The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1862-03-19
NEWS ITEMS.
Manassas Evacuated!
WASHINGTON, March 16.

II bG lcdSb mOulU 6lHcS tHS iSllUSlduG
movement began. The earliest trains of
retreat carried arms for the men, who
were mustered to check Gen. Burnside s
nlvance into the interior. Arms and mu-
.ious having been at first removed,
soldiers followed, Withdrawing by rail, aud
with the deliberate slowness characteris-
sic of Southern road.
Residents, white and black, at Centre
vile and Manassas set the strength Of the
"hole army there during the last month
u less than 10000, and most of them at
i..s than 10000.
One visitor made thorough examina-
tion of the headboards which uniformly
mark the graves of the numerous Rebel
soldiers who died in camp. Our Govern
,uent is now for the first time advertising
for headboards. Each slab at Manassas
and Centreville tells the name of the de-
ceased, his State, his regiment, and the
day of his death. But six States were
represented in these extensive cemeter-
les.
The highest numbered regiment from
Virginia was the forty-seveEth The
highest from Georgia, which came next,
Wa. the tweUty-sixth. The other Gulf
nod Atlantic States appeared to have no
i-sIment numbering above twenty. The
VI estern and South Western States, ox-
r7pt Mississippi, were not represented
On the whole, according to the data of
these grave-yards, there were at no time
$50 regiments at Manassas and Centre
vile. Giving to each, as the returns all
H. iicate, 500 men, we have a grand total
of less than 100000 on the most liberal
c..culatlon, as the strength of the Rebel
army before any portion of it was sent
away. Plenty of other evidence also goes
10 show that the army was under l00,-
e'0, and such is the opinion Of most of
'..e visitors to the abandoned quarters,
::l the statement of the neighbors.
A visitor to Manassas examined the
provision returns of seven companies of
lhe 21st North Carolina Regiment, which
= found in q heap of papers The high
at number of men In any one of these
companies was thus officially shown to be
A., others showed less than 40 men. If
there were no more in the ether three
companies, the regiment was between 400
aud 800 strong. The returns Of other
.'mpauies belonging to different regi-
ments averaged DO more men. Irish de-
sertcrs, said that with furloughs. desert
"rs, &c, several regiments had dwindled
down to 200.
The deputation of the joint Investigat-
ing Committee on the Conduct of the
War, returned in wrathful mood from the
bloodless field of Manassas Their con-
tempt of the military distractions before
which we have been made to falter for
hn!f year is outspoken. Their estimate
Of the forces which has held at bay the
power of the Republic. is SO small as to
make brave meu hang their heads.
They counted SO embrasures at Cen
treville, in 35 of which wooden guns were
mounted. An African resident said
"Why. Sar, them used to say jest as good
to scare with as any" So deliberate was
the retreat of the Rebels that on Satur-
day night 10000 cf them, disliklng the
crowded state of the roads, marched back
10 CeatreVille, slept soundIy and the next
day started anew for Gordonsvile.
BY what bugbear has the Capital of.
the Nation been beleagured and the
Treasury bankrupted !
The news from New Madrid Mo, is
still meager, but highly satisfactory
The place is ours; though the South
boasted that it was impregnable, we took
it with little trouble. No Rebel flag now
waves in Missouri. After several days
fighting, aud a number of Intellectual at
tempts on the part of the gunboats of
the enemy to dislodge Gen. Pope: the
Rebels evacuated the place in a panic on
Thursday night, leaving their tents, arms,
ammunition, everything. The spoils are
valued at over Sl,000,000. Our heavy
battery was established during the night
of the 18th instant within eight hundred
yards of the eneuIy's works, and we open
ed fire at daylight on the 18TH instant,
just thirty-four hours after the guns were
deliyed from Cairo. During the whole
of Thursday our lines were drawn closer
around the works ofthe enemy, under a
furious fire of sixty pieces of artillery -.
The fear of an assault upon their works
at daylight induced them to fee precipi-
lately during the night. Many prison
crs were taken. Our loss is about so
killed and wounded.
From Winchester, we loarn that an
other skirmish had taken place between
our troops and Ashby's Cavalry, without
loss on our side, the enemy being beyond
Newtoun.
Latest adyices from the battle of Pea
Ridge, Arkansas, that as near as could be