The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1862-02-06
Affairs im RIcbmond.

- L. 4 AStttCfs DCtu pEtS~
oner ia Richmond, Va, for the past four
months, furnishes the indianapolis Journal
wah some interesting facts regarding the
strength Of that point and the feelings of
its inhabitants. We copy the most impor-
tant items
lie says that Richmond is -undefended.
Very large and formidable earthworks have
been constructed, but not gun is mounted
upon them. The city could be taken with
ont any difficulty, if an army can ever
reach it. But the roads to it are all strong
ly guarded, the defenses being so arranged
as to enable one to defend another. or. if
taken by an enemy, TO asaail it. The citi-
zens of Richmond, who either escaped
drafting or procured substitutes, have form
ed companies te man the entrenchments, in
case they are attacked, bat they would
hardly be formidable combatants against
disciplined men.
There is now much less activity in the
manufacture of arms at Richmond than
there used to be. About $50 rifles aosek
are turned cut there, and only one or two
pieces of artillery per week. The Tredegar
works are now very inactive, owing, DR.. F.
thinks, to the exhaustion of material.
The soldiers of the rebel army have been
a bone of contention" between reliable
gentlemen for a good while. One has
represented them ss shabby, mean, and ill
disciplined beyond all conception, while an
other has found them well dressed. well
armed we'll fed, and IN asgood state of dis
cipline. DR.. +. is competent to pronounce
on this point. He was in Lees army for
some months, and subsequently saw the reg
iments from the South passing through
Richmond or stationed there, and is a sol
der himself. He says the rebel army as a
general rule is not we'll disciplined, and that
little attention is paid to points of duty
never omitted in our army. They are not
well clothed usually, and rebel papers adj
nit that they are not so well armed. He
says there is no comparison between such
troops as he saw and our forces on the Po-
tomac in point of drill and soldierly quail
athletic dee4mneadP madP e6oMEhgs 6 Ehs nse 9pgnea sEe s1
rial for soldiers, and generally they are en-
thusiastic in their confidence in themselves
and their cause.
Fresh provisions in Richmand are abun-
dant ani cheap enough But there was a
great destitution of salt meats and of salt
Medicines are almost totally exhausted
Morphine IS $35 an ounce, quinine S25
an ounce, and chloroform or ether cannot be
found at all There is none in the city.
OF the Union feeling in Richmond, the
Doctor says more than we deem proper
to publish All that can be safely said is
that there is a strong and organized Union
feeling there, which is ready to show itself
on the first opportunity. He speaks what
be k7aosos in this, and not from rumor-
He knows the leaders, their places of meet
ing, their preparations, and their numbers.
The rebels know that the feeling is there,
htlf hot cd in En6;aH abo1
officer said in Mr.. Fs hearing one day that
''if the Federal army should enter Rich
mond there wOnld be ten thousand Union
flags hoisted in an hour" eyes" said an
other, ''and it is the same way in every
city where these commercial scoundrels
are"
Beauregard is to take command at Co
lumbus. DR.. F. says that Gen. Huger told
him dispatch had just been received to
that effect, and t..at General Smith would
command on the Potomac till after the 22d
of February, when Davis was to be inau-
gurated President of the Confederacy, and
after that would take command in person
of that line of operations.
The rebels at Richmond are considerably
disheartened by the defeat at Somerset
General Hugs, who commands at Norfolk,
seemed greatly depressed by it. For the
first time they admit that they have been
beaten. In all previous conflicts they have
claimed the victory till so long after the
event that the effect of admitting a defeat
would be lost. But now they confess it
fully. The commissary of the prison, Capt.
Warner, on the day the news came to Rich
mond entered the prison and said to the
men: "We have been whipped. We con-
fess it honestly. You never admis it when
you are whipped"
The same commissary, Captain Warner,
showed DR.. F. a paper, the same that we
make extracts from this morning, contain
ing Davis's speech, and said: "You and ]
have had good deal of dispute about the
feeling in Indiana. Now see here, here is
a meeting held in your town, where speech
es are made our faOor, and yet you tell
me there is no sympathy for us in your
State" This fact tells whole volume for
the character of that convention The
rebels know who their friends are, and we
trust loyal Democrats will remember who
these traitors are.
The most important news, however,
brought by DIR. F. is In reference to the
disbanding of the rebel forces. In another
place viii be seen an account of the dis
banding of an Alabama regiment at Pensa-
cola, the men refusing to re-enlist in spite of
all that could be said or done to induce it,
DR., f. said this is but specimen of what
will occur on large scale very soon. A
large part of the rebel army is enlisted for
one year only, and the time will expire in
February and March with most OF them.
The men in most cases will not re-enlist
! The rebels are in much Perplexity about it.
The papers say nothing about it, but DR.. F.
| heard plans proposed and discussed in con-
versation hundred times, to remedy the
terrible calamity of being left with no army
at this critical state of the war. From all
| he heard he is confident that the rebels fear