The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-03-04

Gen. Sherman's expedition. lie wa
reported advancing rapidly in solid
column, with infantry, artillery and
cavalry. No struggling was permit
ted, Thcrobel cavalry were lowering
on the rear, but were unable to innict
/. any damage. Selma was spoken OF
hv the papers rs the objective point.
The country through which General
fisherman is marching is admitted to
be the Egypt ofthe Confedcracy. 0nd
that unless elected he can subsist
there till Spring. 1t is II war upon
their supplies. and this they concede
to be their weakest point. General
Sherman has with him large force
of colored troops, and hc is moving
through country where the slave
population Is numerous. A heavy re-
cruiting business will doubtless be
done. The peoble are called upon
10y the papers, to arm themselves {,
repel the invaders. If Bishop Polk
fails in this, the "people,' will not
do much.
There seems good reason TO believe
that for want of subsistence, Lee has
been compelled to reduce his army
until it numbers not more than 10000
Intelligence has been received ut
headquarters in Washington to this
cG'oot, ond private Taylor, of the 4th
Virginia Cavalry, who has been one of
Lees ordcrlic's for three months past
and has now come into our lines; con
firms the report Taylor, who is an
intelligent young man, and has rela-
tivcs in Ohio, says that there are not
/. now left in the vicinity of Orange
Court House, in Lee $ entire command
over twenty-five Thousand men, if
there are that many; that the last
month Lee has been giving furloughs
literally to all who would re. enlist,
to 20 home to recruit; that from fr-
tten to thirty days arc given thcm,--
Lee tells his officers that the Yankees
will he filling up their armies in March
and he must be prepared for them -
! He says he will have sixty thousand
men by that time and can hold doub-
lc that number in check. When we
made our last move across the Rapi-
idun, while Butler threatened Rich
mond, they were apprised of our
movement when it commenced by
Icitizens coming in, and when our
troops crossed the river and surpriS-
their pickets, Gen. Lee was engaged
in sending men to Richmond by rail,
and told General Ewel that this move
on his front was only icint. They
have but two corps now, under Gen S.
\. p. Hill and Ewell. The latter is
fun, but the former has been depleted
To aid Longstrectt whose whole corps
is still absent. Their horses have
suffered severely from the want OF
forage, many thousands having died,
and hundreds Of men are without
shoes and clothing to keep them warm.
Over two hundred men have been
shot during the winter for desertion.
I The Anglo. rebel blockade runner
Pet was captured Off Wilmington, 10y
the L, S. gnnboat Montgomery, on
TBS dd2th th6h 81 ENsRgyaa3FYt NRg!a 10 IHfi iRhsfon RGt fT2s
with an assorted cargo of arms, shot.
shell and medicines valued S3j0,000.
The vessel is superior side-whecl
steamer Of 700 tons burthen, built cX-
lprcssly fer blockade running. She
is of great steam power, and her log
shows her to have made from fifteen
20 seventeen miles an hour,
General Smith's cavalry command
had returned to Memphis from the
raid on the MibiIe Il Ohio Railroad.
They destroyed large amount of
corn and other provisions, and made
4 wreck of the trcstle work on the
railroad. The rebel cavalry were EN-
countered and considerable fighting
was done. The fruits Of the eXpedi-
tion includes 1000 negroes; 1900
mules, broughtin, and 1000, 900 bush
els corn destroyed. 1t was success
ful in every thing except in forming
a junction with Gen. Sherman. This
failure must be regarded as overbal-
.ancing all the advantages gained, and
may be the cause Of disaster to our
forces now in the heart of the enc
mys country. The rebel cavalry,
however, cannot reach the vicinity Of
Gen. Sherma's operations for some
time, if ut all.
The operations so successfully COM
menced in Florida met with a serious
check on the Goth, on the line of the
Tallahassee railroad, fifteen miles west
of Sanderson, where our troops were
defeated after three hours fight,
with loss variously reported at from
800 to 1900 men, and five guns
The men fought bravely, but owing,
rs is said, to the negligence Of Gen.
eral Seymour, in sending ont scouts
and pickcts, they came unawares up
on rebel batteries, and encountered Il
largely superior force of the enemy.
1t is also said that Gen. Seymour ex-
cceded his instructions; at any rate,
Judging from the somewhat imperfect
accounts we have rs yet received, lie
does not appear to have known, or at
any rate provided against the large
re endorsements recently sent to the
rebel army in Florida. Our troops
fell back to Jacksonville, where Sey-
mour has been placed undes arrest,
an1 Tinn NA1noe h;, c,,o