Weekly Georgia telegraph. (Macon [Ga.]) 1858-1869, January 30, 1863, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextDty- Act- UVo »cd. .JnEndorsement op confede- • RATE BONDS, friend thinks that tho movement in Con- L,n<l the States to procure State endorse L of the Confederate Bonds is premature. Jr the war, these State assumptions of lia- I might bo properly and advantageously I... j j n I'onsolidating the liabilities of the gov- I I >i;n : in a new issue of bonds bearing a re- I'T j n R. of interest, lor which the addition • • I" L urity lurnished would he ttie oonijrensat- nsideration. I THE FEDERAL ARMY. s the Herald which states that three hun- i thousand nine months’ and two years . jo out of the Federal service during tho j^of Mav next; but besides the move-; n , of tho fanatical Thad Stevens of Pen-: 1 ■ to call 150,000 contrabands into Ser- J , cinch is mere bosh), if R see nothing ,r |p«poaed to fill tho vacuum. Indeed, such , m ls trom Northern papers as meet-our ji'pear to assume that this is the last ar- , !i will bo raised for the war, and black ILyirtns and democrats have been repeated- 7 nl as asserting that no more men can ■ either by volunteering or draft We ; . as a pretty sure case that unless provi- mado tor this purpose by the Lincoln C' ,,„s before the 4th March next, the demo- mil make none. A LONG breathing spell. •j. ( invaders are giving our troops a good • breathing spell, and, in truth, wc have a season of the" year when important 'irt movements by land are difficult, if ..'possible. Reviewing the operations of t \f«r, from this time to April, we had s/iTth, battle of James Island; in Febru r> r -ts Henry and Donelson—tho gunboat ,. :f nt on the Tennessee—Roanoke Island; ption of Nashville. In March, movements .... Mississippi—occupa.ion of Brunswick i rtmandina—McClellan’s change of base v*Peninsula—battle of Pea Ridge in Mis --bombardment of New Madrid and Is- S; 10-A little fighting at Cumberland .v**ood many unimportant skirmishes j nier courses in Tcnnesseo and North Car- The first and only important engage- br overland forces which occurred in all . er val was Elkhorn. Shiloh was fought ifth and 7th. reasoning from last winters expen- • chances are against any very stirring nts or the enemy by land for seventy . ■, eotne. True the winter is much dryer - but still wet enough, wc apprehend, to ninny movements by land exceedingly •••■dent, if not impossible, especially nt r; int distant Irom a water base. The i n Virginia and Tennessee must be al- * impassable. They may no doubt be bet- # S„nh Carolina, and here wo are induced . f. ir a breach ol quiet, if any takes pUco, i'.«f»y of nn overland movement to assault ' it we do not certainly look for any im- rx; campaign movements cither in Virginia Muile Tennessee. . An ruck upon Vicksburg, upon Wi'iUing- i i:.i upon Charleston, gunboat affairs, or upon any other points to which troops nitions may be transported by water, y ary the monotony of the next seventy or Jays, but beyond these tho probabili- >trikes us, are against any stirring cam. movements before the warm sun and of Spring shall have dried the ground, .lias wu are led to anticipate no very ox- r* news for some time to conic. AH A IRS IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE, i withstanding tho outcry againHt (Jen. it ready appears to us that tho opera :n Middle Tennessee aro characterized by • .fiiv. enterprise, hardihood and daring unrivalled in our brief but glorious arv history. It is true, these movements unlisted mainly the extraordinary oourage litres* of such men as Wheeler, I orrest, ran and their daring followers; but they janned and digested at headquarters, ar.d successful of this untiring and illus- ...triad is but a protege of General Bragg, iftlur, it is stated, now ranks /s a Major aul—having risen from a Lt. Colonelcy in ;rse of a fow weeks—pushed forward to A of Brigadier by the strenuous personal tnsiw of General Bragg Himself and, now, of twenty-six, winning for himself the u.-ts oi a Major General by the mere force k'suan extraordinary merits and achieve- hA« U* «. iary. . ol ■ tucaralry operations ol Gen. Bragg s army 'ienhcsu extraordinary men will furnish a fMjejnd brilliant page in history. Thread 'S the? wiy between tho columns and posi es of the enemy, they have ranged round lc fsieral rear ad libitum through the whole Middle Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky ) to within a lew miles of tho Ohio river, Ain; off tho supplies and communications ol Mil reluming in triumph to camp, not- i,.io Winding all the efforts to cut them off. igt*. i lie lut achievements in tho destruction of S ur >W and numerous transports on tho ’A'nW.aod below Nashville, then swimming : r i»tr—routing a Yankee guard over an ex- •dre depot of stores landed for the purpose A*ng aic^oned to Nashville and destroying —{, not only one of the most des rV*< '"it one ol the most im|>ortant of the “Wtiene*. lt must reduce Rosencrans’ar- 7 10 peat straits, and with railway coiumu- >cation s none,and what is more,iropossible to - ’published, and river transportation on- p unreliable, the advance movement ia i ( ttuallj decked. Those cavalry achievo- tr ‘d> aiojfc havo already demonstrated the ,r tain failure of the campaign in Middle Tan s'*- If not another battle bo fought the ' “ « sure ns that an army .must be fed, ■ unnot advance into an enemy’s territory some reliable source of supplies.— i, *-’?Us hut to confront bis enemy in a sc- 1? ponilion, and without fighting, will wort? M^*t*r them out by these forays of our c riir T" KOT is Tukm.—Tho telegrams say that «>cr»nu reports his loss at Murfroosbort)’ '•to,200. Of t ),j s number we know that * toO<) were prisoners and that would leave a usand for liis number of killed and /'''*■ whereas .our own was about nine * H and the general opinion on our side, V’iwr of tho field, was that tho Fedoral ** wounded were about three to our y* think it can hardly he questioned report from Murfreesboro k I r to allay (he rising fears and ap- *tjaa of the North. ■ ,»»*• 1o VICKSBURG. Sixty gunboats and transports coming down the river to assail our poor, battered, spunky, immortal Vicksburg. We hold our breath to hear fronr. her, with a strong confidence that she will again emerge from the smoke and tern- • pest of the fierce assault, erect and defiant— To hold Vicksburg is of incalculable import ance to the Confederate cause Just now.— Nothing will relieve the Lincolnism of thora-‘ pidly growing and dangerous disaffection In the West, but the opening of the navigation of the Mississippi, and once convinced of the im potence of tho Federal arms for that achieve ment, and we shall soon hear of more plots among the hoosiers and more secession talk than over. True, it may result in nothing, but then, on the other hand, it may result in something—but somethihg or nothing, it will be one of the dangers to which the Lincoln gov ernment will be exposed and a strong argu ment for peace. All oyes, hearts and prayers, then, for Vicksburg. THE PROSPECTS—WORK FOR THE NRXT TWO MONTHS. it is now too clear for longer donbt or dis pute that tho war and tho war party are both going down in the North with great rapidity. Sullen desperation is the mood of the republi can leaders, and they are* blindly pushing the war without other or more intelligent hope or plan than that something, in the chapter of accidents, may turn up to relieve them from past committals and open a door of escape at the expense of something less than irretrieva ble ruin—inextinguishable popular contempt and odium. Among tho opposition leaders every shade of opinion prevails—front, the ul timatum of reconstruction, to be purchased by any concession to the South, to tho broad and unqualified demand for peace at any sacri- Boo. With the masses, who are now for the first time realizing some of the horrors and in- convenicncics of war, the demand for peace is almost universal. It is heard now like the sough of a gathering storm, but will soon come with the voice of the tempest The war is now too odious hi the Northern popular heart to permit even the republicans to talk, of or propose further military levies. lt is Ono of the most remarkable signs ol the times that, in the (ace of an alleged pros pective loss of 800,000 men in the next four months, by the expiration of their terms of; service, nobody has yet come forward in the Lincoln Congress with a proposition to call more men into service. The fanatic, Thad. Stevens, has proposed to enlist i50,000negroes for the purpose; bHt his proposition only tho more strongly illustrates the strength o: the popular dislike to the war, which has forced upon even such a venomous abolitionist the conviction that further drafts will be dangerous. Tho general unpopularity off the war is a tremendous fact to deal with. It loom* up in threatening attitude across evcey path of the Lincoln administration. It might have been successfully dealt with, at least for a time, could tho despotism of a year *go lmWbeen main tained. Tho -bastilcs and lettres do ratchet would have palsied the press and fho tongue, and kept down open opposition and resistance but this is all past, and public opinion now reasserts its sway—a public opinion which, however discordant on the conditions of peace, sets with all the power mnd volume »f an ocean-tide against the war. Such is a brief and, wo believe, fair view of the state of feeling in the* North. To it we might add the rapid generation of bitter sec tional hostility. The West now hates the East with an intensity which rivals that which ex isted between the North sod South-before the war. It is believed by many that public opinion in the West is fast ripening to the point of se cession, and if Vicksburg is not carried, she will Boon be In antagonism to the Lincoln or ganization. Be that as it may, the hatred of the Western Federal army towards the East, has been repeatedly the subjeot matter of tele grams, ami denunciation of the East is the po pular theme of Western politicians and Editors, it is a strong and growing sentiment In such a bopeiul suite o) lit!Ii• for I South, the path of duty »n«f i-u .-c»i for us so plain that it scarcely . nocils indication.— Now is tho time to tilt up our armies and be ready to press hostilities wrth vigor so soon • Spring opens. Congress ha» oefore it a bill repealing the exemption act This is well and should be passed. Another thing most im portant is htrenuous efforts to gather together the stragglers and absentees. Wo believe there are a handred thousand soldiers scattered aboat the Confederacy, who if gathered back to their various commands would put even a much brighter faee upon present hopeful prospects. Some strong and energetic action should be instituted at ence to return all absentees, and then with busy work among enrolling efficers during the next two months, we can inaugurate the Spring cam paign in stronger force than over, and by a series of military successes, under favor of God, lend a powerful impetus to all the peace impulses of the North. The time for us to strike hardest is when tho enemy can offer tho least effective resistance. ABSENTEES FROM THE ARMY. A friend report* that the great question in] the army now is how lo bring back the ab-; scnteeS without leave, or those who haveover- stayed their furloughs. The severest measures will Soon bo inaugurated, and, in fact, have been already put in force to some extent— Both in North Carolina and Virginia there have been several executions for desertiefn, and it is feared a terrible and unsparing severity will have to be exercised before tho evil can be cured. Absentees from the army should has ten to camp at once and avoid the extreme penalty of martial law. Tboso who have friends among tho absentees should lose not a day in warning them of the extreme danger of prolonging their absence, and exhort them to report thomselves at onco. Wo expect ev ery day to hear of the adoption of extremely rigorous measures for the apprehension and punishment, as deserters, of every man who is away from his command without a valid ex cuse. The cause of the country has snffered so much from these absences, and the evil has increased to Such an extent that tho clamor from camp is very urgent for the enforcement of the utmost rigor oi the law. A word to tho wise is sufficient. BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO. We have copied from the Richmond Enquir er of tho 21st a very clear and interesting ac count of the battle of Murfreesboro, which the reader will find worth his attention. As the facts of this important action are developed, we think there will not be much diversity of opinion about it The Confederates fought and whipped more than double tbeir'number, with no advantage oi position whatever. They wore handled with skill and judgment and dis played a desperate gallantry, such as has never been surpassed and rarely equalled by our troops during the war ; but finally, after driv- ing the onemy from their position, weakened by their own heavy losses and exhausted by constant fighting, watching and waiting under arras for several days, nearly all the time ex posed to a cold, drizzling rain, and the onemy meanwhile 6trongly reinforced, it was decided, as a matter of prudence, to fall back to a stronger position. This movement was sanc tioned by the whole .Stuff, and, was not con summated by Gon. Bragg untit several hours after it had been derided to be necessary. The error, if any, was committed antece denlly to the fight, anil consisted in making the stand there, instead of falling back to bel ter ground and awaiting the ( enem> in a posi tion which would have compensated to some extent our paucity of numbers. In regard to this point, we have been informed that the de cision to make fight at Murfreesboro’ was made while the President was on his visit to that post. There were strong military reasons against A which were all carelully canvassed : but there were particular reasons connected with the condition of the army and the gener al Asjiecl of affairs in Tennessee, which rend ered it important to avoid a retrograde move ment. It is said that Gen. Johnst n was op posed to making a fight there, but that Gen. Bragg and the President thought it better, on the whole, to take the risk. This is outside talk, which may be true or not; but we sup pose it to be true. Subsequent devclopcments show with toler able certainty, that the retreat was not actually necessary. The enemy were too badly crip pled to renew the attack, and had our army remained at. Murfreeslioro, would havo been shorn of the feeble pretense to a victory which rested solely upon the retrograde movement of Gen. Bragg. But with the information before him it would have been altogether unsafe for Gen. Bragg to have acted upon any such hy pothesis. Tbe stakes were too vast to be ven tured upon any such hazard. To have lost his army, would have opened the heart of our country to the enemy, and have deranged the entire line of defence from the Rappahannock to tbe Mississippi. So long as be was, in his judgment, imminently exposed to an attack by fresh troops in still superior numbers, know ing that his own were too much exhausted to make effective battle, it was an overruling dic tate ol prudence to incur no such danger while there was a safe alternative left Tbo upshot or the business, that it would probably have been better, before the battle, to have fallen back to tbe present position, and taken the chances of Koscncrantx’s ad vance to attack them. But still, who can tell? It appears certain enough that, so far, the Fed eral have taken nothing by their motion at Murfreesboro. To all appearances they are in an exceedingly awkward and perilous position, and in equally bad condition to advance or re treat To depend for supplies upon such ship, ments down the Cumberland as escape the clutches of Wheeler, Forrest and Morgan, is to drag out a lingering and uncertain subsis tence, where they are -much leas to accumulate a stock which will permit an advance. On tbe other hand to fail back, opens a wide and doubtful question of tehere to, and must be an embarrassing movement at beat, in the present state of the roads. It strikes us, therefore as quite passible that the whole cam paign has already been practically foiled. And it may be, that tbe desperate courage displayed by our troop® at Murfreesboro, which the ene my characterized as ‘yeef bardiness,” has had a more chilling effect on this enterprise than a more decisive repulse in a better position.— They are obliged to know that they wore whipped by half their own numbers, and such a reception is far from encouraging to an in vading army. Pkace PnoqNOSTiCATfONs.—The multiplied indications of dissaffection in the West—the undisguised despondency oi tbo Northern press—tbo reported predictions of early peace even by the prominent Republicans, (if we may credit the Herald,) together with a thousand and one other straws in tho current of events, havo inspired a very confident be lief among all tbe quid nuncs, that we are emerging from the woods and tho day of an armistice preparatory to peace is not far dis tent They reason that although much of this talk may be exaggerated and many events dis tortod or highly colored, yet among so much smoke there must bo some tire, and the peace idea once engrafted in the Northern mind is bound, in the nature of things, to* grow and spread with unexampled rapidity, and to break down all opposition. 11 is too vital a topic not to take a rank hold of the popular mind, when once It gains a lodgment, and its demands are of too pressing a nature to admit of postpone ment. Resistance will only madden it into angry outbreaks. The people of the Korth see that peace is within their grasp at any mo ment They havo but to cease invasion and it will follow. They hare but to let us alone, ami nobody will molest them. Meantime, while their politicians refuse to say tho word, every day is adding to the frightful catalogue of tbe dead—the misfortunes and sufferings of tbe liviDg, and adding to tho load of wrongs aqd injuries to be repeated i»4*and redressed. The question of peace, therefore, is one which does not admit of delay or procrastina tion- and admitting the hopelessness of the war, the point before the peoplo will be, shall hecatombs more be slaughtered and billions morebe squandered, as a mere Salvo to the stupid pride and obstinacy of tho black repub lican politicians T This is a question which in its nature will demand a speedy solution and does not admit of temperate discussion. The disposition is, therefore, to anticipate the most angry convulsions, now that the North is fair ly entering upon tho consideration of peace. But patience. Lot us not anticipate too much or too rapidly. What we ourselves aro disposed toA^e, is that an armistice may ter- roinato the approaching Spring Campaign.— Then tho North must materially add to her army or abandon the war. We do not think she will attempt to raise another army—nor willin-ly go through the next Presidential elec tion with this war an open question. The pros pects are very bright and hopeful, but we should be prepared for disappointment as well as hope. DISORGANIZATION IN THE NORTH. The reader will gather a lively idea of the progress of disorganization among our enemies from the selections from Northern prints which we are daily republishing. The truth is, there is, if possible, a more deadly and inexorable hate between tho Northern Conservatives and Black Republicans than either entertain f*r tbeir “rebel enemies.” Tbo former brand the latter as tho real authors of all the nationil woes, aud hold themselves and the South a) equal and commqn victims to the stupidity ano devilish fanaticism of the Lincolnites. The lat ter res pond by flouting tho eharge of treason in tho face of the Conservatives and say that they are “meaner traitors and rebels’’ than can be found in the South. Nothing can be added to such recriminations as these; and wherever the parties meet, it is evident the mutval ex asperation needs but little to raise if to the fighting point, and that little bangs on the chapter of accidents. Anything may set fire to the combustibles. • f < - In New York, we have an omin>Tus rc-pfr* duction of ono of the antessecession conflicts in tho Federal House of Representatives—the long fight over the Speakership. Up to the latest account the New York House of Repre sentatives were in a deadlock on the election of Speaker—both parties too embittered to entertain thought of compromise, although the State was paralyzed in the strife. In New Jersey, the degree of exasperation between the parties seems to bafiic description or expression. In Delaware, wo have tbe edi fying spectacle of a Governor, foisted upon the people by the. fraudulent votes of Lincoln’s soldiers marched into that State for the pur pose Irom Maryland, inaugurated in the United Stott* Arsenal, doubtless to protect him from the righteous indignation of an outraged peo ple. Delaware is currently stated to be in a revolutionary condition. In the West, paiticularly in Illinois and In diana, there is a violent typo of sectional in flammation superadded to parly exacerbation. Ii we could be supposed to cherish any un christian spite against New England for her pragmatical, supercilious, intolerant and mer cenary course towards the South, we should begin to feel the sweets of vengeance in these bitter fulminations from the West More pow er to the shafts. To sum up, it seems to us that the North is really on the eve of some great and frightful civil convulsion, which nothing is likely to avert or long postpone, except some important military success against the South. This would set the Federal government on its fogs again for awhile; but on tbe other hand more signal disasters would probably sweep everything by the board. Another disaster at Fredericksburg—another signal repulse at Vicksburg, or both, which wo conceive to be most probable, would complete the demorali zation and disorder and bring about an imme diate armistice or a revolution. Such **»c present appearance of tilings. -ty*. 1 A Sion in KzNnriJftr.—If the Telegram is right there is some life in old Kentucky yet Lincoln's Proclam ition is the coal on the tur tle s back. They writhe at last GOV. JOHNSON. Mr. Clitby :—The subject of a Reconstruc tion Party has been alluded to in your coU umns (merely it is true) and a fear expressed (by a correspondent) that the Hon.IIerscbcll V. Johnson was attached to, or in some wise, mysteriously or mystically connected there with. There is no such party in the State of Georgia and cannot be; for it is one of the physical and moral impossibilities, except in the morbid imaginations of a few frightened men, old and young; the speculations of a few crippled merchants, who have all the while been longing for tho flesh pots of New York, their former and eternal heaven; and the wishes of a few Tories, sly, insidious, circum spcct, but patent as the noonday sun. Lca-t of all does Uerschell V. Johnson have affinity with any such, if such there are. I know that a majority of the men who elected him to his present responsible position had a firm conviction that his was a patriot’s heart, warmed and burning, with no latent heat, for the best interests of the Southern Confederacy ; • that he would be an upholder and sure supporter to the Jeff Davis Govern ment; that he would, with the vigor of an in tellect uncommon in any country, support the prosecution of the war until our independ ence was a fixed fact. Should he occupy any other position, or throw any obstacle in tbe way of these ends, those most successful in the promotion of his election would not hesi tate to denounce him as the most miserable of traitors, or to reduce him at once to a co-fra ternity with Win. G. Brownlow and Andy Johnson, not to speak of Butler the Beast.— But to satisfy all, and to put the matter on re cord fairly, I request you to publish a short extract from a letter received from Governor Johnson a few days after his election to the Confederate Senate, which neither he nor I ev er expected to reach tbe public, and which never would but for the fears and doubts ex pressed oy enemies of him and of the public good. “Should I take a seat,” says he, “in the Confederate Senate, I shail certainly all I can to sustain the Government, in all rightful measures, for the successful prosecution of the war. Nothing would do more mischief now than party strife.. Whilst there must be difs forences of opinion on constitutional questions, there should exist no intolerance or bitterness; hut all, of every shade of sentiment on theo> retie questions, should he of one mind and heart, in one firm resolve to achieve our in dependence." Here, Mr. Editor, is the language of a pat riot statesman, bold, decisive and explicit; and if Herschell V. Johnson was not a patriot, nor yet a statesman, he is confessedly no idiot—he has sense enough not to vary his conduct a hair’s breadth from the above declarations, know ing the tide of indignation that would swallow him up. So be cazy, friends of the Southern Confed eracy. K. — Gradually the Lincoln despotism is losing popularity in those strongholds which give it ex istence. Upon tho heels of the intelligence of the election of Richardson in Illinois to the United States Senate, comes tbe information of the defeat of Cameron in Fennslyvania, and the election of Backalew over him to the United Stetes Senate, vice David AVilmot, the father of modem Free Soiiers. Cameron was among the fast friends of Lincoln, and being about the biggest rascal,in the party of Black Republicans. GOV. VANCE’S MESSAGE. Richond, Jan 21.—Gov. Vance’s messago was read to tho North Carolina Legislature to-day. It refers to the large force on our toast, and says that every preparation possi ble has been made to receive them. It alludes to the inefficient execution of the Conscript law in this State, and desertions from the ar my by consent of commanding Generals, and proposes to issue a proclamation giving deser ters thirty days to return to duty without punishment; if they do not the law must be vigorously applied. On the subject of arresting citizens by Con federate authority, he says many have been taken up by Confederate officers, and with a spirit of courtesy and respect, to State author ity, turned over to him for investigation. He says he has no power to examine them, and adds: “Of courso I regard it inconsistent with my duty to set them at liberty without examin ation. I am yet more unwilling to see them placed in the Confederate prison at Salisbury, where the tracks of the accused all tend in one direction, and the light of old English liberty >s never seen.” He recommends establishing A-commission lo investigate charges against such "fxirsom, and <;i&imit them lor trial, if there be sufficient cause. He asks for author ity to call out the mititia. He draws attention to tho proposition for a war debt, but does not recommend it The Herald of the 15th, referring to the news by the China, says that the effect produced upon the public mind in Europe by the battle of Fredericks burg was decidedly bad. The battle was regard ed as the' most disastrous event of the war, audit was in fact so decisive as to render the achieve ment of the independence of the South a question merely of time—very brief time. In London, Par is and Berlin the friends of the South were jubi lant. The friends ot the Union were oppressed with gloom and with despondency. In the Senate nothing of importance were done in open session. The House debated the Exemption Bill most of the day. Many amendments were offered to it.— Pending a motion to recommit ffic bill, the House went into secret session to receive a message from the President. VERY LATEST FROM TIIE UNITED We received last night, from our special re porter, a copy of the Philadelphia Inquirer of the 17th inst. A dispatch to the Inquirer, dated at Cairo on the 16th, says that the ram Switzerland had arrived there. She brings news of the taking of Arkansas Post, on the Arkansas river, ono hundred miles from the mouth, by the land and naval forces under McGlcrnand and Por ter. The surrender occurred on Sunday, with all the guns, stores and ammunition. Tho In quirer says tho full particulars have not been received, though the rebel loss is said to have been five hundred and fifty killed and wound ed, and from five to seven thousand prisoners. THE battle of swung field. A dispatch from Gen. Brown to Gen. Curtis, dated Springfield, Mo., 8th inst., says the bat tle at that place lasted thirteen hours. The enemy numbered 5,000 picked mounted infan try, with two rifled guns. The expedition was fitted out on the Arkansas river and marched at least fifty miles in twenty-four hours, not withstanding they had skirmishing with our scouting parties most of the way. The enemy opened fire on the town with out giving notice to remove tho sick or the Vr»en and cliildrcn ip the place. Our lorces consisted of acxachmcnis or me Missouri State Militia, Iowa troops, enrolled Missouri Militia, and convalescents and slraglers, numbering in all 600 men, with two old iron howitzers, one iron G pounder mount ed on wagon wheels, and two brass 6-pound ers at Fort Lyon. The enemy were badly whipped. General Brown was treacherously shot from tho resi dence of a secessionist, while he was leading a charge. A dispatch from Gen. Warren, dated Hous ton, Texas county, on the 14th, says: The enemy is in full retreat towards Ar kansas. Gen. Marmaduke’s force is at Harts- ville, numbering between four and five thou sand. Tho Rebel loss was about three hundred killed, wounded and taken prisoners. The gu errilla McCloud was among the killed, and the notorious guerilla, Captain Porter, badly wounded. A dispatch from Nashville, in the Inquirer, says that Gen. Bragg has been superseded by Gen. Longstreet. • “the rebellion nearly crushed.” King Abraham, in conversation with some friends on tho 16th, said that he considered the rebellion “nearer being crushed than ever before, and that wo now hold a hundred thous and square miles more than wc had. a year ago.” HORACE AND ABRAHAM. Horace Greely had several interviews with Abraham on the 16tb, but the “Inquirer” says his projects received no endorsement. NEW YORK RAILROAD SCHEME. There is to be a double track Irom Wash ington to New York. The bridge across the Susquehannah is to be constructed as soon as possible, thus avoiding tho crossing of the train on the steamboat FIGHT AT GALVESTON, TEXAS. The Inquirer contains a detailed account of the recent fight nt Galveston, and tho capture of the Harriet Lane. The Inquirer says there is no denying the fact that wc have met with a serious disaster. The Yankee casualties are reported to be three hundred killed, wounded and taken prisoner. At least one hundred were killed on the Harriet Lane, and thirty taken prisoners; one killed at the Owaico, and eighteen wounded, and thirteen killed by the explosion ol the Westfield. Total list of casu alties, four hundred and sixty two. THE MARKET. The special New York correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer, under date of 16th, says three New York Aldermen are going to North Carolina, for tho purpose of presenting Gem Corcoran with a “sword from the corpora tion.” The same correspondent also says: Thore is a much calmer fueling in iinanoial circles to day. The violent ^xcitemont of the past few days has evidently wearied itself out Government securities have recovered some thing of their lost ground, and gold has begun to recede. Things, however, are in so tick lish a condition, that but little is required to revive the furore. Nothing would be more likely to do this than news of somo fresh mili tary kufccoss—or disaster:'^ Tho Money market continues easy, at 5} a 6 per cent for loans on call. Foreign exchange is dulL Sterling is quoted at 158 a ICO for merchants and 161 a 162 for bankers’ bills.— American gold is lower and unsettled, opening at 46i, declining to 45} and closing firm at 47 per cent premium. — Pierre Sonle is still at Havana. By the terms of his release ho is not to go to New Orleans un til the war is over, unless allowed by the govern ment. — The Louisiana Legislature adjourned January 8. Among other business, a resolution was passed changing the seat of Government from Opelousas' to Threveport, on Red Rtwer. The militia bill, which was passed, takesin all men (foreign inclu ded,) botween seventeen and fifty, and makes very few exceptions. The Governor is to call out tho whole militia immediately. — Tho rebel steamer Sumter has been sold at auction for $19,600, and sho will henceforth bo in tho Liverpool and Mediterranean trade. By Electric Telegraph Charleston, January 22.—Nassau advices of the 15th instant, has been received. A British Steamer leaving Nassau was chased and fired at, near Funchal, by jhe Tuscarora. The British Steamers Thistle and Douglass had sailed. The steamers Nina, Nicholas 1st, Gladiator, Duoro and Flora were left at Nassau. Also English war vessels Galatia, Strowboli and Barracoota. British steamer Havelock ran ashore and was towed off by the Thistle. She is now repairing at St. Thomas. Eleven blockaders off the harbor to-day.— They had in possession two schooners, sup posed to be Hetiwan and Chisholm, which at tempted to run the blockade with a cargo of naval stores and getting 1 becalmed were cap tured. FROM VICKSBURG. Yicksduro, Jan. 22.-—Sixty gunboats and transports passed .Greenville, coming down. Wc are prepared for them. POISON WORKING IN KENTUCKY. Mobile, January 23d.—The Advertiser & Register has the following dated McMinqville, 22a instant: A detachment of a hundred of Morgan’s men, under CoL Hutchinson, made a dash into Murfreesboro yesterday, in sight of the ene my’s Cavalry corps, and captured 200 prison ers and 20 wagons. Reliable information from Kentucky states that on the 12th instant, Gen. Wolford made a speech to his men in the presence of 3000 citi zens of Lebanon, Idling them to go home for 20 days, and if within that time Lincoln did not modify his emancipation proclamation, be (Gen. W.) would not call, on them to fight against the South, but would himself take the field in the behalf of the South against the North. [Signed G. A. Ellsworth, Morgan’s Operator.] Richmond, Jan. 22.—The N Y Herald says “The leaders of the Indiana Democracy are in open rebellion against the Administration,and Bright and Hendricks openly avow that they have seventy-three thousand men ready to take the field against the abolitionists and to strike for disenthrallmcnt from the East The assassination of Gov. Morton, who is the chief obstacle in the way of their designs, is a pro bable event.” The rebel correspondence captured near Charleston embraces official dispatches to Ma son & Slidell. Prominent Republicans acknowledge that their party has lost power everywhere except in New England, and predict peace as early as June. Tullahoma, Jan. 22.—Lieut. Col. Hutchin son, with a hundred of Morgan’s cavalry made a dash yesterday upon the enemy’s camp at Murfreesboro, and uptureu ana oroagiu air safely 150 prisoners and 30 wagons. Maj. Holman of Wheeler’s cavalry, since last report captured and destroyed another large transport on the Cumberland loaded with subsistence. The enemy, make no show of advance irom Murfreesboro. RicnMOND, Jan. 22nd.—Attorney General Watts in his report recommends the immediate establishment of the Supreme Court. The whole correspondence of Benjamin with Mason and Slidell captured from Saunders ap pears in the National Intelligencer. Benjamin notices the scant courtesy exhibited towards Mason by Russell, and contrasts it unfavor ably with the conduct of M. Thouvcncl and the French Government FROM EUROPE. The Paris correspondent of the Herald says men of the highest official position boldly as sert in conversation that France singlo handed is ilM< “mineil' to end the bloodshed in Atneri- i j, it England continues to hold aloof. In the manufacturing Districts in France three hundred thousand men arc out of em ployment and in a state of absolute destitu tion. Slidell had another interview with Napoleon and communicated important dispatches from President Davis. EROM RICHMOND. Richmond, Jan. 2-3.—The revelations of the letters to Mason and Slidell published in North ern papers, strengthen the conviction that our ambassadors abroad should be recalled. lt appears that two French Consuls, in Texas,havo been intriguingto separatethat State from the Confederacy, and to induce it to place itself under tho protection of the French. In consequence of which both were expelled from the country. It is believed, however, that Na> poleon tiad no part in the transaction. Russell, it seems, scarcely treats Mason with the courtesy due to a privato gentleman, and while Slidell is making bows at the Tuilleries, intrigues arc set on foot by the subjects of the Emperor to detach one portion of the Confed eracy from the other. It is advised ia influential quarters that all Consular Exequators be annulled in the Con federate States, and net allow any foreign Consuls to remain here end plot at ieisuro our destruction. Richmond, January 23d.—The Enquirer pre dicts that it will turn out that it was the Flo rida, Captain Maffitt, which sank the Yankee Gunboat Hatteras, sho being near Galveston probably, and hearing of the capture of the Harriet Lane determined to aid her in sailing from Galveston. The bill introduced by Barksdale of Missis sippi to repeal tho s’.avo clause in the Exemp tion Law passed the Houso to-day. FROM THE RAPPAHANNOCK. Ricumond, Jan. 24.—The recent movements of the Federals indicate that they are activily preparing for another conflict on the Rappa hannock. It is generally oonceeded that tho presont quiet in the vicinity of Fredericksburg cannot last very long. Another sanguinary battle must be fought before the foe relinquishes his designs upon Richmond. Our troops are in excellent spirits and eag er for tho fray. The funeral of Maj. Wheat, of the Louisians Monumental Church. The cortege proceeded to Hollywood Cemetery, where his remains were deposited, largely attended by soldiers and citizens. Beecher bas been making defiaut speeches against Western Democracy. He dares them to attempt to put New England out of the Union. The Conscript Law is being rigidly enforc ed. Brokers here are paying 2C0 to 205 for gold, and selling at from 215 to 220. MATTERS AND THINGS IN GENERAL. Richmond, Jan. 25.—The Baltimore Ameri can of the 2nd has been received. It contains dates of tbe 20th from Liverpool. The London Time* is out in an editorial ar ticle defending slavery on Scriptural grounds. Tho Liverpool Post, in alluding to this ar ticle, says the reaction will begin from this point and public confidence in that journal will be lost The Paris Monsieur. publishes an account of the battle of Fredericksburg by an eye wit ness, q-ho says the rapidity of the movements of tbe Confederate troops was marvellous. Napoleon has again turned his attention to American affairs, and steps are being taken to resume tbo overtures lately made to the Lin coln government and it is believed with a bet ter prospect of success. Tbe Baltimore American has further ac counts of the capture of Arkansas Post i .ie number of rebels captured is stated at five to seven thousand. Tho Confederates were un der the command of Gen. Churchill. Thepiis- oners were sent to Memphis. It is inferred that the expedition will reduce the other work- of the rebels on Arkansas river and finally Little Rock. Memphis advicesof the loth state that there is great activity at that place, and indications of a speedy land and naval movement, under Gen. Grant. Steamboats and cars had been pressed into service, and fourteen regiments had gone forward. The total re '"i-ted Yankee loss at Murfrees boro was 10,2s. left St Thomas on the 20th -ebcl schooners which left • ded with ammunition and cside, but failed to cap- -ican consul at Point a’ • ntain of the San Jacin • ued an American ship .id. .it Puebla had been in- and is ready to make a The San Jaci in pursuit of t* the -luj ; : eviou.- guns for a steamt ture them. The Pet re informe i to that Semm. h; lying at Sombrero The Mexican foi creased to 25,000 stand. Proctor, Chase, Wade and Doolittle have been re-elected to the Yankee Senate. Fitz John Porter has been cashiered and dismissed from the Yankee service. Governor Cannon, of Delaware, delivered his inaugural on the 21st in the arsenal. It was strongly Union and favors a vigorous pro secution of the war. [Cannon is a creature of x-i_ j "xaintee troops and forced upon Delaware at the point of the bayonet.— His election is the grossest outrage yet corns mitted by Lincoln.] . , Parker, of New Jersey, delivered his inaug ural before a vast crowd in Trenton, New Jer sey, on the 20th. It denounced the war and demanded peace and negotiation for reccnstruc tion. It was clamorously applauded. Wall, the newly elected Senator from New Jersev, spoke before the Girard House, Philadelpin on the 21st. Lincoln and Butler were hissed when mentioned. FROM FREDERICKSBURG. Ricdmond, Jan. 25.—Parties from Freder icksburg state that there is no truth in the re. port that the Yankees have made a demonstra tion at Port Royal, but every night they are expected to attempt a passage of the river at Falmouth. Burnside has issued a General Order to his .troops to prepare for an aotive movement Gen Lee’s Medical Director states that the Yankees drove a negro into the river a few days ago, at the point of ;the bayonet and was rescued by our pickets, and found to bo cover ed with small pox. He died immediately after; wards. THE RETREAT FROM MURFREESBORO’ ■<t J —card from gen. withers. CnuNcntJLA, Jan. 17,1863. The report being circulated that the retro grade movement of our army at Murfreesboro’ was ordered by the General Commanding in opposition to tho advico of Corps and Division Commanders, is not sustained by the truth. The movement was suggested by two division and sustained by a corps ommander, after 12 o’clock on the night of tho 2d inst, and was rejected by the General Commanding. On the morning of the Sd inst, tbe General ascertain ed that all the Corps and Division Command ers concurred in the- opinion that the army should be withdrawn, and not in its thon wore condition put to the hazard of another genc.-l engagement He about the same time learned the fact of reinforcements having been received by the enemy. It was then he yielded his opposition and ordered tho movement Sup pose the General had adhered to his first de termination, and disaster had been the result, what would have been his position then ? If this movemont did not command the approba tion of every Brigade, Division and Corps Commander, then present with the army, l have yet to hear of the exception. I cannot believe that the army numbers among its gen erals one of those creatures who is always wise after the fact, and bold when there is no danger. A man who has given his all to his country Bhould at least have justice. J. M. Withers. Tax New Military Court.—Two of the mem bers of this Court, Hon. D. F. Jamison, tbe Presi ding Judge, and Colonel L. M. Lamar, late com mander of the Eighth Georgia Regiment, have re ported for duty to the Commanding General of this Military Department. The other member, Colonel W. C. Bird, of Florida, wo are informed, was wounded and captured at the battle of Perry- ville, and is still in the hands of the enemy. The Court have appointed Captain John O. Ferrell, of Savannah, Ga., Provost Marshall; and M. Glover, Esq., of Orangeburg, S. C., Clerk. In consequence of Captain A. H. Boykin declining the appoint ment of Judge Advocate, Capt. Thos. Y. Simons has been detailed to act as Judge Advocate of the Court, until an appointment to the office shall be made by the President.—Chur. Mercury. Intercepted Correspondence.—The National Intelligencer has published Mr. Benjamin’s letters to Messrs. Mason and Slidell, recently intercepted. We see nothing in them to give much comfort to the enemy. An Allusion to Earl Russell's want of civility to Mr. Mason, and Mr. Benjamin’s suspicion of French designs on Texas, are the only matters of interest. The ground of Mr. B.’s suspicion is, that Froncc intends to hold Mexico, and wants weak power between its new Colony and the Con- —-Tr I federate States; and also wants an independent C f*S er ) Ba.tahon, w ho fell in tne memorable j C0 tt 0 n supply, which Texas, a weak nation and de- battlc of Gaines’ Mills, took place to-day front' pendenton France, would afford.— Rick. Whig.

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Weekly Georgia telegraph. (Macon [Ga.]) 1858-1869, January 30, 1863, Image 1