Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-05-13

nine DAYS, with q force not exceeding
5000 men disabled every line Of COM
munication between the army Of the Rap
pahannock and the Rebel cspital-snd the
canal through which more than one-ha1
Of their supplies are ~received-sO, that in
the opinion Of competent judges, neither
line, provided the rebels have every tacl-
ity for the work, can be repaired IN less
than four weeks; destroyed millions OF
dollars' worth Of commissary stores, anu
other supplies; obstructed travel upon the
main pixies, by destroying all bridges oyer
large streams; gave the citizens Of ten
counties, viz, Culpepper, sp%Ottsylvanla'
Orange, Hanover, HenricO, Louisa, Gooeh-
land, Fluoanno, King William and Ne"
Kent, an opportunity to see for themselves
that not only are the Yankee soldiers
confident andin good spirits, but are really
human beings and not inhuman savages,
as represented by the Richmond chivalryi
captured hundreds of horses, and above
all met the one great objection made to the
Emancipation Proclamation, so far as the
counties visited are concerned, by letting
| the colored population know that they are
free, and weakening the producing class
lam re5eldom by the removal of. hundreds
fof able bodied men, and sowing the SEED
of generalization among the rest 80 thai
the lsboring class, in fact as well as theo-
ry, becomes a dangerous element. All this
has been accomplished by the raid Of Gen
eral Stoneman, with the loss, probably, Of
less than 100 men, all told-only two Of
whom were killed. As an Offset to this
loss our troops killed a number OF rebels,
and captured between one and two hun
bred prisoners.
THE REBELS AT HOME.
In the counties visited there we're but
few rebels found at home, except the very
old and the very young. In nine days
travel 1 did not see fifty able-bodied men
who were not in some way connected with
the army. Nearly every branch Of bust
ness is at a stand-still. The shelves in
stores are almost everywhere empty the
shop of the artisan is abandoned andl In ru'
ms. The people who are to be seen passive
" submit to all that emsnates from Rich
mond without a murmur; they are for the
most part s~imple-minded, and ignorant Of
all that is %transpiring in the great theatre
about them. An intelligent-looking mar
in Columbia laughed heartily when told
that Union troops occupied NeW-Orleans-
jeff. Davis would let them know it, wert
such the fact; and l could not find a mar
who would admitthat the Confederates haC
ever been beaten in a single engagement
: These people do not even read the Rich
B mond papers, and about all the informa
ton they do obtain is what is passed abou
, in the primitive style, from mouth t
: mouth. Before this raid they believed the
Union soldiers were anything but clVlhze'
! beings. and we're stricken with terrol
WAS heralded. D
six churches seen in one day, in only on,
had there been religious services helC
within six months. One-half at least o
the Westinghouse are unoccupied, ant
fast going to decay.
ARE THE REBELS SHORT OF PROVISIONS?
3 The fear of famine was everywhere ex
j, pressed; the Government seizes upol
b. everything that can 20 to sustain tn
army, leaving those who are not in tn
= army to shift as best they can. NAM
have provisions concealed to avoid tn
searching eyes of the Government agents
Through the agency Of negroes, larg,
/ quantities o. provisions thus hid ava!
| were brought to light for the benefit o
: Union soldiers. The farmers fold is reg
| ulsrly culled of all marketable sheep
| swine and beeYes, and what is left behiRt
is not fit for the butchers stall. The lsrde'
Of the largest planters contains little els
than bacon and corn meal. The Whea
d. crop, now coming forward, is immense-il
fact little else has been put in the ground
The rich valleys Of the James and Rapidal
Rivers are vast Wheat-6elds-more, il
f fact, than can be gathered, unless the arm!
3 is turned to this work. The negroes ar
not numerous enough for the task, evel
were they not in a fair way Of being 8
8 thoroughly demoralized as tn refuse Il
, wUrA dnIess pau IN greenbacks."
THE NEGROES. .
The negroes everywhere have an idea
how it got into their heads they canno
exactly tell, but it is there-that the Van
kee troops were their friends, notwith
! standing the contrary assertion Of thei.
! masters, who from infancy they rave beel
taught to obey. They everywhere crowde,
/, upon u columns and begged to be per
mitted to go along, and not ~unfrequentl.
brought one or more horses with them as