SUNDAY
JUNE 26, 1864
THE DAILY TRUE DELTA (LA)

The Way the Rebels Figure up Losses.—The following “figuring up” by the Richmond Dispatch is decidedly amusing:

A contemporary says Grant lost more men on the 12th than Napoleon lost in the battle of Waterloo. In the ninth volume of his memoirs, dictated at St. Helena to Gen. Gourgand, Napoleon says the loss of the French army, from the opening of the campaign to the gates of Paris, was 41,000 men. This statement embraces the battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras, on the 16th of June, the battle of Waterloo, on the 18th, the action of Grouchy with Blucher’s rear guard on the same day, and the pursuit to Paris. In the battle of Waterloo, according to Col. Siborne, the French lost 23,000 men killed and wounded and 6000 prisoners. According to Napoleon, the allies lost in the campaign 60,000 men. In the battle of Waterloo their loss was nearly equal to that of the French; that is, it was about 22,500 men killed and wounded. A very large proportion of the French loss was incurred after the rout, the Prussian hussars giving no quarter, but sabering the fugitives without mercy. Before the arrival of the Prussians, or rather of Blucher, the allied loss had evidently been much heavier than the French.

Now, in the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, on the 12th, the lowest estimate we have seen mad of the enemy’s loss was 20,000. One of our own general officers, we have heard, expresses the belief that at least 7000 men were killed dead in front of our position. The usual proportion of wounded to killed is five to one. If this estimate be correct, then Grant must have lost 42,000 men on that day alone. This estimate, however, is evidently too high, as that of 20,000 is too low. The probability is that truth lies in the middle–that is, that Grant’s actual loss was about 30,000. This estimate agrees with all the accounts we have from the North, where, in private circles, nobody–according to the Petersburg Express–places his loss in the entire campaign at less than 75,000; and few believe that, including stragglers, it falls short of 90,000. Even at the low estimate of the New York News–60,000–these losses reach the figure assigned by Napoleon to the allies in the campaign of Waterloo, and exceeds that acknowledged by the allies–50,000–by 10,000 more.

•••••

A Viper Among Post-Office Clerks.—Mr. Frank Buckland, in the London Field, appeals to his friends not to employ the post as the medium of conveying to him specimens for examination. Within the last ten days he has received no less than three letters from the Secretary of the post-office on the subject. Mr. Buckland says: “Upon one occasion I received a letter enclosing a newly-born bull dog puppy with deformed mouth, the head projecting from one end of the letter, the tail from the other. Another, an odiferous canary bird; another ‘live (query) barnacles;’ a fourth, a live viper; this was really piling up the agony, for though the barnacles were by no means live, nor yet even lively, yet I regret to say the viper was alive and kicking. The correspondent who sent this says, ‘I send you a snake, which I killed to-day,’ &c., &c. My friend was mistaken, for he had only half killed the viper, who recovered himself when hid away among the letters in the letter bag, and ultimately made his unexpected and unwelcome exit from the box in which he was packed at the general post-office, scattering the clerks, I understand, right and left, in the greatest confusion. And well these gentlemen might scamper, for the contents of this letter was as fine a specimen of a poisonous brute as I ever beheld, and I am most thankful he did not bite anybody. When I received his remains, the head was as flat as a viper’s head could be, and he really was dead.” Mr. Buckland further says that on account of the staleness of many of the specimens, his little garden is already a perfect cemetery, and his boy tells him “there is not a square foot of ground left in the garden to bury any of them “field things.”

Church and State.

We notice that a certain portion of the press is sorely exercised at “the falling away from grace” manifested by all the prominent church organizations, in passing resolutions and pledging themselves to stand by the Union and the flag. It is, as the philosophic Sam Weller would say, a “werry strange coincidence,” that these are the same papers that aforetime were always railing at “political persons” for denouncing what all the world acknowledged to be wrong.¹ The Protestant Episcopal Convention of Pennsylvania comes in for no small share of this abuse, and its presiding officer, the learned and venerable Bishop Alonso Potter, is an especial subject of animadversion. The obnoxious resolution was this:

“Resolved, That we hereby declare our unfaltering allegiance to the Government of the United States, and that we pledge to it our willing devotion and service, and that, as a body of Christians, we will ever pray that, in God’s own time and way, this rebellion may be put down; that oppression and slavery in all its forms may be done away; that freedom of bod and mind, political and religious, may everywhere prevail; that the emancipated Negroes whom God, in His Providence, is committing to our care, may be the objects of our liberal and Christian regard and instruction; that war may soon cease throughout all our borders, and that our now lacerated country may again be united; that, from the Lakes on the North to the Gulf on the South, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, there shall be but one Union, one government, one flag, one Constitution, all culminating in that higher glory which shall make this nation Emanuel’s land–a mountain of holiness and a dwelling-place of righteousness.”

We should deplore as deeply as any one the introduction of politics into the pulpit, but surely fidelity to the republic is not politics, neither is treason a harmless act. If it is the right and duty of God’s ministers on earth to rebuke sin, no matter where found, then do they stand pledged to denounce treason, rebellion, and all national crime. Else why are they commanded to offer three times in the week the prayer “from all sedition, privy conspiracy and rebellion–good Lord deliver us.”

If it is wrong to overthrow the best government on earth, to devastate a peaceful and happy land in blood, to murder unoffending men and ruin helpless women, then it is right to denounce these crimes from the pulpit, and to array the church on the side of law, order and good government.

Such were the sentiments that animated Dr. Mecklenburg, a minister of the same church and of the same diocese, when in revolutionary days he threw off the surplice and led his parishioners to battle. Each church that arrays itself on the side of the Union cements the bonds of our fraternity still stronger. As the religious community were the first to congratulate the First President of the firm establishment of American Independence, so that was the first to rally to the defence of the constitution and laws. The protector of all religions, and the propagator of none, it is the boundless duty of all to rally to a common standard, and support the common defender. 

MONDAY
JUNE 27, 1864
THE RICHMOND DAILY EXAMINER (VA)

The activity of the enemy’s cavalry has, from the beginning, annoyed and injured the people of Virginia beyond measure, and the general impunity with which it has cut railroads, burnt bridges and farm-houses, devastated the fields, and outraged the female and aged inhabitants, has thrown much and just discredit upon the arm of our own service, which should have met and checked it here as Forrest and Morgan and Stephen D. Lee have done in the West. But when that much is said, all is said. We do not recollect a single instance in which the operations of the Confederate army have been prevented or delayed by a cavalry raid. It is impossible to give these disreputable and unsoldierly affairs that permanence, either in their own duration, or in the effects which they leave, which would seriously embarrass the supply or the transportation of an army or a capital. They furnish material for a dispatch from some such contemptible man as Speare or Kautz or Sheridan, in which he may bray his fill over the number of rails he has torn up, the horses he has stolen, the dwellings he has pillaged and burnt, the number of “prisoners of war” he has brought off–the said prisoners being men of sixty or cripples or Negroes; they prevent the transmission of the mails for several days; they cost the railroad companies some expenditure of rails and sills; but they leave the earthwork of the road, and the American railway is of such a character that a week’s work, when the machine shops and organization of the company are complete, repairs the uttermost damage they can do. It is strange that a people like the Yankees do not know this. Perhaps they do; but the pleasure of safely tormenting non-combatants and of making a sensation in the papers render these cavalry raids the delight of their army and of the nation. There is but one means to deprive them of it–to place these mounted thieves where they should be: without the pale of honorable war, and hanging every one that is taken on the spot where he is taken. Whenever the game is played on that principle it will be brought to a speedy conclusion.

The raid on the Danville road, while partaking of all the piratical and dishonorable traits which characterize the others, has something like a strategical object. The cavalry under Kautz was intended to be the connecting link between the armies of Hunter and Grant. Its mission an indication–though not a proof–that the enemy is not yet well informed of what has happened to Hunter. The idea that a body of cavalry would be sufficient to extend Grant’s line across the Danville road is too feeble and stupid for Grant and Meade. Even if Hunter’s army had gotten down there is would have been wholly insufficient to hold the ground, but there would have been some possibility of supporting it. Without Hunter’s army, the worst work of that cavalry is done and it can be repaired in a few days.

We should also think, from the tenor of General Lee’s dispatch, that some considerable penalty would be paid by Kautz for his failure, had not the country suffered so many disappointments at the hands of our cavalry on similar occasions. Hunter cannot come down the Southside to the assistance of Kautz; and the lodgment on the Weldon road, the gate by which he gained the upper Appomattox, is closed. A superior force of Confederate cavalry has cut his column in two, and defeated all efforts to reform. This statement looks ugly for Kautz. It is not clear how one portion of his command is to get out of the net; yet if Kautz is caught, the news of the fact will be received with a pleasure much heightened by surprise. ->

The public has entertained stronger hopes of the capture or complete destruction of the eighteen thousand villains who have devastated the Valley. For ourselves, there is no disappointment–at least since the first news arrived from Lynchburg. From that moment it was evident that Hunter would get away, as Averill did last winter. If anything better turns up now, it will be the result of arrangements bot even suspected. When he commenced his retreat there was nothing in his track but the mountains, and it was reasonable to suppose that his flight would be at least as rapid as any pursuit which could be made after him. So it has turned out. Hunter is off. He has lost a thousand or so of his men; the telegram published to-day says his ammunition train, “a mile long,” was blown up; that his wagon train was captured; and his whole army was almost captured–but not quite, because of the non-transmission of an order. If this information is exact, Hunter will be in no condition to besiege towns or fight battles, for some time to come, at least. It may be safely added, without the assistance of the telegraph, that his horses are ruined, his men demoralized and disorganized. It will take a considerable period of time and much work to put them in fighting trim. But if he is permitted to establish his quarters peaceably in Lewisburg, he will recuperate, and one day again give the militia reserves of Lynchburg and Charlottesville a chance for glory. Let us trust, however, that General Imboden and the cavalry of the Valley are now competent to render a residence in Lewis burg unprofitable and unhealthy for Hunter.

•••••

Horrors of the Chickahominy.—A correspondent of a Northern paper writes as follows of the swamps of the Chickahominy:

Without a single regret, I left the margin of White Oak Swamp, and turned my back upon the Chickahominy. Never have I so strongly experienced the sensation of being in a charnel house. Dead horses strewed our path and odorized the air. The unwholesome dampness from the ground settled on the trees, and fell in humid drops from leaf and spray. In spite of whiskey and quinine, the men shook with ague, and your correspondent, who had just passed the paroxysm, was burning with fever. Dare me to jaunt through the Roman catacombs or stroll in the Parisian sewers, but ask me not to linger in the swamps of the Chickahominy.

TUESDAY
JUNE 28, 1864
THE SPRINGFIELD DAILY UNION (MA)

Fernando Wood Cornered.—Fernando Wood, the New York traitor, made a “peace” speech in the House on Saturday, when the following spicy debate ensued. It will well repay reading:

Mr. Fernando Wood said it amounted to very little what this house should do on the subject of conscription. The whole principle is ant-Republican and anti-American, and when force is resorted to, the fundamental principle of Republican government, viz, the assent of the people, is violated. The law which this bill proposes to amend is a failure. He repeated that until some Government or Administration shall adopt the policy of reconstruction and concession, and return to the principles upon which the Government is founded, we will go on from one expedient to another, in a down-hill course, to disruption, destruction, and disintegration. Until the olive branch is extended we cannot have peace, and peace must be reached through the civil and not the military department. He would lay down his life and all that he held dear to restore the Union and the Constitution, and it was because he was in favor of the Union that he was opposed to the war. War is disunion, annihilation and destruction. Already there has been expended more blood and treasure than could be accumulated together again for twenty-five years; and the fact that laws of this character are resorted to shows that the people are against the war. In his opinion, all the States in the Union can be once more gathered together without the firing of another gun or the shedding of another drop of blood. Mr. Wood then proceeded to prove his assertion by referring to the unanimous of the Confederate Congress, in which they said they were willing for peace on any terms consistent with the honor, integrity and independence of the States, and compatible with the safety of their domestic institutions. He also referred to other Southern authorities. In conclusion, Mr. Wood said that no party could succeed in the Presidential election that does not meet this issue fairly, squarely and bravely. Had he the power, he would put two candidates in the field–one for war, and the other for negotiation and reconstructing the Union–and he would forfeit all his present and future prosperity and possessions if the Peace candidate did not receive an overwhelming majority. And these he had expressed independent of all parties.

Mr. Strouse (Un., Pa.) said they had better adjourn this circus, which was a disgrace.

The Speaker reminded the House of the duty to preserve order.

Mr. Kernan (Dem., N. Y.) replying to Mr. Wood, said: One of the misfortunes of all civil wars, calamities and disasters, was that extreme men seek to control events, giving to moderate and conservative men no share in public affairs. We have extreme men, on one side and the other, really controlling public events. It was not well that extreme men should have their way, because by following their course, we shall go down in ruin. We have gentlemen who will stand up more like his colleague (Wood) under the most trying circumstances surrounding us, and say that without another gun being fired, we can have peace and union. Oh! if his colleague could only show the least reasonable chance of restoring the Union and preserving the government without further bloodshed, who did not know that every man would struggle to do what his colleague said could be accomplished? His colleague had spoken of obtaining peace without the firing of another gun, but to what line could you withdraw your armies? What would you do with Kentucky? Would you leave her to the tender mercies of secession leaders as well as the other Border States who stood by the old flag?

Mr. Fernando Wood said that three several efforts have been made for the negotiation of an honorable peace, and rejected by this Administration.

Mr. Kernan supposed the first was before Fort Sumter was fired upon, and yet the gentleman (Wood), when that was done, was one of the strongest men for putting down the rebellion. This was when the cause was popular. He (Wood) was one of those who raised the Mozart Regiment.

Mr. Wood said that all he had sought to do with that regiment was to protect the capital, not to carry on a war to subjugate the Southern States, and his colleague (Kernan) had heretofore heard him state this fact.

Mr. Kernan replied that in the years 1861 and 1862, when the popular current ran in the direction of protecting the Constitution and the Union, his colleague did not raise his voice against it. He (Kernan) was in the Democratic State Convention of 1861, and the politicians with whom his colleague acted were there, and the convention passed resolutions declaring against secession and in favor of putting down the rebellion, protesting at the time against the course of the Administration in putting in force martial law in loyal States. The gentleman (Wood) and his friends denounced us for embarrassing the Administration and they went for the Union ticket. (Laughter.) The Mozart Regiment was a three-year regiment, and his friend from New York (Odell) was authority for the statement.

Mr. Fernando Wood said that this was not so.

Mr. Odell (N. Y.)–The statement is exactly so. (Laughter and applause.)

Mr. Eldridge (Dem., Wis.) raised the point of order that the Mozart Regiment had nothing to do with the question before the House.

The Speaker said the subject was pertinent.

Mr. Odell–The regiment was raised by the Union Defense Committee, of which my colleague was a member, or acted as such.

Mr. Wood–As Mayor of the city of New York, I was a member of that Committee. (Laughter.)

Mr. Odell–When Tammany Hall proposed to raise a regiment of soldiers, Mozart Hall, under the patronage of my colleague (Wood), would not be behind, and they asked permission to raise one. My colleague began the work, and said he raised the regiment at a private expenditure of $6,000. A braver and a better regiment never left New York to defend the country. Its Major had been brought hither in a dying condition. I was sorry to hear my colleague say he raised the regiment merely to defend the Capital. It was not so. It enlisted for the war, and many of its members had fought with the soldiers of my own district. My colleague expected men to go by thousands. If I had power to send troops into the field, I would not, like my colleague, repudiate them. (Applause.)

Mr. Wood–If it is true that I raised so many men for such deeds of blood, may Almighty God forgive me for the sin and crime. (Hisses from the Republican side.) I repeat that the regiment was raised to defend the Capital when it was menaced. As to the term of service, I had no power whatever over it.

Mr. Kernan resumed his remarks, speaking against the extremes of party, and repeating that we cannot have peace except by showing that we have the power to put down armed resistance. He expressed himself to be opposed to repealing the commutation clause, and was authorized by a number of fellow Democrats to say that they will vote men and money to put down the war, but not in a vindictive spirit, nor with a view of exterminating those in arms against us.

WEDNESDAY
JUNE 29, 1864
MASSACHUSETTS WEEKLY SPY

Our Military Resources.

The president made a flying visit to the army of the Potomac last week. He took none of the army correspondents into his confidence, and consequently the precise object of his mission is not promulgated. If it were assumed, however, that he went to assure himself by personal observation of the actual condition of the army, in view of supplying it with adequate reinforcements, it would not be far from the truth. That the country is abundantly able to furnish, and that the government means to secure, as large a force as is needed for the suppression of the rebellion, is no longer open to doubt; and it is well that the fact should be kept familiar to the public mind.

In the first place, the population of the loyal states at the military ages has not been materially diminished by the casualties of the war. There were, according to the last census, over three and a half million of white males in the loyal states between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. Concede he largest estimate of losses that has been made–half a million–by death, wounds, and desertion, there would still be left more than three millions of men to carry on the contest. There are, in fact, more than this number. By the laws of the census the average increase of the fighting population in the loyal states exceeds one hundred thousand annually. This is according to the census of 1860. Since that time immigration has greatly increased, and the military class received large accessions from that source.

These figures are predicated upon a white basis. If there were no other element of strength, that alone would be adequate to all possible emergencies, if it were wisely used. But the colored population has already proved a valuable auxiliary, on whatever side it has been enlisted. On the rebel side it has been reluctantly and sparingly used, but always with good success. There are said to be one hundred thousand blacks now in the federal service. It is the fault of our system of management, our distrust of them, our injustice of them, that there are not five hundred thousand at this moment in arms for the Union. Just so far as this government recognizes their obvious rights, they will gather under its flag, and leave the labor system of the rebel states to fall by its own weight.

While, therefore, the war is prosecuted even upon the large scale which has distinguished this campaign, there is little danger of exhausting the arms-bearing population for a long time to come. We have other relative advantages. When the war broke out, Maryland furnished a strong force to the rebel army. She will furnish no more. By that act she became loyal and free. Missouri threw a vast weight into the rebel scale, but she is now practically free and entirely loyal. Tennessee will contribute little or nothing more to the rebel but very much more to the union army. Portions of Arkansas and Louisiana are also constant sources of supply; while all along the coast, and wherever our army marches into the interior, strong men are found anxious and willing to fight for the old flag. ->

Why then is the war prolonged? It is because the rebel population capable of bearing arms is more united and resolved. They have everything staked upon the issue and must fight. They keep their entire military resources ready for service at call, and economize them with skill rarely witnessed in the history of modern wars. They must be met with something of the spirit with which they have fought. The government must rise with the emergency, and put into the field men enough to finish the work. It alone has the power, and the men are waiting to be called.

•••••

No More Slave-Hunting.–The senate on Thursday last concurred with the house in repealing the fugitive slave laws of 1793 and 1850 by a vote of 27 to 12. The nays were Messrs. Buckalew and Cowan of Pennsylvania, Davis and Powell of Kentucky, Van Winkle and Willey of West Virginia, Saulsbury and Riddle of Delaware, Carlisle of Virginia, Johnson of Maryland, Hendricks of Indiana, and McDougal of California. While the bill was pending, Reverdy Johnson moved to strike out the clause repealing the act of 1793, but his amendment failed, 22 to 17–which indicates a healthy progress since the subject was before the senate a few weeks ago. Now the bill only awaits the signature of the president, which, of course, will not long be wanting. In the senate as in the house, the “democratic” vote was given against the repeal of both laws–not one member on that side of either house dissenting. They alone had the courage to uphold the utterly infamous legislation which slaveholders secured in their palmy days to strengthen and extend their power. If they are content with the record which is made against them, we are not disposed to complain. But the day is not distant when every man who attempted to break the fall of that fatal system will prefer that the mountains and the rocks should cover him, rather than meet the indignation of a people who have lavished their best blood in defence of free government and the rights of mankind.

•••••

Items.

In 1860 the product of labor for each person in Massachusetts was $235; in Maryland, $96; in South Carolina, $56. Thus in free and educated Massachusetts the reward of labor is more than double that in Maryland, and four times that in South Carolina.

A farmer in Adrian, Michigan, has found a mastodon while digging a ditch on his farm.

In a recent number of the Leipzig Medical Gazette there is a case of successfully practiced transfusion of animal blood into a human subject, “twelve ounces from the veins of a lamb having been injected with benefit to a local patient.”

London journals teem with notices from eminent meteorologists and records to show that never has such intense heat been experienced there as at this season in May, 1864.

THURSDAY
JUNE 30, 1864
THE PITTSFIELD SUN (MA)

The Shoddy Dynasty!
Revelations and Recriminations!!
[From the Albany Atlas and Argus.]

The revelations of fraud and corruption, treasonable conspiracy against the government and people, on the part of the Republican officeholders, continue. They are of the most formidable character, and reach the highest quarters. The Cabinet, including Chase, are charged with corruption, and with no less authority than Gen. Blair, a brother of the Postmaster General! The charges remain unanswered and undenied; but a conspiracy is got up, by means of a forged account, to defame Blair, and, that failing, he is removed from his seat in Congress by the Republican majority. Senator Hale, who exposed the corruptions in the Navy Department, is also punished by losing his seat in the Senate, having been superceded by a more complacent party hack.

The investigations into the abuses of the New York Custom House show connivance by officials in furnishing supplies to the enemy. This was the game of conniving Brigadiers and secret Treasury agents in the West. We published, not long ago, an agreement between a Secessionist in Arkansas and a northern agent for the exchange of cotton for camp equipments and army supplies, which had the secret approval of the Confederate government. It was evident that the camp-kettles, tent-cloths, uniforms, &c., which were to be supplied to the South were to come from the Federal Arsenals and depots; for the many, the government was alone the maker.

The furnishing of supplies to the Rebels, from New York, Boston, Portland, &c., was a regular and profitable trade. Such neutral ports as Nassau and Matamoras were made use of; and as the manifests of cargoes might expose the clandestine operation, they were made away with, and the exporter’s bonds were stolen.

A committee of Congress, appointed to examine the subject, reports:

“Prior to 1861, a clearance to Matamoras was not asked for once a year. Will it be believed since August of that year one hundred an fifty-two vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of thirty-five thousand tons, having on board large cargoes, have been cleared for that destination, and that all this is legitimate trade for home consumption in Mexico?”

The committee have no means at hand of knowing the number of vessels and the amount of tonnage engaged in this trade from other ports of the United States, but from outside statements are well prepared to believe that from eighty to one hundred vessels have been seen at once and the same time in the mouth of the Rio Grande.

The trade with Nassau has suddenly doubled. It was all of this clandestine and treasonable character. The report says:

“In one instance some eight or nine cannons, boxed up and marked ‘hardware,’ were shipped per steamer Indus, from New York to Nassau. In another instance, about one hundred and fifty bales of blankets, marked ‘U. S. A.,’ were put on board a steamer in that trade after she had cleared at the Custom House and was anchored in the stream; the blankets were not cleared at the Custom House.”

The report says that “the manifests of some sixty vessels known to have made trips in this trade are not to be found in the Custom House;” and they add: “In one instance the proof is circumstantial and positive that the terms of abstraction and surrender of a large bond of $64,000 was actually negotiated before it was executed, and that within one hour after its execution the bond was given up and in the hands of the parties who had made it.”

It is not alone the Cabinet or the Custom House that are involved. Generals are implicated–Banks and Butler, and others less notorious–in cotton speculations, the foundations of which are laid in robbery or secret connivance with the enemy, and the superstructure of which is fraud. In the quarrel for the spoil, excited enmities have arisen; and the Cabinet ministers refuse to speak to each other. . . ->

Mr. Thurlow Weed, accused of speculating in the non-passage of the tax on Whisky on hand, avows it, and claims it to be a legitimate business transaction. He meets the reiterated charge in regard to the Cataline, by letters from Messrs. Davidson and Develin, to the effect that he had no interest in that vessel. He then turns the table upon his confederates after this fashion.

We quote freely, because the witness is the political, and for years has been the social, companion of the men whom his accusations implicate. What a list! Chase and Banks, Opdyke and Camp, Greeley and Callicot, Morris Ketchum and Dudley Field! And the accusations embrace every form of dishonesty, all ending in a common object–the pillage of the Treasury, and of the People, and the turning of the War into personal profit.

•••••

Bogus States.—No effort will be spared to manufacture the greatest possible number of electoral votes in time for the next Presidential election. Fragments of recovered States will be “reconstructed” for this purpose, and as many territories as possible be invested with the full dignity of old States. Nebraska territory is one of the incipient States, for which Congress, not long ago, passed an enabling act providing for an election on the 6th of June of members to a convention which should frame a State Constitution, to be voted upon next October. The Democracy of Nebraska resolved to form an anti-State ticket, calling to their aid men of all parties, and recommending that the convention should vote to adjourn sine die on the first day of the session. At last accounts such a number had been pledged to this course that a majority was claimed against the State ticket, the opposition claiming that the whole movement for a State organization was a political juggle. The course resolved upon by the Administration, with reference to bogus States of all kinds, is plainly indicated by the action taken last Monday upon the resolution offered in the House of Representatives by Mr. Garfield of Ohio, as follows:

“That no State declared in rebellion by Proclamation of the President is entitled to appoint electors of President or Vice-President; and no electoral vote from any such State shall be received or counted, until both houses of Congress, by concurrent action, shall have recognized a State Government in such State.”

This resolution was laid on the table by a large majority.–N. Y. Journal of Commerce.

•••••

The cotton famine has at last reached this country, and our factories are beginning to inquire where they shall obtain cotton. Few of them have any stock on hand, little is in store in New York, and all or nearly all attempts to obtain it at the South have failed. Exchange is now so high that it cannot be imported for less than $1.50 per lb. Thus we can get no supply abroad. The mills must either suspend or work short time, under present circumstances. There must be a large advance on cotton goods, and if some way is not opened for a supply, our factory operatives will inevitably be thrown out of employ. Middling fair cotton was quoted in the New York market, on the 4th, at $1.12.–Brunswick (Me.) Telegraph.

•••••

Down with the Republicans and the rebels, the twin curses of the country. The Tribune of June 17 acknowledges that they worked together for the election of Lincoln and the destruction of the union. An opposition administration would restore the Union and give us back our liberties.–N. Y. World.

FRIDAY
JULY 1, 1864
THE REPUBLICAN FARMER (CT)

The Civil War.

The fighting in front of Petersburg resulted in a loss to the Federals of not less than 10,000, with not a single advantage gained. The city was commanded by the guns of both the Confederate and Federal armies, but the latter could gain nothing by the destruction of Petersburg, which they could not have held. Finding the resistance so strong at this point, Gen. Grant attempted to continue his movement by the left flank–his favorite system of strategy since he crossed the Pamunkey–his object being to obtain possession of the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. Such a movement seems to have been anticipated by the wary Lee, for when the two Federal corps marched out they were confronted by the corps of A. P. Hill, and an engagement followed, during which the Confederates captured four guns and 400 men. This was on the 22d.

This was the first report received. The truth of the matter is that one entire Federal brigade was captured, and part f another–not less than 3,000 men.

On the following day the Federals reached the railroad, and began to destroy it, when the Second and Sixth corps were attacked in a furious manner, and compelled to fall back from the position they had won. After accomplishing this the Confederates retired, and the railroad is now commanded by the guns of the Federals. The Federal line reaches from in front of Richmond on the northeast to a point near the railroad on the southeast. Three other lines of railroad communication are still open to the Confederates from and to Richmond besides the James river canal.

An attack on Burnside’s line was repulsed on the 24th, and an assault on Gen. Smith’s position the following day was also repelled. Late operations have been principally confined to artillery duels between the two armies. The flank movement of Grant seems to have been a great failure, to say the least, and the prospects of the capture of either Petersburg or Richmond out of the question at present. Forces of the Confederates have destroyed the wharves and public buildings belonging to the Federals situated at Harrison’s Landing, Wilcox’s Landing, and Westover, on the north side of the James river–a very serious loss to the Federals.

Admiral Lee has sunk a stone fleet in the James to prevent the Confederate iron clads from coming down. It was done by order of Gen. Grant, and indicates a lack of confidence in the ability of our gunboats to cope with the rams. Of course there will be no talk of the fleet going up to shell Richmond.

Gen. Sheridan, from whose expedition great things were anticipated, failed utterly in the work with which he was entrusted–the cutting of the railroads to the north and west of Richmond, and a co-operation with Gen. Hunter in operations against Lynchburg. He was compelled to retrace his steps to White House, which point was attacked on the 20th and 21st by Fitz Hugh Lee and Hampton. After hard fighting the Confederates were driven back, the Federals having been assisted by gunboats.

A severe engagement took place on Saturday last on the Chickahominy river. The enemy’s cavalry and infantry followed General Sheridan from White House and attacked him early in the morning, and finally charged upon him, causing the Federal troops to retire with considerable loss. Sheridan’s command is reported to be now across the James River.

General Hunter has been completely defeated in his attempt to capture Lynchburg, and at last accounts was in full retreat with the Confederates in hot pursuit. His troops threw away blankets, arms, and accoutrements. The Confederates have captured thirteen of his guns and have defeated him at Quaker Church and also near Peaks of Otter. He has sent a dispatch to Stanton announcing as a reason for his retreat that his ammunition was running short and that the enemy were in superior numbers. If he escapes with his command he will be fortunate. Pope has not yet joined him, and fears are expressed for his safety.

It was stated some time since that the Confederates at Charleston had placed five Federal general officers in that city under the fire of our guns. The government, accordingly, has sent to the General in command five Confederate generals and forty colonels, who will be kept under the fire of the Confederate batteries until their friends revoke the order.

Gen. Sherman has been defeated in an attack on the Confederate position four miles north of Marietta, and twenty-four from Atlanta, on the 27th, with a loss of nearly 3,000, including many valuable officers. It was a general assault of both wings of the army on the enemy’s entrenched position, and was led by Gens. Thomas and McPherson. The Confederates could not be dislodged. Sherman’s position may be considered a critical one. He cannot advance, and the country in his rear swarms with the soldiers of Pillow, Forrest, Wheeler, and Roddy, while all his supplies must come over a single railroad.

General Pillow was recently defeated in an attempt to capture Lafayette, Geo., 25 miles south of Chattanooga, with a loss of 100 killed and wounded.

Taking advantage of the removal of one of our gunboats from the mouth of the White river, a portion of Magruder’s command recently attacked two companies of Federal troops, but were repulsed after a severe fight. The opportune arrival of the gunboat Lexington, however, contributed mainly to this fortunate result.

•••••

A deserter attempted to escape from a provost guard which had him in custody in New York city on Tuesday. The guard called on him to stop, but continuing to run, he was fired upon, notwithstanding the street was crowded with pedestrians. The deserter was instantly killed and two citizens seriously wounded. What an advanced state of civilization is presented by such an incident occurring in the chief city of the Union.

•••••

The Confederate steamer Alabama arrived at Cherbourg, France, June 11th, and was admitted to free portage. She landed forty prisoners, the crews of two Federal vessels whose names are not mentioned. The Alabama was to be permitted to make extensive repairs at Cherbourg.

SATURDAY
JULY 2, 1864
THE NEWPORT MERCURY (RI)

Cowardice.–A young man of Chicopee, having the fear of the draft before his eyes, had the front teeth of his upper jaw extracted a few days ago. They were perfectly sound. The Salem Register says that Stephen H. Morse, of Amesbury, who was drafted in July, 1863, had eight teeth extracted to secure exemption, which he obtained, but the facts becoming known to the Provost Marshal a few days ago, Morse was arrested, and held to service, and assigned to the artillery, without the privilege of paying commutation or furnishing a substitute. He was sent to Gallop’s Island on Tuesday. The Springfield Republican says a foolish conscript in Dalton cut off the index finger of his right hand after he was drafted, supposing he would be exempted for it. But the game didn’t work. When he came to visit the Board of Enrollment, he was accepted and sent to camp.

•••••

Near Bermuda Hundred there is a large corral, where all disabled and worn-out horses–brought there by Sherman after his famous raid–are confined. The poor beasts have apparently little of their original vigor left. That was what we thought a few days since. Now we have changed our opinion. During the heavy firing on our left, a short time since, these lame and worn-out equine warriors pricked up their ears, straightened their sore and stiff limbs, tossed their manes, formed in squadrons, and with a loud snort charged upon a number of inoffensive mules. Two mules were instantly killed, and the others fled in the wildest disorder. The horses again formed to the music of Gilmore’s artillery, and charged on a high rail fence, which they at once broke down. They did not desist from their warlike demonstration until the artillery firing ceased.

•••••

Rebel Reliance upon Georgia Cereals.–A correspondent writing from Sherman’s army says: It is wonderful what an immense breadth of country is planted and sown with grain. The wheat, rye, and barley are excellent, and will be fit for the reaper by the 1st of July. The corn is splendid, too, and promises a large yield. The Confederacy made calculations to be fed, as far as breadstuffs went, from the State of Georgia, and it is clear that if other parts of the State are as well cultivated as this is, and if the rebels can gather the crop, they can get quite enough to take out another year’s supply for their armies. But this crop, or part of it, may fall into our hands, and certainly will if we can hold what we have won, and what we propose to win.

•••••

On Tuesday, some of the troops opposite Bermuda Hundred, in making excavations, discovered five thousand dollars in gold and silver buried in the ground beneath the ruins of a charred and destroyed mansion. The excitement was intense among the boys when these spoils of war were divided among them on their own motion.

•••••

The importations into New York last week were larger than they have been before for several weeks, amounting to no less than six and a half millions. Among the items in the general merchandise list are the following: Coffee, $1,044,184; tea, $17,05; sugar, $932,327; wool, $407,677; fancy goods, $326,322; jewelry, $6,697; watches, $37,931; ale, $2,204; brandy, $49,830; porter, $4,061; wine, $79,441; champagne, $26,265; gin, $2,039.

The price of domestic labor in New York has largely increased. Washerwomen get their $1 per dozen, and a maid-of-all-work in a “quiet family” of six asks and receives $10 per month, with a small girl to wait on her at $5 per month. Yet hundreds of shop girls receive but $3 per week, out of which they board and clothe themselves. The superior healthfulness of housework cannot be denied, and if it is pride that keeps a robust girl out of the kitchen, the motive diminishes the pity for her present situation.

•••••

The war now comes home to all of us every day. Even those who are not mourning for brave relatives or friends who have fallen in battle, or who are not constantly kept in solicitude by fears for the safety of loved ones now facing the foe, are reminded at every purchase they make that war is laying his heavy tax on every article they use. During the first year of the war most of the people were surprised that they did not feel its burdens weighing more heavily upon them. The number of those whose households were saddened by the fatal bullets of the enemy was after all comparatively small. The drain made by the army on our population was scarcely noticeable in our streets. The prices current scarcely suggested the existence of a great civil conflict. And the remark became trite, that those of us at home could scarcely realize that a war was raging. But three years of strife have so changed affairs that we cannot for an hour escape from the evidence that peace with her train of blessings is no longer ours. Every article of food or clothing that we purchase comes freighted with an expensive message announcing the existence of war. Perhaps not even the great loss of life caused by war presents so hard a test to the patience and patriotism of a people as a great increase of taxes and of prices. This test our nation has borne well. It has sustained with good spirit the heavy burden laid upon it. We believe that it will continue to do so as long as it believes that all proper efforts are made by the government to keep the currency from further depreciation and to push on the war with all possible vigor. If any are tempted to murmur at the weight of pecuniary burthen which is placed upon them by the war, let them remember how unworthy for a moment it is to be compared with the burthen of heavy toil which hundreds of thousands of our countrymen are enduring for our good. If they are tempted to repine at the necessity for giving up some of the costly luxuries which have adorned their tables, let them think of the brave fellows who live on salt junk and hard tack, sleep on the ground, and face death continually, that we may sit in quiet at our board at home. What are all the privations and self-denials and sacrifices of the men at home, when contrasted with those of the soldiers in the field! They do not deserve to be thought of. So long as the gallant men at the front do not falter, or fail, or murmur, or croak, let us who are at home be ashamed to complain or grumble at bearing our share of the labor which is requisite for the completion of the great task set before the nation.–Prov. Journal.

•••••

In answer to certain statements in regard to our enormous naval expenditures, the Round Table proves by a few simple figures that our yearly expenses in that branch of the service are not more than $50,000,000–some $2,000,000 less than those of England and $20,000,000 less than those of France, while we have more men-of-war in active service than both combined.

¹ Sam Weller is the fictional Cockney bootblack in Dickens’ Pickwick papers. (Source).