Newspaper Page Text
Georgia Cavalry, was captured, and
on the hare statement of a negro, was
W
ilile as a guerrilla.
hanged by Gen
This inimler was ordered and witness
ed bv Gen. Wilde. On die Yankee re
treat he was taken, with the other pris
oners, as far as Hinton’s Cross Roads,
and there, in the presence of the women
and the n£gro troops, lie
In mi a cross beam of an old house,
where his remains were found loriy-
tbur hours afterwards by his Colorie
and buried with military honors. On
the back of the murdered soldier was
a label with the following words
“Here hangs a guerilla of Pasquo
tank county, Daniel Bright, by order
of Brigadier General Wilde.”
The unfortunate man’s name was
Daniel Bright, Company L, 62d Geor
gia Cavalry.
We are indebted to Governor Vance
for the following letters from Wilde to
Captains Elliott and Sanderlin, which
show the brutal character of the wretch
who penned them. Even if they had
the right to use negroes as soldiers,
which we deny, who ever heard of la
dies being held as hostages lor soldiers
captured by an enemy ?
[Copy.]
Northwest Landing, Va., )
Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1S63. j
To Willis Sanderlin. Captain of
Guerillas :
Sir—I hold Major Gregory as a hosl-
*uge for the colored soldier captured
near Shiloh. I shall treat him exactly
as your people treat that soldier. II
they hang him, I shall hang Maj. Greg
ory ; and you know by this time that I
keep my word.
Let the soldier be sent to Deep Creek
Village, at the end of Dismal Swamp
Canal, and Major Gregory shall be at
once restored.
(Signed) Edward A. Wilde,
Brigadier General Vols.
Major Gregory is an old man not in
service.
cious in its purposes of plunder and de
vastation. What will your imaginary
gains l»e worth lo you, if realized,
should that armv overrun your Slate r
Where is the wisdom of hoarding up
provisions and endangering your whoie
estate. Be warned in time ; it Georgia
be overrun, you and your properly
part, and your families will he brought
lo abject poverty.
Do not delude yourselves with the
vain hope that you will escape. No
man or woman or child will escape.
One universal ruin awaits us all—not
one thing green sufficient to feed a
grasshopper will be left. The Feder
ate will garrison the citizens and villa
ges, and raid the whoie country—the
plantation of wide acres and the small
farm will alike he scourged. Neither
can anything he hid from the invaders ;
their soldiery fight for plunder as well
as vour subjugation, and they will
search diligently for their reward. Such
has been the case wherever they have
gained a foothold, and they avow the
intention to he more severe as they
come South. On the mountains of Up
per Georgia they found money secreted
in hollow tiees, and gold that had been
hid by its owner, at the dead hour of
midnight, without the knowledge of a
human being. What I write, I have
seen and felt. You will not believe
me now. Persist in your course, and
you will both believe and suffer it all
next Summer. Awake, then, from
your sleep of Death. Sirengthen and
leed the Army and Soldiers’ families as
your only hope of salvation.
JAMES A. NISBET.
A Brilliant Ailvruu C.
army corn* prudent of the
The army corn* p'tmlent of the New
York Metropolitan Recorder, writing from j
Alexandria Virginia, narrate ■ the follow-1
iag interesting story of an » [venture by!
some Confederate cavalry
I confident hopes, strong assurances that we,
f as a nation, will never reach this situation.
But now, let us at once as a nation imitate
the example «f the individual man. In
the course ol their history a solemn inter
rogatory is ever addressed to all people;'
While we were encamped a; Centreville, j have you the virtue to present a great ex-
Gen. Lee had his men busily engaged iu ample of self-sacrifice ? It is the highest
destroying the raifroa I from Manassas test of human virtue. If we have the
Junction to the Ra P! banuock, and in virtue to give up home, and wealth, and
this succeeded so well t.;s it *ook ns about family, then may we have the hope of
a month to repair it. Wb.-n we again ! country. But to have a country, and en
advanced the Confederates had already j°Y a11 * he blessings of a free and inde
[Copy.]
Elizabeth City, Dec. 17, ’63.
To John T. Elliott, Capt. of Guerillas :
Sir—I still hold in custody Mrs.
Mundea and Mrs. Weeks as hostages
for the colored soldier taken by you.
As he is treated so shall they he, even
to hanging. By this time you know
that l am in earnest. Guerillas aie lo
be treated as pirates. You will never
have rest until you renounce your pres
ent course or join the regular Confed
erate army.
(Signed) Edward A. Wilde,
Brig..Gen. Vote.
Any day that you will send your
colored prisoner to Deep Creek Vil
lage, at the terminus of Dismal Swamp
Canal, 3 r ou will find these women re
turned there the next day. This is on
the faith of one who keeps his word.
(Signed) Edward A. Wjldk,
Brig. Gen. Vote.
These ladies were kept in handcuffs
until taken lo Norfolk, where they are
kept in jail.
They were guarded by negroes, who
never left them under any circumstan
ces.
We have not space to narrate the
many heartless cases of cruelly perpe
trated by these fiends. One or two
cases will suffice as examples. They
entered the house occupied by the wile
of Captain Elliott’s Quartermaster. As
the poor woman sat at the fire she saw
them deliberately cut a hole iu the floor
and build a fire therein to consume her
house over her. She asked them if
they could do that. They replied that
they could and would. “Then burn,”
was the lady’s patriotic response, “and
I’ll be a stronger Confederate than ev
er.” A little before daylight the wo
man’s husband returned and found his
wife and tour children huddled togeth
er in the corner of a fence in sight of
the ashes of her late home !
In one other case they fired a resi
deuce without giving any notice to the
sleeping inhabitants, who were saved
from death only by the timely waking
up of a faithful slave.
COTTON.
The Richmond correspondent
From the Macon Telegraph.
COMPLAINT IN THE ARMY.
Mr. Editor : When recently with
the Army of Tennessee, such remarks
as these fell lro.n the lips of officers
and men, viz: “Whilst we are endur
ing hardships and exposing our lives,
men of property are sending substitutes
to this army, most of whom desert and
leave us to be overrun, and murdered
by superior numbers.”
“Our wives write us that corn cribs
and smokeliouses are locked up, and
planters say they have nothing to sell,
when, at the same time, they are hoard
ing up provisions until speculators come
along to give high prices.”
“1 have been in all the battles of the
West, and wounded more than once,
and my family, driven fiom their home,
and stript of everything, are struggling
in Georgia to get a shelter and some
thing to eat. My pay is a month,
and little sympathy is shown my suf
fering wife and children—they are
charged three prices ll»r wfnt scanty
accommodation they get, and often are
nigh starvation. We might as well be
under Lincoln’s despotism as to endure
such treatment.”
Language such as the above, too
plainly explains the late reverse at
Chattanooga. Every word is true, and
no man can wonder that the army is
disgusted and disheaitened. Now, my
appeal is to the people to change this
state of things. 1 beg you, people of
Georgia, to awake lo your danger be
fore it is too late. Next spring an ar
my of invasion will come down upon
us, formidable in numbers, and teio-
of the
Atlanta Register writes.
The Buenos Ayres Standard says, over
three tons of the best cotton seed have
been distributed in parts of Brazil most
adapted to the growth of cotton. We pro
mise England 5,000 bales this season and
400,000 the next, from the River Platte.
Iu a year or two, if we have peace, this
river will be to England what the once
prosperous States of North America were
—the supplier of staples, the consumer of
manufactures. In Algeria, on the other
hand, the effort to cultivate cotton has
proved almost an wtter failure, owing to
the want of irrigation and the severity of
winter.
The Brazil statement need give us no
alarm, for the war has disclosed the fact
that the world can better afford .to pay
seventy or eighty cents for Southern cot
ton than to use any other substitute, such
as wool, hemp or silk. Peace once de
clared, no cotton can compete with our
own, and we will have the sense and the
need to demand full price for it. At
eight ceuta cottou pays a profit, at eleven
it seta the planters mad, and at twenty-
five cents (we can easily get fifty cents
after the war) it will make them million-
ares— able to pay S6,000 for negro hands.
Estimating the loss of slaves by the incur
sions of the enemy as high as 10,000 a
month, (Ron. A. H, Stewart’s estimate
—though we did not lose that number
duting the whole of the first year of the
war,) it can be proved by statistics that
the annual increase of our negroes is more
than equal to the loss, great as it is. We
shall then come out of the war with as ma
ny or more negroes than we had tv lien we
went into it. Before the war the average
value of hands was $500. Suppose tve
have at its close 4,000,000, and the in
crease of value be not $5,200, but $1,000 ;
we shall be 4,000,000,000 belter off than
we were at the beginning of the coutest.
But the price of cotton ami negroes deter
mines ali other values, and if we tako in
to account the enhancement of land alone,
in addition to negroes, we shall find our
selves ten times richer than we would
have been but for the war, ample allow
ance being made for all losses and the
public debt According to this estimate,
which comes from a talented South Caro
linian, now residing iu this city, we can
shoulder a debt of 3,000,000,000 with
ease, and we now owe only a third of that.
Leaving the glory and honor of independ
encc entirely out of view, and looking at
the matter in a purely mercenary and
business way, we can see that we have
something worth fighting for, provided
Sidney Smith told a falsehood when he
said, “there is nothing so unreliable as
figures, except facts.” But doesn’t the
sanguine South Carolinian explain clear
ly how and why the Yankees fight us so
frantically and so persistently ?
retreated to Warrenton and the line of the
Rappahannock. We marched across Bull
Run, through and past Gainesvi lie, Hay-
market, New Baltimore and Warrenton;.
and extended our line from Warrenton on
the right to Monisville on the left.,
Speaking of New' Baltimore, I feel impell
ed to relate one of the boldest guerilla
adventures of the war. The second brig
ade of regular Artillery was encamped at
the place, and one night received orders to
march to Warrenton, four miles distant.
The night was clear and pleasant, the.
moon shining brightly, and everything
apparently auspicious for a pleasant j
march. The batteries and their command-1
ers were in the advance, and the Quarter- j
muster’s train brought up the rear. With|
so strong and formidable a column, no'
danger was apprehended. I
When they were about two miles from j with profit to yourself. Twelve mouths
their old camp, they were met by a squad 1 ago, gold was selling at about three for
of cavalry, all remarkably well mounted. 1 one of Confederate notes. Banknotes at
The cavalry pursued them until they had about thirty per cent, premium, corn at
passed the batteries, neither column tak from a dollar to a dollar and a quarter a
ing'particular notice of the other^-it is al-j bushel, and other tilings in proportion,
ways the case when our troops are march- Since that time prices have advanced
ing. As they neared the train, or,e of the until upon an average, they are at least
teamsters, a white man, asked “What cavr four times as much as they were then,
airy do you belong to ? Eighteenth Penn-J Very few people are benefitted by the
sylvania,” was the reply, the cavalry still high prices, but a great many are injured
marching on, and casting sharp glances at| This advance in prices is ow'ing not to
the quartermaster’s wagons. The next j scarcity, but to the redundancy of the cur-
question came from the Eighteenth Penn- 1 reucy. This is in accordance with a well
sylvania. ‘‘Whose train is this ?” “Quar- j known law of trade, that, whenever any
termaster S.” “Who commands the brig'*I article is In excess of- the wants of the
ade ?” “Captain Graham.” At the head country its price declines in a much great-
of the column, “Where is Quartermaster er proportion than the excess, and that
pendent people, lot us show, by a spirit of
sell sacrifice, that we are virtuous enough
to be worth}’ of them. From this time
forth, let every citizen resolve that his
will be no longer the ambition to accumu
late wealth, to proenre comfort and luxury,
to seek distinction aud honor, but to watch
and serve with zealous care the interest
of country. If we all discharge our duties
with this spirit, before spring puts on the
foliage of hope and cheerful confidence,
the crisis will have passed and there will
be born the assurance of a final and tri
umphant success.— Const.
From the Columbus Sun.
TO THE PEOPLE.
I proceed to redeem my promise to show
how every one of you can render service to
the country not only without injury but
S.” “Here,” shouted the unlucky Quar
termaster. In an instant one of the
“Pennsylvanians” was by his side, a pis
tol was clapped to his head, with the in
junction, “gay ope word and I’ll blow
your brains out.” The train was aij this
time iu motion. The guerillas then pro
ceed with their work. Some <>f them rode
up to the battery wagons, and ordered
them to “close up,” which they inimedi
ately did, while those behind took care of
the forage teams, The train was now di
vided, and the negro teamaloru were forc
ed to unhitch their teams. This done,
they were next forced to drive the mules
into the woods, and thence into some by
roads, under threat of instant death. The
guerillas thus captured at once about one
hundred and thirty mules, twenty negroes-
one quartermaster and his clerk, and one
ordoly sergeant. When tho^e at the head
of the column were apprised of what had
occured, they pursued the “Eighteenth
Pennsylvania cavalry.” but the case was
fruitless, the guerillas had disappeared,
aud with them their booty.
Our Duly ill this Crisis.
In this revolution there cannot be, be
cause we cannot afford that there should
be, any such word as fail. We should
never permit ourselves to entertain for a
moment the belief that the success or fail
ure of our cause depends on ihe result of
any single battle. At the same time we
must not forget the fact that history teach
es, that the fate of dynasties and of
empires have been repeatedly decided iu a
single contest between opposing forces.
We should, therefore, enter each fight
with a determination so to act as if the
whole -cause of ourselves and posterity
rested on the issue, hut with the resolution,
if it terminated in defeat, to wipe out the
disaster in some future glorious victory.
There is a feeling, however, abroad iu
the land that the great crisis of the war-»-
the turning point in our fate, is fast ap
proaching. Whether erisis be upon us or
not, there can be in the inind of no man,
who looks at the map of our State and
considers her geographical relations to the
rest of the Confederacy, a single doubt
that much of our future is involved in the
result of the next spring campaign in Up
per Georgia,
At present the'design of the enemy is
when there is a deficiency the price ads
vapeea in a greater proportion. Take a
hundred houses of equal value, all occu
pied one year, let it be known that at
existing prices, ten of them will be vacaut
next year j and it will reduce the aggie-
gate amount for which they will all rent
from tweuty-five to fifty per cent. In
stead of ten vacant houses let it bo known
that * hero are ten applicants more than
can be supplied, and the price will be
advanced from twenty-five to fifty per
cent, Most men who have lived to niy
age, or have seen towns and villages
spiing up and decline, have seeu this
verified. The currency has extended be
yond the wants of the country. Withiu
the las'* twelve months it has not been
doubled, yet prices have advanced at
least four fold. There is one exception.
The common labor of the country never
advances or declines under an expansion
or contraction of the currency iu propor
tion to other things ; hence, those depend
ent upon their daily labor for their daily
bread, suffer most trorn expansions.
Now reduce the currency one half and
you will reduce prices to what they were
twelve months ago. How can this be
done! The most patriotic and most speedy
plan would be for every man who lias a
dollar of Confederate notes or bonds to
give one hall of it to the Government.
Who would he injured by it ? Nobody r
for everybody is satisfied that if the cur
rency were reduced one half, the other
half would purchase just as much as the
whole of it will now. Then every man
would be just as well off as he is now, and
better, because he would not only be able
to purchase as much as he could before,
but he lias extinguished the half of a very
heavy debt for which he is responsible.
There is perhaps not a man iu the South
ern Confederacy who would not be willing
to take to-day for the bonds or the notes
he holds, one third of the amount in the
bills of any good Bank, which are not
worth in the market more than one third
as much as gold, and he would feel just as
well off - , as with what lie now has.
Then where is the difficulty iu carrying
this into effect? It is our selfishuess and
want of patriotism. You aud l and every
one know that if everybody should give
up half, the fifty dollars we should retain
would be worth as much as the hundred
is not the least of its evils, that this state
of liiyh prices is hardening the hearts of
tho people. Tell a man who has anything
to sell, that he asks too much for it, and
he excuses hiiuself by saying the money is
of no value. Ask him for a load of fire
wood, a bushel «*f wheat or of corn, or meal,
or a side of meat, and ft seems too much to
give away. The idea of counting dollars
so fast is so fascinating, that it hardens
his heart aud shuts up his bowels of com
passion. If the price were one fourth,
though it might bo in gold, he would give
more freely. \
I know there are some difficulties about
it. but the benefits that would result from
it are infinitely greater, and the difficul
ties, inconveniences and hardships inti
uitely less, than would resclt from any
other plan. For example, there would he
some little inconvenience at first from the
difference in the stamped and unstamped
notes ; but if legislators will let that alone
it will soon regulate itself.
I suppose somebody will say that it
savors of repudiation. Well, Congress
has the right to tax money and notes, and
if one per cent, why not fifty ? In another
number I shall, perhaps answer that
charge, whether it he made or uot. If
anybody shall doubt its constitutionality,
I will not now argue that question further
than by saying that we are now iu a
condition where patriotism demands that
whatever the good of the country ieqnires,
we must do, by common consent, whether
the Constitution authorises Congress to do
it or uot.
JAMES N. BETHUNE.
at least. Judge Hauley said be doubted
that. Some other belligerent words pas*,
ed, and Mr. Foote arose and struck him
Both clenched and blows were given m„j
received by both parties. Mr. Foote Hid
violent claim to Judge Hat.ley’s fc f,irt
bosom, tearing it out from bis bosom. M r
Commissary Northrop was knocked i«tj
one corner of the committee room like
man of rags, which he is *not; committee
tables were overturned and the recorded
evidences sent hither and thither. M 0re
ink than blood was shod. The witnesses
present iu the room observod their nen,
trality, but strove to allay hostilities by
seizing both of the combatants by their
coat tails and attempting their separation
Judge Hanley’s coat tail gave in thy
struggle, involving the severe loss on the
wearer. Finally, both desfcted, and the
business of the committee proceeded.
CROPS.
While Congress is busy with the enrren-
c y, jarring over reports of committees—by
majorities and minorities—a question of
equal importance presents itself to the peo
ple, that of subsistence. The high prices
of food for man and beast, render it neces
sary that every inducement should exist to
increase the production of the soil by every
means, so as to prepare provision for a
long war, if it continue. The area of pro
duction may be contracted by the enemy’s
base of operations beiug nearer than last
year, since Tennessee has been taken from
us, and some farther encroachment been
made on other points, The unfortunate
mismanagement of certain impressing offi
cers notifying planters and farmers that
this Government needs all their surplus,
and the heavy tax placed on them iu the
titile, and then in prices restricted by com
missioners have created a depression which
Congress should counteract by changing
the law.
We see tio reason why so heavy a tax
should he put ou the planter; rather let it
be lightened, and encourage large produc
tions by so doing. There is no reason
why lie should not get the full value of his
surplus, which his neighbors are willing to
pay him. and which the Government should
also pay him. Let taxes be equalized,
and let the planter have as fair a chance
ot disposing ot his produce as other citizens,
and all parties will be gainers iri the in
creased production. We noticed some
time since that a bill had been introduced
into Cougress to modify the law as to pri
ces. We trust it will be done—Carolinian,
clearly to accumulate large supplies at* now is that we have ; but we want every’
Conscript all Men— Tax all Property
Suspend Habeas Corpus.
It is a bad sign, says the Charleston
Mercury, when, in place of the steady
self-possession and calm exercise of wis
dom displayed by the Roman Senate af
ter the battle of Cannie, the recklessness of
alarm and the desperation of demagoguism
show their presence in the Congress of the
Confederate States.
-t Propositions to trample upon the Con
stitution under which the legislative and
executive brandies of the Confederate
Government hold their seats in Richmond
—to violate the oaths of office, and, under
the plea of necessity, without authority of
law, and against Stale Rights, to place all
persons and all property and all liberty
under a Central Dictatorship, may be
thought by some to be fraught with safety
aud peace. But it becomes the patriotic,
intelligent and unterrified representatives
of States and peoples to comprehend the
true causes of our danger, and to apply
such remedies as the gieat legislaitve
powers of the country afford. Not a want
of power, but a failure to employ the best
agents aiwi to use efficiently the powers
conferred, has brought us into our finan
cial affairs aud military resources with the
inefficient execution of important laws, in
dicate the direction where the legislative
attention is most needed. Instead of go
ing into wild revolutionary talk, like some
that has been ntteied, and proposals to ac
cumulate all power iu the same hands,
Congress may bend its efforts to infusing
competency and vigor into the bureaux
and departments of the Administration,
without upsetting our Government or
overriding laws under the Constitution.
Congress has power enough, if it will but
use wisdom. The Executive has power
enough, if used with energy and wisdom.
Anything else is maduess.
Chattanooga, make it the base of his future
operations and then advance, on Atlanta.
Confronting him and guarding the West
ern & Atlantic Railroad, the only railroad
iine of communication with Atlanta from
that direction, is a brave and. gallant
arm} , under the leadership of one of our
body else to give up half of theirs, that
our hundred dollars may be worth twice
as much as it is now. Then how is this to
be effected ? A great many plans have
been proposed to reduce the currency, but
they all look to private interest instead of
public good. They propose to reduce the
most skillful and accomplsihed officers, currency, but not the public debt. The
With proper resources at bis disposal, plan proposed by the Bank Convention
Atlanta is safe, and defeat and over proposes to make yon slaves and paupers
whelming disaster await the advance of but of this I shall have something to say
the enemy. A failure to furnish him with
all that he needs in men aud material may :
end in the loss of Cherokee Georgia and by taxing Confederate bonds
the fall of Atlanta. ! one half. This is the easiest I
This is the issue ; what is the conse
in another number. The question now is
IIow is this thing to be effected ? Simply
and notes
tax to pay
and the easiest to collect, that can possi
quence ? With Atlanta in possession of; bly be devised. Everyman can pay it.
the enemy, we have no longer one, but j H he lias neither bond or note, he pays
three railroad lines of communication to
guard and protect. These lines are the
Georgia Railroad, connecting through
Augusta with South Carolina, North Car
olina and Virginia : the Macon & Western
Railroad, connecting through Macon with
South-western Georgia, now the granary
of the Confederacy, and the Atlanta &
West Point Railroad, connecting through
Montgomery with the Great West and the
Gulf of Mexico. With these three lines
to protect, our resources and energies must
be trebled, tluee-fold responsibility must
devolve on our commanding General,
three fold courage and activity on our
troops. Even undfer such circumstances
nothing ; if he has, be pays half and is
richer than he was before. But how will
you be sure that every man pays his half?
The oasiest in the world. Just furnish
the tax collector with a stamp : let him
take one half and stamp the other ; and
insert in your tax law, that after the first
day of July every unstamped bond or
note shall be held and deemed fraudulent,
and shall not be redeemed. This will
bring np every dollar. In addition to this,
let the government make an entirely new
issue, differing entirely in device and color
from all other issues, to be exchanged for
the stamped notes: or it might, if the new
issue could be made iu time, establish de
there would be no occasion for despair ; positories at the most important points in
but the apprehension of such circumstan- each State, where the people could depos
ces is an occasion sufficient to arouse all ite their old notes and receive half the
the latent courage and energy of the amount iu the new issue,
nation. The great benefits to be derived from
this plan are, 1st. That it extinguishes
one half of the public debt in the easiest,
cheapest, most certain, most just and equal
way, that can possibly be adopted. 2d.
That by the reduction of prices, it greatly
diminishes the cost of carrying on the war.
3d. That it doubles and perhaps quad
t uples tho value of the pay of the soldiei
in the support of his family This is to
us a matter of vast importance. It will go
very far to relieve the soldier in the field
from his anxiety for his family. 4th. It
will be a great relief to the poor. . Their
labor has not advanced, aud will not de
cline, iu proportion to other things. 5th
Morally ( it would be of great service. It
CURING BEEF,
limn County, Jan. 11, 1864.
Ma* Clisiiv—In your paper of to dav I
noticed an article headed “English Method
of Curing Beef and Pork.” There must
either be an omission or a misprint in sta
ting the composition or quantity of meat
used, for no man of common seutTe would
put ten pounds of saltpetre to one gross
hundred pounds ot fresh meat. Besides,
the present price of saltpetre would make
it very expensive beef, and more than that
it would endanger the life of any man to
make a hearty diuner of meat so cured.
I will give you a mode of curing meat
that I have practiced tarty years, and
have never been able to find a better
way j
The auimal, when killed, should be made
to bleed as freely as possible, then let it be
dressed without getting any blood ou it.—
Let the meat hang uutil the animal heat is
entirely out of it, then cut it in pieces of a
size suitably for boiling for family use—
pack it closely in a water tight barrel or
tub with alight sprinkling of salt between
each layer of meat, let it stand tweiU-y-
four hours. Then make a brine of clear
cold water and salt, strong enough to bear
up a hen egg. Then dissolve two ounces
of saltpetre for every barrel of meat in a
small quantity of warm water, aud when
all dissolved pour it in the brine stir if up
and put it altogether on the meat, enough
to cover the whole. If the weather is
warm let the brine be put on as soon as the
meat is packed. Iu about ten days pour
the brine all off and boil it and skim off
the scum that rises, and when perfectly
cool pour it back on the mear again, taking
care to have the meat ali under the brine,
aud yon will have goo l sweet corued beef
for many months. Yours, See.
Jas. Van Valkinbuiig.
Loss OF THE Steameu Virginia Dare.-.
Ihe Charleston Courier gives the annex-
ed account of the loss of the new blockade
steamer Virginia Dare :
The new iron steamer Virginia Dare
Captain Skinner, from Bermuda, in at
tempting to run the blockade at Wilming
ton about 5 o'clock on the morning of th e
/th inst, was discovered by two of the
blockade squadron, who immediately gave
chase, 'ihe Dare ran down the coast
hotly pursued by the Yankees, throwing
shells every few minutes, until, on ap
proaching Georgetown, about 5 P. M. the
blockading steamer off that port threw
herself directly in her path, aud also
commenced firing. Capt.. Sksnner there
upon turned his vessel’s bow to the shore,
and ran her on the beach about six miles
-from Georgetown—the passeugers, officers
and crew escaping in the boats. Two
launches were sent from the Y'ankee stea
mers to take possession of the Dare, but
one of them was swamped in the three of
herprew were drowned. The other one
succeeded in boarding the vessel, and af
ter remaining on board for a short time
landed on the beach, where they had been
but a few minutes when they were sur
rounded hy a detachment of our cavalry,
and the entire party, consisting of a Liens
tenant, a subordinate officer and twenty-
four seamen, made prisoners.
The three Yankee steamers then com
menced shelling most furiously, and suc
ceeded in setting the Dare on fire, but, the
tide being ont, the Confederates boarded
her and extinguished the flames. Next
morning the baffled pursuers again vented
their impotent spite by throwing shells,
which was continued, without doing any
damage, until the evening, when they
withdrew, completely baffled in their de
signs. and with the loss of their crews and
two fine launches, which are in our posses
sion.
Capt. Skinner deserves much credit for
the courage and seamanship in eluding his
pursuers. Daring the chase of nine hours
upward of a hundred shells were thrown
at his vessel, many of which passed over
her, aud five passed beteen the sterm fun-
tie is.
The Dare had an assorted cargo, which
is now being landed on the beach, and will
be nearly ail saved in goml conditton.
The prisoners mentioned above arrived
by the Northwestern Railroad train.—
They belong to the U. S. steamer Mont
gomery. Aries, aud bring Perry, block
ading Georgetown off.
All the papers "in the Confederacy are
requested to publish the following, for the
information of those writing to Lee’s
army ;
Post Office, Army Northern Va., 1
December 10 1863. |
To the Editor of the Whig.'
Yon will confer a favor on the “Army
of Northern Virginia” by allowing me to
iuform them through the “Press” that it is
a positive order from the Post Office De
partment, “that no papers or letters shall
be delivered to any one uutil the postage
is paid.”
The accumulation of papers in ihe offi
ce is immense, and it subscribers do uot
get their papers it can be explained in
this way. When papers are pre~paid they
should he marked “pre-vaid” at the office
from which they are sent. Letters that are
pre-pa id are more certainly delivered.
The name of the regiment to which the
person belongs, should be distinctly wiit-
teu.
John L. Eubank, P. M.
P. S. The name of the office is the
“Post Office of the Army of Northern
Virginia,” and not as yon have it the
ffotthern Army of Virginia.
Let us not be afraid of truth ; let us
iook it boldly in the face and meet it. A
crisis of this character is upon us. It is a
crisis not the same, but akin to that which
sometimes comes iu the line of an individ
ual. When the patient lias been racked
on the bed of disease for many days, and
when he has been brought to the last
verge of enfeebled strength,-it is then that
an energetic effort of the will, summoning
all the resources of nature, carries him
from a state bordering on despair to doubt,
from doubt to hope, from hope to conva
lescence, and from convalescence to his
wontod health and vigor. We are not
now in this state. We have high and
Analysis of the Tax Bill in Congress.—
It is known that Congress is now ma
turing, iu secret session, a bill to levy
taxes for the support of Government. The
bill has come from the Special Commitee
on Currency. Its features may he briefly
but reliably stated. It proposes a tax of
twenty per ceut. on all agricultural pro
ducts : wheat, corn, tobacco, naval stores,
provisions, cloths, and, generally all ar
tides which may Le enumerated as army
supplies. Stocks, coin and all paper as
currency are taxed five per cent. All
debts which have been paid in Confederate
money prior to the passage of the act are
taxed against the party who paid them ten
to twenty per cent, according to the date
of payment. Profits in trade and busi
ness, made since the first of January, 1S62,
are taxed thirty-three per cent, with some
exceptions, aud with an additional tax of
twenty-five per cent, on the excess over
twenty-five per cent, of the piofits of incor
porated aud joint stock companies made
in any of the years since the war. The iu-
come tax is suspended.
Collision Between Governor Foote and
the Mender from Arkansas,—We learn
from the Richmond Examiner that Mr.
Foote, of Tennessee, and Judge Hanley,
of Arkansas, members of the committee
to investigate charges against the commis
saries and quartermasters, came to blows
in the committee room the other day. Mr.
Fn ote, it seems, laughed at some of the
evidence elicited. Judge Hanley replied
that he (Mr- Foote) need not laugh. Mr.
Foote said his laagb was an honest laugh
Why Browni.ow Ran.—At a recent war
meeting, held in Cincinnati on Wednesday
last, Parson Brownlow was present and
made the following statement respecting
his recent “greyhound performance :”
I understood that this is a war meeting,
and that you are assembled here for the
purpose of beating up volunteers. In this
matter I am in a somewhat awkward posi
tion, having recently taken to my heels
like a greyhound, and made three hundred
miles in a 'short time. Iu the last two
years, as you well know, I have done some
brave talking, which tho rebels remember.
Were I hut sure that I should be treated
as our soldiers are taken by them-iucarcera-
ted in their lousy prison—their Libbys and
Castle Thunder. 1 should have staid, for I
could endure the lice. I did not run out
of cowardice, but I well knew that if they
took me I would have to pull hemp without
a foothold.
The old reprobate could endure the ver
min, because he is no doubt familiar with
them, but he|lias a mortal dread of justice.
He dou’t feel himself fit to be hung.
Northern Nf.ws.—The. Bahama Herald
of the 16th . says that business in Nassau
has been rather dull this week, few articles
oilier than cottou cards, alcohol, prints aud
thread being in geueral demand, and they
only from tho large margin they offer to
shippers. Receipts and exports have both
been light, but altogether the markets have
never been in a healthier condition, nor
the balance of the present “moon, "we do
not expeet much movement in trade. Me
are happy to record the safety of the
steamship Gem, now lying in a neighboring
port, where she was forced to put in through
stress of weather.
The number of Confederate prisoners in
Yankeedom is about forty thousand, of
grades. The New York Times says Lin
coln’s amnesty proclamation will soon be
presented to them. The Times thinks
about thirty percent, of the entire number
will take it. We think the Times assn
and all other Yaukees who think as he
does will find themselves mistaken.