The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-04-30

Of Com Trurton.
Aae act'ns assistant surgeon Of the sunboa'
o"'"ue''' sunk by our ram al Plymouth. gives the
ioiowing account Of the affair 70 the Yankee Navv
Department
Sn.Ab0at half past ave n, on the 18th fnst,
roft cray near Plymouth, Oh the Roanoke river.
Ss sa,s ascked BY the rebels from battery Of elk
"n 49,, ., On sand bank some 500 or 900 yards
.a" 80 .ser Lieut. Com Flasser dispatched the
Csfss 70 communicate with the Whitehead, which
was 7. ooans .. I.I1 picket duty up the river
shot .s sp oy ahe reoe! battery she received
woandins seven men, flns Ipoa the om rv ceass s,..
al about O'Clock, the Ceres rei.rrns abont this
n@e. Al early dawn on Monday, 18th, the euemy
RomEsssi IiTn .h rost 0ay, and were repulsed The
% noaaosnsii tnen steamed up the river to cOmmup-
cafe with the fort, receiving several sho,, and m,
n IN sinking condition. Amer communIca atiDe
wa" ne ao,t s :ne ~ returned and sank At the wharf.
Atabost 10 80 p. NJ the Sou,hfeld dropped down
!me H, river and reported to Lieutenant Commander
Exssef, VINO ordered the vessels to be lashed to-
Hey'st E WIN IN asw'srs, The eoashfeld being on the
Southfield came down the Cache, and came nm
alongside the Miami, reporting the ram on the wav
down The Ceres returning about the sams time.
Ssen ssns around through the Cache to
ABOUT O'Clock A NJ. on Tuesday, 18th, tha
ram dropped down along the left bank Of the river
uaoef cover OF the shade Of the trees, with the
tho statboard bow Of the Southficld We had heen
firing shell the previous evening on shore and the
guns OF both vessels were left loaded with shell
when there was not time to draw Lieut.. Com
mander Flusser fired the first shell at her. ana
upon its bursting some fragments either from this
or from the Southfelds steIs rebounded ana
caused the death OF Lieut. Commauder FIusser, also
.s wouaolng tae onceis and men below mentioned,
the fragments piercing his chest, face and skull.
Upon the approach OF tine ram the SouthfseId also
fired at her. The Prov of the ram running nO the
southdeid caused her TO I'LL with water, and she
oseff foe N ntou
Ihe forward Iashings were parted by the pres
sure OF the RAIN between our vessels, and the after
ones were then cut, and Us many as could gel on
tired she was followed short distance by the ram.
which was considered slow, making about fonr
knots per hour, the Manu. however, throwing solid
shot al hef as she retired. Some Of the meu uf the
southfeld took the small boats and were picked
up BY the Whitehead and Ceres.
The gunboats Miami, Whitehead and Ceres re-
turned 10 the mouth Of the river and came to an
chor. -"
The Ceres was dispatched to Newbern fmmedt
ately with the body of Lieutenant CommandiDo
Flusser.
The officers missing from the sou,hdeM were
u Stokes, Acting Second Assistant Engineer VIM
r Gof, Acting Third Assistant Engineer John A
Streiby, Acting Masters Mate Geo w Pan. and
paymas,er's Clerk. Geo w Brown.
Some of the officers and men of the. Southf;s,d
may nave been captured, but most Of them must
nave escaped-few or none were probably lost
Aeung Ensign fhomas Hargs, and acting Third
assistant Engineer Harrington, and some six mr.
eis mt men We're wounded-nOne mortality of the
Miami - '"'
The Miami was unnjured. The ram is thougbt
moi 70 nave used her guns whilst under our bows
nor could our guns then bear on her. The shell
hred at her was when she Approached and her
nnng. which Vii seemed to be from small guns,
by giancing shot from the ram.
Very respectfully,
PHI PrRsslL, Ac,' Asst sure,n.
TO a r .admiral S P Lee, Cong BiockaSiop
THE ARMIES IN NORTHERN vIRGIs,A.-RxyUw nv
GRANT -sPEccLATIONs ABOUT GENERAL LEES
MOVEMENTS.
Grant Is having reviews In the Army of the Po
tomac. On the 23d Inst he reviewed the Second
Corps, (Hancock's) which the letter writer's inform
Us passed him In respondent column The
washington Star cOntradcts the report that Gen
Lee is moving towards the Shenandoah Valley
and says he is still In his old position on the Rap
panannock. 1t adds:
Such movements Of his cavalry as were going
on, seemed to be In the nature Of reconnaissance
ascertuin Geaeral Grants PURPOSES and the fact
of Grant sending out unusually l. rye ket forces
seems to have mysiiied the enemy on various Oc-
casions: Lees army was preparing for a sudden
move, but was seemingly disposed to wait for
Grant to open and develOpe his game.
The movements Of our gunb0ats up the Kappa
hammock had raised an alarm in Richmond that
Burnside was efecting landing there, and new
alarm had been raised among the Confederates Of
a movement by the Federals up the south side of
James river
The CoDfederates are divided between tho fear
that Lee may be invested In Richmond, should he
fall back there, and the fear that he may be out
aanked BY Grant should he remain in his present
position
Two weeks ago Lees forces amounted to forty
hnur md 0nyf Ia hall IL
he has been able to bring up, not
above eighty five thousand men.
LOnsstreet's whole corps Is ON the rebel left |
wing aud has been ready to murch for ten days
with one weeks rstiOns in their wagons 1t Is not
deemed probable by military men that Lee would |
II this time divide his army by throwing any ma |
eriaI portion Of II over in;O the Shenandoah Val
ey, thus weakening his force In front of Grant,
who, he well knows, would be likely 10 crush him
In detail
family of refugees who came into our lines |
from below Madison Court House, re
ports that Wickham's brigad were Oh picket duty
)n ROberts0n's river last Friday evening, having
been there for some time. They were poorly |
mounted and the horses were in poor condition |
rom want of forage. GUneral stuart Is to have q |
grand review of all hts cavalry on Tuesday, at or
near HamptOn's cross Roads. |
Their cavalry Is being reOFganized for the spring
,ampa gn, which cannot open vigorously yet for |
,0ne time, owing to the necessary supplies of for
age being exhausted, and grass will not be green
or two or three weeks, the season being very
backward.
FORREST IN fKNNRSsRR-LARGR AC6NENyAyION OF
MS FORCE-Hg WEEDS HIS own ROW.
1t appears that Forrest ca 2tured Fort Pillow with
only eight hundred men, and not several thousand,
as at first reported. The Philadelphia Inquyey, of
the o6ih, says:
The news In regard to rebel operations In West
and Northern Mississippi Is important
General Lemon, who escaped from Jackson,
Tenn, on the 18Th, has arrived at Cairo. He says
when he left there Forrest had arrived there with
thirty nine regiments All the troops that were in
except Writ Adams's cavalry. twenty
six regiments, were under Forests immediate
thirteen being under Chalmers aud other
officers, according TO rink, as follows:
Rodney, Mccullough, Buf0rd, Faulkner, Neely,
Wheeler, Mau y, and B1nOw.
The order to capture Fort Pillow was Issued on
the evening Of the l0th Colonel Bell was required
10 march next morning with six hundred men,
Forrest and Cha mers followed with two hundred,
And those are all said to have been there. Major
Booth was warned OF their approach some days
before Forests loss Is reported at ten killed and
thirty five wounded. Five thousand men have
been cOnschpt by the enemy since their Occupa-
lion Of West I ennessee and Kentucky. There
was iumor that Forests forces have crossed the
but these may Gave been but Q few
men taking away cOnscripts.
A telegram from Louisville reports Forrest as
upon Decatur, Hamburg, Columbus,
Nashville, and about dozen other places. He
seems to have completely befogged the Yankees az
to bis movements. Another dispatch from st.
Louis, dated the 9sth, says:
Advices from Memphis to the 2sd say that For
followed BY 0rlerson. Polk was said 10 be march
Ing north, and Forrest would probably Join blm.
On the morning Of the 2ist Gners0n's cavalry
came upon some OF FORESTS troops, Rear hunts