] water level of the Mississippi at its present stage, consequently the destruction of the levee at this point will at once result in the overflow of the country for fifty miles in every direction, and open a navigable channel for ordinary boats to the Cold Water, thence to the Tallahatchie and the Yazoo. The troops were busily employed in cutting the levee all day yesterday, and the water will be let in to-morrow. A navigable channel will thus be opened to the rear of Vicksburg, in a direction which is not fortified by the rebels, and I can see nothing to prevent our Mosquito fleet from moving immediately into [the] Yazoo and taking possession of the rebel steamers that run the river. Moreover, a formidable army threatening the rebels at Vicksburg from this direction must strike terror to their hearts, and result in their final discomfiture and overthrow.

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The Paper Trouble.
Meeting of Publishers and Their Actions.

Boston, Feb. 16.—There was a large attendance to-day of newspaper proprietors and book publishers before the Legislative Committee on Federal Relations, to urge the importance of memorializing Congress for relief against the paper makers’ monopoly. It was shown that the cost of school books, also of New York school books, was five millions annually, and that this combination of paper manufacturers added thereto full twenty per cent, which was a serious tax upon the majority of parents; also that nearly all religious publications, weekly newspapers, and books heretofore published for the people, would be compelled to suspend entirely or be greatly restricted in their usefulness. The daily papers would also be compelled to further advance their price. The publishers closed their case by presenting the following resolutions:

Resolved, That the welfare of the community, as well as the diffusion and general intelligence, call for the adoption of some means which shall cheapen the cost of paper, and prevent any combination of wealth or of interest in keeping up the value of the article at so high a point as to inflict so severe a tax upon education and dissemination of information generally among the people.

Resolved, That so far as regards the protection of capital and industry, the book and newspaper publishing business, employing vastly more capital and labor than the production of the material, is entitled to the highest consideration.

Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress be requested to vote for an amendment to the tariff which shall reduce the duty on imported paper from thirty-five to five per cent, or as near thereto as may be deemed practicable and expedient.

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A Rebel Force in Rebellion.

New York, Feb. 16.—A refugee from Arkansas states that 300 Jayhawkers, who defined the rebel conscript law, were in the mountains of Clark county, while 1000 more are in Montgomery county, and openly defy the rebels. They are supplied with powder and lead by one of their number, formerly engaged in the rebel ordnance service.

WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 18, 1863
THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN (MA)

Certain Papers Banished from the Army.

The correspondent of the New York Commercial Advertiser states that Gen. Patrick, provost marshal of the army of the Potomac, has received instructions which will effectually banish certain seditious New York sheets from the army and substitute others which advocate the policy of the president.

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General News Summary.

More resolutions have been offered in the confederate congress promising the free navigation of the Mississippi to the western people if they will let the confederacy alone. The western people think they can take this free navigation as their own right; at any rate they mean to try.

The confederate House has passed the bill authorizing the impressment of slaves and other property for war purposes, and adopted a resolution instructing the committee on the judiciary to report a bill providing for the sale of all Negroes taken in arms against the confederacy, the proceeds to be divided among the captors. This will act as a life insurance to the black soldiers, for it will be an object to the rebels to take them alive.

Luke Rider, the benevolent New York hackman, is dead. It will be recollected that he gratuitously carried a sick and destitute Massachusetts soldier from the Jersey City ferry to the 27th street depot. In consequence of the publicity given to this kind act, he received not only a letter of thanks from Gov. Andrew, but over $300 in money. The last letter received read somewhat as follows: “My dear fellow, you have done a noble deed. As I shall probably never have a chance to ride with you myself, I enclose my dollar to pay for the ride of the next helpless soldier you meet.”

The destruction of the disloyal newspaper at Leavenworth, Kansas, called the Enquirer, was brought about in this way. There had been threats against it, and the proprietor armed his friends and stationed them about the office, and they, without provocation, fired upon a citizen who had exerted himself to allay the excitement. A large number of shots were fired, and other innocent citizens as well as the one aimed at, narrowly escaped being hit. The next day a crowd assembled, when Col. Jennison arrived, and, mounting a box, he exclaimed: “Yesterday, this establishment was a printing office, and I proposed to protect it; today it is a rebel fort, and I propose to gut it.” With this the crowd rushed in and utterly demolished everything the establishment contained, and then burnt the fragments.

Mr. Foster of Alabama has proposed in the confederate congress a bill for the conscribing and placing in the public service in the field every white male citizen resident or sojourner within the confederate states, without regard to age, physical disability, trade, profession or pursuit, whenever it may be satisfactorily ascertained that such person has refused to receive confederate money for any article sold or offered for sale by him; also for selling, at an advance of more than [x] per cent upon the prices charged two years ago on the same articles.

The New Conscript.—The new bill of Senator Wilson, providing for a  future draft if it should become necessary, which was passed by the Senate Monday night, will obtain popular favor in one respect, and that is its impartiality. It exempts only governors of states, and the only sons of widows who are dependent on them for support. Attempts were made to exempt members of congress, judges, ministers of the gospel, and Christians having conscientious scruples against fighting, but the majority of the senators could see no good reasons for these exceptions, and there are none. The idea of Garret Davis of Kentucky to make every able-bodied man “fight, pay or emigrate” is the true one. And no class can complain of hardship, since a drafted man may either furnish a substitute, or pay $300 to the government with which it can procure one. That is making the release easy enough, and while the Quakers and other conscientious peace men have the privilege of voting and are protected by the government, their assumed scruples about paying an equivalent to the government for military services should not be respected. The same consideration applies to clergymen, who do not generally think it wrong for laymen to fight, and who will be willing to pay for their own exemption. The exemption of only sons of widows dependent on them is copied from the French law, and has a humane look, but there are numerous other classes, such as fathers with families dependent on them, where the humane consideration is quite as strong; and it may be doubted whether it would not be better to make a clean bill, with no special exempts at all.

The bill makes all able-bodied citizens between the ages of 20 and 45 subject to draft, not between 18 and 45, as under existing laws. The draft is put under the control of the president, and not of the state governors, and will not therefore be liable to be shirked, put off or evaded altogether, as the recent draft has been. There will be less temptation to the evasion of the draft under this bill than there has been hitherto. Men of common self-respect will not run to the doctors to get a certificate of disability for some slight ailment when they can purchase an honorable release from actual service for so small a sum as $300, and there will be a pretty general disposition to stand eh draft rather than dodge it. The bill is yet to be acted upon by the House, where it is to be hoped it will not be doctored to death. If the people will stand any draft at all, it will be an impartial and sweeping one, such as this bill provides for.

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Latest from the Alabama.

Advices from Port au Prince say it was reported that the Alabama had made two or three new prizes within six days after her departure from Kingston. The news was received by express from Jacmel, and it was added [that] two captains of American vessels had been landed by Semmes.

THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 19, 1863
THE FARMERS’ CABINET (NH)

Extraordinary Statements from Louisiana.—The New Orleans correspondent of the Boston Journal gives the following extraordinary account of the conduct of officers of Gen. Banks’ army in Louisiana. We trust the President will at once look after the men who act in this way. If we once gain the ill-will of the Negroes in Louisiana, we shall not be able to maintain ourselves there, and shall risk the loss even of New Orleans; and if any officer is acting as this correspondent asserts, he is endangering the safety of the whole army there.

“Singular scenes, adverse to the spirit of the Proclamation of Emancipation and revolting to humanity, have recently been witnessed in the Lafourche district, where not a little excitement has prevailed in consequence of the attempts of numerous planters to recover their runaway slaves after the good old southern fashion. A certain Provost-Judge, Lieutenant Colonel Lull, of the Eighth New Hampshire regiment, has been notorious for his eagerness to pander to the brutality of the “owners” of human chattels. Being stationed at Thibodeaux, he was obliging enough to issue proclamations to the effect that the planters might take their fugitive slaves by force wherever they could find them within our lines. In the prosecution of this enobling duty, instances have come to my knowledge in which our soldiers have been employed. In and about Thibodeaux, Negro men and women have been hunted, captured, thrown to the ground, bound with cords, placed in carts, and conveyed under guard of cavalrymen to the places of their involuntary servitude. One poor fellow was chased into a bayou, and there drowned. The planters not unfrequently bribe the soldiers to this work. On being taxed with this by Captain Goodrich, the Provost Marshal, one caught in the act answered as follows: “How do you suppose we are going to get our Negroes unless you help us? What are you here for?”

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Cotton goods are coming from China. The N. Y. Times thinks if prices of domestics keep up, all N. Y. will wear nankin next summer.

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How to Teach Cattle Bad Habits.—Cows, sheep and pigs are very apt pupils, and most farmers are quite proficient in teaching them to do mischief. Thus we find many persons, when turning stock into or out of pasture, instead of letting down all the bars, leaving two or three of the lower rails in their place; and then, by shouting or beating perhaps, force the animals to leap over. This is capital training; the results of it are to be seen in the after disposition of the animals to try their powers of jumping, where a top rail happens to be off, and, this accomplished, to set all fences at defiance, and make a descent upon a corn or grain field, as their inclination, ability or hunger may prompt them. Another lesson is to open a gate part way, and then force the cattle to pass through it. This teaches them to make a forcible entry into the stable, yards, fields or in fact to almost every place where a gate or door may by accident be left slightly open.  

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Gen. Rosecran’s says, “Assured that the rebels were they able would invade and destroy us without mercy, I am amazed that any one could think of peace upon any terms. He who entertains the sentiment is fit only to be a slave; he who utters it at this time, is, moreover, a traitor to his country, who deserves the contempt and scorn of all honorable men.”  

Marriage by Telegraph.—The Albany Standard of Wednesday publishes the following:

A marriage by telegraph took place yesterday afternoon between a young lady in one of the principal villages on eh Oswego railroad and an artillery soldier on duty near Washington. The chaplain of the bridegroom’s regiment telegraphed the material question of the marriage ceremony to the lady, viz: “”Do you take ___ to be your husband?” directing her to answer, “I do;” and to authorize him to propose a like question to the gentleman. In two hours after the lady received the chaplain’s first message, she received a second announcing that the soldier and she were man and wife. This telegram is her marriage certificate. It is understood that the parents of the lady were opposed to the union, and that this method was taken to outwit them. The time for the ceremony had been fixed by correspondence beforehand, and the lady was in waiting when the first message was received at the telegraph office.

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News from Rebel Sources.—A series of joint resolutions, touching the conditions of negotiations for peace, were offered in the rebel Congress by Mr. Foote on the 26th. They assert that there is no plan of reconstruction of the Union to which the people of the Confederacy will ever consent, that they had been too deeply wronged to allow even the possibility of consenting to hold future political connection with the North; that they will not consent to an armistice of even a day or hour to listen to a proposition from President Lincoln (whom the resolutions characterize as “an atrocious monster;”) that wherever the friends of peace in the North shall grow strong enough to constrain Abraham Lincoln to withdraw his emancipation proclamation, and to make overtures to the Confederacy on the basis of an acknowledgement of its independence, they are ready to treat, but not till then; that the Confederacy will, on such basis as that stipulated, agree to enter mutually advantageous with all States (but those of New England, “with those people, and in whose ignoble love of gold, and brutifying fanaticism, this disgraceful war has mainly originated,” and with which States the Confederates “are firmly and deliberately resolved to have no intercourse whatever hereafter, either direct or indirect, political, commercial or social, under any circumstances which could be possibly imagined to exist), or the people therein residents; that the Confederacy will grant the Mississippi States full protection in the navigation of the Mississippi river, provided they withdraw from the prosecution of the war, open to them the Southern market to the total exclusion of articles of New England growth or manufacture; that the States west of the Rocky Mountains, provided they join the Confederacy, shall have in reward for that attachment, 1st, Relief from grievous and exhausting tariff regulations now being rigidly enforced; 2. Relief from all discredit resulting inevitably from the prosecution of the present unjust and unauthorized war; 3. Relief from the pressure of despotism, the most heartless and atrocious ever yet established; 4. Relief from the crushing weight of taxation unavoidably growing out of the war; 5. The exclusive use of the enjoyment of all the rich mineral lands stretching along the slopes of the Pacific; 6. Free trade with all the nations of the earth and a future maritime growth and power that has no parallel; and lastly, a monopoly of the trade of the Pacific Ocean.  

FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 20, 1863
THE LIBERATOR (MA)

REBELS SHOOTING NEGROES.

We have noticed the fact of the shooting of the Negroes found on the Union transports lately burned by the rebels at Harpeth Shoals, on the Cumberland. The New Albany (Ind.) Ledger of the 20th gives the following account of the affair:

“The most atrocious and cold-blooded affair of the present war is the shooting of some eighteen of the Negro cabin boys and cooks on the steamers lately captured at Harpeth Shoals. These men and boys were tied and taken to an open field near the Shoals, and deliberately shot down in cold blood. Two of the Negro servants on the Slidell got in between the wheel and stern of the boat, and let themselves down into the water, holding on to the rudder. They were discovered by the rebels, and several soldiers were ordered into a skiff, and rowing close up to the unfortunate Negroes, discharged the contents of their muskets at them, literally blowing their heads into atoms.

“The damnable villainy of such cold-blooded murder cannot but fill every heart with the fiercest indignation, and will beget measures of the bloodiest retaliation.

“The life of the chambermaid of the Trio was saved by Mr. Hurley, the clerk, claiming her as his slave whom he was removing to Kentucky. And even with this pretext, he had the greatest difficulty in saving her from death at the hands of the bloody-minded commander of the rebels, Colonel Wade. We hope this scoundrel may be captured, and if he is, quartering would be a slight penalty for his villainous murder of these unoffending Negroes. His acts of barbarity have scarcely an equal even in the history of this most savage warfare.”

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A Good Joke.—The New York Times says that General McClellan has applied for active service. Is it activity digging ditches, in beating retreats or in pursuing that “masterly strategy” whereby, with the amplest means for success, nothing is achieved?

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A Massachusetts Black Regiment.—The proposed colored Massachusetts regiment will be numbered the 54th, and will go into camp at Worcester. Captain N. P. Hallowell of the Mass. 20th and Captain Robert G. Shaw of the Mass. 2d are to be field officers in it. Dr. DeGrasse, a colored physician in Boston, it is reported, is to be Assistant Surgeon.

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The Virginia rebels have invented a diabolical instrument to cripple the horses of our cavalry. It is constructed of four pieces of rod iron sharpened, less than a quarter of an inch in thickness, and about two inches long. Four of the ends are made to centre together, and they project from the middle in the form of arms. To the extreme end of each is welded out a very sharp spherical point. These are intended to be sprinkled through the woods and over the roads, to prevent the advance of cavalry. No matter how thrown, one of the points will stand perpendicularly, and when the horse treads upon it, it will enter his foot and disable him on the spot.³

THE CONFEDERATE BLACK FLAG.

The wanton murder near Murfreesboro of twenty Negro teamsters who were in the service of the Federals appears to be taken as a matter of course by the advocates of the South in this country. We must presume that they know their friends, and see no reason to be surprised. And yet there are circumstances in this case which should make them anxious for a reputation in which they have so far involved their own. These Negroes were not killed in the pursuit of any military purpose. They were not on the battle-field; they were not making armed resistance. They were on the turnpike road driving their wagons when the Confederate party came up. The train which they were conducting was captured, and it was after that object had been gained that the Negroes were taken out and shot in cold blood.

It is important to notice that this butchery was not perpetrated in some corner of Secessia, by agents out of the reach of authority or public opinion. It was the work of officers of the great confederate army of the West, under the orders of General Bragg. There was nothing in the attitude of the Negroes to make a sudden resolution necessary; we must, therefore, assume that their murder was the effect of a previous determination.

We forebear to anticipate the apologies that may be offered for the atrocious slaughter of men who had committed no crime to deserve death. Travellers who have visited the slave States say, that if ever England should recognize the South, and come into close intimacy with its people, we shall all be astounded at the character of those whom we have chosen to patronize. It seems that we have not to wait for that contingency. The inevitable hour when the true issues of this war were to be disclosed has come, and the South unfurls the black flag—its own flag—accordingly. —London Daily News.

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The Traveller wittily says: “When Gen. McClellan visited Sharp’s factory in Hartford, they gave him a handsome rifle. It is safe to say that the weapon will never hurt anybody.” It further adds: “A Failure—General McClellan’s recent raid into New England. He always fails.” Again, it says: “Some of our black volunteers, belonging to the South Carolina regiment, have audaciously whipped a body of rebel cavalry. This is a turning of the tables completely over. Black men whipping white men! Where’s the Constitution, and what’s the use of a free country in which such things are tolerated, and even approved? The democrats can’t bear such doings much longer. We must have ‘the Union as it was,’ in which the whipping was all done by the chivalry, on black backs.”

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The Washington correspondent of the N. Y. Independent says: “The colored people of this District are moving in reference to the decision of the Government to employ colored troops in the prosecution of the war. It is believed that a colored regiment will easily be raised in this city, and already white offices to command it are not lacking.”

SATURDAY
FEBRUARY 21, 1863
THE ÆGIS AND TRANSCRIPT (MA)

A Whole Regiment Court-Martialled.—The 109th Illinois regiment, having refused to fight on account of the emancipation proclamation, has been placed under arrest, and is held subject to trial by court martial. —N. Y. Tribune.

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The Right Sentiments.—The Providence Journal says that in his recent visit to his fellow-townsmen, General Burnside, with no ovation because he desired none, appearing everywhere in citizen’s dress, made one incidental remark which is worth preserving as covering the whole ground, and showing the patriot and hero in one. When asked what he thought of this measure of the government, he replied: “My creed is short. The government must be sustained; the rebellion must and will be put down.”

Gen. Sickles, of New York, (a war democrat,) in an order to his splendid Excelsior Brigade, has this admonition to his men, which ought to be inscribed on every banner of the Union army: “Whoever seeks to sow discontent among you, by any means whatever, is as much your enemy as the armed rebel you have so often and so successfully encountered.”

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Miscellaneous News Items.

Prentice thinks while rags are so scarce in the United States, it is a pity we can’t capture a big rebel army.

The nine months men in the Department of the Gulf—the bounty men— are called “greenback soldiers” by those serving long-terms, who have no good feelings for the newcomers.

Gen. Banks lately proposed to the Massachusetts 47th, a nine months regiment, to enlist for the war and be converted into cavalry. This was rejected, and General Banks then proposed to the regiment to re-enlist for the war as infantry, with certain inducements in the way of bounty and outfits, but the boys were unanimous in saying no.

The Houston Telegraph tells the following incident of the fight on the Harriet Lane: “One of the Texans who boarded the Harriet Lane, immediately on jumping aboard, grasped a Federal sailor by the collar, exclaiming, ‘Surrender, or I’ll blow your brains out!’ The other replied, ‘You’d better look at me first!’ Recognition was instantaneous: they were brothers.”

Samuel Moore, who recently committed suicide in Warwick, Mass., had much affliction. His wife had been insane for thirty seven years. His eldest son was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun. His only daughter was found dead in her bed. And finally his house was burnt down and he was left without shelter.

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The Ice Crop.—To-day closes the ice houses of Worcester. Walker & Sweetser filled up their buildings on Salisbury pond with ice about twelve inches thick; to-day they will have that beside Lincoln pond filled up. With the near approach of warm weather, it is a matter of public gratulation than we can be supplied with this cooling luxury.

With the prospect of continued troublous times in the Southern cities, heretofore large consumers of this luxury, it follows that the harvest will be sufficient for all purposes, although prices of this, as of other commodities, will rule high.

From Port Royal.

New York, Feb. 13.—The Port Royal correspondence of the Herald dated the 9th says the steamer Ossian from Vera Cruz had put in there to be towed to New York for repairs.

Porter’s expedition is at a stand still worse than ever, for the troops are disembarking from the transports and taking up their quarters on St. Helena Island, and many days must elapse before anything can be achieved by it.

Reports are rife as to the disagreement between generals Hunter and Foster. Hunter, however, does not seem disposed to leave his department, but as it is clearly impossible for two heads of department to live amicably in the same locality, one of them vacates and goes north for instructions.

General Foster leaves to-morrow by the Arago and you must not therefore expect to hear anything further from the expedition for at least three weeks to come. Depend upon it however: the fleet will not be idle in the interval.

We learn by the Ossian that the French expedition to Mexico has been a complete failure, and that the remains of it will probably return to Europe within a short period—that is all that is left of it by the Mexican disease.

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A Stringent Order.—Gen. Mitchell, in command at Nashville, has issued an order directing forty-five sick and wounded rebels to be quartered at the houses of three secession families whose members have been prominent in their expressions of sympathy with the rebel cause. The order also says:

“As it is desirable that the sick and wounded should not be agitated by the presence of too many persons, no one will be admitted to the rooms in which the wounded are, except their surgeons, without passes from Surgeon Thurston. Each family above named will be held responsible for the safe delivery of the Confederate soldiers thus assigned when called for by the proper military authority, under penalty, in failure of such delivery, of forfeiture to the United States of their property and personal liberty.”

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Fifty damsels, sent out from England to Vancouver’s Island, had, upon arrival, to be housed in a Government building and a guard put over them, in order to protect them from the rush of amorous swains. They were all soon disposed of; but whether by lot or to the highest bidders does not appear. The Vancouver paper clamors for more, but prefers dairy maids to governesses.

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The French Negro Soldiers.—The Paris Moniteur confirms the report that the Emperor of the French had obtained Negro auxiliaries from Egypt. It says the Emperor asked from the Viceroy the temporary loan of a black regiment of twelve hundred men, already organized with all its officers. But the Viceroy was only able at the moment to spare four hundred and fifty men, who are intended to garrison Vera Cruz. The Moniteur adds that the plan was “a measure of humanity which is not amenable to the least criticism.” But the same paper, and all the government papers, criticized the American Government when its Generals proposed to garrison the Southern forts with men not subject to the same yellow fever.

1 The ram fleet was the brainchild of Charles Ellet, Jr., and was originally part of the U.S. Army. By this point in time, the U.S. Navy has taken over responsibility for operations along the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the rams report to Admiral Porter—but the crews retain their Army ranks. Charles Rives Ellet was the son of Charles Ellet, Jr.

2 Hence the drawback to cotton-clad warships . . .

3 The rebels may have brought this device back into use, but they certainly did not invent it. Known usually as a caltrop, it is first evidenced as early as 331 B.C. at the Battle of Arbella, and, now called a tetrahedron, is still in use today; by either name, the simple device works as well on pneumatic tires as it did on horses' hooves. Excellent article on caltrops, and a picture of a Roman one.