Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-04-30
THE SURRENDER OF PLYMOUTH.
INTERESTING REBEL ACCOUNT
Rcjoicings Of the Rebel Press.
THE cApruRr OF pLYMouTu.

K hAcIOtciMES OA tbc hAeDeA l-reSs
"A YH THE CApTUBE OF PLYMOUTH.
Editorial from the Petersburg Express of April 23
} We are still without full official informa
tion of the brilliant affair at Plymouth
We learn, however, upon reliable authorit,
that skirmishing commenced ON Sunday
continued briskly Monday and Tuesday
and on Wednesday the eilemy's works wer
carried by assault in a most gallant man
!, mere The Yankee commanders, Brigadie
General Vessel, as will be seen from
Richmond telegram in another column
was twice summoned to surrender, but re-
fusing to do so, the place was stormed an(
captured. The number of prisoners taker
Is now stated to have been two Thousand
five hundred, besides.the negroes who were
taken. The same telegram states that ;
splendid two hundred FOUNDER gun was
also among the valuable articles captured
! z Pegram's and Grahan's Batteries, botl
from this city, were engaged in the conflict
and did splendid service. We regret, how
ever, to learn that Col. james X. Branch,
who commanded that bearing his name,
had one of his legs broken and was bruised
by the fall of his horse. The wounded
have been mostly sent to Weldon, where,
we doubt not they will be well taken care
Of ..,,,,. ,,', ....,.,...,.,.,, $500.
General Hoke has struck a most effective
blow for the redemption of his native State.
| His command was composed of North Caro-
linians, and they have nobly and gallantly
liberated most important part OF their
State from the invader. 3 We shall have more
and get greater news from this and CO.
operating expeditions, ~
! The cooperating naval expedition is un-
der the command Of Commander X. +.
| pi,,lr, II
| mands the iron-clad gunboat Albeuarle, in
Roanoke river. Lieutenant b. p. Loyal COM
mands the iron-clad gunboat Neuse, in the
Neuse river, and Lieutenant r. p. Minor
commands flotilla of cutters i'm the
Chowan river. f7 ,AaL 4lirLl
Plymouth is in Washington county, near
the mouth Of the Roanoke river, and the
country around is said to be very rich and
full of supplies. The two other places held
by the Yankees on the North Carolina coast
are Washington, at the mouth of Tar river,
and Newbern, at the mouth of the Neuse.
The latter Is strongly garrisoned. but 1t is
supposed that the larger part of the forces
at Washington had been moved up to Ply
mouth. alll
VISIONARY IDEAS OF A REBEL SCRIBE.
Editorial Summary Of War News, from the Rich
mond Examiner Of Friday, April 22.l
the coast of North Carolina, the horizon is
fairly radiant with Confederate victory.
Forcing its way through the darkness of
Yankee concealment, Banks defeat tells
that all is well in the Tran-M Mississippi De-
partment. Forrest, at Fort Pillow, undoes
in an hour the years work of Grant,
and obstructs, in very inconvenient man
ner, the free navigation of the Mississippi.
Confederate horsemen career confidently in
Western Kentucky, and white flags are
hanging out at Columbus.
1t was proper that these brilliant affairs
in the West should be furnished with a
pendant in the East, and nobly has it been
done by Hoke at Plymouth. There, too,
has storming been the order of the day,
and snecess has been as complete as at Fort
Pillow. Hitherto, though often led against
field-works, the Confederate soldiers have
rarely been called upon to assail permanent
fortifications. These two brilliant exam
piles fully attest their prOwess in this trying
mode of warfare, and evince that striking
superiority of elm which most signally ell
evates them above the Yankee soldier. Not
an instance in the war can be mentioned of
the Yankees having driven our men from
intrenched positions.
These cheering victories coming in such
rapid succession from so many different
quarters are auspicious of final Success
They resemble those minor combats which
so often, on the eve of great battles, have
seemed to cast the shadow of coming events
before them, and to give an earnest of fti-
ture victory. While the two great armies
are collecting their strength and preparing
for decisive spring, these hopeful auguries
cannot fail to inspirit the one and to throw
a gloom over the other. Thus far, the year
has been marked by series of unbroken
triumphs for the Confederate arms. Should
the stream continue TO set little longer in
the same direction it will sweep away all
the impediments in the course of our youth
full republic. EE gVtTfH rfFT
The facility with which we have achieved
these triumphs is encouraging In another
point of view. The enemy must have weak
.ened his armies of occupation in the various
districts he has overrun. His garrisons are
mixture of whites and blacks, enough,
probably, of the former to prevent the Afri-
cans from following their own inclination
and surrendering ut the first summons. BY
such a disposition it was thought that their
conquests might be retained, and the negro
soldiery be made to serve q useful purpose.
The event has disappointed these expecta-
tions. They have lost their hard-won con-
quests, and as yet have failed to strike any
compensating blow by means of the con-
centration for the sake of which they have
weakened themselves elsewhere.
The details of the affair at Plymouth are
not yet fully ascertained. 1t Is, however,
safe to pronounce 1t one of the most bril-
liant affairs of the war. Its immediate fruits
are important. Those which may ultimate
ly flow from it, the possession of an abup-
dant country, and the possible command
of the inland waters Of North Carolina
(though as yet the subject of uncertain
speculation), may well excite high hopes
for the future. sftt sfeFA~ ~
General Hoke, judging from the large
number of his prisoners, does not seem to
have made such thorough work as that by
which Forrest has SO shocked the tender
souls and frozen the warm blood of the
Yankees. The resistance he encountered
was, probably, not so desperate, and the
blood of the victors not so heated; though
In a fOrtification carried by storm the loss
of the garrison must inevitably be large.
The strict laws Of civilized warfare ac-
knowledge the power of the victor to put
all to the sword in such cases. However
severe such an example might seem 1t would
strike salutary terror In the Yankees,
which win be useful to them In the end, and
their melancholy whine at meeting part
of the punishment their barbarities merit is
absurd.
In the rapid fall of these positions which
the Yankees gained so easily, we see some
thing like revulsion of the gunboat mania.
AT that period they made most of the ac-