, 1865-03-24

md various Other public property. were de-
| ahoged, 10 daY the 1st division moved up
the canal townrd New Market, destroying the
canal Is 1t moved along. Fuleen locks were
d1sabled between the points named.
TENTH DAT.
WEDNESDAY, March 8, 1S65.-Col. Penn:ng-
tons command yesterday, r., captured ! = aen1 one
| which was distributed to his men. Since 1eay-
! Ing S,auntou, the whole command has sub
| sisted on the country, and has been abundant
y supplied.
The enemy last night succeeded In destroy
ing The bridge acrl 81 the James River at Du.
qu!dsvllle. qnd Lieut.. Moore, with detachment tl
o' 500 men, made dash up the towpath. ten
miles 10 the bridge, last night, in the hopes
Of securing this bridge but it was primed
! with turp. int and olher in6amnabit mate
| rial, so 1bat it was easily tlred.- The enemy
followed up the river on Inc opposite bank to
the Dnquidsville b: idge, and occasionally fired
a shot ucross. At one point q woman came
out and askcd if they bad heard any thing Of
| tie Yapkess, The eIesponse Was, !" No-what
| put that into your head!' There was . f1y-
| Ing rumor that the Yankees were about, but
she did not believe 1t possible they would be
! allowed to come there. For The last forty
eight hours Gems. Merritt and De7in have
| been opelating III the canal aud vicinity, be-
tween the mouth uf Hardware R,yer, westerly
t to Duquidsvllle. Night before laat, Colonel
! Ma3w.ll, with The 1st Michigan. was sent off
direct from Charlottesville to Palmyra, just
opposite FluTanna Court House, and
bridge about twenty-five feet long,
oyer The Fluvanna River, was burned.
river, Whs1e 1t passes between the Green and
Carter's Mountains, was destroyed by the
main column. At Howardsyille large Con-
feacsate saddle factory VAS destroyed, and
along in the canal one boat, containing GOO
shells IN route to Richmond. two boats con-
tanning bacon. hams and other provisions, $50
baT1els Of -four was captured at one point. At
New Market $50 hogshends Of tobacco were
found, claimed by IN agent Of the Austrian
Government. This Was destroyed, leaving
the question Of ownership TO be settled here
after. This morning. at about 10 O'Clock,
that Portion OF The command With wh.sh
Gtns. Sheridan and Curtis had been operating,
1eioined Gems. Merritt and Devin ut New
Market, On the james river. The enemy at-
tempted yesterday to destroy d lon. bridge
there, is here over the 1,ye, but We're prevent
cd by tue timely arrival Of some of General
Derln's command.
destroyed. among other bridges, one across
::Rocktish river, which cost ~, 600 before the
war. Col. Wells today with his command
destrt yed a bridge, across Buffalo river 100
fcet long, one over the Tye river 430 feet long,
and another ever Rncker {oetYcen the Bntla-
bridges were made In Alexandria by the Rail
Ioad Company, and there are no duplicates
in this vicinity, at I'LL events.
ELEVENTH DAY.
THURSDAY, March Cleft New Market
this morning att u'clsck, Gen. Custer In ad-
leading Oft With The ID Ohio. Col Nettleton.
The ra;n Of last night makes the travelling TO-.
day nything Dnt agreeable, bnt fortunately
We have blight sun shining overhead.
The bridge having. been destroyed by our
own men across Rockflsh Greek, at Howards-
/. vile, (where the creek empties into the James
Riser,) the column was forced to take the
toW.path. This gave us an opportunity to
see how thoroughly Gen. Der'ns' command
had destroyed the canal. Months Of labor
will be fequil ed to repair the damage on the
cana! alone. AS we marched along the tow
path rebel cavalry watch US fsom the op-
posite bank. and anxious1y inquired where ne
question The negroes In this section were
not run of, as Lad been done in some other
counties, snd lined the river bank to see the
Yankee column. Here the African is found
In his simplest state; 1hey had been told by
their masters that The Yankees would brand,
ses of the var; but, notwithstanding this,
they look upon the whole Yankee nation rs
friends, aud hundreds tu-day have ioined tho
colored brigade, principally brought out Of
Charlottesville and vicinity, where onr man,
am told, loses seYenty-dve able-bodled col
ored men.
From two miles west of Rockdsh River the
column; moves today all the way to Scotts.
vile, on the towpath. The whole distance
nude was about 1wenty-slx mtles-from New
market to Scottsyillc- Notwithstanding the
squads Of the enemy watched us closely from
the opposite bank frequently within 800 feet
Of us, MT rifle-shot, SO far as can ascer-
tain, was fred By them.
TWELFTH DAT.
FRIDAY, March TO- The Sd division and I'd
b; Iglde If the 1st division left Saltyil1e early
thus morning. and marched rs miles to Co.
lumbia-the Sd division by the main road,
The latter By the tow-path, guarding the
trains. To-day VIC have had great variety
Of weattcr. 1t was cloudy when the COM
mand set out; slight rain subsequently fell,
followed by bail, snow and sunshine. The
road, Of course, Was in Z bad condition.
There was no skirmish during the day. Rebel
cavalry on the opposite bank fired few shots
at the wagon tram, but without doing any
ba'm. Capt. Brown, Of the 9th New York
the river to within seven miles OF Goochlaud
Court House, and met picket Of Is men.
After brief skirmish without loss, four of
the enemy were captured, when the command
returned, in obedience to orders.
Evidently Richmond is being stripped to be
10 circumstances. Nearly all surplus sup
plies have been sent to 15nchburgh, and
few days ago troops were sent BY Lee to REIN
force the command there, under the supposi-
ton that Sheridan p1ened,tatcd m attack
uron that plaee. ARTILLERY and supplies have
doubtless to prevent the whole from being
csptured In bulk, In case Of . disaster. Des-
toying The james river canal has materially
iDtt rlered with the evacuation Of Richmond.
For len days before the canal was tapped
by Ibis command, every boat between kich7
the rebel service to remove materials from
Richmond. Nearly Rlf the commsssary and
ordnance stores thus lar destroyed were re-
Gently from that city. -
THIRTEENTH DAT.
CoLrMDIA, Saturday Evening, March H.
The command has rested here ali day. j de-
tachment VAS sent across the James last night
10 reconnoi'er, but no force Of the enemy was
found. Weather pleasant.
4 remarkable fact is the confidence Lee
still appears to have in Gen. Early. This fact
may be inferred from the following letter
written after the disasters Of last fall, and
found in Earlg's wagon captured at Wi aynes-
bolo.
[corndenti.1.l
Headquarters, Petersburgh. 18th Nov. 1854.
1IHEEAL: lam much obliged to you for the
suggestion contained in your letter Of the 18th,
The subject has been frequently reVolved In my
own mind, and at times oiacprted with more than
cna officer In this army. Could he troops have
been had earlset-even as 1ate as Grants 1ast ex-
tension Of bis l'nes--i think there would have
be has @ 80 5oie Gimse 3on and rear
that on every face, 70 far a. know. We should
bare to gn oyer strongly fortified i1nes to reaeh
IT, ths fes Of heavy artillery md ny
vulnerable point In the meantime, m,ke Ut
rangemen1s Tor going Into winter camp. Let it
until !, sl!a,l be proper 10 disalee it. See to ths
sas nothlug of Jou. planz. fully app1ec'ats the
even winter, II possible and shall enbeayor to do
so. Col Baldwin informs me that the last re-
quiHtlon f0r arms which he has received from
Major Allen vas for QUO muskel.. Three days
fng that he had sent Major Allen since the receipt
OF his 1cquisitfon 31l0 arms. II you require
more WI! cnteayoI to send them, think, with
sctuti, king search, you may collect number
Of cavalry arns III the Valley. Make the expert
meEt Very truly yours,
Gen. A. ]. EARLY, Commanding.
FIFTEENTH DAT.
FRgpER1cKsH111, Monday, March 1S.-An-
movement, as the troops are busily employed
in destrs ying the Central Railroad and other
Last tight the Fifteenth New York, Col.
CopingcI, proct cded to Bumpas Turnout, five
miles tast on the railroad, destroyed the sta
ton ard cut the road THIS morning the bal
ancc Of Col. Wells command proceeded to
1he eame point, and one regiment was sent to
Beaver Dam Station, five miles beyond, to cut
the load there.
Gen. Custar bas his headquarters at the
house Of q wealthy man named Harris, who,
though bitter secesaionfst, admits that
every thing looks dark for The Confederate
cause. Ole OF the painful incidents Of war
was experienced here to-day. The ladies-of
whom there are several In the house-e1-