SUNDAY
MARCH 22, 1863
THE DAILY PICAYUNE (LA)

The Destruction of the U. S. Steam Frigate Mississippi.

There is something almost romantic in the recent destruction of the United States steam frigate Mississippi. The most exciting scenes in the best English and American naval novels hardly exceed in vividness of description the matter-of-fact narratives of some of the men who were on board the Mississippi during the engagement before the batteries at Port Hudson.

The Mississippi was the last in the line of the fleet which attempted the passage of the batteries on the night of March 14. In going up she was struck by three or four shot only, and the damage done was comparatively insignificant. But when she was at a point nearly in the center of the range of batteries, the smoke and steam from the boats in advance, and from the batteries on shore, so enveloped the ship that her pilot lost his bearings, and the frigate grounded on the right bank of the river.

For forty minutes she was exposed to a terrible fire from all the batteries. During this time she fired two hundred and fifty rounds; but her guns, one after another, were nearly all dismounted; her port-holes on the starboard side were knocked into one; twenty-five or thirty men were killed; four men were wounded; she was riddled through and through with shot; there was no prospect of her ever floating again; and, at last, in the utter hopelessness of the case, Capt. Smith gave the order for her abandonment.

It is said that during all the time she was under fire there was no particular excitement on board. The orders were quietly given and executed. The crew were told to load and fire at the batteries as rapidly as possible, and they did so as long as there was a mounted gun to fire. After the order to abandon ship, the boats were lowered down, the four wounded men put in first, and the crew filled the boats. Many men jumped overboard expecting to swim to shore. Some of them were picked up by their own boats, or boats from the fleet, and a few, it is supposed, were drowned. Those who reached the levee in the boats, strolled along down in straggling parties till they were opposite the fleet, when they hailed for the boats. The Essex steamed over and took off as many as fifty or sixty men.

When the crew were all off the ship, Capt. Smith and Lieut. Derby went around to see if there were any living men among those lying on the deck, and then went down and sprinkled turpentine in the wardroom, setting it on fire. The captain  of the fore hold was ordered to fire the ship forward, and they then abandoned her, leaving the dead on deck. The captain and lieutenant pulled in a boat for the Essex. The abandoned ship was soon wrapped in flames, and presently the fire reached the magazine, blowing up the ship with a tremendous explosion—and that was the last of the United States steam frigate Mississippi.¹

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New Accessions to the Anglo-Rebel Fleet.—By an arrival from Nassau, N. P., yesterday, we learn that the privateer Retribution was at anchor there for several days previous to the 28th ult., and that her officers were stopping at the Royal Victoria Hotel, openly discussing their exploits. Three iron steamers belonging to the Anglo-rebel fleet arrived there on the 27th, a valuable addition to those already afloat in our waters. Their names are the Georgiana, the Britannia and the Gertrude. All these vessels are reported to be very powerful and very fast. Cotton that had come from rebel ports to the value of $300,000 was piled up on the wharves of Nassau awaiting re-shipment to England.

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Privateering.—We do not hear of any movement in this vicinity to take advantage of the new law authorizing the issue of letters of marque. One great difficulty, provided a satisfactory commission from the President could be procured, is the present scarcity of steam vessels of sufficient speed and strength for the desired purpose. It is rumored that the commission will be granted against the rebel privateers, and not for the capture of vessels attempting to run the blockade.—Boston Traveller.

From Port Hudson and Baton Rouge.—The Empire Parish, which arrived from Baton Rouge this evening, brings the latest intelligence from Port Hudson.

She brought down Capt. Youngblood and the seventeen Confederates captured at the signal station near Port Hudson March 9.

The Monongahela, whose machinery was uninjured during the fight of last Saturday night, has repaired the damage done to her wood work, and is in good order again. She is now in the hands of Capt. Melancthon Smith, and the executive officer Lieut. Dewey, late of the Mississippi. On Friday she steamed up the river to a point near the lower batteries, and threw several shells from her 200 pound rifled Parrott. This she could do with perfect safety to herself, firing the gun at a distance of two and a half to three miles, and then changing her position so as to destroy the range of the guns in the batteries. She can throw her shells into the earthworks at every discharge, and yet present but a small and constantly shifting target. Of course there are no means at present of estimating the amount of damage she has done.

The latest reports say that the present position of the Hartford and the Albatross is five miles above Port Hudson, out of range of all the guns on shore; and that a considerable force has been landed on the right bank opposite the batteries. The width of water at this point destroys the romance of the current story that sentinels are holding conversations “across the river!” We are inclined to believe that Capt. Smith’s 200 pound Parrott is the only thing that can “speak” so as to be heard at that distance.

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The Riot at Calumet, Ind.—The following is from the Chicago Times:

At Calumet, a town of some five hundred inhabitants situated on the Michigan Southern Railroad near the crossing of the Michigan Central Railroad in Porter county, Rev. Capt. Wm. Copp was announced  to speak on Monday evening, the 2d inst. The evening came, and with it the speaker. The audience gathered. The speaker took the stand; opened the Bible before him; unbuttoned his coat; took from his side a pocket a navy revolver, which he deliberately placed by the side of the Sacred Book, and announced that his subject would be, “the Bible and Bullets.” The audience was a large one for that place, and composed of Democrats and Republicans, expecting, when they came together, to hear the truth from a divine who had been in the service.

They expected that he at least would deal justly to all men—“nothing extenuate nor aught set down in malice”—but what was their astonishment, after a brief introductory, to hear him propose to take a vote of the meeting to see how many of those present would “assist in hanging the copperheads of that county.” At this juncture the Democrats present withdrew to the street, where the Abolitionists followed them, assaulting them with pistols, knives, bludgeons and, in short, with everything available—instantly killing Robert Lake and seriously wounding ___ Mulhill and Thomas Mooney. In that immediate vicinity the most intense excitement prevails, and more bloodshed is anticipated before the affair is ended.

But this is not all. A few days previous to this affray, this same demon Copp spoke at Valparaiso, in the same county, announcing the same subject, and bluntly asking how many of those present were ready and willing to assist in hanging Buell Starr, Samuel J. Anthony, F. Y. J. Merrifield, Judge Woodruff, and David Oaks, five of the most prominent and wealthy citizens of Valparaiso, whose only crime is that of sustaining the constitution. Upon the vote being put, about two-thirds of the audience arose to their feet, when the estimable lady of one of the men assaulted withdrew; and it is only the love of law and order entertained by the people of Valparaiso that saved this white-cravated miscreant from dangling from a limb of one of the trees that line that beautiful courthouse square.

MONDAY
MARCH 23, 1863
THE DAILY RICHMOND EXAMINER (VA)

The Situation in the West.

The accounts we have from the West report all quiet. The enemy still hovers about Vicksburg, but confines his movements entirely to the massing of his forces and making preparations for a final assault. For the last ten days no demonstration has been made on either side, and there has been no change in the condition of things. The Yankees are still hard at work on their canal, and upon the success of this they rely for the capture of Vicksburg. Although the Northern papers have on more than one occasion announced the canal completed and the enemy’s fleet passed through, our latest advices from Vicksburg positively contradict it, and say that it is not yet completed, and that its success as a channel through which the enemy’s fleet can pass is as problematical as ever. Should this canal prove a failure, the enemy will have to abandon his plan of attack from below—for this canal is intended as a channel though which to get his vessels to the south of Vicksburg—and the only thing left him will be to make an attack directly in front of the city. In this event he would accomplish nothing, and it would be a desperate venture. A gentleman who is acquainted with the position at Vicksburg says that the enemy will never try this plan, and predicts that if the canal proves a failure the enemy will abandon the siege of Vicksburg and withdraw his troops. Defeat is inevitable in any attempt he may make to land his forces in front of the city. From a point of the river above, where high land begins, there is a high and precipitous bluff, which would not afford any landing place for the troops—only about two acres of ground are to be found where a landing could be effected, and upon this a formidable battery is ready to receive them, and in the rear there are numberless other batteries to protect it. The whole bluff, extending a distance of two miles, is also frowning with guns, all of which bear upon an enemy in the river. The only chance left the enemy would be to run our batteries, which he is hardly fool enough to attempt with his wooden transports. There is some talk of another cut off by Lake Providence, and through Bayou Mason and Tensas Bayou into Red river. This would carry his fleet down a hundred miles to the west of Vicksburg and would not help him, as the defences below are just as strong as those above.

In the meantime, while the fate of Vicksburg still hangs in the scales, there is no abatement in the heroic spirit of her defenders. Though surrounded by a tremendous s army and beleaguered by land and water, there seems to be but one feeling—never surrender! There is no fear, no foolish panic, but a firm determination to defend the city as long as there is one brick on another. Not a heart quails.  An officer from the West tells us that our men are in the best of spirits, and confident of driving back the enemy in every assault he makes. Our troops are also said to be in fine health, while those of the enemy were suffering terribly from disease, and becoming tired from the constant use of the spade, and demoralized from the long delay in their movement against Vicksburg. ->

From Port Hudson we also have favorable accounts. The enemy has not re-appeared since the recent repulse, and it is thought that so seriously was he damaged that he will hardly venture a second attack before he can have the co-operation of a force from above—which cannot be before the enemy’s fleet can get to the south of Vicksburg. Our works at Port Hudson are said not to have been damaged by the recent bombardment, and we are reported not to have lost a man. The affair had a beneficial effect on our men; it has established the strength of the position, and has inspired them with a confidence which will tell in another engagement. Our men have been so much in the habit of abandoning, and burning, and “blowing up,” on the appearance of a gunboat or two, that this signal repulse of the enemy will expose the folly of such a policy, and teach them, like the proud example of Vicksburg has, that the Yankee ironclads are a scarecrow when our men stand to their guns and resolve to do their duty. We believe, from what we hear, that our men at Port Hudson will die in the ditch before they surrender. The spirit here is like that at Vicksburg, and the men are said to have even a greater confidence of their ability to hold out against the enemy!

From the armies in Tennessee, we have the same accounts as we have here in Virginia—mud-bound. So soon as the roads are dry, the bloody work there will no doubt commence, as the condition of the roads is said to be the only consideration that postpones the conflict between the armies of Bragg and Rosencranz. In the meantime, and before the cry of battle rings out, let every man get to his post, and let the skulkers everywhere be driven back to the ranks to take their proper places in the coming conflict. Every man will be needed. We are glad to hear that by General Pillow rigidly enforcing the conscription act in that section of the country, the strength of our army in Tennessee has been greatly increased, and that when Bragg next encounters the army of Rosencranz, it will be without the fearful disparity of numbers under which our men have hitherto fought in the West. The results of the fighting during the next thirty days will probably have an important influence upon the duration of the war. It is a crisis with us—let every one do his duty.

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Great Influx of Yankee Prisoners.—Since our last issue there have reached Richmond twelve hundred and seventy-eight Yankee prisoners from the West, six hundred and forty-one arriving on Saturday, and six hundred and thirty-seven yesterday. The prisoners are part of five regiments captured by General Van Dorn at Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, and come from Knoxville. Among them are nearly a regiment of commissioned officers—colonels, majors, captains, first and second lieutenants, and non-commissioned “too numerous to mention.” They were quartered in the Hotel de Libby, and that somber place, left desolate and empty almost by the last departure northward, was as bustling and lively yesterday as in its most palmy days.

TUESDAY
MARCH 24, 1863
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT (CT)

The Mormons have attempted to expel the United States authorities from the Territory, and held a mass meeting on the 3d of March for that purpose. At this meeting Governor Harding and Associate Justices Waite and Drake were denounced as enemies of the Territory and general government, and a petition to the President for their removal was put in circulation. On being apprised of this movement, the United States officers in question emphatically refused to resign or leave the Territory, and when a committee of Mormons waited on the Governor, he delivered a scathing address to them, concluding by saying that “if one drop of his blood was shed whilst in the discharge of his duties by their ministers of vengeance, it would be revenged, and not one stone in their city would remain upon another.” The act of Congress against polygamy, passed in 1862, is causing great trouble amongst the Saints, who are doing all in their power to resist its enforcement by Governor Harding.

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Who Struck Billy Patterson?—Quite an exhilarating scene occurred in court here a few days ago. A wife was called upon to testify against her husband, who had made a furious assault upon her with a pitchfork. As the case assumed a dark look for the culprit, the poor woman became obviously alarmed for the safety of her liege. She began to extenuate his conduct, confessing that she had provoked him very sadly. At this point, W. W. Eaton, Esq., the opposite counsel, fearful that justice would not receive its due, demanded of the wife what provocations she made use of.

“Oh,” said she, “I called him very bad names.”

“What names?” said Mr. Eaton.

“Oh, very bad names; very provoking names,” responded the witness.

“Tell me,” said Mr. Eaton, “the very worst name you called him.”

“The very worst?”

“Yes, the very worst.”

The wife could no longer resist the seductive tones of Mr. Eaton, and so she spit out the startling disclosure: “I called him a d——d copperhead!”

Exit Eaton.

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From New Orleans.—The steamer Washington, from New Orleans on the 15th, arrived at New York Monday. The officers of the 12th Connecticut regiment had a meeting at Brashear City and adopted  an address to the people of their State, against the peace advocates, and ask if it is true that while repentant Louisiana is returning to loyalty, that Connecticut is preparing to desert to the army of treason.

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Interesting Items.

Potatoes are selling in Atlanta, Georgia, for fifteen dollars a bushel. In Bangor, Maine, they sell for thirty-five cents a bushel.

The St. Louis Republican states that the condition of the people of Southwest Missouri is positively alarming, they being so destitute as to be in danger of actual starvation.

The regulation requiring a military bond from persons going abroad who are liable to draft under the enrollment act, has been revoked, except in those States which have not yet furnished their complement of nine months’ men.

J. Panisha, of Western Virginia, just released as a political prisoner from Saulsbury, N. C., says the rebels boast that they get all the information concerning an advance of our troops, and also obtain our countersigns regularly. There must be a dangerous leak somewhere. ->

Solomon Huffman, while attempting to arrest Reuben Stout, a deserter from the 60th Indiana Regiment, at Lafayette, Ind., was shot by the latter and almost instantly killed. Stout escaped and a reward of $200 has been offered for his apprehension.

Mr. A. G. Boyd, publisher of the Free Press newspaper in Hagerstown, Maryland, has been arrested by order of Gen. Schenck and sent South, where he will no doubt be gobbled up for the rebel army. Mr. Boyd was a copperhead of the Brooks and Vallandigham school.

The Chicago Tribune says: “We have received within the last ten days sixty-seven letters (by actual count) from our brave boys in the field—mostly from private soldiers—all breathing the same pure spirit of patriotism, determination to fight for the preservation of the Union to the last, and hatred of the copperheads in the rear.”

The rebel General Gideon J. Pillow has suffered considerable loss of property during the progress of the present rebellion. In a speech which he recently delivered in Madison county, Alabama, he stated that the Union forces had stripped him of all his Negroes, burned his four cotton-gin houses, which he valued at ten thousand dollars each, taken one hundred thousand pounds of bacon, run off five hundred head of fine cattle and two thousand hogs, destroyed his houses in Arkansas and laid waste his plantations.

The treaty between the United States and Liberia is officially promulgated. There is to be perpetual peace and friendship, and reciprocal freedom of commerce between the contracting parties, and they bind themselves to treat each other on the footing of the most favored nations, including the full protection of persons and property. Our government engages never to interfere, unless solicited by Liberia, in the affairs between the aboriginal inhabitants and Liberia in the territory and jurisdiction of that republic; and citizens of the United States residing therein are desired to abstain from all such intercourse with the aboriginal inhabitants as will tend to violations of the law and disturbances of the peace of the country.

Advices from the Yazoo Pass expedition report that the movements are slow, but that there is every prospect of getting through successfully. Our forces had debarked near Greenwood and were besieging Fort Pemberton. A number of our transports were badly damaged in getting through the Pass. The ram Lioness overhauled the steamer Parallel, with 3,000 bales of cotton, on the 10th inst.,  crowding her so closely that the rebels were compelled to run her ashore and burn her. The rebels burn the cotton on every plantation as the army advances.

The present war is developing heroines as true as any of the revolution. There is a lady in New Hampshire whose brothers are all in the war, and who takes care of the barn as well as the house during their absence. Two cows, a yoke of steers and a horse, besides pigs, turkeys and chickens, receive her divided care between the house and barn, while she keeps three boarders in the house, and does all the labor for both departments. This, when coupled with the fact that she fairly drove her brothers to the war, one of whom was married and had quite a small family of children dependent upon his support, for whom the sister now provides, and that she is a well-educated and cultivated woman, is worthy of record.

WEDNESDAY
MARCH 25, 1863
LOWELL DAILY CITIZEN & NEWS (MA)

A “Big Thing.”—An English journal thus expiates concerning the marriage of the Prince of Wales:

The universal excitement is sufficiently evidenced in the display of London alone. There the theatres were to be opened gratis on the wedding night; 20,000 volunteers were to line the streets during the procession; a diamond present of $50,000 value was to be presented to the Princess; single illuminations of private establishments were to cost in some cases $5000; the ex-royal family of France were to be among the spectators; and such a furor was there to witness the pageant to the best advantage, that $2250 had been paid for the use of the windows on the first floor of one house, and even a single window accommodation had been rented for the enormous sum of $4750!

The Queen’s confectioner at Windsor has just finished the bridal cake. It stands five and a half feet high, and at the base two and a half feet broad.

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Commissions.—It is stated that the secretary of war has appointed Dr. Samuel G. Howe of Boston, Robert Dale Owen and Mr. McKay of New York city, a commission to investigate the condition of the contrabands throughout the country. This is an important movement, and the selection of the Massachusetts member of the commission, to say nothing of his associates, is judicious.

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From New Orleans.—Letters received in this city yesterday refer to Gen. Banks and staff as being up the river. Our friends at New Orleans were constantly expecting to hear of a fight. The medical director had received orders to be in readiness for a large number of wounded. We understand that there is a lack of bandages suitable for gun-shot wounds, and steps have been taken here to supply this need, the Soldiers’ Aid Association having a box of them prepared. The weather at New Orleans on the 14th was quite warm at mid-day, resembling our June.

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Army Matters.—Dispatches from Admiral Porter indicate that in consequence of the necessarily slow progress of the expedition, moving sometimes not more than a mile a day, and the publicity given to it, the enemy has made such ample preparations for resistance that Gen. Grant has found it necessary to dispatch reinforcements to overcome it. Admiral Porter also says that great distress prevails among the rebels in Vicksburg for want of supplies.

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Large Fire.—The National theatre, on Portland street, Boston, erected at a cost of $45,000, exclusive of land, was found to be on fire yesterday morning a little after one o’clock, and before three was in ruins. So rapid was the progress of the flames that very little of the property was rescued, and a family residing in the building were only saved by means of ladders. Several stores under the building were completely burned out. The origin of the fire is not stated. The building was erected in 1832. This makes six buildings of this class destroyed by fire in Boston since 1793, when the Haymarket Theatre was burnt.

The Stereophan—Soldiers’ Aid Association.—We understand that Mr. Ephraim Brown has most generously offered to give several exhibitions with the “Stereophan” for the benefit of the Soldiers’ Aid Association. To those who have not had the pleasure of witnessing these exhibitions, we may say that they are beautiful beyond description. Mr. J. H. Ely, who, until very recently, had a large interest in this Stereophan, has been most indefatigable in obtaining the finest views in the world—views of outward objects and of the rarest works of art. They have been gathered at great expense of time and money, and are now to be shown at the moderate price of twenty-five cents for a single ticket, and the proceeds to go towards replenishing the funds of the association. In other words, to go towards supplying the wants of the brave soldiers who are fighting our battles; and who would not make even sacrifices for them? But in point of fact, there is no sacrifice. Very visitor receives a hundred fold more than his money’s worth in the pleasure and instruction he will gain. It is, indeed, a most elegant entertainment, and we feel like thanking the afore-mentioned gentlemen for putting within the reach of our people the means of so much rational enjoyment. The beauties of the exhibition cannot be easily overstated. There is no pretense or humbug about the thing. Admiring crowds have visited it, and will continue to visit it, as long as a love of the sublime in nature and the beautiful in art exist in the human soul. Let there be a universal turn-out and thus cheer on the gallant soldier, and, at the same time, show to Mr. Brown our just appreciation of his generous and noble act.

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The Dedham Gazette says it is ascertained that Charles Amos, a colored lad about sixteen years of age, a native of that town, and his cousin, a lad of about the same age, have been sold into slavery. The two boys went out as servants to some of the officers of the Massachusetts 42d regiment, and at the capture of Galveston were taken by the rebels and sold into slavery.

The explosion at the laboratory on Brown’s Island, near Richmond, some days ago, resulted in the death of 33 persons, many of whom were young girls. The poor creatures were terribly burned and mangled, and in their anguish ran shrieking about the island till they sank down in utter exhaustion, and waited for death to cut short their sufferings.

The New York Times is importing 13,000 reams of news printing paper from Belgium. It will cost with duty and exchange about 15 cents a pound.

There are 800 monster guns at Pittsburg intended for sea coast defence. They are to be shipped to Boston and New York.

The Boston Marine Society have petitioned the legislature on the subject of coast defence—urging the appropriation of one million dollars for perfecting and mounting the fortifications in Boston harbor, and providing such iron-clad vessels as are necessary for its defense. 

THURSDAY
MARCH 26, 1863
THE BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT

Old Ironsides Rebels.—The Navy Department has just discovered itself in a serious dilemma, owing to the sturdiness of Old Ironsides—Commodore Charles Stewart. Some time since, Congress made him a Flag-Officer, on a salary of $4500 a year. A recent session “promoted” him to the rank of rear-Admiral, on an income of $2500 a year. As the first law was never repealed, the old hero fails to appreciate the advantage of paying $2000 for an empty title.  Secretary Welles sent him a commission, which was most courteously returned. A second was declined with grace—and I learn today that a third has been exquisitely refused. A captain in the navy, on Thursday last, asked the Flag-Officer how the matter would end. “I never surrendered any thing given me by the Government” replied the Captain of the Constitution, “and I am not going to contract a bad habit now.”—N. Y. Tribune.

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Colored Regiments from Philadelphia.—The Philadelphia Press says:

Four Negro regiments, it is thought, will be raised in this city. The first will be commanded by Colonel Frishmuth, the second by Colonel Angeroth, the third by Colonel Logan, and the forth by Colonel Vanslaven. About two thousand men have already been raised in this city, and only await the proper formalities from the War Department to organize into companies. The colored people of the city have offered $60,000 towards completing the organization.

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Gen. Grant’s Plans are wisely kept secret. Even the rebels appear to know nothing about them. Thus the Vicksburg correspondent of the Jackson (Miss.) Appeal, in a sort of despairing tone, says that deserters from the General’s army are entirely unaware of his movements.

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Distress in Ireland.—The following extract from a private letter, received recently from Wexford, Ireland, bears additional witness to the great misery now prevailing in the northern portions of that country. Having no connection with any Relief Committee myself, I hope that by its insertion in the Transcript, it may be brought before the eye, and attract the sympathy of, some one who has:

“The withholding of the cotton supply has, you are aware, produced terrible consequences to the English operatives; we are now feeling it in a ten-fold degree in the north of Ireland, where cotton-weaving has lately in a great measure been the sole occupation of the laboring classes. The English operatives had many resources to fall back upon when their hour of trial came, but the poor Irish have nothing—no savings bank, no good furniture, no clothes—and, singular to say, it is only just now that any move is being made to relieve them. Have you anything to do with the committee formed on your side for the relief of Lancashire distress? If so, may I beg of you to put in a word for Ireland? A committee is now formed in Dublin, presided over by the Hon. Lord Mayor, “The Central Committee for the Relief of Distress in Ireland.” Any letters of inquiry, addressed to “The Chairman” of this committee, will be gladly responded to.”

Certainly Ireland has a strong claim upon our charities, much stronger than that of England, if measured by the amount of sympathy and good feeling shown to us.

The Rebel Barbarities.—The stories brought from the South by released prisoners who arrived here yesterday are being put in an official form by the Secretary of War, with a view to their official publication, and perhaps also to the adoption of retaliatory measures. Judge Advocate General Holt took a number of depositions today on the subject.

The accounts which the witnesses gave of the suffering to which they have been subjected during more than a year of imprisonment are beyond anything yet publicly known. Several of them belonged to the party of twenty-two Ohio boys whom General Mitchell detailed after the battle of Corinth to destroy a railroad in Georgia, and who were captured in the interior, treated as felons were before prisons were reformed, put in irons, starved and denied light and air for nearly a year. Seven of them were dragged in irons to the scaffold and executed. Lieut. Barrett of Ohio, who received 100 lashes on his back rather than disclose the name of the leader of the expedition, was one of the witnesses.—Wash. Cor. Of N. Y. Tribune, Tuesday.

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National Songs Distasteful.—A disgraceful scene occurred this morning on one of the New Haven cars while passing through the tunnel in this city. A small and bright-looking Irish boy came into the car, and in a clear, sweet tone, sung a national Union song. While singing, as he passed through the aisle, he was suddenly seized by C. C. Burr and another copperhead lecturer, returning from a political mission to Danbury, Connecticut, one of them catching him by his loose neck-tie and choking him violently until he became black in the face, at the same time pounding his head and face against the floor and side of the car. The passengers, witnessing the outrage, sprang at once to their feet, denouncing in the most indignant terms the copperhead perpetrators, and for a time the greatest confusion and excitement prevailed. Burr and his comrade justified the infamous outrage, declaring that no national song should be sung where they were present. Our informant, a citizen of Danbury, Conn., says that steps have been taken to arrest the assailants, and it is to be hoped they will be punished as they deserve.—N. Y. Evening Post.

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Prize Money and Prize Agents.—The late act of Congress has a humane and judicious provision, which renders unnecessary the employment of agents or attorneys to collect prize money for officers, seamen or marines in the navy. It provides that prize money shall be paid to the Navy Department, and by the Department credited to each officer, seaman or marine in the books, and paid to him, as his wages or salary is paid, by the paymaster.

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

FRIDAY
MARCH 27, 1863
THE CALEDONIAN (VT)

One of Buell’s Army.

By Annie Sawyer Downs.

We see a very different side of the war in these nondescript south-western cities from what you do in New England. You see the heroic side, see your young and brave march away with music and streaming banners; and, although you feel that henceforth life has lost much of its charm for you, yet you say, under the influences of that true loyalty that is the glory of New England, “Thank God we had such sons to give to such a country.”

Only too well do I know how many of those, thus unselfishly surrendered to the country and God, come back to you; how vainly agonizing tears fall on cold dead faces, how dreary the earth looks to you, as wrapping them in their starry shroud, you leave them in country graveyards and city tombs. Still, you have the unexpressible, never-to-be estimated joy of feeling, that if death was to be their portion, if the young life was to be laid down, you would infinitely rather it would be laid down on these fields of right and duty than anywhere else on earth. Indeed, in every town in New England, there is more or less of the exalted feeling that makes men into martyrs for trust and human progress. Here, on the border, we lose sight to a great degree of those motives. We are too near the strife. We see the very foundation of business and society broken up; see our streets filled at all hours by federal soldiers and confederate prisoners; see all our beautiful public buildings crowded with sick and wounded, while every day scores of frightened exiles from the interior seek refuge and sympathy in our midst, Indeed, while a clear vision seems to be given New England, so that her people see the full meaning of this fearful struggle, we whose homes are overturned, whose villages are desolate, who dread friends only a trifle less than we fear foes, sometimes lose all heart and hope, and despairingly murmur, “How long, O Lord, how long?”

Often, however, from the chaos of this unsettling of all things, there gleam as bright instances of heroism as any that have shed glory around your Berkshire hills, and made the marshes of Essex forever famous. Many come to our knowledge, as we stand by the narrow cost where they lay the wounded from Donelson and Murfreesboro, and one such let me try to tell you.

Last summer when Buell ran that famous race for possession of our city, several regiments of his hotly-pressed, sparsely-fed men were encamped around our house; so near, that we never opened a blind but we saw a soldier gazing in. I think no soldiers ever had a harder time than these poor fellows endured; the remnant of those who fought at Pea Ridge, Donelson, and Shiloh. A roof had not sheltered them for months; sometimes for weeks together they had not even tents; and through that fierce August sun, they had marched an incredible number of miles in the least possible time, then rested a little time in our midst, to gain strength to go out and win the hardly contested field of Perryville. ->

They were in and out of our house as often as they pleased, and usually our daily paper went the rounds of the camp. One morning a young fellow came for it whom we had not noticed before, and as we watched him coming up the walk, we said, “Whoever he is, consumption has stamped her mark on his face.” Handing the paper, and asking him if he was not sick, he admitted that he had a cough which he contracted lying out in the intense cold after Donelson, but assured us he was all right; he had seen plenty of fellows get well, who were worse than he was. We took up a strong liking for the cheerful, manly boy, and as there was little doing in the camp, he spent a great many hours with us, usually lying on  settee, always saying, “because it seemed so much like one his mother had.” We were not surprised that he turned from his coarse, miserably-cooked rations with absolute disgust, or that after we overcame his scruples of pride, he partook of our tea and toast with almost a child’s eagerness. To this day certain articles of food always bring before our eyes that soldier’s thin eager face and brilliant eyes. We learned that a pleasant home on the far-off prairies of Illinois waited for him, that mother and sisters yearned lovingly for his coming. Knowing only too well that if he did not go soon he would never go, we advised him to obtain his discharge, or at least a furlough. He said neither the one nor the other could be obtained at that time; added that he did not know as he would take one if they offered it; he was bound to see the fight which would certainly take place on their return march. We insisted so persistently that he agreed to try, but received for an answer that unless a man dropped down in the ranks, he would not be excused. The same day he informed us of his decision, he read to us a letter from his mother, and its cheerful, hopeful tone, so filled with true mother love, went to my heart; I do not mind telling you that I advised him to put on citizen’s clothes and desert. I was rightly punished by the horrified look which he gave me, and by his careful avoidance of my neighborhood for a day or two. At last came the morning when they obtained their marching orders, and when he came to bid us good bye they were already striking tents. We knew he could not march five miles, but he declared he should try, and if he gave out he could tumble into an ambulance; at any rate, he should see the fight. 

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One of the victims of the Detroit riot died Wednesday, from injuries received the previous week at the hands of the mob. He was a sober, industrious and inoffensive man, and had laid by considerable money with which he intended to purchase the freedom of his wife and two children, who are slaves in Virginia. Householders fear to rent their houses to those who have been burned out and mobbed, and the Negroes therefore wander homeless in the streets

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British Sympathy.—England is so much grieved at our domestic troubles, that she gives vent to it in fitting private-tears.

SATURDAY
MARCH 28, 1863
THE DAILY PALLADIUM (CT)

The Rebellion Giving Out.

Unless we strike the rebels soon, the whole thing bids fair to fall from sheer exhaustion. Its end is likely to be that of the countryman’s dog, who “didn’t die, but kinder gin out.” Leading Baltimore bankers, who are in correspondence with Richmond, are reported as saying that the confederate finances are in a state of utter ruin, that supplies for public use are getting short, and the rebellion is rapidly caving in. Every account from the South confirms this statement.

Gov. Brown of Georgia has issued a call for a special session of the legislature of that state, giving as the only reason for it, “that developments have clearly shown the necessity for further legislation at na early day to secure the use of all our productive labor this year in the cultivation of our lands in grain and other articles necessary to sustain life, and not in cotton, tobacco or like productions, and to prevent the destruction of food by distillation.”

There is a remarkable hegira at this moment from all parts of the South, as well as from Virginia. A letter from Cairo, Illinois, says: “There is a constant stream of refugees from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Sometimes the railroad passenger building here overflows with them. There is no doubt but that their number is greater than our losses in the field. They seek interior farming regions, and the demand for tillable land is very great. Many heads of families either remain in our army, or seek it when they settle their families. There is no mistake about their love for the Union. They are of the middle class, many can read, and they will be a valuable addition to our loyal population. They all agree that the country is nearly swept of provisions, and that many women and children are on the borders of starvation. The evils of war in the states mentioned are immensely increased by the thousands of guerrillas who have adopted this course of life in preference to serving in the rebel army. First they plunder Union men, take their horses and kill their cattle, and when this fails they rob their friends. As a consequence, property becomes insecure. Small farmers have not the heart to plant, even if they had the teams.”

Dr. Gilpatrick, who has lately explored the Indian territory and western Arkansas, says the destitution with regard to many articles of common use among people who have been in affluence, and the strife to procure them, are almost pitiable. He saw some women digging the dirt from smoke-house floors, and leaching it in a hopper, afterwards boiling the leachings in order to concentrate the salt it contains. This was the only method they had of obtaining salt. Coffee is a thing that has been unknown for months, except as procured from from the “Lincoln hirelings.” The doctor saw the women general milking cows, chopping wood, riving oxen, &c., women, too, of a class that had always been accustomed to be waited upon. They do these chores as if used to it. When visitors come, they commonly introduce their bad, heavy biscuit, &c., with apologies to the effect “that their help is gone, &c.” In all of this region scarcely a carpet or other similar article can be found. It has been made into clothing for the men in the rebel army. ->

An Italian gentleman who has been for some years engaged in business in Richmond, Va., arrived in New York a day or two since. He states that he has been boarding at the Exchange Hotel in Richmond, paying eight dollars a day, and the bill of fare consisted of corn bread, cheese, homeopathic soup and hot water. On soliciting from the landlord a little more generous diet, for which he offered an increased rate of pay, the Boniface replied, “If you pay me $50 per day, I might give you a larger portion of corn bread and more hot water, but nothing more.” The provost marshal allowed the hotel for all its inmates ten pounds of meat per week.

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Mr. Hyde and the “Strikes.”

We learn that the strikes at Rockville are almost ended, and most of the men have returned to work. The leading mills had agreed before the strikes to advance the rate of wages on the 1st of April to suit the increased cost of living. From this and other facts known it is certain that these strikes were political movements of the copperhead stripe. Mr. Alvan P. Hyde, it is reported, was in consultation with leading rioters for two or three days before the strike. One day last week a party hack drew $900 from the Rockville bank on Hyde’s check. A workman boasted that he could afford to lose his time in the mill, as he got one dollar a day when out. It was a revolutionary movement, calculated to excite the workmen against their employers, and carry them all in a body to vote for Hyde, or act “in some other way.” It is in accordance with the general plan of revolutionary violence of the copperhead leaders.

Mr. Hyde has gone to New Britain to “operate” in that manufacturing town. He speaks there to-night. Let a close watch be kept on him. Workmen will do well to remember that he can only lead them into misfortune. These pestilent agitators who sow sedition are the greatest enemies of the laboring men.–Hartford Press.

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How Changed the Tune.—Two years ago in Dixie “Cotton was king,” and for the want of cotton New England would be reduced to want and starvation. The Richmond Enquirer of a late date says: “Cotton is not king now. Corn is king; potatoes, hogs, hay, oats, and cattle are sovereign.” Yes, the rebels are suffering for food. Anything to eat is King down South, while in the free States, we have enough, and to spare to the starving millions of the old world. The rebels have learned that “the way of the transgressor is hard.”

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During the past year our mercantile marine has been diminished, from foreign sales, federal conversions, and Confederate captures, by the number of three hundred and sixty-five vessels–many of heavy tonnage–valued in the aggregate at $6,186,000.

1  Mississippi was the oldest steamer in the fleet, and undoubtedly the most beloved. Laid down in 1839, she had been in active service since 1841. In that time she had served in the Mexican War and accompanied Matthew Perry on his expedition to Japan. Ironically, her short-lived sister ship, Missouri, perished by fire as well, in Gibraltar Bay in 1843. The two ships—identical save for the design of their engines—were the U.S. Navy’s first steam frigates.