The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-03 00:00:00

AMERICA.

(Per City of Baltimore.)

NEW YORK, March 21.
'The steamship Norwegian arrived at Portland
March 20.

The following is the situation, from the New
York Herald of March 21 :

Nothing of importance occurred in the army of
the Rappahannock yesterday. A heavy snow storm
was falling during the day and previous night, and
the weather was very cold.

By an arrival from Hilton Head we have an ac-
eDunt of the exploits of thel3 tack Brigade in Florida,
by which they have obtained possession of many
imprtant points and a large quantity of munitions
and supplies. Large reinforements, supposed tG be
Burnside's Army Corps, were expected at Hilton
H' d.

Rumours were circulated in the city yesterday 1
that some of our gunboats had passed Fort Sumter
on Monday and Tuesday, and that Charleston was
b-ing b)rnbarded. We need hardly say that this
report is without confirmation, as we have had
despatches from Charleston dated Monday, saying
that ali was quiet in that vicinity ; nor do our re-
ports from Hilton Head of the same date make any
mention of a fight going on near Charleston.
We have some very interesting news from the
South•west today. The Union forces made a bril-
liant dish into Northern Alabama, in company with
a number of gunboats, reaching as far as Tuscum-
bia, on the 22d ult. 'the advance drove the rebel
cavalry from the town into the mountains, and
occupied the place• Advancing farther into the
interior our troops, who were commanded by Col.
Corwin, carried away considerable plunder. This
account of the raid comes from a rebel source—the
Confederacy, published in Atlanta, Ga.
- The only news from Vicksburg is to the effect
that the cut-off is likely to prove a success,and that
our troops are improving in health. The move-
ments of transports and gunboats up the Yazoo Pass
continue very active.
Large bodies of rebel troops are said to be concen-
trating at Knoxville, and that a number of them,
amounting to 400, crossed the Cumberland at
Ro vena, Ky., on Wednesday which were supposed
to be the advance guard of a large army enroute for
the invasion of Kentucky, which has been antici-
pated, for some time.

A despatch from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, dated
yesterday, says that Co►. Hall's brigade of General
Reynolds's division was attacked near Milton by a
large force of rebel cavalry. Col. Hall sent word
he could hold his own until reinforcements should
arrive. Colonel Wilder went to his aid with a
mounted infantry force. At last reports quite a
heavy engagement was going on.

The enemy, under Van Dorn, are evidently de-
ter mined to harass our troops in the vicinity of
Franklin, Tennessee. A large force of their cavalry
recrossed Duck river and advanced towards
that place on Thursday, but were driven back by
Col. Walker's cavalry brigade. The bridge at
Columbia has been rebuilt, and General Van Dorn
is said to have been largely reinforced. Cavalry
skirmishes uccur constantly.
The extracts which we give to-day from the
Southern journals are unusually interesting. They
comprise an official report of the recent raid of rebel
cavalry near Fairfax Court House and the capture
of Colonel Stoughton, and General Stuart's com-
mendation of the officers in command. The defences
of Charleston are described by the Mobile .Regzster
as absolutely impregnable. It says that no floating
thing can breast unharmed the batteries of Sumter,
Moultrie, and Battery Bee; that the attack will be a
fearful shock of tremendous forces, and will test the
quality of ships and iron-clads against powerful
batteries more conclusively than has ever been done
before. The fight with the Chillicothe, on the Tal-
lahatchie, opposite Fort Pemberton, is minutely de-
scribed by the .Richmond Enquit er.
With regard to the late attack on Port Hudson
and the firing at St. Helena on the 13th inst., the
Jackson Illissassippian of that date confirms the
theory suggested by us yesterday, by stating that
General Banks' movements against Port Hudson
had commenced ; that General Weitzel was sup-
posed to be about making a diversion in the rear of
his position, and that the attack would probably be
made by our combined land and naval forces.

The Richmond Examiner of the 19th has an ar-
ticle which is evidently intended to prepare the
public mind of the South for serious reverses to the
Confederate arms on the line of the Rappahannock.
It says that the active operations of the army under
Hooker are now commenced, and either a decisive
battle or the retreat of General Lee must be the
speedy consequence. The latter contingency is pos-
sible, but not probable, and another heavy struggle
over the line of the Rappahannock may be safely
anticipated.
It continues to state that if General Lee's force is
not sufficiently numerous to prevent the completion
of Hooker's manceuvre, it is supposed that no course
remains but to fall back upon some point nearer
Richmond, and give the enemy battle at a greater
distance from his base.

The following news is from the Southern jour-

nals :

(From the _Richnzond Enquirer, March 18.)
A considerable force of the enemy, consisting of
cavalry and artillery, made a demonstration yester-
day on the ford over the Rappahannock near the
south of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The
movement was anticipated, and General Stuart ad-
vanced sufficient force to hold him in check, at least
until a proper time for more cheerful greeting.
Fighting was in progress yesterday, and it was
reported from Gordonsville that the enemy had suc-
ceeded in crossing. The result of the engagement

aid not appear.
The Yankees have crossed the Upper Rappa-
hannock in strong force, with cavalry and artillery,
advancing towards Gordonsville on a raid.
(From the Richmond Enquirer.)

MOBILE, March 16, 1863,

A special despatch to the Appeal, dated Panola,
Miss., March 14, says a gentleman direct from
CJld water, states that two formidable gunboats, the
Chillioothee and De Kalb, two rams, with cotton
defences, three gunboats, not deemed formidable,
three batteries, 300 cavalry, and 10,000 men, com-
prise the Yankee force in the Yazoo.
Some boats not loaded accompany the expedition,
it is thought for the purpose of stealing cotton.
They left Helena with one day's rations of meat,
plenty of bread and other supplies. They rely on
the resources of the country for meat, which they
are stealing.

The Appeal says a gentleman who witnessed the
fight at Fort Pemberton states that our troops
waded to their waists to get a chance at the enemy-
The Yankee fleet consists of six gunbuts and rams
with an infantry force of from 5,000 to 8,000.
Tne enemy's movements indicated a landing higher
up the river, on the opposite bank. Our officers
were preparing to frustrate the enemy at all points.
(From the Jackson Mississippian.)

There can no longer be any doubt that the move-
ments of the Federal commander in Louisiana
agaiest Port Hudson have commenced.
Gentlemen who left New Orleans on Friday,
March 13, inform us that the last steamer from
New York brought out orders to General Banks to
make the movement without delay, and active
operations were at once commenced. General
Weitzel has b_en reinforced until his command
numbers from 8,000 to 10,000 men, and from the
position he occupied it is supposed he will attempt
to 'make a diversion in the rear of his position. The
main force under General Banks is moving by river,
on transports, and numbers from 17,000 to 20,000.
The gentlemen who gave us this information re-
gard the movement as having commenced in earnest,
and make up their opinions from persoual obser-

vation.
The attack will probably be made by the com-
bined land and naval forces of the enemy. Farra-
gut refused to attack the batteries with his fleet
unless supported by a land force, declaring it would
be a uselesa sacrifice to do so. The transport fleet,
therefore, accompanied his fleet of war and mortar
vessels.

The MUBI.BBIPPAan contains the latest Confederate
intelligence from New Orle6ns, furnished by a gen-
tleman who came direct from that city.
He says the Federal vessel Brooklyn came up to

the city badly riddled. It is supposed the damage
was inflicted by Confederate war vessels. Ten of
the pilots in the Federal blockading squalron were
confined in the Custom •house for alleged treachery
in permitting two Confederate steamers to pass the
blockade and procure coal from two stbooners in-
side the Yankee ?lines.
Prom the Charleston Correspondence of the
Mobile Register.)

The struggle, when it comes, will certainly be of
a fearful character. It will be the shock of tremen-
dous forces, the relative powers of which are yet
untried. The ;ong-mooted question of the fighting
value of ships against batteries will be brought to a
test more conclusive than any to which human war-
fare has yet subjected it. In other words, the Mo-
nitor iron-clads, which the Yankees claim to be the
most impenetrable vessels ever constructed, will
necessarily come within point-blank range of the
most numerous and powerful batteries that have
ever yet been used in a single engagement. We
have good reason, too, to believe that our guns will
ba managed with admirable tact and precision.
The more important batteries are manned by the
South Carolina regulars, for whom the credit
is claimed, and I think justly, of being the
most expert and practical heavy artillerists in
the Confederate army. The forts are well officered,
and General Ripley, who has made the study of
heavy ordnance a speciality for years, and whose
excellence in that particular branch of military
knowledge is an admitted fact, will himself take
command of Fort Sumter as soon as the enemy
makes his appearance.
It is scarcely possible that any floating thing can
breast unharmed the concentrated storm of heavy
metal from the guns of Sumter, Moultrie, and Bat-
tery Bee, the three principal works commanding
the throat of the harbour. Nor can the peril of
running this terrible gauntlet be diminished by an
attempt to pass under cover of the darkness, as has
been the case at Vicksburg and New Orleans. So
tortuous and intricate is the channel leading to the
forts that the most experienced pilots of the harbour
would not venture to bring in a vessel by night,
under the conditions which the enemy cannot
escape, viz., without light or landmark to guide the
way. Even when the blockade running vessels
leave the harbour, it is always necessary to aid their
exit by previously arranged lights (shaded) and
signals ; so that it is reasonably certain that the
attacking iron-clads must either enter in open day,
or incur the imminent Lazard of getting aground
upon one of the most treacherous bars on the
Southern coast, which seldom yields a vessel when
once it has grasped the keel. But if, perchance,
despite of mazy channel, multiplied torpedoes, and
the combined batteries of the forts, some of the nine
Monitors should chance to get into port, they would
still have to encounter a concentrated fire of other
batteries, which, as the Yankee papers have learned
from contrabands, " line the shores of the interior
of the harbour." And then will come the " tug of
war," which will determine the possession of the
honoured old city.

(From the Richmond Enquirer, March 18.)

A gentleman in Richmond received lately the
subjoined letter from Captain John S. Mosby, and
having shown it to us, we take the liberty of making
the gallant captain tell the story of his brilliant
act. The letter was entirely private, and is published
by us without the knowledge or consent of either
party :

My dear Sir,—You have already seen something
in the newspapers of my recent raid on the Yankees,
though I see they all call me Mosley instead of
Mosby. I had only 29 men under my command. I
penetrated about ten miles in their lines, rode right
up to the general's headquarters, surrounded by in•
fantry, artillery, and cavalry, and took him out of
bed and brought him. I walked into his room with
two of my men, and shaking him in bed, said,
" General, get up." He rose up, rubbing his eyes,
and asked what was the meaning of all this. I re-
plied, " It means, sir, that Stuart's cavalry are in
possession of this place, and you are a prisoner." We
also surrounded the headquarters of Col. Wyndham,
acting brigadier of cavalry, but unfortunately he
had gone down to Washington. We got his assistant
adjutant-general, and also his aide, an Austrian,
Baron Wordener. There was an immense amount of
all kinds of stores collected there, but I was unable
to destroy them, as they were in houses, without de-
stroying the town. The horses we brought off were
.mostly very fine, belonging to officers. If I had had
enough men I could have brought off hundreds. It
was my purpose to have reached the Court-hoase by
12 o'clock at night, but it being very dark and
raining we got lost and were delayed two hours,
so that we did not have over an hour to
stay in town, it being necessary for us to
pass out of their lines before daylight. In coming
out we passed within two hundred yards of the for-
tifications at Centreville, and were hailed by a sen-
tinel from one of the redoubts. A Captain Barker,
from New York, here made a desperate attempt to
get away. lie dashed out of the ranks and tried
hard to reach the fort, but a shot from one of my men
convinced him that it was a dangerous undertaking
and he came back. At Centreville there was a force
of about two thousand, consisting of infantry, artil-
lery, and cavalry. In the vicinity of the Court-house
one cavalry and one infantry brigade were camped.
There were about two hundred just in the town.
We easily captured the few guards around the town,
as they never dreamed we were anybody else but
Yankees until they saw a pistol pointed at their
heads, with a demand for a surrender.
Yours truly,
JOHN S. MOSBY.
The following is General Stuart's order
GENERAL ORDERS NO. —.
Head-quarters, Cavalry Division,

Army of Northern Virginia, March 12, 1863.

Captain John S. Mosby has for a long time at-
tracted the attention of his generals by his boldness,
skill, and success so signally displayed in his nume-
rous forays upon the invaders of his native State.
None know his daring enterprise and dashing
heroism better than those foul invaders, though
strangers themselves to such noble traits.
His late brilliant exploit—the capture of Briga-
dier General Stoughton, United States army, two
captains, 30 other prisoners, together with their
arms, equipments, and 58 horses—justifies this
recognition in general orders.
This feat, unparalleled in the war, was performed
in the midst of the enemy's troops, at Fairfax
Court House, without loss ur injury.
The gallant band of Capt. Mosby share the glory,
as they did the danger, of this enterprise, and are
worthy of such a leader.

J. E. B. STUART,
Major-General Commanding.

_
The Charleston (S. C.) correspondent of the Rich-
mond Enquirer says the captured gunboat Isaac P.
Smith, now called the Stono, has been repaired and
is now in goad fighting trim. She will be the flag-
ship of Commodore Ingraham.
The Yorkville (S. C.) Enquirer says that Lieut.
G. Premble, one of the captured officers of the Isaac
P. Smith, off Stono, and who has been confined with
his Yankee confreres in the gaol at Columbia, has
renounced. the old Union and taken the oath of Dile-
anal to his proper mother—the Southern Confe-
deracy—and is discharged. Quite a scene occurred
we learn—rather more of the marinweetrheaenxtchheamn
on the occasion, and vari d e phrases go er da i
school.

Richmond papers, it is known here that from 6
dols. to 6 dols. 50c. in Confederate notes have been
offered within the past two days in Fredericks-
burg, and, moreover 2 dols. 25c. in Virginia bank
notes, and 3 dole. 50c. in Confederate notes, are
freely paid for our national currency.
The rebel Senate has resolved that the President
shall issue a proclamation dissuading the further
cultivation of cotton and tobacco, and enjoining the
planting of grain. Governor Brown, of Georgia,
threatens to do the same.

Governor Letcher has issued a proclamation in-
voking :the people of Virginia to pay attention to
the act of the Legislature restricting the cultivation
of tobacco, and requiring the cultivation of grain in
its stead.

A bill to organise a volunteer navy has been in-
troduedd into the rebel Senate.

The rebel papers speak of Gen. Hooker's army as
having been sent to Port Royal.
_ _

Mobile papers say ample preparations are making
to give our troops a warm reception on the Talla-
hatchie.

FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL.
NEW YORK, MARCH 20, EVENING.

The sub-treasurer commenced to-day to receive
deposits of money on call, after 10 days' notice, at
5 per cent, and something like 1,500,000 dols. in all
was deposited. The amount of money now held by
the Government at the various sub-treasuries, at 4
and 5 per cent per annum, on call after 10 days, is
about 70,000,000 dole. The law limits the amount
of such deposits to 100,000,000 dollars ; and it is
pretty clear that in the course of the next 30 to 40
days this limit can be reached. In this way the
Government can obtain 30,000,000 dols. on most
advantageous terms, and without creating any dis-
turbance in the money-market, as the money will
flow in gradually, and be distributed as rapidly as
it is paid in. Until the limit of deposits has been
reached, it is safe to conclude that the secretary
will not attempt to negotiate a loan. Money was
lent to-day on call at 5 per cent., and at 6 every one
had money to lend. Mercantile paper is worth 5 to
6 per cent. Debt certificates, old issue, are steady ;
the new issue are 4. better.

Gold fluctuated between 154 and 155 to-day,
closing at 1541 bid. The short interest in gold is so
large that each decline is rapidly checked by the
purchases of the bears. Exchange active at 171.