SUNDAY
NOVEMBER 20, 1864
THE DAILY TRUE DELTA (LA)

Rebel Horror of Porter’s Fleet–
Where is He Going to Strike?
[From the Richmond Whig, Nov. 9.]

What has become of the armada which assembled in the waters of the Chesapeake and sailed with such formidable show a few days ago to the southward, and, as our authorities were inclined to believe, for Wilmington, and serious operations for the reduction and occupation of that important post and port. There has been ample time since it was said to have sailed for its appearance off the works at the mouth of Cape Fear river; yet we hear nothing of such an event, and as we can anticipate no possible military end to be served by the concealment of the fact by our authorities here or at Wilmington, we are warranted in apprehending that some other point than that is the object of the expedition–that the attack will be made in some other quarter–and that the supposed unquestionable information of the War Department has been deceptive. But at what point may we reasonably expect the blow to be delivered? In what quarter of our seaboard are there indications of a contemplated descent of serious proportions?

Can it be that Charleston is to be again tried? We fancy not. Her state of preparation, the labors there of Beauregard and the lamented Hardee, are not promising elements for the success of such an operation. Besides, Yankee vengeance can be sufficiently sated by keeping up the bombardment of the city at long range, to the destruction of private property, with the occasional loss of life of women and children, and to the injury and discomfort and hardship of non-combatants. Is Mobile, then, to be attacked, either directly or from Pensacola? We think not. We do not believe an expedition for such an operation would be fitted out in the North.

Looking along the coast, and scanning the signs of the times, we are induced to believe that Savannah, Georgia, and some point on the coast southward of it, will prove to be the objective of this expedition after all. One indication may be seen in the recent arrangement to make Savannah the point for exchanging some 10,000 prisoners of war. Under cover of that cloak, perchance, it was supposed by our treacherous enemy that he might assemble unsuspected his fleet of transports in that quarter, and concentrate on favorable islands in that vicinity a force sufficient for the operation, which in that way could be made almost a coup de main. There are many things which would recommend such an attempt to the Yankee councils, the feature of bad faith that it would wear would give to it very much the zest which the gourmand or epicure finds in putrid game, or Catherine of Russia found “in the poignant pleasures of a rape;” while the theatrical effect would create an immense furor from Washington to Bangor, and around the lakes, away off to the northern range of Minnesota–one prolonged current of ecstasy would thrill the Northern public.

The peculiar incitement in such an operation at this time would be the hope, by the possession of Savannah, to make it the base for a diversion for the relief of Atlanta and Sherman; or, in case the latter should be forced to give up Atlanta and fall back out of Georgia to his fastness at Chattanooga, the possession of Savannah and the occupation of the coast of Georgia could be held up as a compensating substitute–indeed, as an advantageous exchange. ->

Some such motives have inspired this movement, we may rely on it, though the present condition of affairs at Atlanta, and the transfer of the actual theater of war from Southern Georgia into Middle Tennessee, by the passage of our army under Beauregard into that region, may cause some modification of the plan of operations in the contemplated quarter. In the course of a week or ten days at most there should be some certain development. The works at Savannah are well constructed, extensive and strong–properly manned, they should make a stout defence. The immediate commander there, Gen. McLaws, has had a good deal of experience in the field as a division commander, is said to be alert, resolute, and possessed of sound sense and judgment in an emergency. We do not, therefore, apprehend disaster, while hoping that our authorities will strengthen his hands at the right moment to the utmost notch of our offensive resources.

•••••

Butler’s Canal.—The Richmond Dispatch of the 3d says great interest is felt in Butler’s canal. The isthmus known as Dutch Gap, which connects Farris Island with the mainland or north bank of the river, is exactly 200 yards across, eighty feet high on the western side and sloping down to the river on the east. The channel of the river runs against the west side, striking it obliquely. The channel being on this side will greatly aid Butler. Had it been on the opposite side of the river he would have been obliged to construct a break-water to turn the stream into the canal. He is cutting diagonally through the isthmus, beginning one hundred yards below the narrowest point, and deviating so as to come out at a point where the channel strikes the bank. We have reason to believe the canal proper has been begun, the cut to the water’s edge having been more than two-thirds complete.

•••••

Mexico and the Confederate States.–Report of an Alliance.—Several papers announce, on very doubtful authority, that a secret arrangement, having the character of an alliance offensive and defensive, exists between the government of the Emperor Maximillian and that of the Confederate States.

We are in no position to contradict categorically this false news. The imperial government of Mexico has never entertained, and does not entertain, the least communication with that of Richmond.–N. Y. Courrier des Etats Unis, Nov. 11.

MONDAY
NOVEMBER 21, 1864
THE RICHMOND DAILY EXAMINER (VA)

Supplies for Prisoners of War.

In his late message to Congress, President Davis announced that “each Government” (Confederate and Yankee) “is hereafter to be allowed to provide necessary comforts to its own citizens held captive by the other.” The offer was made by the Confederate authorities and accepted by General Grant. When the President’s message was prepared, the details of this agreement had not been adjusted. Since the meeting of Congress, Commissioner Ould had made a species of arrangement. In a letter to General Grant, dated 11t instant, he proposed that the Confederate Government should have the privilege of shipping one thousand bales of cotton from Mobile to New York, in a United States vessel, the cotton to be sold in New York and the proceeds to be applied to the benefit of our prisoners.

He further proposed that the cotton should be consigned to Major General Trimble, now at Fort Warren, or in the event of his disability, to Brigadier General W. W. R. Beale, either of whom, acting as consignee, should be allowed, under parole, to sell the same and purchase the articles needed by our prisoners, at points where the proceeds could be most advantageously expended. And further, that the receipt and distribution of the supplies for prisoners on both sides should be certified by commissioned officers confined in the prison supplied.

General Grant, in an autograph reply, dated the 12th instant, says that all asked for (in the letter from Commissioner Ould) shall be complied with. He would immediately instruct the Federal commander in Mobile Bay to notify General Maury of his readiness to receive and ship to New York the cotton referred to, and General Trimble should have every facility asked for. General Grant further replied that all shipments of clothing, provisions, etc., should be sent from the place of purchase to the point of delivery as had been suggested by Commissioner Ould.

In execution of this agreement we presume that, during the present week, a cargo of cotton will be shipped from Mobile to New York, and before Christmas our captive soldiers in Yankee prisons will be supplied with blankets, clothing, and some provisions.

•••••

Robberies.—Thieves, taking advantage of the darkness into which the city was suddenly plunged on Friday night, broke into the grocery and liquor store of William Ryan, corner of Fourteenth and Dock streets, near the Danville depot, and stole nearly everything he had on hand–box of candles, three hundred cigars, a lot of decanters, whiskey, glasses, &c., valued at one thousand dollars.

The establishment of A. Wolfe, Seventeenth street, was robbed about the same hour of several hundred dollars’ worth of liquors.

The same night tow drunken men were robbed of their watches in the brothel of Alice Hardgrove, Seventeenth street, between Main and Cary streets.

•••••

Shell Explosion at the Naval Ordnance Works.—On Saturday a detailed workman named Less, employed at the Naval Ordnance Works, Cary street, corner of Eighteenth, put a live coal to the fuse of an old shell “just to see what was in it.” There was more in the shell than there was in his head, and the shell exploded with a tremendous report. Fortunately, none of the fragments struck Less, though they flew on a tangent on every other line that that occupied by him. He was, however, badly burned by the explosion, and will stand a chance of losing his eyesight, or having it seriously impaired. The explosion did no other damage.

Gas Extinguishment.—The capacity of the city gas works never contemplated the consumption of gas which is now going on, day and night, in the departments, hospitals and other places where light is used. Of late the drain has been so great that, coupled with an inadequate supply of coal, and some repairs necessary to be put upon the works, the supply gave out on Friday night, the pressure in the main pipes not being great enough to force the gas through the smaller channels. At ten o’clock precisely the imp of darkness prevailed, and there was darkness, total, black and inky, such as Byron described in his “Dream of Darkness,” came suddenly upon all. There was an enforced pause in occupations and pleasures, lawful and unlawful. The printer at his case and the editor at his table were cut off in their usefulness and in the midst of a paragraph; the gambler in the faro bank added to his pile of “chips” by stealing his neighbor’s; the guest at the supper table filched an extra plate of turkey or swallowed an extra cup of coffee; while the loafer at the bar accepted darkness as a pretext for the commission of a darker deed, and drank off a double drink of whiskey at the price of one. There were stolen sweets as well as stolen meats in that interval of darkness that cloaked the thief as with a mantle. The lover with his lass at the theater enacted “Romeo and Juliet” themselves in the interval of its suspension on the stage, and the farce of “A Kiss in the Dark” had many amateurs for performers no doubt. At last the light of the discarded “dips” came and put the community upon its propriety again; decorum was restored in society, and the imp of darkness was dispelled from the house, but not from the street.

The Gas Company, we learn, have provided against a recurrence of this kind by turning off the gas after daylight and turning it on again at twilight. This is the proper course to pursue, and it will ensure gas to consumers through the night at least.

•••••

More Attempts to Reach the Yankees.—Yesterday Captain Scott, Provost Marshal of General Field’s division, sent to the Provost Marshal’s office, Richmond, George B. Payant and E. Payant, (brothers,) printers at the Dispatch office, and William Weeker, of the Tredegar Battalion, who were caught below on Saturday night, attempting to reach the enemy’s lines. Two of these men–the Payants–were members of the Printers’ Guard, and set out for the enemy’s lines after receiving passes for sixty days, distributed to the command at the weekly drill on Saturday afternoon. They are deserters–bona fide deserters from the State forces, organized in this emergency of great peril for the Confederacy, and as richly deserved [of] trial by court martial, sentence, and death at the musket point as any soldier of General Lee’s army who deserts his colors in the hour of danger or expected battle, and seeks to go over to the enemy. Unless some stern measures as this be meted out to these recusants, all hope of permanent organization and efficiency in the State forces may as well be given up. The Confederate soldier and the State Reserve soldier, are soldiers alike; they are organized for the same object–the defence of home and country; the good share the same dangers, and the bad amongst them must be made to taste the same bitter fruits of their treachery, which, according to the law of war, is death.

TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 22, 1864
THE BOSTON HERALD

Sherman’s Great Campaign.
the evacuation of atlanta.
Progress of the Army Through Georgia.
A TRACK OF DESOLATION.

The Atlanta correspondent of the N. Y. Herald gives a connected account of the operations preliminary to the grand movement in which Gen. Sherman is at present engaged, of the preparations for it, and of its progress down to Monday last, when his army had advanced to a point seventy miles southeast of Atlanta, having destroyed everything behind it that could be of any service to the enemy. Writing under date of Nov. 10, the correspondent says:

The rebels have learned, in some way, that preparations are being made for the evacuation of Atlanta. Such an event has been very freely canvassed among soldiers and citizens, and it is not very surprising that the intelligence has gone beyond our lines. Rebel cavalrymen in squads gallop near our lines almost every day, ready to dash into Atlanta as soon as we leave it. Reports come to us from many quarters that Georgia militiamen are rendezvousing at different points for the purpose of garrisoning Atlanta. The authorities never imagine Georgia militia may be needed for something far more important than defending a ruined town.

An artilleryman of an Illinois battery, who was captured during the fight when Gen. McPherson was killed, before Atlanta, came into the lines this morning. Since his capture he has been at Andersonville and Charleston. He relates damning stories of rebel cruelties to Union soldiers at both places, and talks so earnestly and soberly that it credits his tales. He, in company with three others, escaped from the rebel guard at Charleston on the night of October 12, and has been barefooted, dirty and covered with vermin, on the weary road through South Carolina and Georgia till now. Everywhere on the road he found slaves pleased to help him and his companions on and give them of their poor food. Several of these poor blacks came in with the soldier. His white companions were re-captured twenty miles this side of Atlanta. The harvest has filled the barns ad storehouses of Central Georgia. Horses and cattle are quite plenty in the country through which they passed. But few rebel soldiers were seen during the tramp. So there is plenty to subsist an army and none to oppose its march through the land, if the war powers decree that a Union force shall go that way.

This village has been terribly pecked up, and, what with dead mules, cattle pens, offal piles and sinks, is repulsive enough, Heaven knows; yet the villagers regret to leave it. I find in my travels through it, poking about the houses that have been riddled by shot and shell, many families of aged parents and children, who hope to evade Sherman’s order, and live somehow at home. They are hard up, they all say, but they think they may be well off yet. Such is the sanguine Southern temperament. Undoubtedly, many will remain, and if they escape the grand finale of Union rule, may succeed in wriggling through a miserable, lonely existence here, but their tastes are strange. Hordes of Negroes are encamped on the railroad grounds with enormous bags of bedding and provender, waiting for the lucky train which takes them to the land of freedom.

All they have they carry on their backs–and the bedding  bags are weighty–except their bubbling joy of “Gwine to de Norf,” that they carry in their hearts. The tops of box cars going North are curiously mottled with big white bags and black faces. The barbers have broken up their chairs, given their surplus stock of soap and combs to the soldiers, and gone; the Construction corps has gone; two or three newspaper correspondents have skated out; the telegraph people don’t receive mercantile business. Atlanta, as a city, is about “played out,” the soldiers say. The last train goes North to-morrow, I am told. None have come down for two or three days past.

No troops but those of Gen. Slocum’s corps are in town, although other corps are within call. The 2d and 33d Mass. regiments are doing the whole provost guard duty. The men of both regiments ornament the streets, not that they are better soldiers than others of the 20th corps, but they pay the greatest attention to appearance, forcing the remark from all their comrades in arms that “a live Yankee is about the thing after all.” The 33d has a splendid brass and reed band–perhaps the best military band in the service–certainly the best in the western armies. Under the management of Captains Graves and Turner, Adjutant Blood and Lieut. Warr, the band has been giving concerts at the Athenæum to benefit needy people in this town. Many of the true blue have been helped by Northern money procured by the musical efforts of Mr. J. Smith and his band. ->

Among others, Mrs. Welch, a widow lady, who was robbed and abused by the rebels before we came in, has been aided by them. Mrs. W., with her own and her dead sister’s children, is going to Philadelphia (her old home) to live and thank these musical Yankees. Lieut. Col. Doane (formerly major) and Major Tibbetts (formerly of the 3d division staff) are the field officers of the 33d. The evacuation and destruction of Atlanta are thus described in a letter dated Chattanooga, Nov. 15:

I have just returned from Atlanta, which by this time is fully evacuated by our troops. There is no necessity for keeping this a secret any longer. The croakers and grumblers will ask, how is this? Why have we abandoned a post that has cost us such a treasure in blood and money to attain? Why have we given up a country that has cost us a year’s campaign and thousands of valuable lives? Are we forced to do so? Are we unable to hold it?

I say we are not forced to give it up, either through want of provisions or force; but Atlanta has lost its importance in a military point of view. It was the centre of a network of railroads connecting the South, Southwest and North. It was the great arsenal foundry and rolling stock depot of rebellion. All are destroyed. All the factories, mills and foundries from Chattanooga to Atlanta and several miles beyond are gutted, torn up, and the iron put beyond the use or brought to the rear. Therefore Atlanta is no longer of military importance.

For miles the country around has been made such a waste as to preclude the possibility of the rebel army again occupying it. Had we remained there all winter, Hood and the rebel cavalry would hang around us, harass our communications, but fly before our army. This they have been doing lately; this they would continue to do. Sherman’s active mind scorns such petty warfare. He has struck out a bold course that will astonish the world; that will make Beauregard and Hood gnash their teeth in despair, and give up their raiding campaign in disgust. In the meantime, have patience; give events time to develop themselves. For weeks it was whispered around Atlanta that the Gate City–alas, the Gate City no more, for it lies fallen as Babylon–was about to be evacuated. The railroads commenced transporting government stock to the North, and government works were stopped. What was but a rumor at first soon became a certainty, and a harrowing scene of confusion and fright followed.

Those of the citizens who had not left with the first exodus were now afraid of being abandoned to the tender mercies of the rebels. The depot presented a scene of confusion and suffering seldom witnessed. Women and children were huddled together with their sole earthly stock. Men, who were almost millionaires a few years since, had to fly without a dollar in their pockets.

Atlanta is no more. The Babylon of the South has fallen, the voice and hum of industry have ceased. Its splendid houses are deserted. The houses are in ruins, the streets will soon be overgrown with grass and sportive children will play through them and furtively peep through the piles of brick and the ruins of factories, foundries and railroad depots, peopling the deserted halls with ghostly legends.

Atlanta, the Gate City of the South–Atlanta, the Tyre of Southern trade, is a deserted city in ruins. Her growing grandeur and loveliness are gone. She stands forth a lesson to rebels of the fruits of their wicked efforts to rend their country to pieces.

The Cincinnati Gazette learns through private advices that one column of Sherman’s army was seventy miles in advance of Atlanta on the 14th inst., driving everything before it, and destroying everything behind it that could aid the enemy, and intending to pursue this policy to the end. The other column set out three or four days later, and undoubtedly intending to unit with the other at a suitable point. Sherman took with him rations for many days, but expected to find ample provisions on the route. Corn and sweet potatoes he will find in abundance, and probably hogs.

Information has reached Washington that the rebels are straining every nerve to head off Sherman. Gen. Early’s command is being sent by cars from Staunton, and troops have been detached from the army of Virginia to hasten southward.

WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 23, 1864
NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT & STATE GAZETTE

Strychnine in Warfare.—The following is an extract from a dispatch dated:

“St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 14, 1864.

“Capt. Fisk has arrived here. He reports having killed a number of Indians with bullets, and one hundred men, women and children with hard tack, saturated with strychnine.”

Such is the language of the dispatch–a simple allegation of a fact, as if Capt. Fisk had gone through a certain routine of military duty, and made his report accordingly. Our people have been brought face to face with many horrors during the past four years, but we think their stoicism will wince under this new infliction. It is the climax of barbarity. The savages themselves, against whose “women and children” this system of wholesale poisoning is practiced, cannot go beyond this extremity of crime. If the statement is true, which we do not believe possible, Capt. Fisk should have a conspicuous niche in the eternal temple of infamy, as the most complete criminal on God’s earth.–N. Y. Times.

•••••

A New Alabama.—It seems pretty certain that Capt. Semmes is now afloat in another Alabama. The London Star says:

“A few days ago we noticed the departure from Liverpool of a schooner called the Laurel, with about one hundred men on board, many of whom had served with Captain Semmes. It was also hinted that Capt. Semmes was himself on board. This news is confirmed by a dispatch received in Liverpool from Madeira, to the effect that the Laurel had been lying in Funchal Bay for several days previous to the 17th, and early on the morning of that day she steamed out to sea, and met a large screw steamer (understood to be the new Alabama,) on board of which was transferred the crew of the Laurel. The cargo consisted of guns, ammunition, &c. The screw steamer then made for the direction of Bermuda.”

•••••

A London paper says the Mormon delusion is stealthily making inroads in the great towns of England, and diffusing itself through the agricultural districts wherever ignorance and credulity are to be found.

•••••

A correspondent of a Montreal paper asserts that there are now over thirty-six thousand Canadians in the Federal armies, attracted by large bounties.

•••••

Shoes in the Confederacy.—A correspondent writing from the army of the Potomac, says of the prisoners recently captured: “The prisoners captured are all well clad, and have new shoes. Shoes are now manufactured extensively in several of the leading cities of the Confederacy. Doubtless the twenty-five hundred head of cattle, captured from us some few months ago, have helped along the shoe trade of the Confederacy, supposing the hides to be tanned by this time, after a hasty fashion.”–Chicago Times.

•••••

The Boston people have been showering honors upon the officers of the Kearsarge for the destruction of the Alabama. The merchants gave them a great dinner, when a dozen speeches were made at them, and Capt. Winslow and Lieut. Thornton very appropriately responded. Other tokens of respect have been bestowed upon them. This is right, proper and pleasant; but it seems to us that the crew of the Kearsarge, the humble Jack Tars, are deserving of some credit for the gallant feat for which their officers are so highly honored, and ought to share in the honors.

A Model Abolitionist.—Gen. Guitar, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 9th district in Missouri, in an address to the people, drew the following picture of one of the latter day “loyal” abolition patriots:

“I refer to the case of Capt. W. A. Pollion, Co. E, 68th Regiment Colored Volunteers. He, according to his own admissions, was for a number of years engaged in the African slave trade; in kidnapping and transporting Negroes from Africa to the Island of Cuba. On one occasion, having on board his vessel (of which he was captain) about seven hundred Negroes, all manacled and confined below decks, as he approached the coast of Cuba, he was chased by a British man-of-war, and in order to effect his own escape, was compelled to run his vessel ashore ad abandon her, which he did. Before abandoning the ship, however, he scuttled and sunk her, with all the Negroes on board, thus wiping out, in case of his capture, all evidence of the character of his vessel.

“Here we have Capt. Pollion engaged in the philanthropic work of inducting Negroes into the blessed condition of slavery, except upon one occasion, when with one stroke of his ship-axe, he sent seven hundred of them, naked, unwashed and unregenerated, with manacles upon their limbs, into that state of perfect freedom which lies beyond the Jordan.

“Now we find Captain Pollion at the head of a Negro company leading them on to freedom and glory–by a different road, however, to that over which he led the seven hundred. Now add to this the further fact that Capt. Pollion organized and drilled one of the first rebel companies in North Missouri, and you have the parallel.”

•••••

The Tin Currency.—The alloy of tin and copper lately issued by the U. S. Government as a substitute for nickel pennies, is a poor affair, but better than nothing. Poor as it is, the people must have it to make change with; and therefore there is much grumbling at the unaccountable delay in supplying the “tins.” The explanation has been offered, and probably with much truth, that the new coins are issued in sufficient quantities to meet the demand, but are bought up by railroad and ferry companies and other corporations which require them in large quantities to to carry on their business, and that they pay them out very reluctantly. Many persons are also hoarding the pennies that they get, under the impression that they will command a premium some day. The death of an apple woman, recently, in whose house was found a trunk full of them, threw some light on the question–“What becomes of the pennies?”–N. Y. Journal of Commerce.

•••••

Devastation.—An officer of the 1st Rhode Island cavalry, serving in Sheridan’s army, gives the following account of property destroyed by the cavalry division alone during its operations in the Shenandoah Valley, from August 13, 1864, to October 31, 1864, as copied from the Provost Marshal’s report:

Eight hundred and eighty barns; 57 mills; 4955 tons of hay; 1,910,702 bushels of wheat; 4 saw mills; 3 furnaces; 1 woolen mill; 515 acres of corn; 750 bushels of oats; 1347 cattle driven off; 1231 sheep driven off; 725 swine driven off; 560 barrels of flour; 225 tons of fodder; 2 tanneries; 2 wagons with flour; 1 railroad depot; 1 locomotive engine; 3 box cars; 14 army wagons and contents; 38 ambulances and medical wagons; 81 muskets; 4 caissons and contents; 20,000 rolls of carbine ammunition. Total value, $3,856,372.

THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 24, 1864
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT (CT)

Thanksgiving Day.

As families draw together around home firesides on this day, there will be much rejoicing and much of sadness. In vain we look through former years to find such a quick passage of events, all affecting the hopes and happiness of domestic life, as have marked the progress of our country within the recent past. War has spread its crimson mantle over the whole land, and disease and death have cast gloom when all was bright and cheerful before. Few are the families whose hearts have not in some manner felt keenly the blows which a wicked rebellion has dealt upon the best and bravest of the nation. Impossible it is then for friends to meet on this day of Thanksgiving without having much to make them sad. But amid all the sorrow, all the pain, all the vivid memories of the past, there is cheering hope in the present condition of our country. The skies are brighter as the clouds commence to pass away, and the silver lining which all have longed to see begins to appear, and each day its surface grows broader and more radiant. Our armies are marching on in triumph. Our generals grope in the dark no longer, and with confidence promise that the end is nigh. For such bright tokens that the storm which has engulfed our fair land, and made its homes desolate, is passing away, all should be grateful, and in them all may find cause for rejoicing. It is proper, therefore, that the day should be one of Thanksgiving. Those who mourn may rejoice, for their sacrifices have contributed to the glory of the nation and the hopes of civilization everywhere.

In the various observances of the day let those in affluent circumstances, whose abundance might naturally lead them to forget the wants of others, bear in mind the poor. There are many in our midst, suffering in honest poverty, whose homes would be made glad by even the refuse morsels that will be swept from bountiful boards. But citizens in comfortable circumstances can afford them better that that, and with a little trouble, and at a trifling expense, joy and gratitude may be carried into hundreds of humble households. How munificent the response to the call for money and supplies to make a Thanksgiving dinner for our soldier heroes! Nobles, deserving, it was, too; but are there those who, in giving freely therefor, have forgotten that suffering at home, in our own streets, needs sympathy and aid?

•••••

 [Miscellaneous.]

An order has been recently issued from the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, prohibiting entirely all communication with the enemy, either by words or signs.

Petroleum wells have been discovered in Cattaraugus county, New York, and large tracts of land have been taken up by the New York, Philadelphia and Oil Creek companies.

The Richmond Examiner is very severe on what it styles the defection of Governor Brown, of Georgia, and the Legislatures of that State and Alabama. It says that “the convention of all the States,” North and South, for the purpose of agreeing upon terms of peace, “will meet on the same day with the parliament of mankind, the federation of the world, and not one hour sooner.” ->

A gang of men recruiting for Kentucky guerrilla service has been discovered and broken up in Cincinnati, Ohio. It has been going on for some time, and last Thursday night the detectives brought the matter to a crisis and made ten arrests.

Reinforcements have been reaching Gen. Thomas at the rate of three thousand men per day, and still the stream pours steadily forward. He is strong enough to assume the offensive and prevent Hood from moving so as to embarrass in the slightest the operations of Sherman.

The emperor of the French is laying out a city, where but lately was a fishing village, St. Nazaire by name, near the mouth of the river Loire, which he hopes will rival Liverpool, and draw to France the commerce of all nations. The population of the town has increased from 1000 in 1857 to 15,000 now. Two lines of railroad connect it with Paris, and the government is now building nine ships of 5000 tons each to engage in the Mexican and West Indian trade.

A dress parade of bounty jumpers took place in Indianapolis a few days since. Over one hundred of them were lashed two-and-two to a long rope, with a herculean African leading the column, and ringing a bell. Each jumper carried a large placard on his back as an advertisement of his profession. A line of friendly bayonets on each side kept off the curious crowd, and the soul-stirring notes of the “Rogue’s March” kept time to their tramping feet.

•••••

The Boston Advertiser says it has seen a private letter from the Tortugas, dated Oct. 23d, giving a painful and pathetic description of the sufferings of the refugees at Cedar Key:

“There are some three thousand of them altogether, absolutely dying for want of the common necessaries of life. These persons are white Union refugees, and many of them accustomed to every comfort before the war, are now without sufficient clothes to cover them, and many of the poor creatures who have died there from sheer starvation, both men and women, have been laid in their coffins without a rag to cover them, because clothing was too precious to be laid in the ground. Now that winter is approaching, despair seems staring the in the face, unless some kind friends come to their aid, and that promptly.”

•••••

Deserters.–About fifty deserters from our armies have arrived at City Point from the Valley. They were captured by Sheridan in his late campaign. The larger number were substitutes who, having deserted and joined the rebel army, were sent to the Shenandoah Valley, as there was less danger of their being identified if captured. A court, with General Colles at the head, has been ordered at City Point to try them.

FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 25, 1864
THE FARMERS’ CABINET (NH)

Weekly Review of War News.

Our war news for the week is meagre.

From Sherman we have absolutely nothing. Where he has gone, or is going, is alike a matter that puzzles the Yankees and the rebs. Nobody knows, and every one is speculating, especially Richmond editors.

The Sentinel of the 18th says official information was received the day previous that Sherman had destroyed the railroad from Atlanta towards Chattanooga for a considerable distance, and a report was in circulation during the day that he had burned Atlanta, and was marching on Macon with 35,000 men. The Sentinel, in an editorial, speculates that Sherman is making for Macon, about 100 miles from Atlanta, and thence he will move on Augusta and Savannah. It also thinks that he may first try Mobile. The Sentinel confesses that he has few or no troops to oppose him, and calls on the people to tear down bridges and block up the roads. If Sherman then accomplishes his journey, the Sentinel says, it will be proof that he has not been becomingly resisted.

The Dispatch of Friday is of the opinion that Sherman is making or Pensacola, for a new base of supplies, but declares that there are better reasons for his selecting some point on the eastern coast, as the navy will be near at hand.

The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle says that Howell Cobb, with 6000 militia, was south of Atlanta on the 6th inst., which shows that Sherman had nothing of any account to oppose his advance.

Another account says that Gen. Sherman had his headquarters on Monday last at Kingston with the 14th corps. He had issued an order telling his troops that they were about to pass through a country heretofore unoccupied by either army, taking all the mules and horses within their reach. The 14th corps was the rear guard of Sherman’s army and moved from Kingston on Monday last week.

Nine hundred rebel prisoners arrived in Nashville Saturday from Atlanta. The rebels, thinking the place evacuated, rushed in to pillage and plunder, and were captured.

From Kentucky the news of the defeat of Gen. Gillem at Bull’s Gap is announced in the Richmond Enquirer of the 16th, by an official dispatch from Lee. He says on the night of the 13th, Breckinridge turned Bull’s Gap when the enemy attempted to retreat. At one o’clock on the 14th, he struck their column and routed it, taking several hundred prisoners, 10 stand of colors, six pieces of artillery with caissons and horses complete, 50 loaded wagons with teams and ambulances with medical supplies.

No fears of an invasion of Kentucky, consequent upon this reverse, are apprehended, as the military authorities are fully prepared to meet any advance of such force into the State.

Monday night last Hood’s entire army, including Forrest’s cavalry, were in the immediate neighborhood of Tuscumbia and Florence, Ala., watched by troops under Gen. Thomas, whose strength is such as will render the invasion of Tennessee impossible; and even the withdrawal of Hood for service elsewhere is an operation of extreme delicacy.

There appears to be no doubt concerning the hasty retreat of Early and Ewell from Shenandoah Valley. It is the opinion of officers in Sheridan’s army that Ewell would leave a force at Lynchburg just sufficient to guard the head of the Valley, and send his main force to aid Bragg in repelling the anticipated advance of Sherman upon Charleston. This retreat of the rebels from the Shenandoah will doubtless cause new combinations on our side.

On Thursday night heavy firing occurred on Butler’s front at Dutch Gap, caused by the rebels attempting to force our picket lines. They were completely repulsed.

The rebels attacked our forces at Strawberry Plains, 18 miles above Knoxville, on the morning of the 10th, at daylight. The fight continued at intervals all day. Our forces held their own. The rebels were repulsed at every attack.

It is said by prominent friends of the Administration that the sending of peace commissioners to Richmond is not now contemplated, and President Lincoln will fully indicate his policy with regard to pacification in his forthcoming message.

•••••

It is stated that an Eastern leg factory has leased eight square miles of forest in Maine for the purpose of obtaining supplies of timber for the manufacture of the artificial limb. All kinds are turned out, from the flesh-colored and silver-plated prop for the general down to the rough, unpainted stump for the private soldier.

•••••

The Cooking Wagon.

I must refer particularly to one prominent feature of their work for weary, wounded bodies on this day, which, for its novelty and usefulness, deserves especial mention. Some of the newspapers have mentioned a new Cooking Wagon, presented by the inventor to the Christian Commission, which is thoroughly sui generis. It is constructed somewhat like a battery caisson, so that the parts can be unlimbered and separated from each other. The “limber,” or forward part, bears a large chest, which is divided into compartments to contain coffee, tea, sugar, and corn starch, with a place, also, for two gridirons and an axe. From the rear portion rise three tall smoke-pipes above three large boilers, under which there is a place for the fire, and under the fire, a box for the fuel. Each boiler will hold fourteen gallons, and it is estimated that in each one, on the march, ten gallons of tea, or coffee, or chocolate, could be made in twenty minutes, thus giving ninety gallons of nourishing drink every hour ! It is truly a most ingenious and beneficent invention.¹

There was a call for coffee. A party of delegates at once volunteered to respond to the call. The fires were lighted, the water boiled, the coffee made, and soon the vehicle, drawn by two powerful horses, and attended by half a score of willing laborers, was on its way from Division to Division. Up the hospital avenue it rumbled and rolled, past the long rows of white tents, stopping at this cluster and that, giving to all from its generous supply.

You should have seen the wondering look of the men as it passed by. They rolled themselves over to get a glimpse of it. They stretched their necks for a sight of it. The wounded heads forgot to ache, and the wounded limbs almost forgot to cry for nursing in that moment of eager curiosity. Was it a new sort of ambulance? It didn't look like one. What did those three black pipes mean, and those three glowing fires? Is it a steam fire engine, and are they going to give us a shower-bath? But the savory odor that saluted their nostrils, and the delicious beverage the engine poured into their little cups, soon put the matter beyond all doubt. They soon found that there was no necromancy about it, for it had a substantial blessing for each one of them, and they gave it their blessings in return. One by one, such as were able, crowded about it with curious faces, and the wagon, as it stood steaming and glowing in the midst, was the theme of many affectionate comments.

“I say. Bill, ain't that a bully machine?”

“Yes, sir, it's the greatest institution I ever saw.”

“That's what you might call the Christian Light Artillery,” says a third.

“Good deal pleasanter ammunition in it than the Rebs sent us this morning.”

“Well, Doctor," said a Delegate to a Surgeon, "what do you think of this ?”

“I thank the Lord for it. That's all I can say,” was his reply.

And so, of a sudden, the new invention was crowned with the praises and benedictions of the admiring crowd. It was a marked feature in the work of the day, and must be set down as one of the “peculiar institutions” of the Commission.

•••••

The Americans Ahead Physically.–A surgeon in New York city examined 8700 recruits for the army, of whom 4438 were Americans, 1694 Irish, 1453 Germans, 315 English and Scotch, 135 French, and 545 belonging to twenty-six other nations. He made a strict examination to determine whether there was any foundation for the frequent affirmation of the English journals that the physical man in America was deteriorating. The Americans in New York city were, of course, not above the average of Americans physically, yet his examinations put them ahead! In stature the American-born ranked the highest, the English next, the Irish next, the Germans next, and the French last. In regard to their physical conformation, he divided the recruits into four classes, and found the Americans to possess the highest rate of prime physique. Of American-born recruits, 47.5 per cent had a prime physique, the Germans 40.75 per cent, and the Irish 35 per cent. He arrived at the conclusion that no race can show a larger proportion of osseous and muscular development, and he ascribes it not to the race, but to the diffused blessings of meat and drink.

SATURDAY
NOVEMBER 26, 1864
COLUMBIAN WEEKLY REGISTER (CT)

Peace Commissioners for Richmond.

We find the following in the money article of the New York World, and print it without expressing a belief of its reliability:

“We are informed, on good authority, that the proposals for peace which the government will make to the rebels have already been made known to leading men in the different rebel States, and that theyh say they will be accepted by the Southern people. Government proposes to send to Richmond, at an early date, a commission of five, composed of three Republicans and two peace Democrats. The Hon. Thomas Corwin is to be the chief of the Republicans, and the Hon. Thomas H. Seymour, of the Peace Democrats. They will go to Richmond to treat directly with the Confederate authorities, and if their proposals are rejected by them, then propositions will be made direct to each State to come back into the union precisely on the same footing as before the rebellion. Each State shall send at once their Representatives and Senators to Congress, and they shall take their seats with all the rights and privileges of those from the loyal States. In regard to slavery, each State shall be left to its own discretion in reference to abolishing it between now and January 1, 1900. Our government will propose the gradual emancipation of the slaves before January 1, 1900. Free pardon will be granted to every one in the rebel States, and if the leaders of the rebellion are elected to Congress, the Presidency of the United States, or any other office in the country, they shall be eligible for the same, and enjoy all the rights and privileges of the loyal States.”

•••••

[Miscellaneous.]

“Never was turmoil in a State, (says Sir Walter Scott,) in which knaves did not advantage themselves–as a boiling pot is sure to bring scum to the surface.” English history need not be ransacked for evidence to sustain the great novelist.

In Rockingham County, Va., on Sheridan’s last raid, there were demolished 450 barns, 31 mills, and 100 miles of fences! In addition to all this, immense amounts of the supplies of the people were destroyed, consumed or taken away. McCormick’s reapers, threshing machines, and other implements of farming were broken in large quantities; plate, money, bonds stolen; and a great deal of household and kitchen furniture broken to pieces. The damage done to the unfortunate people of that one county is set down by the investigation at a value of  twenty-five millions of dollars! The Shenandoah, once the finest valley in the land, is now one scene of devastation and ruin.

In the rebel House of Representatives, on the 18th, and in the Senate on the 19th, resolutions were offered by Messrs. Henry and Foote, of Tennessee, that the war was to be carried on until the independence of the South be acknowledged.

•••••

The following from the New York Herald’s Washington special, states the case truthfully as we well know:

“The remark of Mr. Seward in his speech last Thursday evening, that if Secretary Welles would ‘close up Wilmington, he should have a good deal less trouble with his foreign relations,’ has excited some remark. It should be shown in justice to the Navy Department that it has been ready and anxious for two years past to attack and close up that great entrepôt of blockade runners; but the War Department has never been prepared to co-operate. The Navy is ready now to do its part toward accomplishing what Mr. Seward and the people have so long desired, and if it could be done without the aid of the military, it would not long remain a vexation and reproach and source of strength to the enemy. When circumstances are such as to permit the publication of facts in the matter, it will be conclusively shown that, if the blame rests anywhere, it is not upon the Navy Department, or the officers and men of our gallant navy.”

•••••

A Foolhardy Venture and its Results.–On the 29th of June last an adventurous gentleman set sail from New York in a small boat hardly big enough for safe navigation of the North river in all its weathers, preparing to cross the Atlantic. The New York papers generally made quite a sensation out of the event, as though the foolish undertaking was highly commendable. We condemned it, because such foolishness, if successful at first, leads to still more reckless ventures, until some lamentable sacrifice of life warns men of their danger. Nearly five months have elapsed, and nothing has been heard of the Vision, which has probably gone to the bottom of the Atlantic, with all on board–two men and a dog. If men have a relish for danger, there are plenty of ways which are legitimate, honorable and useful, in which there is peril enough to satisfy the most reckless. Newspapers do wrong to encourage such foolish and unprofitable adventures, any sympathy is thrown away when bestowed upon the fate of those who rashly fly in the face of death.–Syracuse Courier.

•••••

Treachery of the Commander of a Gunboat.

Cairo, Nov. 16.­–The tin-clad gunboat Rattler was recently surrendered to the rebels by her commander at some point below here.

My information is rather indefinite, but it is said that the commander had his men so disposed on the boat that they could offer no resistance to her delivery. A small boat approached her on the night she was to be delivered, but the subordinate officer on board had his suspicions aroused and fired a revolver at the rebels, an frightened them away.

The affair was subsequently investigated, when it was discovered that the commander of the gunboat had already received $200,000, and other payments were to be made in cotton. The commander was arrested, but escaped, and declared that he would command a privateer and give the Yankees hell. The rebels intended to use the Rattler in capturing the gunboat Gen. Bragg.

¹ The coffee wagon was invented, built, and presented to the Christian Commission by Mr. Jacob Dunton, of Philadelphia. The description of the wagon and its use is by Rev. C. H. Richards, one of the Delegates who rendered timely service in the Ninth and Eighteenth Corps, July 30, 1864, the day of the mine explosion and bloody repulse before Petersburg.