The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-04-19

Another correspondent furnishes you
with list of the vessels captured and
their condition. will not venture upon
a repetition.
The Importance OF this capture cannot
be over estimated. 1t opens TO Us the
whole Lower Mississippl. At this point
the rebels bad staked their all They
intended to hold it against ali opposition
In their care 10 secure this point they
have wholly overlooked the lower defences
and we shall not get another fight out of
them on the river. The fleet viii move
doubtless as soon as the prisoners and
spois can be disposed Of X.
The passage of the rebel batteries at
Island No. 10 by our guuboats and Gen.
Pope's success IN opening a way for the
transports from Island No 5 TO New Mad
rid, forced upon the rebels the alternatives
of surrender, retreat, or determination.
The latter they had no stomach for for,
q nd the two former alternatives were ac
cepted, but only in surrendering did sue
cess crown the rebel geueraish,p.
ROUTE OF THE CANAL FROM ISLAND 40 TO
kEw MADRID
Con. Pope awards TO Gen. Schuyler
Hamilton the authorship OF this idea, and
ment the credit OF carrying it out. The
route of the canal is twelve miles long, of
which two miles were through the thick
timber, and the remaining ten tn rough
narrow and crooked bayou, grown up full
Of underbrush and small trees Through
the woods the track was cut fifty feet
wide, TO enable the boats to pass, and the
trees hundreds OF them in number, Were
cut down four feet below the surface of
the water by the ingenious saw of which a
sketch was given IN yesterdays IuaeS.-
After the engineers had been in the woods
over two weeks, almost without sight OF
dry land, the great undertaking was
brought to a successful termination, and,
on the night OF the 9th, the steamboats,
w L. Terry, the Emma, the Trio, and the
Hattie Gilmore toated into the Mississippi,
near New Madrid General Pope's army
commenced crossing the river the next
day, the 7th, in their transports, under
the protection O. the Federal gunboats
Carondolet and Pittsburg, which had run
the blockade. At midnight, all the forces
necessary to the success OF the proposed
movements were on the east bank of the
Mississippi At that hour the Island was
III possession Of Com toote, and the re-
treating rebels were hiding from General
Pope's advance in the swamps and woods
near Tiptonville.
THE CAPTURE OF THE RETREATING REBEL ARMY.
AS soon as Gen. Pope's army commenced
to cross the river at New Madrid, the
rebel army began the evacuation of island
No. 10 and batteries along the shore
Gen. Pope $ troops, when they crossed
over, found that the rebels were in full
retreat As soon as they were landed,
thew commenced the pursuit, Paines
division leading the Fedora, column. Gen.
Pope, in his Official report, says: The
enemy was driven before him, and, al
though they made several attempts to
from in line of battle and make stand,
Paine did not once deploy his columns
The enemy was pushed all night vigor-
ously, until at o'clock A. NJ. he was driven
back upon the swamps and forced to sur
render" In fact, there was no escape fer
the rbels. They had to surrender. On
once side::of them was the river, and on the
the other side an oyeriowed swamp, which
ioined the river few miles below. They
had built corduroy road at point below
Tiptonville, by which they hoped to escape
across the swamp, but Gen. Popes forces
got possession oft. The river was guarded
by our gunboats, so that no transports
could come to their relief, and they were
obliged to surrender or fight until they
were exterminated. They preferred to
surrender, and, after having been hunted
and harrassed all night by our troops,
they sent a message OF unconditional sur
render At daylight, on the Sth inst, =,
they were marched into Tiptonville and
disarmeu