, 1864-01-05
VOLUME XVII.

con would 20 well to have our men tried by
Court Martial for fighting so gallantly. It il
certalnly outside Of the rebel calculations fol-
With commendation Of the noble efforts Of
the guerillns on the river bank, and regrets
that they have been Of no more avail
The rebels have often said many hard things
Of us, In charging that wo fired upon Charles
ton and other cities without giving them
time for the removal Of women and
between opening. fire upon town
md upon dcfcnselcss boat. If any towns
Eayc teen fred upon without proper time for
the escape Of non-combatants, there were no
doubt many avenues for fleeing. From a
passenger steamboat there is no opportunity
safety. The boat is mere shell, through
which artillery projcctiles can pass without
hihdrance. In the case of the. Won Phul,
every part Of the boat was peffornted, the Ia.
dies cAbin receiving It's full proportion OF
shot and shell. On the Brazil, most Of the
p1o5ectiles were thrown through the ladies'
cabin. The two persons killed on the boat
were women. Another was wounded by a
fragment Of she'll Added to the danger from
the missiles, is that Of con1agration, and ex-
plosion Of the boiler II it is barbarous
warfare" according to Beauregard, to fire
upon town, what is It to use artillery
against riyer boat on which there are always
women and children? 4. NJ: seddon thinks
the navigation Of the mississippi Is having .
bad effect upon the rebel cause abroad, he
ought to be given the full benefit of the means
he takes to prevent It. When 1t ID known in
Europe TINT he makes war upon defenscless
persons Of both sexes, md all ages, who can
neither fec nor resist, the effect will be
strongly against the intarcsts Of rebeldom.
.lying on IN active warfare against the guer-
iilas On both banks. When was below here
a short time since, it Was wondered why hn
did Eot give attention to the Morganzia rcb-
els, but now learn that he is not allowed to
60 out Of Gen. Grants Department. Nor
calls for tie attention Of Gen. Banks. Prob.
ably Gen. Banks Will look at it before long,
and put m end to the annoyances in that
quarter. II he does not, he will be open
to much censure. The position Of the rebels
at thnt point is one that can be very easily be
turned, and 1t is difficult to understand why
it has not been done before this. General
Ellct's field Of operations lies above Red RiT-
cr, and in Gen. McPherson's District At
present he is engaged in looking after the
guerillas In the vicinity of Rodney-the same
party that fired the bridge few days ago.
A report came here night before Inst. that he
had met tho guerillas and captured two pieces
Of artillery oftcr brief engagement Wheth-
er It is true or not, I am unable to say, as the
authority for the statement is not thoroughly
reliable
A few days ago Geu Ellct landed force
opposite Rodney and sent 1t on scout u
short distance into the interior. They found
ported from West Louisiana with the design
Of sending it to Bragg's army. It was con-
ccaled in several houses preparatory to being
taken across the river on tho first convenient
night. After being safely landed on the
other side it was to be sent in wagons to
Brandon, the nearest railway station, and
from that point forwarded to Atlanta Gen.
1t will be some time before Bragg's men re-
ceiye their salt. The article must be far
more difficult to obtaln in the eastern por-
tion Of rebeldom than in the west, If We are
TO judge BY, this attempt to transfer
It esmpae Sief tsaf fsf # vef is The aa rebels 4s4z
difficult to cross the Mississippi at any point,
in consequence Of the large forces that arc
scattered along the banks and upon Its Ta-
ters. The expense of frefghting salt through
NIL these difficulties must be enormous, and
the cost By the time It reaches Atlanta, 4
email item of the subsistence account. The
passage Of the Mississippi is effected by
means Of skifIs and small fiat boats, USUALLY
at night. There is no regular point for cross
Ing, ns the places were SOON found ont There
are mum localities that are frequentcd by
the blockade runners from time to time, but
they very wisely abstain from appointing a
general rendezvous.
A combined expedition recently attcmpte,
to capture q portion of Writ Adams com
mand, but 1t did not succeed. 4 land force
started from this point to move by the roads
into the interior, and get In the rear of the
rebels, while afraction Of the marinc brigade
moTed by river to tall upon their front. The
land torcc lnoEed slower than was anticipated
and did not reach the appointed spot at the
proper time The rebels had learned Of the
movement agninst them and made good their
escape just ID season to prevent being en-
closed between the two forces. Writ Adnms
has been designated for the special duty of
Keeping the cast bank Of the river in con-
atent state Of alarm and he is succeeding very
well in doing so- He causes more trouble on
land thnn on the wat t. There have been but
few attacks On steambo oats, the last being up
on the Brazil a week ago. Some who are
acquainted with Adams say that he is avcrse
to firing Gu bouts on account Of the barbar-
ou6 character Of the warfare
A gentleman who recently arrived from
Mobile assures me that there arc no troops
there beyond the garrison of the forts pro-
tecting the harbor. He says the people are
IN constant expectation Of an attack BY Gen.
Eanks' forces. When the expedition sailed
for Texas, the Mobilians considered that their
possibility prevent landing on the shore
west Of Mobile, and from this point the city
could be easily taken. Bragg's army is the
nearest from which refnf0rcemcnts could be
sent to Mobile This would require SO long
. time that the city might readily te in our
hands, and the defense5 be ased against the
rebels. Had Gen: Banks moved upon Mobile
at the time Gen. Grant assaulted Bragg, near
Chattanooga, 1t ~ould appear, to an nnmili-
tary eye, as If We might have been In posscs-
sion Of that important city. We doubtless
cave good reasons for not assailing it at
present
The suffering In Mobile is as great as in any
other portion Of the South. Among the poor
1t is particularly so. No employment, and
consequently no bread, must be productive
Of untold misery. Everything edible Of wear
able is held at an enormous figure. The cry
raised elsewhere in the South about extor-
tioIeIs and specqlators is now little heard in
Mobile, for the simple fact that no one has
anything to speculate upon. Tho dealers
long ago exhausted their stocks. md what
they now depend upon arc the chance car
goes Of blockade running steamers. These
were not very abundant, as the blockade is
pretty efficiently maintained. 4 steamer re-
Gently came in from Nassau, and before 1t
touchcd the wharf there were crowds Of peo-
pie f1ockng thlther to meet It. The cargo
had been consigned to mercantile house,
but the cons{gncrs found it necessary to sell
It out at auction on the Whnrf as fast as the
boxes and packages were brought on shore.
Had they not done SO, the mob Threatened to
take possession and distribute the goods with
out troubling the ownerB about pecunfary rc-
tu1ne- By selling the cargo at auction tn:
consignees prevented such violence md at
the same time realized fully rs much as If
they had disposed Of it in the ordinary way.
Day By day the desire for the capture Of tic
city BY our forces grows stronger among the
people. Many Of those who have been and
still are warm seccessioniste arc praying for
It solely On the ground that 1t will free them
from their present condition Of scmi-starvn-
tion; TIE theory of dying: rather than sub:
first, but they ind It Stripped Of its beauhcs
when literally carzicd out A little Yankee
tygnnny, accompanied with full market,
would be quite pa1atablc In Mobile.
Parties recently from the interior South
are Of the opinion that the Presidents offer
On some rs it becomes % Rnown. %
There is little Likelihood that the
rebel leaders will allow it to circulate among
the people wherever n is in their power to
prevent it. Its best effect will be In Arknn-
eas and Louisiana, in the portions nov under
the plan for reconstruction will be gladly &C.
cepted by the people Of this State as soon as
4 sufficient portion Of the territory is In
cur hands to allow a tenth part of
the voting population an opportunity
10 express themselves. The pertiaacity Of
the rebel government in keeping an armed
force In the State, is doubtless through fear
of such action.
The weather In Natchez has been, for the
past three days, sufficiently cold to render
orercoats aud extra blankets Indispensable
The natives Eay it is unusual There is much
suffering in the contraband camps, and for
the sake Of the negroes alone, we arc hoping
for milder atmosphere. Very little atten-
ton is paid to them and their wants.
PONTIAC.
Anebel WAN over military Absentees