Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

not want him to suspect that vvu j had signed the Ordinance of Seces sion as a mere matter of form, and that we and our constituents were iprepared to rallyjo his'black stan dard whenever it should be raised on Southern soil ; but on the con trary, we were determined that he, should know in advance, where at least some of the Union men, as we were then called, would he found in such a conflict. We were not without hope, either that some goodunight’be done thereby in uni ting our people, at home, and by evincing such unity of feeling and firmness of purpose at the South to Mr. Lincoln and his advisers. 1 have given this statement of our principal reasons for pursue, ingthe course we did in that res pect, because certain partisans have attempted to excite public prejudice against me on that ac count. We find ourselves now involved in the most bloody war which was ever waged on the American Con tinent. But the fault is not ours. Whether we at the South acted with all the prudence and caution we should, or not, is a question for our own consideration, and wheth er we did or not, we have only done what, we had a right to do, and the Lincoln Government had no constitutional right to declare war again&t us for having done so. Cur cause, therefore, is just, and we may confidently invoke the God •of Battles to defend and protect us. Let us, therefore, waiving Ml past differences of opinion, address ourselves to the future. We want peace and good Gov ernment. The only great ques tion now before us, is how we best secure these national bles sings ? My counsel is, that we seek peace by a vigorous prosecu tion of the war. Congress should provide all the means necessary to sustain our armies in the field - I would prefer to borrow money for the present, if we can, for that purpose, to be refunded when peace shall return to bless us with her smiles, by duties imposed upon imports ; but if we cannot borrow it, then we should submit cheer* fully to direct taxation. Whenever the enemy will con sent to withdraw his troops from our soil, and acknowledge the In btatcsj'ljut not lienal let us”fay down our arms and return to the pursuits of peace. We should be careful to form no entangling alliances with foreign powers, but keep ourselves free to cultivate such friendly relations with all, as mutual interes's may form time to time suggest. The utmost practical economy shou d be observed in all expenditures of public money, and all the avenues to peculation and fraud upon the public treasury should be closed, as far as possible. The interests of the great mass of the people should he consulted, rather than the selfish desiresofa few favored per sons or classes. As a permanent revenue system, I prefer the assessment of duties •■upon goods imported, to direct tax ation— an ad valorem tariff for rev enue strictly. 1 consider it true policy of the Government to furnish her people with the most extensive mail la* cibties practicable, and at a cheap rate of postage, on all written or printed matter. To prevent the recurrence of similar events for the future, great care should be taken to keep all public offices within the control of the people. No such class as that of' politicians should again be toler ated. On the restoration of peace, the most stringent rule ol rotation in office should be adopted and en forced both in our State and Con federate Governments. No man should be retained in any impor tant office longer than lor the one t» rm fixed by law. ./11l inducement to combination among office-seekers, for private advancement, would then be re moved ; honesty would become the best policy with office-holders, as with other people, and then they would deal honestly with the peo ple. Uuder such rule, public of lice would be sought as a post of • honor, and not merely as an easy #to make money. Ihe truly great, the wise and the good, would be called to rule over us, and peace, prosperity and contentment would ever attend and bless the Southern Confederacy. JAMES P. SIMMONS. [Lawrenceville, Ga.,Sept., 180 b MOUNTAIN SIGNAL itohlonc&a, : SATURDAY. . - OCT. 19 I OUR TERMS— SI,OO, if paid a 1 I !/Ac time of subscribing ; otherwise. \ ■sl 50. F"R PRESIDENT. lION. JEFFERSON DAVIS, OF MISSISSIPPI. FOII VICE PRE-IDENT. HON. A. H. STEPHENS. OF GEORGIA. FOR CONGRESS, 9 HI DISTRICT COL. HARDY STRICKLAND, O F FORSYTH. 7 Ac Dahlonega Mint —We are happy to announce that Lewis \V. Quillian, Esq, of this place, has been appointed assayer of the Confede rate Mint at Dahlonega. { CO” We learn with regret, from a pr:« j vate letter received in this place a few diys ago, that Mr. Samuel London. a member of the Blue Ridge Rifles,died at the Ladies’ Hospital in Ljnchburg. Va., on the 4th inst., of typhoid fever. CO” The Atlanta Confederacy of the 13:h inst., says, John S. Rowland Esq., of Cass, has been appointed by Gov. Brown Superintendent of the State Road, and has entered upon his duties- Dr. L°wis the former Superintend ent has been elected to the Supeiin tendency of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad. Personal.— Wo were pleased to lake bj the hand thia week, our wor x 'hr CT] Enterprise, and Orderly Ser geant, of the Butler Guards, Wm. P, Price. Serg’t Price was at the bat tie of Manassass Plains, and more re cently in a heavy skirmish in the neighborhood of Lewinsville, where he received a severe injury from n can non ball. We are happy, however, to say that he has well nigh recovered from his wound. He is at present on a visit to his family in this place, and will leave, we learn, in a few days for Virginia. The Congressional Canvass. ln common with a highly respectable au dience of our fellow-citizens, we were • gratified, on Monday last, by a speech I at the Court House, from Col. Hardy Strickland, of Forsyib, the earliest nominated candidate for Congressman from this district Col. Strickland happily presented, in a concisely ex j pressed and well conceived speech ol ! reasonable length, the consist! of poli cy which he should pursue, in event of his election, which was very favorably received by his audience. A vigorous j prosecution of the war. strict economy ■ in domestic and a high and honorable bearing in foreign affairs appeared to j be the burden of the Cops speech.— ! IWe were personally pleased at his hearty endorsement of the administra. lion of our excellent President, who will, we trust, nud in Col, Strickland an earnest and effective supporter on the floor of Congress. Col. Strickland spoke in Daw sonville on last Saturday, at Cleveland on Tuesday and at Blairsville on Thursday of this week. OO” We clip the following items from the Romo Courier : All persons having property belong ing to alien enemies in their hands and not giving notice of it, are subject to a fine 0f55,000. Pay attention. Property to the value of $75,000 be longing to Mrs. General Scott, and situated chiefly in Richmond, is said to have been confiscated under the recent act of the Confederate States Con gress. A patent has been issued to a South Carolinian, a Mr Bierfield, for improve ments in 'Panning. It is done with common Dog Fanel, at a cost of 40 to! THE MOUNTAIN SIGNAL- 60 per cent, cheaper than the ordinary process The Charleston Courier has some specimens. 7{ed peper is essentially necessary for our troops in Virginia during the winter. It should be carefully preserv ed By all who w\sh to minister to the comfort and of our forces in the field, ground up and packed in bags, boxes | or kegs. Chattanooga Ma, het — Bacon, stock light—hog round 20e.; sides 23, sho'il tiers 19$ ; barns 19 to 20c.; beet hams drfad 10c.; Laid 22c ; Flour $6.00 Io; $6 50 ; Corti in depot 80 .; Wheat 80c. ; Coffee 35 to 40c ; Suh $5 00 i per sack—sl 50 per bushel in barrels. ■— TJtr: Lieutenant S. 11. Gibson, of the Dahlonega Volunteers, which cornpa tty are now in Western fc V irginia, has furnished us with the following roll ol the company : < FFICERV. Captain, T B Cabaniss, ! Ist Lieutenant, J M Hardin,* 2d Lieutenant, S A Iv-lly, 3d Lieutenant, S A Gibson, 1 Orderly Sergeant, G A Sudduth, 2d Sergeant. J R Quillian, 3d Sergeant, C C Lance, 4(h Sergeant, W II Hester, 5 b Sergeant, Benj. J Davis, Ist Corporal, TH Gibion, 2d Corporal, C W Worley, I 3d Corporal, John W Spencer, 4th Corporal, ii S Autry, PRIVATES.-- Lafayette Allison, T W Arendale, ; David L Beck, John W Beck, 1 I H Bell, John C Bowen, Joseph B Brown, fW R Brown, James D B.y>ou, GW B r.-nes, i R C Burnes, E L Calhoun, B II Campbell, Abner Carder, i j: W A Carrol, A II Carter, J E Carter, W II Cooke, John W Cousins, W C Crenshaw James Dockery W J’lDuuglas J rsiah Elrrd, Jo. II Elrod, j Levi G Elrod, John W Fineher, G»>o. Fitlsgerald, |C W Fitts, II C Catiell, J S Graham, Robt. A Graham, John Goswick, Geo. W Gregory, R.T. Hardin, f Samson Hays, C B Hen-ley, T B Hensley. j- Sam Hoffman, Robt. Iluntsicger, Augustus Hyden, M 5.,„ M R 11 Knight, Charles A Lilly, John G Lister, W H H Low, f A J Maddox, T II Marshall, WII Marshall, John M Martin, Van Buren Martin, J R Mathews, George McGinnis, John A Morrison, E V Mullinix, Geo. W Mullinix, Narnan Nicholson, J M Norrel, Geo. W Odom, A J Palmar, F M Bn liner, W » Palmer, f John W Payne, J M Powell, ■ John M Presley, Wesley Presley, James L Rner, Aiben O Riley, Adam D Robinson, E I) Robinson, J H Row, Jo. W Statelier, A J Smith, T J Smith, B J Truelove, William Truelove, Joh i F Tyner, John W Walden, A J Williams, O F Wood, Francis M Woollen, f M V Worley, * Resigned. f Discharged—unable for duty. j Taken prisoner at Garrick’s Ford ana released on parole I [communicated.] I For the Signal. The citizens of Banks were favored I with a visit from Rev. R. W. Bigham ‘ who is a candidate for Repres-ntative ;Io Congiess, on Wednesday 9lh inst., I and who delivered to us one of the a . blest and most candid political address es that we have had the pleasure of hearing for many days. He ably ad vocates both in public and private the re-establishment of the Mint at Dah lonega— favors a prompt and regular transmission and delivery of the mails to every destitute community—con tends, and will contend, for a reduce lion of the salaries of all officers from the President down, and general econo my in every department of govern ment ; he also favors an energetic prosecution of the war and ample pro vision for our soldiers in the service both sick and well He is calculated by his unrivalled eloquence and tmas summing manners to win the favor and influence of all who have had or may have the privilege ofheariug him. FARMER. A new military company has been organized in Floyd county, called ‘The Freemen of Floyd,’and Robert H. Moore, Esq,, elected Captain. THE BATTLE OF GREENBRIER RIVER. The C*>nstJuiionii-l of the ll h inst. says, we are indebted to a tiiend lb. the use ol th • following interesting letter from a yotrig mtn in the First Geor gia Regiment, giving tin interestin'' 'recount of the battle of Greenbrier*] Va. : | Camp Barcow, Greenbrier ? River, Va., Oct. 4,’61. $ Dear Parents : I add this to my al ready lengthy enis le to let you know that I hive at hr.-t met the enemy, and heard the missiles of various dimen sions whistle through the air, in no ve ry pleasant proximity to my head. I will, below, recount, as faithfully as 1 am able, the movornei.i!s of the day- j htr y yesterday, (3.1) morning, the ' I enemy, five or six hundred strong.! came d >wn from their cosy quarters on top of Cheat Mountain, and began, filing on our advanced pickets, who are stationed at the river at the foot of (he mountain. We wre ordered to get our guns and amunition all ready, wnich we did in short order. ,We had, hardly got our pieces it; time, before our Orderly called out, ‘fall in men ! : and then it begin to look very much like a fight. Just at this lime, our pickets had formed a short distance off, atid began to fire upon the enemy, who returned it with muskets, rifles. i and cannon, Ihe fight in that quatlei ] vas very brisk lor a while, an i the re i verberatioii among the mountains made i the noise souud as though hundreds of : artillery had opened fire". Toe Yan kees continued to advance, and our {pickets, with Col. Ramsey in corn- I mand, were cut off'from our forces.— , Phe Yankees came up like brave lei |lo«s to within a quarter to a half mile of our uoiks. when they begin to fire with artillery upon our main body. They tired both shell and solid shot, and some of the shots were directed { with the greatest precision, bursting right over our artillery, and playing the ! in scliief general y. I ue Ist Georgia were drawn tip in ] line, on the field, with ihe 12th Geor \ gia, and the Virginians pit in the | trenches. General Jackson came up (to us and said, ‘Major ! (to Majoi ; riiompsuti,) your regiment have Hie 1 post ol d ttiger, and 1 hold you and them tesponsible for this part of the field.’ Ol course, this made us feel proud of this seeming confidence, and, no i doubt, every man resolved to conquei lor die, if the enemy should attack the j right 11 ink where we were posted.— Soon -liter we were drawn out, the sia.en up- ihu g?d.. of the river among Hie burhes. The 12tli were sent to meet them, which ■ they did in handsome style, an I soon drove them back to their old position, ■in the open field, where our artillery j were pouting destruction into their 1 ranks at a rapid rate. While on the field, w« were ordered to lay flit, which we did, to avoid the shells and Minie lialls ; but all the time the balls were going over us wdz ! making a noise almost identical with that made by the wings ol one ol our June bugs. Ihe cannonading la-led lour hours and a bad, and the whole fight a little mure than 6 hours. We drove the enemy oil ; umj Col. Ramsey, who was cut oil in the mountains, wheie he jeouiusee everything, says that they cat t ied off m least twenty wagons loaded wjiij theic dead. 1 hey were run in good fashion, and ueie m great disorder until they got ttiree n.iies irom the scene of action.— I hey could not like oil al> their dead, •as we, yesterday, found several deau ; uad buiied them. This morning the camp is lull ol haversacks, canteens, and vsiious other paits of the Yankees, equipments, wnich they left on the Heid tn their haste to gel away. We have no official report of the the loss on our side ; but 1 heaid an Aid to Gensrui Jackson say, that we lust about fuily killed and wounded.— None ol this company, or the Walker Light iti’anlry were hurt, and only one or two in this legiment. 1 must close; perhaps 1 will give you more in my next. 1 forgot to say that we captured their colors—a large, and very fine silk flag. lam uli right. We are now cooking' six days provisions. Your son, F. M. H. The dispatch bearer from General Lee, came in this morning, stating that he (Lee,) hid whipped out Rosen crantz, and gut in his rear, so that he cannot gel out, unless he comes by here ; which, if he tiies again, 1 think he will be whipped worse than Rey nolds was yesterday, F M 11 Tests of Character.—'l hat which you most enjoy, that which you seek and practice with the greatest pleasure; the company you prefer, the books you read, the kind of pleasure and amuse ments you most frequent; the lan guage you use, the kind of stories you tell with (he greatest pleasure, things for which you make the greatest sac rifices, and on which you place the Highest value ; these, mote than your professions and pretensions, are lhe true tests of character. Example dis closes lhe true character, while pro fession, without example, is but a va por, which soon measures your influ-, ence. L A T E t S 1’ NEW S. Richmond, Oct. 10.—The report yesterday relative to the retreat of Gen. Rosencrantz in Western Vir. ginia, the reliability of which re port was considered to be doubtful is confirmed to-day in official quar ters. Gen Rosencrantz retreated with the army he had opposing Gen. Lee at Sewell Mountain in t hat section of the State, and has gone in the direction of the Gauley river. O.i account of the miserable condi tion of the roads, and the limited a. mount ol transpoilation in the hands of the Confederates, Gen. Lee was able to pursue the Federalists only 8 miles, Richmond, Oct. 11.—Gen* Henry R. Jackson’s offiial report of the battle of Jreen-brier river, has been receiv ed, and will appear in tomorrows “En quier.’ The following comprises lhe li.-t ofcasaulties : Killed—John C. Rie, 12th Georgia Regiment ; J. W. Brown, Ist Georgia Regiment ;Mr. Fidler, of Rice’s Bat tery, John Agnew, and Wm. O. Block er, 31 Arkansas Regim?nt; John Mun ford, 31st Virginia Regiment.- Wounded—Capt. Shumaker, Dan ville Va., Artillery slightly ; Capt. Rice of Rice’s bat ’ery, foot shot off; Lieut. Mann 44th Va , slightly ; Lhut. Bartlett, 31st Va., severely ; Sergt. Graves, Rice’s batteiy mortally ; Corpl. <lauton, Danville Artillery severely ; Corporal Slaven, 31st Va., severely ; Corporal Eslin, 31 st Va.. slightly ; Corporal Hoffmin, 31st Va., missing. Privates Wounded Arkansas Regi ment, Stephens, Milton, and Calhoun, Slightly ; and Aderson and Scott mor tally ; 44th Va., Fitzgerald, Kelly, Paine, and Kane, slightly ; 12th Ga , John Dean, D. W. W a re, W. F. An drew, D. F. Terrel, slightly ; Ist Ga., D. L. Beck, severely. New Orleans, via Mobile, Oct.— 12— A naval engagement took place this morning at the head of the Passes, between the Confederate fleet and the U. S. blockading fleet, commencing at 3 45 o’clock, A. M.and lasting for one hour. It was resumed a*. 9 o’clock A. Vl. and during its continuance, Com Hollins sent the following message to the Naval department. Fort Jackson, 2 o’clock P. M.— Las! night I attacked tlie blockaders with mylittle, and succeeded, after a very short struggle in driving them all aground at the South west Pass bar, except the Preble which I sunk. We captured a prize from them, and after we got them fast in the sand we pep pered them well. There were no casualties on our side. The affair was i complete success. New Orleans, Oct. 12, —The ptizes captured in the late engage ment are the schooner Jos. li. Toone and a launch belonging to the Richmond, laden with cutlas ses. The vessels sunk was not the Preble but ihe Vincennes. [The Preble carries 1G guns and Vincen nes 20 guns. Bo’h are sloops of war.— On Friday night our fleet started frem Fort Jackson—the Manassas leading the way. The night was intensely dark. The struck a vessel which she ran into near the bow and cut into Ler up wards of twenty feet. An appall ing shriek was heard aboard the doomed ship. A signal rocket was lired, the enemy beat for quarters, and a perfect iron hail fell around and upon the Manassas, and her machinery became deranged. The-Tuscarora came up with five barges which were cut adrift from the steamer and entered into the fight, thereby causing a regu lar Stampede of the enemy. Washington, October 6th.—No thing but the imperative demands of the public interest has induced the government to supercede Fremont.—— I'he Attorney General is unreserved in the expression of his opinion con' cerning '.he conduct of Fremont, and does not hesitate to prouounce his re tention a public crime. Publicity has been given to the vio lation of the blockade, at the port of Savannah, by the British steamer Ber muda. It is said that the fact was re ported to Lord Lyons at his dinner ta. ble, the information having been re ceived from the village of Thomson in Connecticut. It is believed that a part of the freight of the Bermuda consisted of seventy ions of powder, Enfield rifles, fifty rifled cannon, sixty thousand pairs o< shoes, a large quantity of blankets, clothing, quinine and morphine. Re. monstrances against the sailing of the Bemiuda, and lhe completing of her cargo were made by Minister Adams in London, but the foriengn office ei ther did not feel al liberty or did not \ see its obligations tg aifea the unlaw. ( ful voyage, ) No More Furloughs.*— Among the on dits current in military circles, yes terday, waa one to the effect, that in consrquence of the general abuse of furloughs no more would be issued from the War Department, even to the I sick desiring leave of Absence.— ) Stringent as this order may appear, its ! adoption and general enforcement will " ! really be productive of benefit to the ' service.—[Richmond Enquirer. I - i Richmond, Oct. 11.—Mansfield Lovell, recently promoted to be a Ma jor-General, has been appointed ' full command of Louisiana and sippi, Gen. Twiggs retiling. i Pensacola, Oct., 13 A ; sisling of Capt. Butler and wife. Pack, 'ardatid wife, and Mr. Gillet, late jSouthern Express agent at this place, and probably others, escaped to Fort j Pickens under false pretenc-’S on Fri (day. Richmond, Oct. 13—It is reported here, on the authority of a gentleman just from Baltimore, that Lord Lions ■ and Seward had ruptured their amica ble relations, and that Lyon had left •Washington. Richmond, Oct. 14. lndications here point to stirring events at an ear ly day. Over 700 patients are in the Geor* gia Hospital in this ci'v. A Pennsylvania volunteer, laboring under delirum tremens, committed sui cide near Harrisburg, lately by filling his mouth with gunpowder and then setting fire to it. i Suficiency of Pork in the South.— I'be apprehensions of our people in re gard to the deficiency of bacon in the future says the Richmond Ena iirer, are not well founded, if we can rely upon the statistics ofthe ‘hog crop’ of the United States as given in the cen< sus report of 1850. According to that report, the fact appears (surprising, doubtles, to many of our readers) that of lhe thirty millions three hundred and fifty-four thousand hogs raisedin all the States and Territories of lhe United States, the Southern States, ex clusive of Kentucky and Missouri, pro duced fifteen millions eight hundred and four thousand three hundred and fifty jhree, or considerably more than one half! The number of hogs in Kentucky is reported at 2.891,163 and in Missouri at 1,702,625. So that with Kentucky and Missouri, the ■ Southern Stales raise upwards of twen ty millions ol hogs, agiinst ten millions in the Yankee States. The London Globe, in an editorial on the cotton question, says ; ‘The Southerners .fully understand the advantages of their position. In the words of ene of them, reported by no unfriendly hand, they ‘fight for the integrity of and independence of their soil, for naticnal independence. Their object is tangible, but that oflhe North is not. The xNorth fights tor an ab straction. It fights for the reconstruc tion of a Union which has ceased to exist, and which can never be restored except by force of arms.’ Then there is unity in the South, so far as positive action is concerned. They have a source of strength, and they will make use of it. They have lhe cotton crop. It has been determined that no portion of tho crop shall be sold until the block* ade is broken or the Confederacy rec* ognized. The plan is an ingenious one. If cotton compels a recognition of the Southern Confederacy, cotton will indeed be king/ APPOINTMENTS . Col. Hardy Strickland will ad dress the people of the Ninth Con gressional District at lhe following limes and places: Jasper, Pickens co., Thursday, OeL 10th, ’ Dawsonville, Dawson co., Saturday, October 11th. Dahlonega, Lumpkiq co., Mondav* Oct. 14th. Cleveland, White co., Wednesday, Oct. 16th. Blairsville, Union co., Friday, Oct 18th. Highwassee, Towns co., Saturday, Oct. 19th. Clarkesville, Habersham co., Wed* nesday, Oct. 23d. Clayton, Rabuq, co., Monday, Oct*} 21st. Homer, Banks co., Friday, Oct. 25t|j Gillsville, Hall co., Saturday, Oct 26th. Cainsville, Hal! co., Monday, Oct. 28th.