Savannah daily herald. (Savannah, Ga.) 1865-1866, January 29, 1865, Image 1

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Important Northern News. x. V. I* VTi :W TO J AX. :j 5. Latest from Wilmington. Forts Caswell and Campbell Blown Ip and Evacuated. Works A T>nn cloned by Hie Kuoniy. r rn i; Dix rdivK ix gold timadiau Parliament. By the arrival of the Fulton Head, yesterday, Northern papers to the 25th were received. We are in debted to Purser Lockwood, of the Cos mopolitan, for promptly forwarding us copies Irom Purser McManus, of the Fulton. Tiie following are extracts . War Dkpaktmknt, Washington, Jan. 24 Major General Dlx—Titu following telegram has beeo received by this De partment from Lieut. Gen. Grant: R- 31 Stanton, Sec of War. City Point, Va., Jan. 33. Hon. E. M. Stanton, Sec. of War—One of my staff hits just returned lrom Fort Fisher with despatches from Gen. Terry, from which I extract the following: On the ltith tthc enemy blew up Forts Casvrell and Campbell, and abandoned them and the works on Smith's Island, and those at Smithville and Reeves’ Point. These places were occupied by the navy. The whole number of guns captured amounts to one hundred and sixty-two. A large number ol* small arms also fell into oar bauds, besides quantities of ordnance and commissary stores. Our casualties prove smaller than at first reported. They foot up thus: Twelve officers and one hundred and seven men killed; for tv-five officers and tour hundred and ninety-men wounded. U. S. Grant, Lieut. Gen’l. [From the N. Y. Herald, Jan. *2'.j The stock market was higher yester day, and speculative feeling fora rise was developed. Government securi ties were heavy. Gold was irregular, Gut lirnier, and closed at 202 :V4. QrKimc, Jan. 21. 1865.—1n the open ing debate in Parliament last night the government was sustained by a large majority, and the Southern refugees in Canada strongly denounced. A deter mination was expressed to stop the abuse of asylum; a commission was ap pointed to enquire into the cause of the tailure of justice in reference to the re lease of St. Albans raiders and the mis appropriation of the money restored them ; also to inquire into the conduct of Justice Coursol and the Chief of Po lice. Meant!me tire government has sus pended the judge. UTE UEBEL PAPERS. Interesting Gvtraets, 1 Prom die Richmond Examiner, Jan. 20.] Persons from Wilmington sav that the version of the disaster at Fort JPisher which states that the fort was taken by surprise, at least as far as the garrison is concerned, is untrue. They state that the garrison fought well, but were overwhelmed by num bers. Bragg having failed to relieve the three of assault by an attack on the en emy’s rear There have been some re ceiit dispositions of our forces in the South and West, details of which are inadmissable. [From the Goldsboro* Journal, Jan. 17.] Private aSvices by the train last night state that the Yankees were shelling our forces near Battery Gatlin, or Sugar Loaf some four miles from Fort Fisher. The Journal furnishes all the particulars which have ns yet reached us concerning the fall of Fort Fisher, with the excep tion of Gen. Lee’s brief despatch. It says that the Yankees succeeded in making a lodgment with their infantry force, kid to have been some eighteen thousand strong, on the river between mu §mltt (few. V J 9 SAVANNAH, GA., SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 1865. Sugar Loat and Fort Fisher, where they at once commenced intrenching. This lodgment was made probably on Friday night. Up to ten o’clock on Sunday night matters were r< ported satisfactory by’ouf military authorities; but within probably half an hour afterwards the enemy made a furious assault cu Fort Fisher. FROM MSXICO. Ex-Senator Gwtn made a ITukc by Huxiinilliaii. REPORTED CESSION OF MEXICAN TER RSTORY TO FRANCE. San. Francisco, Jan. 23, 1805.—Let ters from the Mazatian to the 14th inst, announce the arrival there of Captain Beauregard, a brother of Major General Beauregard, of the rebel States, in the capacity of private secretary to Wm. 31 Gwin, formerly United Slates Senator from California. Captain Beauregard reports that Mr. Gwin has been created a duke by the Dinner »r Maximilian of Mexico, and that Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihubia, Durango and Lower California have been ceded to the Emperor Napoleon, by the French gov ernment in payment tor the troops fur nished by the French government to subjugate Mexico, and that Mr. Gwin has been appointed Viceroy over tnose States, and will soon enter upon the du ties of his office. This story is not believed further than that Mr. Gwin has obtained certain grants of land, and is authorized to encourage immigration from the rebel States. Jeff* Davis on Reconstruction. Jkn Important Letter from the &ebel President. HE OPPOSES A CONVENTION OF STATES AND SEPARATE STATE ACTION. «22e Answer to the Georgia Resolutions. RrcHMosn, Nov. 17, IS»H. To the Hon. Senators of (ivory ta y Messrs. A. it Weight, President of the Senate, J. L (inert-;/, ./ M C'tomhers, Thomas Uojd, Frederick A. I! t'sf, Hobart id. JSiesbit : Gentlemen : I answered by telegraph this morning your letter of the 11th instant, as requested, and now r spect fully comply with your desire that I should express my views on the subj ict to which you invite my attention. In forwarding to me the resolutions introduced into the House of Represen tatives of Georgia by Mr. Stephens, of Hancock, you state that you are not in clined to ‘favor the passage of these or any similar resolutions, believing them to have a tendency to create diversions among ourselves and to unite and strengthen our enemies, but that it is as serted in Miiledgevillc that I favor such action on the part of the States, and would oe pleased to see Georgia cast her influence in that wav. You are kind enough to say that h this be true, and if the passage of these or similar resolu tions would in the slightest degree aid or assist me in bringing the war to a successful and speedy close, you will give them your earnest and hearty sup: port. I return you my cordial thanks for this expression ot confidence, but assure you that there is no truth in the assertions which you mention ; and I presume that you will already have seen, by the closing part of my annual mes sage, which must have reached you since the date of your letter, that I have not contemplated the use of any other agency in treating for peace than that established by the constitution of the Confederate States. That agency seems to me to be well adapted to its purposes and free from the injurious consequences that, would follow any other means that have been suggested. The objection to separate State action which you present in your letter appears to be so conclu sive as to admit of no reply. Tne im mediate and inevitable tendency of such • distinct acts by each State Is to create discordant instead of united counsels, to suggest to our enemies the possibili ty of a dissolution of the Confederacy, and to encourage then; by the. spectacle of our divisions to more determined and united action against us. They would readily adopt the false idea that some of the States of the Confederacy are dis posed to abandon their sister States and make separate terms of peace for them selves; and if such a suspicion, how ever unrounded, were once engendered our own people, it would be de structive of that spirit of mutual confi dence and support which forms our chief reliance for success in the main tenance of our cause. When the proposal of separate State action was first mooted it appear* i to me so impracticable, so void of any promise of good, that I gave no heed to the proposal; but upon its adoption by citizens whose position and ability gave Weight to the expression of their opin ions, I was led to a serious consideration of the subject. My first impressions have not been changed by reflection. If ail the States «f the two hostile federa tions are to meet in convention, it is plain thus such a meeting can <>»ly take place after an agreement as to the time, place and terms on which they are to meet. Now, without discussing the m nor, although not trifling, difficulties of agreeing as to time ami place, it is Certain that the States would never con vened without agreement as to terms on which they were to meet. The pro posed convention must meet on the basis either that no State should against its own will he bound by the decision of the convention, or that it should be so bound. But it is plain that an agreement on the basis that no State should be bound, without its consent, by the result of the deliberations, would be an abandonment on the part of the North of is pretended right of coercion—would be an absolute recognition of the independence of the several States of the Confederacy—would be, in a word, so complete a concession of the righlfullness ut our cause that the most visionary cannot hope for such an agreement. In advance of the meeting of a con vention, the. only other possible basis of meeting is that each State sh mid agree beforehand io be bound by the decision ot the convention ; and such agreement is but another form of submission, of Northern dominion, as we well know that in such a convention we should be ouuuabered nearly two to one on the very threshold of the scheme proposed. Theretord we are met by an obstacle which cannot be removed. Is not the impracticable character of the project apparent? You will observe that I leave entirely out of view the suggestion that a conven tion of all the Stales of both federations should be held by common consent, without any previous understanding as to the (fleet of its decisions—should meet merely to debate and pass resolu tions that are to bind no one. It is not supposed that this can really be the meaning attached to the proposal by those who are active in its support, although the resolutions to which you invite my attention declare the fuhetion of such a convention would be simply to propose a plan ot peace with the consent of the two belligerents—or, in other words, to act as negotiators in treating for peace. This part of the scheme is not intelligible to me. If the conven tion is only to be held with the consent of the two* belligerents, that consent can not be obtained without negotiation. The plan, then, would resolve itself into a scheme that the two governments should negotiate an agreement for the appointment of negotiators to make pro posals fora treaty. It seems much more prompt and simple to negotiate for peace at once, than to negotiate for the ap pointment of negotiators, who are to meet without power to do anything but make proposals. If the government, of the United Skates is willing to make peace it will treat for peace directly. If unwilling, it will refuse to consent, to a convention of States. The author of these resolutions, and those who concur in his view l , appear j to me to commit the radical error of | supposing that the obstacle to obtaining j the pence which we all desire consists in the difficulty of finding proper agencies for negotiating, so that the whole scope of the resolutions ends in nothing but suggest ing that, if the enemy will treat, the best agency would be State delegates to a convention ; whereas, the whole and only obstacle is that the enemy wi 1 not treat at all, or entertain any othr pro position than that, we should submit to their yoke, acknowledge that we are criminals, and appeal to their mercy for peace. After tills augment of objections it may appear superfluous to add others of less gravity ; but as you invite a full ex pression of my views, I will add that history is replete with instances of the interminable difficulties and delays at tending the attempt to negotiate on great and conflicting interests where the par ties to the negotiation are numerous. If this has been the case where the par ties possessed full power to conclude a treaty, what can we hope from the as sembly of negotiators from thirty or forty States, who, in the midst of an exasperating warfare, arc to meet with out power to conclude anything ? In the history of our country we find that in a time of profound peace, when the most cordial brotherhood sentiment ex isted, and when a. long and bloody war had been brought to a triumphant close, it required two years to assemble a con vention and bring its deliberations to an end, and another year to procure th# ratification of their labois. With such a w.ir as the present in progress, the views of the large assemblage of negotiators proposed would undergo constant changes according to the vicis situdes, according to the struggle, and the attempt to secure concordant views would soon be abandoned and leave the parties must embittered than ever, less hopeful of the possibility of succeseful negotiation. Again, how is the difficul ty resulting from the, conflicting preten sions of the two belligerents in regard to several of the States to be overcome ? Is it supposed that Virginia would enter into a convention with a delegation from what our enemies choose to term the State of West Virginia, and thus recog nize an insolent aud violent dismember ment of her territory ? Or would the United States consent that West Virginia should be deprived of her pretensions t» equal rights after having formally ad mitted her as a State, and allowed her to vote at a Presidential election ? Who would send a delegation from Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky or Missouri ? The enemy claim to hold the governments ot those States, while we assert them to be members of the Confederacy. Would delegates be received from both sides?— If so, there would goon be a disruption of tin* convention. If delegates be re ceived from neither side, then a conven tion of the States most vitally interested in die result would remain unrepresent ed, and what value could be attached to mere recommendations of a body of ne gotiators under such circumstances?— various other considerations suggest themselves, but enough has been said to justify my conclusion that the proposal of separate State action is unwise, im oracticable, and offers no prospect of good to counterbalance its manifold ina ifold injurious consequences to the cause of our country. Very respectfully, yours, &c. Jefferson Davis. HKAJMJIJAKTKRr* U. S. F<>*<tKS,\ SuYanuaU, Ga., Jan. 2S, 1565. j No. 7. / A LJL pern u*t having Ammunition in their pos- Jjl session or on the premise* occupied by them will i»e held responsible that they report the same immediately to the Provost Marshal, who will seize the same and turn it over to the Depot Ordnance Officer. * To insure security of property, any wnvn knewlng of any Ordnance secreted, are invited to report it to the Provost Marshal. By command of Bv’t. Major Gen. C. GROVER E. G. Dike, A A. A. G. janSO jyj-EW YORK POULTRY ! turries, geese and chickens. Packed in Ice by Roihuns, of Fulton Market, and in excellent condition, will be sold at L»w Prices, on TUESDAY MORNING, JAN. 81, Commencing at 7 a. m., at the WHARF, FOOT OF WEST BROAD STREET. jan*29-*2t r SAVANNAH DAILY HERALD OFFICE la at No.Jll Bay street.