The Banner and Baptist. (Atlanta, Ga.) 186?-186?, August 16, 1862, Image 3

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IS utntr Mil ®Jfitist. •‘Holy Bible,--Book Divine, Precious treasure, thou art mine." 11. C. IIOKWDV, Editor. J. M WOOD, ) J. S. BAKER, Editors. D. P. EVERETT, ) __ Correspondents of the Banner. Eider N. M. Crawford, Penfield, Ga “ J. H. Campbell, State Evangelist. “ J. It,. Graves, in the Army. “ G. C. Connor, Army Chaplain. “ B. F. Tharp, Perry, Ga. “ W. N. Chaudoin, Albany, Ga. R. J. Mays, Florida. “ A. E. Dickinson, Richmond, Va. VV. D. Mayfield. South Caroliua “ G. T. Wilburn. M. VV. Philips, Edwards, Miss. ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Saturday, August 16, 1862. li.ereu* in Price of the II tuner. Owing to the immense increase in every thing connected with the newspaper busi ness, it has become absolutely necessary to advance the price of Tne Banner to three dollars per annum, instead of two as here, tofora. Our patrons will see the propriety of this wher. informed that the price of paper is more than double that of foruiei rates, and that of printing and mailing has also advanced. We can not publish the paper for less than the amount stated without loss to our selves, and we call upon our patrons to pay the*increase of price in order that w> may keep The Banner going. Those who have already paid will receive the paper according to the old rates until their pres ent subscriptions shall expire. iYote*. Brother A. A. 1., Glenville, Ala., writes, saying : “ E.-closqi is $5 for publishing tracts for Confederate soldiers." In this there is a mistake; only $4 were found in the letter. —.Owing to the great number of com munications on hand, we this week give up the space usually occupied by editorials to our correspondents. These communica lions are unusually interesting, Befrenbinx I’bws, A revival is now progressing in the First Baptist Church in this city. Meet ings are held each day, morning and night. The members all seem thoroughly aroused to a sense of duty, and much interest is manifested by the large sudieuees who at tend. Several have publicly professed their hope in the Saviour, and many are earnest ly asking the most important question ever uttered by human lips. To God be all the glory! A letter from brother A. K. Tribble gives intelligence of the happy results of a nin# days’ meeting with the Church at Tanner’s, Clayton county: Thirty-fm conversions; received thirty members— twenty-nine by experience and baptism; many anxiously Inquiring fur salvation when the meeting closed. Elder D. L. DufTey assisted in the meeting. Elder Dayton’s sermon. W begin this week to republish brother Dayton’s excellent sermon upon * Our Na tional Sin.’ We have been compelled t. divide it into two parts, on account of th want of space ; but we trust it will be non* the less interesting and profitable to th reader in tha form. Every one shoul study the subject embraced in this serinm with much care, and with the firm resolv. to do all he can for the correction of tht evil of Sabbath breaking. El ler J. m. Grave*. This talented aud esteemed brother is laboring for the Virginia Colporteur Soci ety—army eolportage, and will be supplied with Tracts from this place. All who art disposed to help in supplying brother G. with the means of prosecuting his labors, can send their contributions to the Editor of this paper, and the m ney shall be usd as they may designs*c. Lawreueeti Is .*nlailon. This body will utt.cu* with the Baptist Church at Lawrencevdie, on Saturday be fore the fourth Sabbath in this month. Mimey Received f*r € *lporlgo. Rev, J. F. Swansoo, #40,00. A. A. Kay, #4,00. BANKER AND BAPTIST. East I'eanes-ee! Knoxville, August 9. Dear Banner : Since I last wrote you, our whole subdivision has been ordered to Knoxville. We left Bridgeport on Friday last, and after a day’s stoppage at Tmer’s Station, arrived here on Sabbath night.— Here we remained but two days, when we were ordered to report forthwith 'at Clinton, eighteen miles from this place. You will recollect that a few* days previous the en emy tore up the track on the road between Knoxville and Clinton. As yet your cor respondent has not left Knoxville, as 1 have been left in command of thirty three con valescents ; we purpose to leave this eve ning and join our regiment. The concentration of our forces at this point and Chattanooga means, the speedy emancipation of Tennessee from the thial dom of Lincoln and his minions,. Uur strength l do not know—nor would pru deuce permit me to publish it, did 1 know. I am confident, myself, that the proposed plans of our Generals will work out for the State a glorious deliverance. I am deeply pained with the treatment our men receive at many of our hospitals. Many ofourmen complain bitterly—espe cially of‘Look Out’ and Knoxville and Chattanooga. The chief complaint is, in attention on the part of the surgeons.— Uur poor boys are abused with.cursings and slang of the lowest order by those men called ‘ army surgeons.’ I ask, in the name of decency, in the name of humanity, in the name of the loved ones at home, if our 'brave buys must suffer such treatment 1— Have we not physicians enough in otir con federacy, who have respect for physical sufferings and morality, to take the places of those to whom reference is now' made ? Have we no philanthropists who will take this matter in hand 1 Or must our boys die for want of proper attention, and pre fer the woods to an army hospital ? I am very anxious to secure some reli gious reading for our boys. Can not you, my brother, and many of the kind readers of The Banner, furnish me with some tracts? Brethren, sisters, if you have any, please forward them by express to this point. But oil, r emernber us at the Throne of Grace. Don’t forget us, even though many miles separate us. In God we trust, and by Him and through Him wo alone can secure a glorious deliverance. G. C. C. IVoiu our Army Evangelist. Obligations acknowledged. — A weeping wo man.—Sickness ant ing soldiers.—-A sor rowing group. — Ah urUtmefy death.—-A lone missionary. Brother Hornady : Some of your readers have given such proof of the interest they feel in my labors among the soldiers, as to entitle them to a hearing from me occasionally. lam undei many obligations to you for the privilege of communicating with them through your paper. Though not restored toiny wonted health, it seemed to be my duty, recently, to make another trip to the coast, from which 1 have just returned. Ten miles of travel had scarce been accomplished when, upon enter ing the ladies’ car, the first person 1 en countered was a poor woman, who was weeping as if some great sorrow had over taken her. Her’a was a sad tale, and was soon told: She was now seven hundred miles from her home in East Florida, and she had travelled all that way to see her husband who, she had learned, wa- in a hospital in Atlanta. How painful was hei disappointment upon reaching that city a' four the previous afternoon, to learn hei husband had been buried at nine 1 His hat and knapsack lay on the seat beside her.— Her three little children had been left in the care of friends during her absence— W hat was to become of them she did not know, being left utterly destitute of th ueans of support. Ojr troops in Savannah, and especially hose in the vicinity of swamps and lie*- | fields below the city, are suffering much rum sickness. The mortality’ among them j nas not been great as yet; but there is reason to fear it will be much greater du ring the next two and a half months, unless those in command can be prevailed upon to remove the up-country tr tops, to more healthful localities. It is to be hoped thi.- will be done in time to save many valuabl lives. 1 had an interview with General Mercer on this subject. The state of my health would not admit of my visiting thi sick in camps and hospitals t whch I deeply regret; and so I concluded to proceed t*> Wuynesviile and preach on the following Sabbath. The churches are without pas ors, and a cavalry battalion stationed there is destitute of a chaplain. For these reasons l have visited the place several times this year. I had a pleasant time, distributing tracts and talking to the soldiers on the Gulf road They at for hours, as 1 have fr quentfv ma i others do be ore them, absorbed ii. ift.D j. Ido act remember when an oath has been sworn in my presence by a soldier. Soon after the passenger train had pas-rd, my attention w s drawn to ag oup of per sons, ju*t behind me, who seemed over whelmed with grief. It turned out to be a poor woman, her father and father-in law.— She and her father w'ere en route to Savan nah, to see her soldie -husband in the hos pital, and they had just met his corpse in charge of his father. He had left four mall children with scarce any thing t<> support them. What multitudes of widows and orphans w'ill be left in the land, when this war shall close ! At Waynesville I preached twice on Sabbath—in the forenoon at the church, and in the afternoon in camps. In half an hour after 1 had addressed the soldiers, one of them received hi death-wound, by the HCcirental discharge of a gun in the hands of his tiest friend, of which he died next morning. He expressed hope in Christ, a< and only regretted that he could not se* his parents once more-*—a common regrei with the dying soldier. As far as 1 know, 1 atntbe only volunteei missionary among the soldiers in the Stale There may be others; but, it so, I have not heard of them. A great work thus de volves upon me. Oh, that 1 had strength and grace to perform it acceptably to God ! J. H. Campbell. August 8,1862. Correspondence of The Banner. Vicksburg, July 25, 1862. Dear Brother Hornady: 1 last wrote from the rear of the batteries at Vicksburg—in hearing, though not in sight, of the fighting. On Monday morning I went to the front, under a constant fire of shells from the fleet. Bef re I got within one mile of the batteries, the shells fell un pleasantly close, now plough.ng up tht ground, now exploding a mile above my head and raining the fragments in every direction. No place seemed safe, and yei one quite as much so as another. Th sharp concussion occasioned by a large shel exploding in the air, is quite like that pro duced by a lightning stroke in a few rod.- of you ; and then the whirring of the pieces naturally makes one nervous until he get used to it. 1 passed a negro who had jus been killed by one of these fragrnen s This was the only casualty 1 heaid of. i reached the Marine Hospital building, site ; sited at the lower end of the city—a large three-storied brick, which was used as oa. racks by Captain Todd’s battery, and hospi tal for his sick. luc epted the hospitality of Captain Todd’s blanket and table, anti shared the dangers of a week’s bombard ment with him. Captain T. is the brothej of Mis. Abe Lincoln, and is us true -Southern man as you can find any where as is his y ounger brother whom 1 saw while here. Captain Todd has heroically defend ed this water-battery for weeks under an almost daily shower of iron, it is regarded as the most dangerous position on the river. I can give you no idea how the hospital is riddled with shot from the roof to the bot tom, by falling shell, and through the sides, every few feet of w e yard ploughed up oi perforated by -shell, while tons of fragments cover the surfaoe of the ground. The water buttery is a few rods in front of the huspi tal, and within musket-shot of the river— tne upper batteries are situate upon the high bluffs immediately in the rear, and can fire over the lower ones. The mortar boats seemed to direct their fire so as t<- effiect the destruction of the ‘ Arkansas.’— Fo resume the history of the ‘ Ram Arkan sas ’ where 1 left off in my last. That ter rible night cannonading turned out to be an attack upon the Arkansas by the most powerful vessels ot the entire fleet. Here is a graphic description of the whole effaii j by a Yankee correspondent : ** Having thus c rnered their enemy, our fleet was not alow to take advantage of the position ahe lay tnd to the levte, un ler cover ol the upper bauerita and a plan was immediately formed which, it was boj>ed, would succeed in sinking her. 1 his was, to pass down that very night, with Com. Far. agut’s entire fleet, and pour into the contumacious boat successive broadsides as each vessel passed her. " The fleet of Com. Davis accordingly' took up a station at about daik, and opened on their batteries to draw their fire. They succeeded admirably, and, at an unexpected moment, the fleet of large vessels struck into the channel and descended the river. As each boat united op posite the Arkansas, she slackened and poured her broadside into her. She answered as well as she could in such a storm ol missies, and put ou or two balls into our vessels, but her main occupation was to be atdiand take it. Upwards of a hundred guns, some of them throwing ten inch shots, poured their deadly charge* into her. even inch steel-pointed shot were fired into her, and I learn, by rebel sources, that one of them went through her and killed two men.— This, they maintain, is the only damage done uer. The firing was tremendous. Th Sumter also ran into her, anti tried to knock a hole in her hull, but seemingly might as well have run into a rock, The batteries, ol course, joined the engagement, and poured shot into our vessels as welt as they could in toe dark ess. “The ruarot guns was like an eatthquake, and nothing more terrific ever whs conceived than this grand artillery duel by night. It last ed an hour and then our vessels pas-ed below, and took p their old anchorage. “In the morning messengers were d'spat bed to see what damage the ArKaosas but .-u,tam ed. By going up the opposite bank of the river, -he could be plainly seen. She wasca e tied, •*a if to stop Indcs *m .her huh, and her team [pumps were at work, A barge lay a ta^de for the use of carpenters. It did not appear that *he was m any danger of sinking 1 * ‘•Two battles, such as no boat in the world ever went through before, had failed to demol ish her. I find, by the account of those who ; had good v e vs of her, that this formidable crait ] has perpendicular sides of six or eight feet, in which the port holes are pierced, i his is dif ferent from the common understanding of her model, which has been that her perpendicular sides were low. She presents six or eight feet in height of sold iron eight inches thick. She is one hundred and fifty feet long. “ The broadsides from our own vessels did as much damage as the guus of the Arkansas The Dickey got three shots, and the Lancaster sev eral. and other transports were nearly riddled." Thus failed most signally' the first effort to destroy the Arkansas; but our enemies are not easily turned aside in accomplishing a purpose. On Wednesday morning, a little after day light, we were awakened by the firing of the batteries of the upper point. Captain Todd ordered all hands in to the battery, the sick into the least ex posed part of the building, while I sprang to the roof of the building, from which el evated though exposed position the whole fight could be seen. A description of the fight, from the Memphis Bulletin, I al-o ■,end y ou. It will show you what a noble boat the ‘ Arkansas ’ was. ‘•The recent brillia t exploit of the rebel ram V. kausaa, runui g he gauntlet of the Federal fleei at Vicks i urg, was felt to be a stigma by those in ihe ser vice, which it was iinpoi taut should be wit eu ~ut. Hence, it was agreed, between Com. Ellet. ,u . Davis nd Com Farragut, that ai un ted el [on, should be made to run ashore and capture th .rkauow. The lime aereed upon was lasi Wt-dne morning. Ihe plan was lor Coo . Davis to send i.e gunboat Benton, Cincinnati and Louisville, ane ibe rani Bragg to engage the iand batteries, whih he Essex was to ap, roach the Arkau as at short, .tud grapple her, the ram Que n of the West iu-au ame to butt her from the rear. C m. FamuutV deel was io operate from below, and, if it beeam accessary, to send the Sumt- rup to assist By da>- oreak on Wednesday morning, everything was in . eadiuess, and, by tive o’c.ock, the gunboats were already on the move. *• The guuboa a Benton. Cincinnati and Louls vide nrst moved out to engage tne land batteries. — they were followed by the g .liboat Essex, which was to draw ihe Arkansas out and grapple her. The las to move wa the Queen of the West. Corn Eiiett, on getting round Louisiana Poiut, in view oi the Arkansas, was astonished to find the Essex, who. so lar from carrying out her part of the agree ment, had fired three shots, and was already thre quarters ol a mile below the Arkansas, auu still pur uiug her cours down the river. • “ On pa si. g the B- nton, Commodore Davis pui uis heai. to the port-hole and said something, which, iroru the s und aud the st.auge conduct oi the Es -ex. wa> coustrued into an order to ‘go back.’ Ira ni diately Com Elicit gave the order to reverse the ngiue*; but wheu the Benton approached, it war iound that wtuu was thought anew o dcr, was on ly a beueclictiou oi ‘Good luck! Good luck!’ “ Ail this of-cui red amid t a gall.ng fire from lk< land ba teries. *• Tne Queeu of the West now started down agait o eugajie ihe Arknsa single handed. The Ar .ansa*, meantime, had prepared herself for ti e con eat. Her a ait was now turned up stream, and ht-i tern iu shore, so as to use guus on both sides e>- dually. The Queen of the West now made, a gal ant tun down * ream mih midst of a period rain i fire and had, but was compelled, from the post tou of the Arkansas, to p..ss nelow and run up ti ie This she did, striking ihe Aikansas aft the ulrd gun on the port side. The blow was not di .ect, tun a sort ot glancing one, and veiy material y weakened the Queen, which immediately or. * aek, and run ashore at Vicksburg, the Arkansas i auwh le, pouring a destructive fire upon her.- l>eii ills Qua u ran into the Aikansaa, lour n'-ei .tit aid to have j mped a hore from the latter, .vhile, Horn -he uoi e aud confusion which follow -i, It w a clearly to be inferr and that she was badly injured. - JJuri. g the colTslon, the Queen wa* under i al tug urc all the time, and (Jom. Kl.ett and hi on. a mere vouib, s ood upon the deck, and both discharged their pistols into the port-holes of tin trkansa. The lire from the land batteries and the Arkai • -as being very hot, t om. Elleit backed ou Iron he shore, and found, to nia surprise, that Com. Da v i-, with all his gunboats, had retired, Instead o< e maining to cever his retreat, as had been agreed up -m! “ The Queen came out of the rain of lead as bes< -he could, and when r-he returned to her anchorage Com Davis is reported to have said that the reus ~n lie did not rein tin with uis boats, and cover th retr at. was that lie neve- expected to see (he boa - return, aud had forgotten that pa t of the agre ment. ■ dtrange to say, the only easuality on the Que- n wa one man .njured in the h-nd by a flying spiiu ter. “ The gunhoat Essex, which made such good tim down the iver, had a man killed aboa-d of her, and two or th ee wounded. “It is said (hit the reason Com. Farragut dldn’ ren-ier mo-e assistance, aas that he couldo t get hi; boats under way in time. “ A together, the wtiolc affair seemed to liav< been will planned, aud most bungliugly executed, but whether from p-uptr understanding, or prope co-ooeratiou re ains to be seen. 1 “Notwithstanding the alleged injuries to the Ar k n as, ihui - oat came up to the point on Tburs day mo n-ng, i . order to let the fl et know that she was ready u>r another engagement. We inter, from this moveme t, that her injuries couldn’t have beet, ver* disastrous. “ The i-anittge to the Qu en in her encounter witl. the Arkansas wa9 qui e serious. She broke he prow all to pieces, and the timbers qu hsr starboa < side Were started, and have hruuk considerably Her esi ape- ipe was cut away, and a shot passu through the flre-gratings. "The e were several remarkable sbo sand ringth engagement, but we must coutent ourselves witl tracing the ct-ur eof one as follows: It was a 82 ,-oU'id ball. It entered aft starboard, raked ev ry state r>om in the cab n, went th ough an Iron sa t in ibe clerk’s oflk-e, shatter- and a gun carriage a* th now, iimde an indentation on the b-etch t f tin gun, rebounded and slightly wounded Lieutenan umcr.” Friday morning.—A. thousand cheers! The victory here is at length completely won ! The river, for fifty or one hundred miles in front, is ours ! Not a boat in sight —the enemy has skeduddltd to parts un known; the canal is deserted, the soldiers and negroes withdrawn. The Yankees found a grav-yard, rather than a prize, at Vicksburg; six hundred graves tell the tale on shore, while the waters of the Mi>- sissippi keep a record of some two or thre* hundred more. A disastrous siege has it been to them. During eight weeks they ■ have bombarded the place, and have killed onshore, all told, but seven soldiers, one woman, and one negro. They have fired some twenty thousand shells to do this ! They have lost five or six vessels, larg* quantil es of stores (burned by the lowei fleet, when they expected the Arkansas t* attack it), and of men not a few. There i.* ’w a movement to be made below, upoi Ban >n Rouge, and perhaps New Orleans Breckenriifgr’s ommarid is all leaving f<< **•*•* p*>int bel*w Magnolia, and, as th-r a no.h.ug more to be done here for mouth*, I shall leave with them, aud w<ii finish this letter when I have the important fact about to be accomplished, to communicate. • Magnolia, August 8. I reached this place one week ago, and have been under the care of a physician ever since. I am to-day for the first time able to write and close my lett ir. That fact has been attempted. Would that 1 could say it was accomplished. The telegrams anuounce it a glorious day 1— It was a dolorous day, rather. The design was a magnificent one, but indiscreet and rash in the extreme, for which Van Dem and not Brec ken ridge—is responsible. The desigu was for the ram Arkausas. to go down, engage and drive the fleet out ..t ihe river from before Baton Rouge, and Br*ck* cundge w ith 2500 men to fall upon the 6000 or 8000 Federal:* and kill or take them all prisoners. The result is as follows ; W QeU the Arkansas reached Bayou Sara, she broke her shaft and floated on down the stream until she grounded upon, a saud oar lu the river. Her condition being a uopeless one, to prevent her from railing mto the bauds of the enemy she was blown up, and so fared the same sad fate of every guuboat we have built. Report says that when the enemy learned of her disabled condition they sent up an ‘ iron-dud’ to take possession of her, but the Arkansas gave her the benefit of her guns,., aud she round it safe to retire. Breckenridge, expecting the ram to fright en off the fleet, early on the 6th moved his small force of 2500 upon the enemy strong ly entrenched upon the second puralell of mils back of the city. The telegram reads: The fight raged with great fury. We drove the enemy to the shelter ot their gunboats with great slaughter, destroying their unis and com missary stores. Gen. Williams, the Federal commander, was killed. We lost heavily in field officers, but Generals Breckenridge und auggies are unhurt Gen.' Clark, of Miss., is, uis ieared, mortally wounded; fie fell at the post of duty. Uur loss will not exceed two Hundred and fitly. bo suou as the enemy had reached the cover of the second ridge, they were com pletely protected by their gunboats and our meu completely exposed. The boats open ed a well-directed aud murderous lire, from which our forces were compelled to with draw in haste. Thus ends the niagnificeut design of Van Dorn, of retaking Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Theittjvere two other gunboats, in certain rivers in Louisi ana, completed and ready for service, or nearly so. Had he postponed this assault mtil these boats could have, been brought out so as to cooperate.with the Arkansas, there could have been little doubt but that vhe city and the entire army would have been captured, and a proud viotory it would nave been; and with it, New Orleans would nave fallen into our hands. Thus, ‘ haste maketh waste.’ As it was, a • mall force of Kentuckians (only about 2500) drove six or eight thousand Federal soldiers out of their strong entrenchments and pell-mell into the city and under cover of their gun ooats. We will save aconsiderablearnount of commissary store, if r. ports ie true It will be a week or more before l can go into camp again, but Providence has •pened a wide door of usefulness to me here, fhe hospitals for this prim of the south vest are located in Magnolia. It I had a i'ew thousand tracts, I could supply reading matter for these for some time. J have nade an appeal to the Baptists of Missis sippi for a few thousand dollars with which to inaugurate a Tract movement in this State. We can get paper here at S6O per bundle, that used to cost $5 or $6. I will -romptly acknowledge the reception of any tracts you may succeed in sending me.—- \nd if any thing of inter eat. occur* out here i w-ill inform you by due course of mails; if any thing remarkable, by telegram. Truly yours, J. R. G. The Army In ibe We#f, Dear Brother Horuady: I have recently visited the Army in the Vest, and find the destitution appalling 1 do not believe one in ten of the men have i Testament. They are very anxious for t and for tracts. “ Can’t you send us some. reading matter?” was asked me on -very hand. We need funds with which odo this. I beg that your readers will •xert themselves in this behalf, and enclose the amount to you. Now is the moat fa vorable time to make an effort. Will not the pastors and churches respond 1 A. E Dickinsos, • Agent Army Colpurtage. All letters containing remittances, or article* or the Paper, should be directed to the Baxnkb % Baptist, Atlanta, Georgia, and not to the Edi tor* by name DIEO. Of inflamation o’* the b< w Is, Augmt °, 1964, at Mrs. Mary Fort’s,Stewart comity, G.i., Alicr Georoia Clark*, on b daughter ,t Rev. John T. and Mrs. Laura F. Clarke -being twenty-one months and thre* days •Id. Hark ! I hear another harp in Heaven ! rattle black-eyed A LICK has joined the „ag lie choir.