Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-12-02

lperson on the road until te fell IN with
Walker He went TO Beauf9rt in the 8un-
boat Seneca, aud then took tRales for him
self and his comrade, DR.. Bacon, of the
Connecticut Seventh. Il Is with some
difficulty that Rev. Mr.. WI ker could be
induced to hold any comm aication with
these gentlemen, much less p receive the
proclamation Of Gen. Sheru O. but he was
| finally induced TO carry 5opeu letter,
containing the prOelNmatiOe 20 Rev. Mr..
Wilson, of Beaufort, who tad fed from
that place with the other inlabitants, hut
| left 4 letter on his table ditt5ted TO Gen.
Sherman In this letter he aimed the
protection Of our forces hsie British sub
jeCt, and in his reply t5e General dis
claimed any intention Of inlurIng either
British subjects OF american citizens who
should remain Peaceably and ihoffensiyely
in their houses.
After an interview with Walker. Lieut..
Magner met Two rebel officers, who ap-
preached him with flag oftruce, inquir-
l ing his errand. He told it, but of course
did not offer to deliver the proclamation
| to them, as it was addressed not to any
military authority, but to the people of the
State. The officers, however, treated him
ciyiIly, and u conversation of half an hour
| in length ensued. The rebels were Capt.
| BarnwelI and Lieut.. Mckee, OF the South
Carolina Volunteers They had the grace
to admit that the rayages at Beaufort had
been perpetrated by blacks, but declared
the negroes acted In order to save the PRO-
perty of their masters from tho Yankees.
The blacks, they said, were very much to
he pitied. fearing SO greatly; indeed. the
principal reason OF the rebels tor any re-
gret they felt was tue apprehensions the
poor slaves entertain of the Nnrthcrners.
As to our victory ut Port Royal shat was
not surprising they did not expect those
little mud forts to cope with our navy; bat
now that we were on land, they were reR-
dy to meet US.
The mud forts carried over forty guns,
and were pronounced by the Charleston
and Savanna papers of Nov. Z, the day of
the fight, impregnable. was at Beaufort
and saw how eager the poor negroes were
to save their masters property, even break
| ing pianos, and ripping open feather beds
| in their anxiety, and hastily conveying
away every scrap of portable property
Some of them bad piled it mp in their own
quarters, doubtless lest we Yankees should
appropriate it.
The officers male no objection to the
reception of the proclamation BY Mr..
Walker, but said there were no loyal citt-
zens in South Carolina to whom 1t could
be addressed-at least none that Northern-
err would call loyal. Before the inter-
view closed, Major Sarmes, the commando
ant IF tue post, came up, but said little
more than his subOrdiuates. The rebels
directed Lieut.. Magner Whatroad he should
pursue on his return, and promised that his
| flag of truce should be respected. The
/ meeting OccRrred within about two miles
of the place called Ghrduer's Corners, eight
| or ten miles from Beaufort, on Port Royal
| Island. Soon after leaving these thIee
officers, Lieut.. Maguer came up with q
party OF rebel chvaly, who also behaved
| with courtesy, gave him fodder for his
mules, and pnrtOok of his lunch. With
that exception he saw no white men on tie
road. The planters houses were deserted,
but apparently not pillaged. The slaves
in many instances were yet working in the
fields
AT Beaufort no rurther pillaging has
been done within the past week Commo-
dure Dupont, Gen. Sherman, aud party
of naval officers, who visited that place a
few DAYS ago, determined not TO occupy it
Immediately, so that We are not RESPONSE
BILE for any rayages that may occur; bat
the blacks were very fully apprised OF the
0bhorence with which their conduct was
viewed. The destruction Of property bad
been great : nearly every house in tue
town was broken into, and its contents
spoiled On the same day, large qunntt-
ties of cotton were discovered at PlantI-
tions on the river, and the two great re-
sources of Southern wealth-cotton and
slaYes-werc thus Rscertained TO be at
our disposal at these headquarters of re-
bellion We have bat to stretch out our
hands to seize immense stores of the former;
but to say the word, and the very foundn-
tion-stone of the sham COnfederAey, ns its
Vice President has called the Institution
of fSlaYery, will be not shaken, but removed
So much for the strength of the rebels,
where rebellion should be strongest. II
this be the case here, in South Carolina
If these two elements of its power are in
reality so weak at the very heart and cita-
, del of treason, what must they be else
where?
As for ths unaniuity of the South, the
blacks declare that many Of the whites
who enlisted here, in South Carolina, were
forced to do so; that some of the soldiers
,yere brought to Fort IVdlkerfh4ined, refus-
ing TO fight, saying they had no cause TO
fight, no slaves 70 deEendi aud among the
handful of prisoners taken, one has al
ready petitioned to take the oath of alle-
glance and go North; while several others
admit that they had no interest in the
quarrel with the North two say they were
told IL they did not volunteer they would
be drafted, and so they volunteered. That
the Captain of our guuboat PocahOntas
was the brother of the commanding Gen
eraI of the rebels in Fort Walker is well
known. On hoard the Wabash on the day
of the battle was South Carolinian Lieu
tenant, aud the commander of the Bienville
lis native Of this State. 1 dined to-day
in camp with Major. who is a Texan, and
whose family are now in that extreme
southwestern State; with a mau who three
months ago was Lieutenant ia the seces-
Il sion army, which he had been Obliged to
join, but from which he escaped At the ear
liest chance with two 5outherners, both
/ connected with the expedition, who had
4 freed themselves from the clutches Of the
] hal. ains.a -Inat ALar-- These I1anneEed 20