, 1865-02-02
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FROM ST. LOUIS.

FROM ST. LOUIS.
Kirby smith and Madmill1an-1fn-
portant ProJcct-Eo Shelter for G;ucr-
-ShelbJss rIovementx-The San.
ftary sack or Flonr-Radlcalism Of
the Convention, ctc.. etc.
(Fton on. Special Cos7cspondentl
ST. LOUIS, Jan 81, 1865
Military operations, that Is, actual hosti1i-
tics have ccastl to be Interesting in this
Statc, and Tue whole city is laughing just
now over The sensation story first started in
Cincinnati that the commander Of the rebel
armies west Of the Mississippi, E. Kirby
Smith has entered into an agreement with
MaximIllian upon the subject Of transferring oil
his troops to the service Of the new Emperor
Of Mexico. This is pure sensation, al! TIC
basis 1t ever had Is the wcll-kno"n cupldity
Of Kirby Smith himself. But his notorious
unpopnlarity with the rebels since the 1a1lMro
to }ollow up the Red River advantages has ae-
ptiyed him Of the power to move slnslc feEl-
Rio Granac. Sterling Price told seccsslont..sts
That Smith had opposed his Missouri icsasion,
and Price advised his finds &c. 3. =: :. s* 1.*
him. Hence We Acar, mingled with the cur
! rent Iepe.ts among seccsslonists, that Kirby
| Smith has actually tried negotiation with
Mexico, fierce annuncfations Of his loyalty to
| the Southern Confederacy. Price ii freely
quoted to sup -ort the idea that Smith Is 4
villain. Indeed. the only inroad upon the
Confederate cause west Of the Mississippi,
i that he ean make, Is to take off himself, and
as many malco1tcnts as be can persuade to
agree with him that the cause Of the Confed-
! eTacy is now hopeless. The Union men west
Of the Mississippi recognize the fact that the
rebellion must be fought ont here, US we'll as
on the cast side.
| Never in the history OF the rebellion have
| the interior rebels Jared so badly as this win
! ter. They arc pursued and hunted Like beasts
/ Of the forest by the Union cavalry, and de-
| nied shelter and comfort in many cases By
those to whom they havc been accustomed to
look for this sort Of active sympathy. The
reason Is that the Union men Of the country
have spotted the sympatAizcrs with gueril-
las. and where the voluntary giving OF food
and comfort to these out1awcl rebels could
he tiaced tue gircrs have been banishcd, con-
eequIluy Tho k1ei1lias !nQW receive no she:
year ago they obtained both for the asking.
Every rebel iami]y Is known, and where 1t can
bc shown concluEiyely that they hare failed
to give prompt Information Of the presence
of kno|n bushwhackers sure and certain
punishment has followed. This Certainty is,
violations Of the rulo, and hundreds OF guer-
illas arc doubtless hid aud concealed In
North Missouri today In spite Of it. The
succees Of the cavalry aided By Union resi-
denis in 1erretiEg out guerilIas is cncouragg-
Ing. 4 large number Of the rebel gncrlllas
lave gone to Arkansas TO winter and expect
to return here In the spring. They are close
| II watched and may fnd bullets to stop their
Shelby has heard by some mems Of the or
@ h. Gen h5 halcs6 to Is F9
troops from leaving that post, Or supplies
| from reaching 1t, this cntcr1risiug horse
thief established battery some weeks ago
| at Dardnnelle, on the Arkansas river, about
| half way between Little Rock and Fort
| Smith. On the 18th fleet Of boats left Lit
tic Rock lor the place before named, and At
| Lewisburg took On boa1d d regiment Of cav
| airy and three field pieces. These troops Wig
| orous1y attacked the rebels at Da*danclle,
but on the first day did not dislodge them
But in the midst Of the fighting the steam-
boats passed up stream. lho next day, the
18th, the attack was renewed, wncn Shelby,
finding his prey had slipped lin, fell b1ct,
and our 1oncrs took possession Of bis aban-
doned works on the river. THIS is thc sub
stance Of official Information received
from Little Rock. Shelby's presence
so fur noTtlward shows that the rebels arc
resolved to keep bold font In Arkansas,
notwithstanding their defeats md tho utter
decentralization Of thelr cause among the pco-
pie
Sad work wns made by the telegraph Of the
dispatch announcing the arrival Of The f.
nous sack ofAustln Sanitary Fair flour in this
soR4s opasas sa aos 5se ofhst Te DID,
Patch called It the @.tarmcrB'' II sack, and gave
the amount which 1t had yielded at $1G5,
when It should have been Sl6J,O13. Mr.
G:id!ey, the originator OF the enterprise, has
| given the enormous SUMS r1ised on tue flour
10 Tie Sanitary fund. By the way, the Sol
| I3e1ss Hr,,hH+,sf HcTna {F $ttf3
city, is IN institution Of importance to the
whole Northwest, as the children Of deceased
soldicrs, who were in the army at the time OF
death, Or died from the effects Of wounds re-
ceiyed in service, arc entitled to admission. 4hc
In ten instruments Of S 600 each, TO the sup.
port Of the institution, and it Is bound to
prosper. The complaint against Cur kind
hearted Presidents interference with mill.
tary executions ofspics, ,{nform:rs and perjurc1
that in several cases Mr. Lincoln has sus.
pended execution in cases where hc had pro-
Tiously approved the death sentence. It Is
said that hc Is holding back and does not act
upon the cases Of the Indiana Sons Of LtbeT-
ty conspirsto:s because he knows that to re-
lease them would he wrong, aud to lutpsison
Or hang them wonld compel him to act In
the ta11c way towards scores Of others who
Esre equally black with guilt il Missouri aud
1innoia. This exercise Of ~clcmency Il doubt
Union cause, hut Ii Is aninc Us harm and
giving occasion daily to notorious rebels to
snctr sld jest at Mt. Lincoln's conduct. a
few military executions would have sa,uta
rs effect
The stats Convention Is going to the ex
t:e1ne limit II its power Already, by a vote
TIC Convention has decided TO place the pow
Ct Of confiscathE estates Of rebels in arms
u the hands of Me Legislature. They have
also decided that the rebels who lave laid
down their arms PRIOR 10 December nth
1sG1, II accostanee with the amnesty offered
b. 1he old state Convention. saall4e distran
i. ehised. Nj. Drake Was opposed to the pow
= cr Of couflscatfcn, and Ii faror Of tie latte,
dis!rancn'sement,, snd both propositions
caused considerable bitterness In debate The
i. proceedings Of tho Convention viii lead tc
endless disputes in the radica! party, and it is
fearful load for any party to bear, to TAXI
| all the nets Of this Convention se7n con.
Tic river Was ull but closed tight, When
the change in the weather occurred. Mer
chants have suffered strcre1y By the rive
being closed.