The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-12 00:00:00

THE WAR IN AMERICA.

QUEENSTOWN, SATURDAY NIGHT.
The Cunard mail steamer Scotia, from New York
on the 31st December, has arrived.

DtheeecwecmOobmrelmera'annsd. The latest advices are to
The expedition of Gen. Bavinhkiscihs actitlyasittaasrereirvteadinoend
at
Gen. Banks supersedes Gen.
ttßohe 0
the
Butler
tbl2eel
r4ft tohi hn:
aN d
say

"The rebels think they see in Oen. Banks a less
rigorous commander, and are seen in the streets in
crowds. One of them on the 18th challenged Gen.
Butler. The latter put the challenge in his pocket,
and sent word to the angry rebel, if he desired an
onset with him, to come on in the street, or wher-
ever else it might suit him. Gen. Corcoran, with
his Irish Legion, was in the river, and would reach
the city in a day or two. Dr. M'Cormack, the medi-
cal director under Gen. Butler, is relieved,and comes
north with his chief. Business was dull as usual. A
large number of speculators from New York had ar-
rived, and they may give an impulse to trade. Gen.
Banks was very busy, and in hourly consultation
with Gen. Butler. It is due to the nation to know
that the best feeling subsisted between the two
Generals and their resrctive staffs. Col. Elliott, of
the Ist Louisiana Regiment, and son of the Hon. H.
H. Elliott, of New York, had resigned, T
Li. It was not
known what course Gen. Banks would pursue in
regard to resignations. Gen. Banks and Gen. Butler
were serenaded on the night of the 19th by the
theus2sa2ccihu(sAeltotnsday) receive his
301ast
M
Regiment. The
Delta of the 20th officially announces that General
friends at the City Hall."
Bbauntdlerofwotuhled
On the 16th Generals Banks and Butler met at

the army headquarters,Carondel-street, for the pur-
pose of a formal introduction. The Delta of the
17th, in its account of the meeting, says:--
,' General Butler addressed General Banks and
welcomed him to the Department of the Gulf.
He assured him that he would find here troops
who were ready to yield a cheerful obedi-
ence to every order. General Banks responded
that the only pleasure he had in taking the com-
mand of the Department of the Gulf was in obey-
ing an order of the Government of the United
States. The meeting of the two chiefs was most
cordial, and the interchange of sentiment was that
which marks the coming together of old friends.
Gen. Butler now introduced each member of his
stuff, and this ceremony over, General Banks intro-
duced the members of his staff. Soon after these
formalities General Banks and staff withdrew. Gen.
Butler then addressed his staff, and requested that
each member should take pains to enlighten and
assist their successors, of whom he spoke in high
terms. He praised, in the warmest manner, Gen.
Banks, and assured the gentlemen present that his
was a character ofiwhich the American people might
well be proud. Nothing could be more generous
than the manner and terms in which Gen. Butler
spoke of his successor."
Gen. Banks has issued the following proclama-
tion :

" Head-quarters, Department of the Gulf,
New Orleans, Dec. 16, 1862.

" In obedience to orders from the President, I
have assumed command of the Department of the
Gulf, to which is added, by his special order, the
State of Texas.

" The duty with which I am charged requires me
to assist in the restoration of the Government of
the United States. It is my desire to secure to the
people of every class all the privileges of possession
and enjoyment which are consistent with public
safety, or which it is possible for a beneficent and
just Government to confer.

"In the execution of the high trust with which I
am charged, I rely upon the co-operation and coun-
sel of all the loyal and well-disposed people, and
upon the manifest interest of those dependent upon
the pursuits of peace, as well as upon the support
of naval and land forces.

" My instructions require me to treat as enemies
those who are enemies, but I shall gladly regard as
friends those who are friends. No restrictions will
be placed upon the freedom of individuals which
are not imperatively demanded by considerations
of public safety ; but, while their claims will be
liberally considered, it is due also to them to
state that all the rights of the Government will be
unflinchingly maintained.
"Respectful consideration and prompt reps ration
will be accorded to all persons who are wronged in
body or estate by those under my command.

" The Government does not profit by the pro-
longation of civil contest or the private or public
sufferings which attend it. Its fruits are not equally
distributed. In the disloyal States desolation has
empire on the sea and on the land. In the North
the war is an abiding sorrow, but not yet a calamity.
Its Cities and. tpwns are increasing in population,
wealth, and power. The refugees from the South
alone compensate in great part for the terribld deci-
matious of battle.

" The people of this department who are dis-
posed to stake their fortunes and their lives upon
resistance to the Government may wisely reflect
upon the immutable conditions which surround
them. The Valley of the Mississippi is the chosen
seat of population, product, and power on this con-
tinent. In a few years 25,000,000 people, unsur-
passed in material resources and capacity for war,
will swarm upon its fertile rivers. Those who
assume to set conditions upon their exodus to the
Gulf count upon a power not given to man. The
country washed by the waters of the Ohio, the
Missouri, and the Mississippi can never be perma-
nently severed. If one generation basely barters
away its rights, immortal honours will rest upon
another that reclaims them.

" Let it never be said, either, that the East and
the West may be separated. Thirty days' dis-
tance from the markets of Europe may satisfy the
wants of Louisiana and Arkansas, but it will not
s deltas
West
uwpioln th
e
Atlantic. t
dee.
bo
answer the demands of Illinois and Ohio. The val-
ley of the Mississippi
physical will
force have
of it
the
Atulacnh upon its tic. The
shores with a power as resistless as
the torrents of its giant rivers. This country eau-

" You have deserved well of your country. With-
out a murmur you sustained an encampment on a
sand bar so desolate that banishment to it, with
every care and comfort possible, has been the most
dreaded punishment inflicted upon your bitterest
and most insulting enemies.
" You had so little transportation that but a hand-
ful could advance to compel submission by the
queen city of the rebellion, while others waded
breast deep in the marshes which surround St.
Philip, and forced the surrender of a fort deemed
impregnable to land attack by the most skilful en-
gineers of your country and her enemy.
" At your occupation, order, law, quiet and peace
sprang to this city, filled with the bravos of all na •
Lions, where, for a score of years, during the pro-
foundest peace, human life was scarcely safe at
noonday.
" By your discipline you illustrated the best traits
of the American soldier, and enchained the admira-
tion of those that came to scoff.

" Landing with a military chest containing but
75 dols., from the hoards of a rebel Government you
have given to your country's treasury nearly half a
million of dollars, and so supplied yourselves with
the needs of your service that your expedition bas
cost your Government less by four-fifths than any
other.

" Yon have fed the starving poor, the wives and
children of your enemies, so converting enemies into
trfeudi that they have sent their representatives to
your Congress by a vote greater than your entire
numbers from districts in which, when you en-
tered, you were tauntingly told there was no ane to
raise your flag.
" By your practical philanthropy you have won
the confidence of the oppressed race' and theslave.
Hailing you as deliverers, they are ready to aid you
as willing servants, faithful labourers, or, using the
tactics taught them by your enemies, to fight with
you in the field.

" By steady attention to the laws of health you
have stayed the pestilence. and, humble instruments
in the hand of God, you have demonstrated the ne-
cessity-that His creatures should obey His laws,
and reaping His blessing in this most unhealthy
climate you have preserved your ranks fuller than
those of any other battalions of the same length of
service.

'• You have met double numbers of the enemy and
defeated him in the open field, but I need not fur-
ther enlarge upon this topic. You were sent here
to do that.

" I commend you to your new commander. Yon
are worthy of his love.

" Farewell, my comrades—again farewell !
" BENJ. F. BUTLER, Major-General
Commanding."

Among the general orders issued by Gen. Banks
is one suspending all sales of property on account of
the United States. The general has assumed control
of all the telegraph lines.
The New York World publishes the following
private letter, received by a gentleman in that city :

"New Orleans, Dec. 19, 1862.

" Our streets and shops and houses are almost en-
tirely deserted. Every one has got away that could,
by fair or foul means, and the military have had
possession of everything. They have not, I regret to
say, been scrupulous in regard to right. Dwellings
have been sacked, stores have been broken open,
plantations seized, negroes accoutred as soldiers,
women driven into the streets, men shut up in pri-
sons, property confiscated and sold, pockets rifled,
and grave offences sanctioned as military necessi-
ties—all in the name of liberty and union ; while
the grand genius of all this work and his satellites
and confederates stood by, smiling on the ruin crum-
bling around us. You have, of course, read Reverdy
Johnson's card. You get but little of the real facts
from that, but his report to the President (somehow
unaccountably not published yet) w ill reveal a record
of things here that would stagger the stoutest ima-
gination and appal the senses of belief. Just think
for a moment of the fact of the brother of the late
commanding-general, to use his own words, 'ruining
19 plantations,' and taking off the crops, with ne-
groes enlisted as soldiers, but set to work as labourers
under a guard of United States soldiers, to keep
them straight; and this brother, protected by and
under the wings of the head of the department, buy-
ing all the tobacco, whisky, cotton, &c., in the coun-
try at half its real value, under the threat that, if
not given to him at his estimate, it would be seized
by the United States (P), confiscated, and sold !
Think of these people going into the stores of quiet,
inoffensive citizens (mostly women), and turning
them into the street, anywhere, and taking in some
old, worn-out Boston or New York street-walking
strumpet, and holding orgies over the viands they
find in the larders and cellars, in the name of con-
fiscation,' the United States,' and right !' Think
of men who do not scruple to take anything that
pleases their eyes, let it be a paper of pins or a dia-
mond necklace, a kitchen stove or a bank vault !
Think of them, and you have in little what the re-
port of Reverdy Johnson, backed up and confirmed
by Commanders Farragut and Porter, will reveal,
if it states half of the atrocities of the reign of But-
ler in New Orleans during the months that he has
been in authority here. He and his brother will
leave here (if they can get away with it) immensely
rich in spoils of other persons' property. All appear-
ances indicate that Gen. Banks and the Government
are fully aware of the state of things that have ex-
isted here, and it is said that; the General invites
aggrieved parties to come before him and state their
wrongs. Be this as it may, however, there never
was a community so much delighted as this one was
ftwrhohi
mse ndNeßpeaawnr
department."
arriveden
Orleans,t
designedan d d deposed ofsoerd
the tbe
the Mississippi
An expedition has been sent up
capture of
andbythtahtethve
tfi.ceket
the
eoint 12 miles below Vicksburg.
" A report has reached
Mississippi from New
Orleans, force has ascended the
portion of which is under the
Orleans, the naval
Federal that Port Hudson
commandVicksburg_
o of
AAdCmhiircaslgFo
adrersapmgautceth:opfhtihse
t2h9atth
asahye%v;
Thishhaass fraelal
reportedee reached
eintod a
advance is hands,confirmed Cyclops of
despatch of the same date adds—
"A.dmiral Farragut's fleet, an-
bTrAghe:nahseth'gri
news
gf
ttfohr
noe
mdl

The Memphts Argus:of the 23d gives an account
of the Confederate dash into Holly Stoings :
" Various rumours of a Confederal I,valry dash
into Holly Springs, on Saturday, h been afloat
in the city during the past 48 hour.. We have
nothing officially of the affair, but from diff. •ent
gentlemen just from the South we obtain the sub-
joined statement :—On Saturday morning, at two
o'clock, General Van Dorn, in command of a consi-
derable force of Jackson's cavalry, made a dash upon
Holly Springs, capturing the entire Union force at
that place, which, according to the statement of a
gentleman who witnessed the raid, amounted to
fully 3,000. [Exaggerated.] It was known to
the Confederates that Holly Springs was the depot
for most of Genera! Grant's commissary stores, and
by making a bold dash upon the place and destroy-
ing them it would inconvenience General Grant's
army no little. So Van Dorn undertook the task,
and from several sources we learn was entirely suc-
cessful. He came into the place at an hour when
the Union troops least suspected it, and opened fire
upon them in the square, killing, according to our
informant's statement, over 200. The suddenness
with which the Confederates sprang upon them
while asleep created much confusion and consterna-
tion, and it was some time before they could re-
turn the fire. Our informant states that Van Dorn
lost only three men killed and several wounded. The
Union force soon surrendered and were paroled, many
of whom have arrived in this city,. Among the pri-
soners taken was ex- Governor Wood, of Illinois, who
had been speculating in cotton in the rear of Grant's
army. After the prisoners were paroled, the Con-
federates set to work destroying the United States'
property. 220 odd waggons were burnt, and all
the mules sent off to 'Dixie.' The large warehouse
in which the commissary stores were kept was fired
and burnt to the ground, together with its contents,
valued at half a million of dollars. A large amount
of cotton which had accumultited there, probably
4,000 bales, was also burnt. The greatest excite-
ment existed in the town during the fight, and it is
reported that the citizens fired from their windows
upon the Union forces, killing many of them. Mr.
Charles Fox was the Provost-Marshal of Holly
Springs. He was paroled. After Van Dorn had
accomplished the object of his visit to the place, he
put out towards Grand Junction, Tennessee. Gene-
ral Van Dorn has been made Chief of Cavalry of
the Confederate forces in the United States service,
previous to the war. He will, no doubt, make more
of a reputation as a commander of cavalry squad
than as a corps commander. Van Dorn, it is
thought, will join Forrest."
The Memphis Bulletin of the 21st says—
" We have information that a large rebel force,
estimated at 8,000 strong, was encamped eight miles
from Jackson, Tennessee, on Wednesday evening. It
was supposed to be Forrest's cavalry, supported by
considerable infantry. The people of Jackson were
greatly alarmed and were pressing all the cotton to
be found, in order to make breastwork of it. The
artillery in the place has been planted- in the
best possible position, and the Union comrupder
is making all his arrangementsßor a vic.ous
defence. The rebel force is supposed to be a part
of Bragg's army. On Friday morning, about 7
o'clock, the regular passenger train from Columbus
for Jackson, started out. When between Humboldt
and Carroll station, about 10 o'clock, it was attacked
by a large force, who poured a destructive fire upon
the locomotive, perfectly riddling the caboose. The
engineer put on a full head of steam and laid down
on the floor of the locomotive, and thus preserved
rsarpolaies
his own life and saved the train. The rebels then
tore up the track and telegraph south of Humboldt,
and then re-
tired.so
back
as tou p
to At
ut t
the o
lastff
placeGa cecno.uoGnftr attack,
then t 's supplies,
Lain had come
but it is impossible to
get back towards Columbus. Fortunately, though
there was a large number of passengers on the train
fired upon, there was nobody hurt. This is a bold
movement of the enemy and may cause great incon-
venience, but it will not be permitted to last long.
It is announced that the army of Gen. Rosecrans
is engaged. The following is the only despatch
that has appeared :
" Louisville, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 10.5 p.m.

" General Rosecrans captured several cannon on
his approach to Murfreesboro, and reports from be-
low indicate an engagement progressing at that
place."
A fight with the guerilla leader Morgan is re-
ported, in which the Federals claim a victory. The
following despatches have been received :
"Louisville, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 10.5 p.m.

fullerat e ° blactolinnt.
Cofh
itehf:
" Colonel Harlan attacked Morgan at Rolling
F retreated°Ii
is'
of
Fork yesterday morning. The engagement lasted
an hour and a half. Harlan killed and wounded a
number of rebels, losing two killed and three
andat B six
ai,.
ds privates
tow n a
n d captured,
m oved
eld Turnpike. This morn-
swoouutnhdwe
idc.k,
sAb
amt
toenrgy , the
sincleat
dead.ter wTahseL rebelsi en t
towards Bairdetown, having lost several killed and
Basil Duke was seriously
morn-
ing eastward
tu wns
Morgande
scouts
duds
t,
spent
andennrtteh
pleaaossr tpt rn captain
tiinhg Springfield
wounded at Rolling Fork. A messenger reported
to Harlan that our forces had an engagement at
New Haven this morning, and repulsed the rebels
there. Sheppardsville and Rolling Fork bridges
are safe. The trestlework on Muldraugh's-hill is
so seriously damaged that it will require a month
for its restoration. Two small bridges, which can
iwli.thortz.tilh
aslt,
cthek,
be easily restored, were burnt by the rebels near
Lebanon Junction. The above comprises all the
damage done by the rebels to bridges on the Louis-
villeains on Satur-
day, and Nashville Railroad, and its tributaries.
Lieut. John Speed, of General Gilbert's staff, was
taken prisoner by the rebels, near the trestle work,
and robbed of his clothing, watcha,,atnodypurse."" Cairo, Tuesday, Dec. 3,00.vr
" New Math id is to be reoccupied. The
eTnhs.eß3bltutonhto
went there to-day. All is quiet at Cola:
Arkan-
General Curtis reports as follows from
say :
equipments, and 100 pri-
soners.
e p c. 29,1862.
" Headquarters, St. Louis,
and
"The army of the frontier un_ount .
Herron moved over the Boston M.
da,y,
" They drove the enemy across the Arkansas
'faanjdora(l:eannecreadl' few, and took three
goners.
„ The march of 45 miles, with arms and service,
killed and wounded a
over he mountains and throughthe
the valley was a most gallant and arduous affair.
some"
S. CURTIS, Major-General.
Washington." General-
A despatch from Fayetteville of the 29th gives a
Riv, etr ,
affair :
" One of the most difficult and daring raids of the
war has just been made by a part of the Army of
the Frontier. Saturday, General Herron started
with a portion of his cavalry and infantry for the
other side of the Boston Mountains. General
Blunt left Cane-hill at the same time/by another
route. The columns, about 6,000 strong, went in
light marching order, with six days' cooked rations,
and marched 42 miles without stopping. aeural

" 1. The failure to arrest the Oreto turns, in Com-
mander Preble's three reports submitted to the
Bowl, upon his ignorance of her character, and his
supposition that she was an English man-of-war.
The practice of the sea supplies a mode of ascer-
taining the character of a suspicious vessel, similar
to the challenge of a sentinel on post. if the chal-
lenging or signal gun had been fired in the usual
manner at the usual time, according to common
practice in such cases, the real character of the
Oreto would have been so far made apparent that
Commander Preble would have been aware of the
necessity of stopping her.
"2. 0 wing to this neglect, the advantages of time
and position were lost; and both these advantages
were still further thrown away, first by hailing,
which is not customary or proper in such circum-
stances ; and, secondly, by waiting to fire more than
one shot across the Oreto's bow.

''3. The Board does not, by the three reports
submitted to it, arrive at the conclusion that the
Oreto's conduct was such to justify her being mis-
taken for a British man•of-war.

"4. The;;Board is of opinion that when Comman-
der Preble arrived at the conclusion that the Oreto
was a British man-of-war, he had no just motive, in
this conclusion, for not proceeding to resift with
force an attempted violation of the blockade.
"5. The proceeding in those cases in blockading
service is the same with all nations. A signal gun,
fired by the stationary or cruising vessel, conveys
to the strange sail a determination to communicate,
a challenge to stop, and a desire to be informed of
character. It is generally answered by a gun, and
the strange sail places himself in a situation to be
easily approached.
"If, after this signal gun has been fired by the
blockading vessel to warn the strange sail, the for-
mer should fire a shotted gun, then the latter, if a
man-of-war of a foreign nation, would return the
fire.

"6. Finally, Commander Preble admits that if he
had known the true character of the Oreto he could
have boarded her, or, in other,lvifds, that she..was
in his power; and his failure to perform his whole
duty consists, in the judgment of board, in hi%
not having employed in season flip ordiraryiseanrei.
of ascertaining her character, and in losing the ad-
vantages of time and position still further by stop-
ping to hail and afterwards to fire a second and third-
shotacross her bow.

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" A. H. FOOTE,
Rear-Admiral and Senior Officer.
" The Hon, Gideon Welles, Secretary of
the Navy." _ .

The Message of the Governor of Missouri has
been published. After congratulating the Legis-
lature and the State upon the fact that at last a
loyal General Assembly is convened, the Governor
reviews the condition of the State since the outbreak
of the rebellion, and says the number of volunteers
from Missouri, after the casualties of war and mus-
tering out irregularly enlisted troops, is 27,500,
which, with 10,500 State militia, gives a total force
of 38,000 in service for the war. The enrolled
militia, numbering 52,000, gives the State the grand
total of 90,000, the latter force furnishing a large
body of men, armed and equipped for any emer-
gency. The Governor treats of finance and tho
condition of railroads at length, and earnestly re-
commends the Legislature to adopt measures to
restore the State credit and reduce the State debt,
consistent with good faith towards holders of the
long been
ssouri convinced
w would
u l d
be that
advanced
by
su b
s t in-
terestsi
-
State bonds ; complete the railroads yet unfinished,,
and secure the interests of private stockholders.
On the subject of emancipation, the Governor says
s
thuetihnag floroefne for slave labour, and recommends a plan
by which the children of slaves born after the pas-
sage of the Act shall be free, but remain under the
control of their owners until they arrive at a cer-
tain age; the owners to be compensated for the
diminished value of slave mothers after being thus
rendered incapable of bearing slave children. Dur-
ing the discussion of the emancipation question the
Governor says the Legislature cannot constitution-
troops, and the port
constitution-
ally adopt a scheme by which the owners of slaves
to grant, It
can be divided into classes, and the slaves of one
class be emancipated without compensation while
compensation be provided for the other class._
Pierre Thew. e
1 ihave
rilsBn dr6ga3te,
zueßlya way
oaNy oovfelimabverall2n2a.h
Brothers.is
still at
Mara-
caibo, having been defeated in
efficiently blockaded, have
of Maracaibo being
manifested their desire for a reconciliation, which
several small engage..
has been
mantatheci o
Government
et
,h3te
wasG o vdeirsnpoo
seendt
decreed that 75 per cent. shall be paid on the bills
of the Venezuelan banks that Were endorsed and 40
Per cent. on those that were
not, Fifty per cent.
of the imports after Feb e:Lti'srfr e:fmt ovgeeeto p
Messrs. Baring
s oui o
Havannah. By the terms
of his release he is not to go to New Orleans until
the war is ,
over unless allowed by the Government.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—HALFCBOWN DAY.—Satur-
day, Jan. 10.—Admissions on payment, 950; ditto by sea-
son tickets, 2,404; total, 3,354.
A PRIZE FIGHTER'S OPINION OF THE AMERICAN
WAR.—Of all the criticisms of the war, we like
best-that of a prize-fighter, who was a fellow-traveller with
Mr. Russ3ll on a railway journey, and of whom, as he was
very respectably dressed and looked affable, Dlr. Russell
thought proper, by way of opening the converbation, to
inquire " what he thought of the Federals in Missouri."
The prize•fighter replied in language too forcible, but still
expressing not inaptly the sentiments with which many be-
wildered Englishmen have surveyed tho parties in this
gigantic contest—" Well, d—d if I know what to think of
them. They're ab— rum lot, and they're going cm in a
ePit
d—d rum way; that's what I think."rra [ADVERTISEMENT.]—Holloway's Ointment
Many aggravating sores stand ready to pne and
Upon Pills—
. when an accident weakens an 3 part. This ointment
is most potent in curing all cases of Ulceration, abscess, and
"bad legs,"
after every other means had failed, and the
sufferings experienced from them were utterly unendurable.
Soon after the application of the ointment coolness and
comfort are obtained inlthe affected part, the patient finds
himself more at ease, and daily becomes more hopeful, as,
with departing pains,
_a visible growth of granulation comes
forth. It is well, while adopting this treatment, to regulate
the secretions of the body by moderate doses of Holloway's
Pills, which act izz unison with hie Ointment and facilita
recovery,