The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-05-13

The War In NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
News-.-Matters Congressional and
mflhfaPV.
Special dispatch to the Chicago Tribune.
WASHINGTON Nav 8.

IT,. WASHINGTON, May 8.
THE WAR IN VIRGINIA.
Your correspondent sends the following
from Gen. Grants Headquarters, dated
Oulpepper, May Sd: The public will no |
longer be disappointed in it's anticipation
Of early stirring news from this quarter. /
+ The announcement can at last be made
with certainty and safety that the Army
OF the Potomac is on the eve of the OPEN
ing of the Summer campaign. There is
ground for the belief that the commence i
ment of offensive movements will be i'm
mediately followed by decisive events, and
that if Lee accepts battle when General
Grant offers it, general action may oc-
cur in the course Of a few days. The ma
ture of Gen. Grants plan of operation is
already plainly indicated by certain pre-
Gmlnary movements, in this army and
elsewhere. 1t will be found as remarka-
BILE for boldness and ingenuity of concep-
ton and for vigor and rapidity of execu-
ton as the movement by which he carried
his army to the rear Of Vicksburg. Here
as there his main reliance will be upon
hard marching and hard fighting.
& D i9 SPIRIT OF THE REBEL PRESS.
The Richmond Eraminer, of the 23d,
under the caption of ga Stupid Report"
says that but for the fact, that many well
meaning people believe it, we should not
think it worth while to contradict the re-
port that Richmond is to be evacuated.
The soul foundation of the report, was the
proposal to move one of the bureaus in
the Treasury Department to Columbia;
but this has been reconsidered The Esc-
aminer advises every unprcductive person
to remove to the country, and thus render
the possibility of evacuating Richmond
more remote, by enabling the rebel gov
eminent to feed one soldier more. aaT
The Examiner has long leading ar
ticle applauding Forests atrocities at
Fort Pillow, and says: ''They diffused
warm and soothing glow through the veins
of every good Confederate. The whole
country will approve and applaud his &C
ton, SO it is hoped will the Confederate
government. The Ecaminer publishes
Longs recognition speech with comment
atory preface, under this heading, 'sLongs
great speech in Yankee Congress"
The Richmond Enquirer of April 30th
has information that Burnside is moving.
The intelligence is brought by scout,
who cOnjectures that he is going to Alex
andria. The Enquirer thinks more prob
able that Yorktown is its destination. His
force is set down at 200, and 5000
negro soldiers. The same paper says the
great fire at Wilmington has fallen heavily
on the blockade operation. Indeed it may
be considered to have put an effectual
stop to running the blockade for some
time. The difficulty of procuring trans
portation for cotton will prevent for sew
eral months the accumulation of sufficient
supply The destruction of property is
estimated at Fl ON S., 100000 to $5,00O,-
900 in gold.
The Enquirer has lengthy articles on
the Fort Pillow massacre, sneering at the
indignation of the Northern press and say
ing, if Confederate prisoners are executed,
double the number of Federal prisoners
will be Immediately put to death.
The Examiner of the 29th concludes an
article on the military situation in Virginia,
as follows eff we hold our own in Vir-
ginia till the summer is ended the Norths
power for mischief will everywhere be
gone. If We lose, the South's capacity for
resistance will be broken. The Confed-
eracy has ample power to keep its place in
Virginia if employed with energy and con-
sistency, and this is the last year of the
war, whichever wins" The same paper
says most serious scarcity of provisions
exists in Virginia, both north and south
of the James River, and not only in cities
and towns bit throughout the interior.
The same paper says four army corps
have gone from Chattanooga to reinforce
Grant. The rebel General Writ Adams
telegraphs from Yazoo City that he burned
the gunboat which he captured on the
23d, after taking out her armament.
The Richmond E:cdnaine,' has private
advices from Washington that member
ofthe Lincoln Government stated that if
the North takes Richmond it could well
afford to let Johnston penetrate to the
Ohio, and trust to the popular sentiment
to prosecute the war. The Eraminer
adds that the capture of Richmond is the
one and memorable condition of the con-
tinuation of the war by the North beyond
the ensuing campaign. The same paper
says it no longer doubts but that the enc
my is about to make serious demOnstra.
tons on the Peninsula. The Examiner
of the 9th ult. announces the assignment
of Lieutenant Ganeral Holmes, lately COM
manding in the Mississippi Department, to
the command at Raleigh of the. reserve
forces of North Carolina, composed of
men between II and 30 years of age, and
that Major General Ransom assumed coE-
mand in place of General Early, who goes
to the Maryland line. aa.
The Enquirer reports the evacuation of
Suffolk by our forces. The rebel journals
chuckle over the fact that the French ves-
sells we're obliged to leave James River,
the stipulated time having elapsed, with
little if any tobacco. The Enquirer, com.
menting upon recent speech of Vice
President Stephens, says that he has dis
appointed his admirers and friendsionly
to CRAFTY his enemies and those of his
country; has at no time uttered any ex.
preston of hope or confidence in the sue
cess of our cause, and can point to no
word or material aid that he has rendered
the cause.
FIRST NATIONAL BANk,l
ST. PAUL, April ~, 1864.
The following are the rates of discount on