SUNDAY
JULY 31, 1864
THE DAILY TRUE DELTA (LA)

Mild Government.

Though we are under martial law in New Orleans, yet the United States military authorities wear their “blushing honors” so modestly, hold the reins of government s loosely–in short, are so full of urbanity, kindness and mercy, always ready to oblige, and reluctant to strike the blow which justice and necessity demand, that sundry civil functionaries, and large numbers of citizens seem totally oblivious of the state of things which, for the time, really exists. One is almost tempted to think that some in civil authority, and not a few high privates–or, at least, privates in high life–imagine that the only use and object of the military authorities and of the troops under their command, are to act the subaltern, do their bidding, and promote the very important ends of their personal dignities. Men but of yesterday, mere parvenus, are seen puffing and swelling, rolling out high-sounding and most grandiloquent expressions, as if there was power or greatness in the nation equal to theirs. It calls to mind the fable of the frog attempting to sell and blow himself up to the size of an ox; an explosion was inevitable, which sad consummation has already befallen sundry well-intentioned and prominent gentlemen; and it is a melancholy fate which is imminent in the case of quite a number of others, unless some power should intervene, and deign the gift to “get them to see themselves as other see them.”

But it is not our design to paint fantastic tricks which, if they do not make angels weep, certainly make sensible men shake their sides with laughter. And a good hearty laugh is promotive of health and good humor. The faculty of laughter was intended to be cultivated, developed and enjoyed, along with other faculties. In this view we tender our grateful acknowledgements to the comic actors for the amusing scenes to which we refer. Our purpose, however, is to draw attention to the gentle, kind and indulgent character of the government over us, of which these things are illustrations and evidences, inducing the notion that “martial law” is a misnomer, and military commanders of departments only “orderlies” to execute the behests and move according to the becks and nods of civil superiors, whether in or out of office. Mercy is indeed the true badge of nobility. It is your man of yesterday, raised without merit, who ignores mercy and magnanimity, and is vindictively fierce in personal resentments, and desirous of wholly disproportioning the penalty to the real or imaginary offence. The United States never yielded the palm to any one, on the score of mercy and magnanimity; and to-day the ancient renown of the “old flag” in this regard is maintained in its pristine integrity, and recalls reminiscences of the halcyon days of the Republic.

The praise of the Commanding General of this Department, and of the military authorities as a whole, has deservedly been in the mouth of every citizen. Their country’s honor has received no detriment at their hands; but mindful of their high mission, and reflecting the mind and spirit of the Government at Washington, they have ever evinced that kind solicitude, and spirit of indulgence–conciliation and compromise in all matters indifferent–which constitute so prominent a feature in the counsels of the fathers of the nation. ->

In our election for Governor, Gen. Banks magnanimously declined the expression of any opinion or preference in respect to the candidates lest it might seem that the sword had part in a contest which he desired should be perfectly free, unfettered and unawed. The result, by an overwhelming majority, placed one of our own citizens, a gentleman of firmness and abilities equal to its responsibilities, in the gubernatorial chair. Than his Excellency, Michael Hahn, our military and civil Governor, no man can claim a more numerous host of personal friends, or is more generally loved and honored by the whole body of the people. His genial face and urbane and unostentatious deportment are, in no small degree, an excuse for the momentary forgetfulness of the rule of necessary martial law in the city.

•••••

An Extensive Raid–The Route.

New York, July 23.–The Herald’s Nashville  dispatch says Gen. Rousseau left Decatur the 16th, on a most important raid, with a force of 2700 men well mounted; 1000 of them armed with Spencer’s repeating rifle. The route to be taken is one that has heretofore  never been followed during the war, though nearly identical with the track pursued by Gen. Jackson in the war against the Creek Indians. The first point of any importance on the route is Bluntsville, the next Ashville. A few miles beyond Ashville is Coosa river. He is then to move rapidly upon the Tallapoosa river. The route between these two streams is to be very rapidly pursued, and bridges are to be completely destroyed.

The passage of the Tallapoosa will in all probability be made at Tehokee, and will bring the force into Dadesville. The mountain roads will carry them into the railroad at Talladega and the nearest bridge and ford over convenient points, when the  work of destruction will begin. There are eight bridges on the railroad between Montgomery and Opelika. It is more than probable that a number of tunnels and bridges are to be found in the valley. Between Opelika and West Point are two bridges  over Big Hollow Creek and Osuppah Creek, near Columbus. On the other route are three bridges over Watumpka Creek and Mill Creek.

Returning after the destruction of these roads Rousseau is to move up the west side of the Chattahoochee if opportunity offers, and join Sherman between Marietta and the Chattahoochee river. If route is threatened, Rousseau is to  make straight for Pensacola, and take vessels to New Orleans and thence to Nashville again.

By Richmond papers of the 20th, we have our first reports of Rousseau’s works. A dispatch from Atlanta, 10th, says telegraphic communication with Montgomery was suspended last night at Notasulga. The interruption is supposed to have been caused by a portion of the enemy, who were reported to be at Talladega on Saturday. No train arrived to-day from West Point.

MONDAY
AUGUST 1, 1864
THE HOUSTON TELEGRAPH (TX)

“When Will the War End?”–This may be said to be the “leading question” of the day. It is everywhere propounded. In sanctuary and saloon; in forest and field; in the army and out of the army; in the parlor and street; in halls of legislation and domestic circles, all seem eager to know when our enemies will be compelled to cease their barbarous warfare, and yield us all we ever claimed, which is simply to be let alone. Yet, it is asked in vain, for so momentous is the question that human sagacity, wisdom and foresight are not equal to the emergency, and even reason herself seems confounded when required to solve the difficult, not to say unanswerable, problem. At this stage of the proceedings it would seem that there is but one Being in the universe who can define the limit of the present contest.

But, “as coming events cast their shadow before them,” we think the signs of the times indicate an early peace. (The “boss” editor is not now speaking; he has had his say concerning this matter.) Would you have us name the time when hostilities are to cease? We conscientiously believe that there will be a cessation of hostilities before the first of June next. Now for our reasons.

The defeat of Lincoln in the forthcoming Presidential election will be a death blow to the war party. That he will be defeated, it seems there can be but little doubt. He will be defeated because the majority of the legal voters in the North, or “New Africa,” have become tired of the war. In proof of this we cite the fact that volunteering is at an end, and though Lincoln in his several proclamations has called for over two millions of troops, he has not been able to obtain a sufficient number to engage our armies successfully.

Out of every thousand he has had conscripted, he has never been able by resort to the commutation and exemption acts, to bring over five or six per cent of the same into the field. If this is not proof positive that the “people,” the masses, are tired of the war, and would like to see it end, we know not what would be. And the very next opportunity they have to express their opinion, is secretly through the ballot box, they will verify our assertion.

Again, the repeal of the $300 commutation bill renders Lincoln’s defeat certain, for if men are no longer able to buy themselves out of the army, they will vote themselves out as soon as they have a chance. In other words, they will vote for the “peace candidate,” whoever he may be.

Besides this, Fremont and his followers will so divide and distract the party now in power, that selection of the peace candidate will be rendered certain.

The only hope that the Black Republican party has left now is in the success of Grant and Sherman. To sustain these commanders they are bending all their energies. The party in power has for a long time resorted to every available means to sustain these Generals. Not a stone has been left unturned whereby some little advantage might be gained. Yet we see Grant already defeated, and Sherman’s rout in evitable. When this event takes place, the Lincolnites may hang their harps upon the willows, and themselves on the limbs of their native trees, if they would shun the misery in store for them.

News Items.

The following extract from the Washington correspondent of the Herald exhibits in the strongest light the bankrupt condition of the Yankee government. The expenses of the government have gone up from two millions per day, in 1862 and 1863, to four millions per day in 1864.

Owing to the largely increased expense of the government, officially announced by Mr. Chase in his proposals for the new loan, it is estimated that four millions per day will hardly be sufficient to meet the accumulating requisitions upon the treasury. The causes of this great increase of expenditures are apparent. The total number of men called out for the army under the various proclamations, up to this time, is 2,139,000.

Add to this source of expense is the navy, including 588 vessels and 44,000 seamen. The loans and liabilities authorized by acts of Congress, which now are nearly all exhausted, amount to two thousand seven hundred and seventy-four million nine hundred and twelve thousand eight hundred and eighteen dollars. During the years 1862 and 1863 the expenses of the government did not exceed two millions per day; but they have now been run up to four millions daily by the increase of prices, as well as of the army and navy, and internal tax and subscription to the ten-forty bonds are inadequate to the daily requirements of the treasury.

•••••

The Texas Hospital in Alabama, under care of Dr. L. A. Bryan, of this city, is now in need of funds. By the statement published elsewhere, it will be seen that Dr. Bryan has received $74,832, of which the State of Texas furnished $50,000, and there was collected and forwarded by the editor of this paper $20,599, and from other sources $4,233. Dr. Bryan writes us under date of July 5th as follows: “If the people of Texas want the Texas Hospital continued under the auspices of the State of Texas, they will have to furnish more funds.”

There were on that date 414 Texas soldiers under treatment there.

The amount of good this Hospital has done, and is capable of doing, cannot be estimated. Under the careful attendance of Dr. Bryan, thousands have been relieved, and many lives have been saved that would otherwise, without doubt, have fallen the victims of neglect, in the midst of so many claiming the attention of the people there.

We ought to raise $50,000 at once and send forward to Dr. Bryan, and we invite the people to contribute to this fund without delay. Send the money to us and we will forward it by our couriers at once. Do not let this means of so much good be lost for want of timely contributions.

TUESDAY
AUGUST 2, 1864
THE BOSTON HERALD

War Matters.

It is very satisfactory to know the opinion of one of the ablest soldiers in the Southern Confederacy on the situation at Atlanta–that soldier being our enemy and committed heart and soul against us. His opinion is that the attempt to hold Atlanta must inevitably be the destruction of Hood’s army. This is pleasant to hear in the hot weather, when Hood is wholly committed to hold that city. It appears to be certain that this was the very point upon which Johnston was “relieved.” He refused to sacrifice his army in a vain attempt at the impossible. Hardee also had the same opinion of the impossibility of holding Atlanta, and refused the command of the army on the same point. Hood took command on the desperate terms of sacrificing his army rather than continuing the retreat.

A special dispatch to the Advertisers says the grand mine in front of Potter’s division of the Ninth army corps, exploded by Gen. Grant on Saturday, was four hundred feet long of powder. Bushrod Johnson’s division was in this locality, and some two or three hundred of his men were buried, and we got three or four hundred prisoners. Our line had formed during the night as follows: The Fifth corps was massed on the left, and the Ninth in the centre, the Eighteenth on the right, with the Second in reserve behind the Eighteenth and right wing of the Ninth. The assault was made by the first division of the Ninth, Gen. Ledlie commanding. The second and third divisions of the Ninth corps were moving up. A terrific cannonade from one hundred and twenty-five guns was opened on the city and the rebel works simultaneously with the assault, and the city appeared one mass of flame. Generals Grant and Meade were at Burnside’s quarters in easy range of the rebel batteries.

It is very generally the impression among the citizens of Northern Virginia, and also the rebel troops, that the scheme of the enemy is to disintegrate their force into smaller bodies, and with these to scour the border and make sudden forays into the southern counties of Maryland, plundering sufficient for their subsistence. It seems to be the intention to keep up their organization as an aggregate force, in view of more extensive movements as opportunity offers, or to act against an insufficient force. General headquarters are to be located at an easily defensible yet accessible point, with rendezvous of subdivisions in the field. By this method small forces are expected continually to annoy our troops, and keep them in never-ending pursuit.

Parties from the Northwest represent that our soldiers are making the disloyal feel the war in Platte county, Missouri, and are killing every rebel found in arms, giving notice to amnestied rebels to quit the State, and carrying out the most radical policy toward the rebels generally.

It is somewhat remarkable that the great contest before Atlanta should have found three class-mates  of West Point in command of armies there, viz.: McPherson, Schofield, and the rebel Hood. McPherson and Schofield were class-mates during the last year of their cadet life. McPherson and Hood were tent-mates during their last cadet encampment. The gallant and noble McPherson, whose fame as a brilliant soldier is fixed, was much beloved as a friend by all who knew him intimately.

Though no active operations on the part of Gen. Sherman are reported, it is well known that that general is effecting combinations which will make the prize all the more valuable when it falls into our hands. The tenor of Gen. Sherman’s dispatches has never been of a nature to justify over-sanguine expectations regarding the capture of Atlanta, but he feels that he is master of the situation, and is perfectly confident of ultimate and not far-distant success. Rebel deserters are unanimous in the statement that the hopelessness  of the situation of Atlanta produces the deepest gloom throughout the rebel army and the Confederacy generally. They say that if Atlanta falls the game is up. ->

The Washington correspondent of the N. Y. World says Gen. Grant’s last movement against Richmond is expected by himself and his friends to result in something far more decisive than anything he has yet undertaken against the rebel capital. Senator Wade, of Ohio, and his wife, some three weeks since, paid a visit to the Army of the Potomac, the senator feeling very blue at what he supposed was the failure of Gen. Grant’s campaign against Richmond. On his return to Washington after the visit, however, he was in the best of spirits, and told his intimate friends he had no doubt at all but that the rebel capital would soon be captured. Gen. Grant told him that his long delay before Petersburg was due solely to the extreme drouth, which rendered it impossible for him to move his men and animals away from where fresh water could be procured. Gen. Grant told Senator Wade that just as soon as a sufficient quantity of rain fell to insure a supply of water, and lay the intolerable dust in the roads, that he would make a movement which would fully satisfy the fullest expectations of the country. It will be remarked that rains have just fallen in the vicinity of Richmond, and Gen. Grant, true to his promise to Senator Wade, is now on the march for the rebel capital–this time on the north bank of the James river. Notwithstanding the withdrawal of the Sixth corps, very large reinforcements have been sent to Gen. Grant’s army from various quarters, including the 19th Army Corps, which recently came up from the Mississippi River. Officials here have the utmost confidence that Gen. Grant will achieve brilliant success.

•••••

A New Style of Religion.–Some one, whose head is usually “level,” had written out his ideas of religion as follows. It will do to read and think about:

We want a religion that goes into the family, and keeps the husband from being spiteful when the dinner is late; keeps the wife from being spiteful when the husband tracks the newly washed floor with his muddy boots, and makes the husband mindful of the scraper and door mat; amuses the children as well as instructs them; wins as well as governs them; projects the honeymoon into the harvest moon, and makes the happy hours like the eastern fig tree, bearing in its bosom at once the beauty of the tender blossom and the glory of ripened fruit. We want a religion that not only bears on the sinfulness of sin, but on the rascality of lying and stealing; a religion that banishes all small measures from the counters, small baskets from the stalls, pebbles from cotton bags, clay from paper, sand from sugar, chicory from coffee, beer-root from vinegar, alum from bread, lard from butter, strychnine from wine, and water from milk-cans. The religion that is to advance the world will not put all the big strawberries and peaches on top, and all the bad ones at the bottom. It will not offer more baskets of foreign wines than the vineyards ever produced bottles. The religion that is to sanctify the world pays its debts. It does not consider forty coins returned for one hundred given, according to Gospel, though it is according to law. It looks upon a man who has failed in trade, and who continues to live in luxury, as a thief. It looks upon a man who promises to pay, and who fails to pay on demand, with or without interest, as a liar.

WEDNESDAY
AUGUST 3, 1864
NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT & GAZETTE

The Financial Expedient.

It is stated that the expedient to raise money, agreed to be urged upon the Legislature at its extra session next week, is to demand of all the Banks in the State a loan  equal to 20 per cent of their capital stock! If they refuse to comply with this demand, their charters are to be revoked. The whole banking capital of the State is some over four and a half millions of dollars; the amount of this forced loan will therefore be over $900,000.

In the early stages of the war we predicted that forced loans would be resorted to for its prosecution, and we are therefore not surprised to learn that this expedient is seriously contemplated. Whether the majority in the Legislature will have the courage to put it through is somewhat doubtful. They have the power to do it, and it should surprise no one to see it done. But would it not be better, more honest and consistent with their professions and preaching, for the Republican leaders and their fellow “war hawks” to loan their own money to the State? That they have the legal and moral right to control. They can easily furnish of their own means far more than the amount to be realized by this proposed forced loan from the Banks, and as they loudly insist that it is the duty of “loyal” men to aid the Government in all possible ways, and confidently assure the public that no risk is run in loaning it money, they ought to consider it a privilege to come to its rescue in this its time of need. But they have neither legal nor moral right to thus dispose of the property of others; and we very much doubt whether even their “loyal” constituents who own Bank stock, will approve of this forcible transfer of their property. Nor will it remove their objections to be told that this expedient is resorted to in order to compel the “copperheads” to contribute their share in “aiding the Government.”

But why this “forcing process” to be confined to the Banks? Why should not Railroad and Manufacturing corporations also be compelled to contribute in like manner to support the Government? These corporations have been making vast sums of money during the war and by the war. They have been largely patronized by the Government, and it is but right that they now be called upon to do their full share towards sustaining their liberal patron. And we trust that, if this project is presented to the legislature, these plethoric corporations will be compelled to bear company with the Banks and to loan the same proportion of their rich stock. It is far more reasonable and just to force a loan from them than from the Banks; for the Banks have been constantly aiding the Government from the commencement of the war, without receiving anything but cuffs and kicks and unjust burthens in return; while Railroads and Manufacturing corporations have been all the time enjoying very liberal patronage from the Government.

If this expedient of forced loans is resorted to, it will be utterly disgraceful to the State, and at the same time inflict a serious blow upon its financial credit. If money cannot be obtained upon that credit now, it is time to stop the war and thus put an end to the demand for more loans. Let the Governor and Legislature declare for peace and there will be no trouble in obtaining all the money the State needs. But as long as their “voice is still for war,” they will find more and more difficulty in procuring it.

•••••

The New Slave Trade.

The Albany Argus remarks that the competition between Massachusetts and the other States, for the purchase of Negro contrabands for the army, is having the effect of raising the price of the article. Massachusetts has had the benefit of early intelligence, a secret understanding with the Government, and the pick of the market! These freedmen, so called, live in camps, are fed upon Government rations, cannot travel without passports, nor find employment sufficient to live upon. When they are wanted for the army, therefore, they have no alternative, and no power of resistance, and they are brought in in droves. The army, when they are once in, has tenfold the labors, the terrors, and the dangers of the plantation. ->

They do not come in willingly! They have to be hunted throughout the neighborhoods, to be caught and tied, and are brought in coffles, as on the Guinea Coast, to the recruiting depot. The unwillingness of the Negro to meet his liberator is beginning to excite the wonder and anger of Philanthropists who just now are willing to liberate him not only from his oppressors, but from life also. The New York Times explains how this is, and comes to the apparent conclusion that we cannot get our full supply of Negro troops till after the war is over. The freedmen will join us when the Loyal Leaguers do! That is, when neither are wanted.

What shall we think of a cause, which has been rashly staked upon Negro zeal and capacity, in the face of statements like these, which we copy from the Times:

The truth is that no considerable number of soldiers can be obtained from the rebel States, until those States have been pretty thoroughly conquered. As fast as our armies approach the interior of the slave regions, the Negroes are removed further out of our way. We have never yet been able to lay hands upon any considerable number of them. The centre of the hive always retires before we approach it; and it is only by sudden and unexpected raids that we can ever get into the midst of this population, before the quelling of the rebellion.

This is the case everywhere. In Arkansas, in Louisiana, in Mississippi, in Tennessee, in Georgia, and in Virginia, it has been, and is, entirely out of the question to get hold of any considerable number of the slaves of rebel masters. All our efforts in Tennessee have not yet given us five full regiments, for the reason that the State had been so thoroughly cleared of Negroes by their withdrawal further South. The same is the case in Louisiana, with the exception of that part of the State which Gen. Butler got early under his control, ad which Gen. Banks has managed to keep. We do not know precisely how many black troops Gen. Banks has enlisted, but we believe he has succeeded in getting a greater number than have been collected in any other Military Department.

In Mississippi we found, during Grant’s sudden and rapid march to Jackson, that the rebels had been before us, and that the slaves whom we had expected to find in large numbers upon the Pearl River, had already been hurried east of the Tombigbee. In Northwestern Georgia, Sherman now finds precisely the same condition of things. Cattle and Negroes are alike driven away from his line of march, and although he is now really in the heart of the Negro country, it is a Negro country no longer. Grant’s unexpected transfer of his army to the south of the James River has been the occasion of a similar experience. At the very next door to his present position lie Dinwiddie and Amelia counties, two of the blackest counties in Virginia; but we have got no Negroes from them; and have been able to get none, with the single exception of a body of four or five hundred that Wilson succeeded in getting through from his raid. No doubt another raid sent into those counties would find that the slaves had already disappeared, having gone towards Danville or towards the centre of North Carolina.

•••••

What the Rebels Want.—The N. Y. Herald’s Niagara Falls correspondent says that the Rebel “Commissioners” there frequently stated in unequivocal terms that “they preferred the election of Mr. Lincoln to General McClellan,” and that they coupled this with the assertion that “in the event of Mr. Lincoln’s re-election the South would be positively sure and certain to secure their independence; that he (Lincoln) would continue his bungling mismanagement of the war until the North became so tired and disgusted that a Revolution would follow, furnishing the South an opportunity to accomplish the object of the rebellion and the war.”

THURSDAY
AUGUST 4, 1864
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT (CT)

The Army of the Potomac.

Swinton, of the New York Times, says: “Lee’s entire force in Virginia to-day does not exceed sixty thousand men, and he cannot hope to add to it. With a faultless management, he may be able to hold the lines of Petersburg, while he annoys the borders with hostile incursions. This may dictate of our part the abandonment of the greater military operations for a time; but to infer, as many do, that the action of Saturday has ended the summer campaign, is to overpass the warranty of sound reason. The scene of action may shift, but the action itself will go on. But first of all there is needed the expulsion of the rebels from their position in northern Virginia and Maryland, and the combination afoot seems to indicate this, as General Grant’s main business on hand.”

The World says our entire loss last Saturday before Petersburg, including missing, is estimated at 3000. The rebels claim to have 1200 prisoners, including the wounded. The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded must have been nearly, if not quite, as large as ours, as they charged three times to recover their lost ground, and were driven back twice with terrible slaughter.

The Herald’s correspondent says rebel deserters state that the enemy were busy burying their dead all night. Their statements make out their loss much heavier than was supposed, which was fully two thousand killed, wounded, and prisoners. The treatment of the Negro prisoners and wounded by the rebels is reported to have been barbarous in the extreme.

Gen. Burnside was not wounded.

The Tribune’s army correspondent says: “It must be confessed that there is no little chafing and swearing among earnest officers and men here at the little disappointment which, it must also be confessed, we suffered here on Saturday. How galling it must be to the Lieutenant General who had managed the affair so magnificently so far, to have all his plans swamped at the very point of a glorious consummation, by the unaccountable and inexplicable inertia of a few leading divisions.

“But, after all, the little affair on Saturday was not a drop in the bucket to our resources here.

“Other important movements are on foot which you will hear of soon.”

•••••

There are 580 tenement houses in New York, which contain by actual count 10,933 families, or about 85 person each; 193 others which contain 111 persons each; 71 others which cover 140 each; and finally, 29–these must be the most profitable–which have a total population of no less than 5,449 souls, or 187 to each house.

•••••

The rebels have ordered all aliens to organize themselves into militia for future service. Those who refuse are imprisoned in Castle Thunder. All are endeavoring to escape from the South, but the difficulties are so great that few succeed.

•••••

The new Mexican Emperor has decreed that until further notice the French military code of law shall be used in his empire. A permanent committee was appointed on the 6th, to inquire into the cause of the failure of the revenue to pay the expenses. It seems the deficit is large, and it is presumed that this has a serious effect on the loan in Europe.

Our Indian Wars.

Indians on our borders have been very troublesome since the outbreak of the rebellion. First Albert Pike and other rebel emissaries stirred up a number of friendly tribes to join the Confederates against the United States. The more intelligent savages soon discovered that they had made a very poor exchange, and were anxious to renew allegiance to the federal government. In Minnesota bands of infuriated savages, with hardly a note of warning, burst upon settlements, murdering and destroying as they went. Troops were sent thither and hostilities have been going on ever since, without accomplishing decisive results. Parched prairies and arid wastes afford the Sioux the best natural protection against danger from invading columns. The drought of the present summer is so severe, that if the government resolved to exterminate the Sioux at any cost, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to subsist an army while marching over the expanse of scorched plains, and while hunting the wretches in desolate haunts beyond.

In Arizona, too, the savages are troublesome. The Apaches number about a thousand warriors, famous for courage and enterprise. They have an abundance of horses and arms, but are short of ammunition. An expedition left New Mexico about the middle of June, consisting of 1300 men, in pursuit of the Apaches. The sides are about equally matched in strength, and if they come in collision, the fighting will be desperate.

The development of the new territories will play an important part toward healing the wounds received by the United States in the present war. The importance of removing all obstacles to their free and rapid settlement is obvious.

•••••

[Miscellaneous.]

They are talking in Chicago of employing female conductors on the street cars.

It is understood that the black troops were allowed to lead the assaulting column at Petersburg at their own urgent request.¹

There are about 10,000 contrabands and refugees in St. Louis. An immense wooden barracks is being pout for their accommodation.

Gen. Grant says that the demonstration on Petersburg developed the fact that Lee had not sent away any considerable force from his front to invade Pennsylvania. Grant had so instructed the War Department several days ago.

The fare to San Francisco from New York has been advanced to $400 by all routes. The Atlantic and the Pacific Mail ships are making very large profits, and the latter has coal enough to nearly represent the capital stock.

Gen. Banks has prohibited the transfer of gold to the rebel States, and stopped all traffic in gold, except the purchases of it to be deposited in the United States Treasury, such deposits to be drawn out only on satisfactory explanation being given of the purpose to which the gold is to be applied.

On Saturday, July 23d, Mr. Reedy, father-in-law of John Morgan, and formerly the representative in Congress from Tennessee, took the amnesty oath. He has been the head of all the rebels in Murfreesboro, who seemed to move under his guidance. He said he “regarded the Southern confederacy a failure, and though once honest in its support, would now gladly return to the old government.”

FRIDAY
AUGUST 5, 1864
PROVIDENCE EVENING PRESS (RI) 

The Blockade off Mobile.

A correspondent of the Baltimore American, writing from the blockading squadron off Mobile, July 10th, says:

“The fleet now lying off Mobile is certainly the finest our country has ever had the pleasure of boasting of, and, with the exception of the iron-clads, is now ready to perform any duty that may be assigned it. The latter defect, I am happy to say, is during the present week to be remedied by the arrival of the Manhattan. She is now at Pensacola coaling. It will, no doubt, be a welcome sight to many, as the Tennessee (rebel ram), Admiral Buchanan’s flag-ship, has, as if to tantalize the whole fleet, been anchored in full sight outside the fort (Morgan), but protected by the obstructions.

“Last spring several monitors–the Onondaga, Canonicus and Tecumseh–were ordered to the West Gulf Squadron, but upon their arrival at Fortress Monroe were ordered up the James River. The consequence is that nothing of any note has occurred to break the dull monotony of a life on blockade thus far this season. The Hartford goes to Pensacola for coal during the week, and in the meantime the Admiral transfers his flag to the Tennessee.²

“Blockade running still continues, but the ‘rebs’ must think it is a money-losing business, for during the past month one large steamer has been captured, and the other night another was chased ashore. An incessant bombardment was kept up upon her on the 4th and 5th. During the night of the 5th she was burned by an expedition sent ashore for that purpose. We had a visit from Generals Canby, Sickles and Granger last Friday; after a consultation with the Admiral, they returned to New Orleans the same evening.

“It is occasionally that we have fleet-sailing, but with that exception the larger class of vessels, such as the Hartford, seldom get underway. They are anchored in and guard the main ship channel, whilst vessels drawing less water blockade the smaller ones. The rebel ram, of which we have seen so much, but destined to see more, is considered, by those who have seen the Atlanta, to be just such another vessel, and probably she will meet with just such another defeat.”

•••••

The Chinese in California are slow to embrace the Christian religion. Sabbath schools have been formed in San Francisco, but the attendance is very small. To induce a large number of celestials to attend, the magic lantern and some other apparatus have been brought in as auxiliary aids; these have been used in endeavoring to give profitable as well as entertaining instruction.

The number of Chinese that arrived at San Francisco in nine months was 8169. These are widely distributed. Chiefly they hurry to the mines, working claims abandoned by others or seeking gold in the surface earth. Some are employed by the farmers, others in vineyards and gardens. In San Francisco are two woolen factories, in which about 200 Chinamen find employment. Hundreds are cigar makers, some are fishermen, others make bags for the grain and vegetables, and hundreds are engaged as servants in families. The usual number return home every year, and these re watched after by the missionary and his assistant–yet it is too often the case that a large portion of their gains are filched from them by gamblers.

The Rebel Invasion.

Harrisburg, Aug. 5.

Dispatches received here early this morning state that the rebels were then crossing the river at Hancock and had driven Averill’s pickets into Cumberland. The greatest consternation prevails among the people in the southern portion of the Cumberland valley. The farmers are hurrying away with their stock, and the population generally are reported perfectly panic stricken.

Rebel parties were scattered at different points in the Valley, gathering in grain and collecting cattle, and would join Ewell in his march.

The rebels have conscripted all men they could lay hands on, even boys of 16, but many escaped and were hiding in the mountains.

The belief is that as soon as the train is well advanced, the entire rebel force will retire up the Valley.

•••••

It is reported that the colored troops taken prisoners in the late attack upon Petersburg were subjected to the most horrific outrage and cruelty. Two of them are said to have returned to our lines with their tongues cut out. A barbarity so revolting would be incredible were it not in keeping with the diabolical spirit manifested by the Southern chivalry on other occasions. Of course a people who are capable of burying their prisoners alive, which the rebels confess to have done at Fort Pillow, would not scruple at the lesser crime of cutting out their tongues. But is our Government going to submit forever to such violations of the laws of war? If white soldiers had their tongues cut out, we do not think the retaliation would be long delayed. The black soldier is entitled to the same protection as the white, and the President has pledged his honor to afford it. The nation has waited with some impatience to see that pledge redeemed, and if this new story of outrage shall be authenticated, their impatience is likely to become indignation. We appreciate the difficulty of retaliation, but we must face it or cease to expose our colored troops to the peril of captivity. If we should give up the use of colored troops in order to deliver them from such peril, we should soon have to give up the use of white troops for the same reason. Retaliation is the only remedy which we can command; it is a remedy which the good and great Washington did not hesitate to employ under circumstances vastly less aggravating; and it is a remedy which, if promptly applied, beginning first with the highest rebel officers in our hands, will, we believe, be found effective.

SATURDAY
AUGUST 6, 1864
COLUMBIAN WEEKLY REGISTER (CT)

How they Run the Blockade.

An Englishman, who writes to the London Times, says he has run the blockade to and from Wilmington, N. C., to Bermuda, several times, gives the following account of his trips:

“Upon the evening of Wednesday, the 1st of June, the Lilian and the Florie, two of the fleetest and most beautiful of the blockade-defying vessels, started simultaneously from Bermuda upon the first trip inward which either have ever made. Both belong to the same company, but there is an emulation between the two rival vessels. The weather was lovely, the sea was like a milldam, and favorable beyond expression to light draught and gossamer craft, such as the blockade runners, which lightly scratch the surface instead of clutching the ribs of old ocean, and which in summer seas have no more to fear from heavy sea-going craft, like the Rhode Island or the Vanderbilt, than has the night express from the lumbering freight train which leaves five minutes in its rear. Rarely have two more attractive prizes slipped through the meshes of the blockade than the two vessels of which I am writing.

“An incident occurred 200 miles from Wilmington, in a portion of the ocean which is constantly swept by Federal cruisers, seems worthy of record. Upon our port bow was descried a sail enveloped in a dense canopy of smoke. Time was ineffably precious; there was every reason to suspect Yankee guile, which is said to be nowhere more fertilely exhibited than in their conduct of the blockade; but it was deemed possible, after careful scrutiny, that the vessel might be on fire. Briefly remarking, ‘The ship which leaves a companion at sea in distress must be accursed,’ Capt. Maffit ordered our course to be altered, and bore down upon the stranger. It soon became evident that she was a federal cruiser, making a dense white smoke with her Cumberland coal, and beating rapidly eastward in apparent pursuit of another delinquent. The helm was rapidly changed, and our course resumed. Dark and inscrutable came on the moon, defying all possibility of observation. It was believed that, ere the morrow’s dawn should break, we might reach Wilmington, and onward we pressed. The night wore rapidly away; 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, half-past 3 o’clock in the morning came, but no eye peering through the thick gloom could the looked-for light at Fort Fisher be discerned. Then, as the morning dawned, , we prepared to lay to for the day, between the outer and inner cordon of the blockaders. It was hardly expected that we should escape for 16 hours unobserved, but it was a signal instance of good luck that from 4 in the morning till half-past 1 p.m., we were unmolested. Then the tall masts of a Federal cruiser, her immense paddlewheels and lofty black hull were visible, and for the first time, as our antagonist approached us from the direction of Wilmington, the “fairy Lillian” prepared to give us assurance of that speed which we all felt she possessed. Some slight delay there was before steam could be got full up, and for some twenty minutes our pursuers seemed to gain upon us. But as the pressure of the steam ascended from 15 pounds to 20, from 20 to 23, from 23 to 26, and the revolutions of the paddles mounted from 23 to 28, from 28 to 33 per minute, the Lillian flew out to sea swift as an arrow from a bow. ->

In little more than two hours the hull of our pursuer was invisible, and her topgallant sails a speck upon the distant horizon. But as she still lay between us and Wilmington, it became necessary to run round her. This also the light-heeled Lillian had little difficulty in accomplishing; but as the sun dropped into the sea, and our pursuer, although distant, still hung upon our rear, we found that, reckoning little the speed of our advance, we had sighted the inside blockade squadron before the close of day. There was nothing for it but to persevere, and fortunately before we approached close to land, darkness had completely set in. Silently and with bated breath we passed cruiser after cruiser, distinctly visible to every eye, and suggesting the flashing out of a blue or Drummond light and the rush of grapeshot and shrapnel through our rigging and bulwarks. But it was not destined that upon this occasion the Lillian should receive her baptism of fire. Just as we approached Fort Fisher a dark spot is to be seen on the bar. It is a Federal launch, seen by us too late to indulge the anxious wish of his heart, to run her down. We passed her within twenty yards, and again the expected volley of musketry is wanting. Another moment, and we are under the mound upon which stands the fort, and eagerly questioned for news. ‘The news is good all round.’ ‘Three times three for Gen. Johnston; six times six for Gen. Lee,’ and in mirth and laughter and song the night wears away. Three hours after us comes the Florie, and is heavily fired at as she wears inwards. But morning finds both vessels and their cargoes safe at the wharves in Wilmington.”

•••••

A Little of Everything.

It seems that Quebec is to be a port of shipment for horses for the Confederate army! An Upper Canadian contemporary learns that several “considerable droves of horses, purchased in Western Canada on Confederate account, have passed down on the Royal mail steamers during the past few days, destined for Quebec. At this port, it is understood, they will be shipped for a Mexican port, and thence passed overland into the Confederacy.”

The Negroes of Philadelphia have held an indignation meeting because they are excluded from the horse cars. They passed a preamble and resolution setting forth that, if they are good enough for soldiers, they were equally suitable for seat in passenger cars. The Administration and “Father Abraham” were endorsed, and the meeting adjourned with the singing of “Old John Brown.” In the course of the proceedings, the Chairman, Rev. John Sanford, said, “the colored people were ready and anxious to advance the cause of the Union, and contended that unless greater respect and attention is paid to the claims of the colored race in the United States, the onward progress of the union army might, as a natural consequence, be expected to falter, and our victories be slow.”

¹ This is incorrect. The African American regiments had been specially trained to lead the assault, but, for fear of the political backlash should they fail and suffer significant casualties, Grant held them back and instead ordered white regiments into the crater. Unprepared for this special assault, the white troops faltered, allowing the rebels time to regroup and begin shooting them down as they struggled to climb out of the giant hole created by the explosion of the mine beneath the Confederate lines. Seeing this, Grant sent in the black regiments as reinforcements, but, in the chaos of the crater, they were unable to make the assault for which they had been trained. In effect, Grant created the very situation he had hoped to avoid. The black regiments had urgently requested to make the attack, but they were not permitted to do so.

² This is the USS Tennessee, a gunboat with five guns, not the previously-mentioned rebel ram.