Litchfield enquirer., 1864-05-26


 Mound City. and report that the entire fleet is out of the Red River. In passing out, the fleet was greatly annoyed by rebel guerrillas. Our forces evacuated Alexandria last week. Fourteen delegates had cen elected to repre- sent the State of Louisiana in the Baltimore Convention. Intelligence from Matamoras states that the bad feeling between the native and the French residents had ripened into an actual outbreak. Official dispatches from Ad- miral Porter to Seere tary Stanton confirm the statement that the fleet had passed out of the Red River.
 AN officer who participated in the engage ment of the 18th inst, at Newmarket, under General Sigel, writes as follows: 1.-The fight ing was terrific, the most so of any battle in the ! valley We could only bring about 5000 men into the fight; the enemy numbered 10000 to le,0OO, and fought like devils. Our cavalry behaved badly, and some of the infantry no better but the latter were rallied, the cavalry could not be. Gen. sigel was in the front and in the thick of the battle all day, encouraging, directing and leading the men. The bullets were dense all about him |: one or two of his staff were slightly injured. several had horses shot under them"
 A MATCH at foot ball, between !the students of Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass, and of Williston Seminary, East Hampton, was played on Saturday afternoon, at Hamden Park. Springfield Seventeen games were to have been played, but at the conclusion of the eleventh game, the score stood, Wilbraham nine, East Hampton two, and the former were declared victors. The fourth game was played in eleven seconds, and was won by the Wibra- ham boys. The best feeling was manifested by both parties. The umpires were, on the part of Wilbraham Prof. Kimpton, and for the Will liston boys, Prof. Dickenson. The referee was MT. A. Morrel of Williams College.
 MT. Phillip Lee, of New Britain. died very suddenly Sunday afternoon. He had attended church all day, and after tea took short walk. Upon returning to his house, he was taken i'll, and almost instantly expired. It is supposed he had the heart disease. His health has not been vigorous of late, though he has been able to attend to business. His age was 62.
 We regret to learn that Col. Geo. D. Chap man, Assistant State Paymaster, is seriously i'll, probably with consumption, at his residence in Hartford.
 The depot of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, at Danbury, was entered on Friday night, and the safe broken open and robbed of about $500.
 A. H. Howe, of Hartford, has received a pa tent for a breech loading earbine, and William Muir & Co.,, of Windsor Locks, are m akinc it on government contract.
 The London Duly News, in writing of the Fort Pillow massacre, recommends retaliation, It says:
 '' There can be DO doubt that under the re-. cognlzcd laws of War the Government of the United States is perfectly entitled to visit such an atrocity with signal retaliation It is laid down clearly enough by Vattel, and in deed by every authoritative writer on the sub- iect, that if hostile General has, without any inst reason. caused prisoners to be executed. the Government against which he is fighting may execute an equal number of his people, notifying to him that it will contiue thus to re- talIate for the purpose of obliging him to ob serve the laws of war. While admitting to the fullest extent that it is a dreadful extrem- lty thus to condemn prisoner to atone bv a miserable death for his Generals crime, the writers on international law point out, at the same time that as belligerent Government has right to sacrifice its enemies lives to it's own safety and that of its troops, if it has to do with an inhuman enemy who frequently commits such enormites, it is authorized to refuse quarter to some of the prisoners taken, and to treat them as his own people have been treated. The right of retaliation under such circumstances not only exists, but has been repeatedly exercised in some instances with very considerable success. During the Penin- sular war. for example, the Spanish comman. ders compelled the French Generals to re. spect the lives of the Spanish peasantry, by notifying to them that for every peasant found murdered, two French soldiers would be exc cuted. The murder of the peasantry by the French soldiers, which had previously been common enough, soon ceased after this int- nation had been given and acted upon in a few instances
 Dr. Morton of Boston, who has been at Fredericksburg and at the front since the com mencement of the present campaign, superin- tending the use of anssthetcs in the hospitals has returned. He states the number of woun- ded as shown by official statements, is not 10000 that those requiring operations had the benefit of the anasthetics, and that all of the wounded have brought in from the camp hos pitals and the fields at Fredericksburg.
 MT. Cyrus w. Field returned home in the Persia. He left everything in England ir the most encouraging condition for the laying of the Atlantic cable next year. The company had obtained the entire amount of capital necessary to manufacture and lay down the cable.
 Maj. Gen. Hunter has been placed in con- mand of the Department of West Virginia in- cluding the Shenandoah Valley.
 The Sanitary Commission have sent two vessels loaded with supplies to the James River, for Buffers command, and they have had two boats engaged in transporting supplies for wounded at Fredericksburg.
 Intelligence from Richmond advises the ar. rival there Of twenty heavy mortal guns from France, by way of Wilmington. but in what position they were to be placed is not known