, 1865-02-03

fastened upon the throat Of the rebel, ,caplta
@;eat e. Ssaeer1nf This proposition W r. sne9a IT.
YRS done. O. The fourth day or My. the Amy {
| tae James. thirty.dve thousand strJuy, with u
3:nliery. 1ta cavasry, and Its supplies for taits
% thIeatea tie enemy up York r1vcr, within thir
II miles Of their capital: but within twenty-fou
honss that army Was within twelve miles Of hich
mond. where It has hc1,l its position ever sincs-
position TO which it advanced without the ehet
ding Of drop Of b!ood, -.-.-.
on the eame day The Army Of the Potomac, uE
DIR the command Of Gen. Meade, more taan hur
| dred thou and strong, started from the Rapt1sr
a'Eo toward Richmond.
| In cd not report what you nil know, Of the his
tory Of the march Of that army; but haTe rieh
that the intention With which that army set ou
upon its march wcs to move round the north sid
o' Richmond, above Mechani :syflle. strika th
there forming junction with the Army of tn
Ja1nes, which pas 10 move up toward R!chmon
on thc south side Of the Jamcs river. get aroun
fhS e on 1hs south sde a1d th1s ent It r.
bare slightly puzzled you heretofore, why the Al
Dy Of the James was demonstrating toTafd Dsu
rvs Bluff On the 1Gth Of May. while the Army q
on tie north eide toward Richmond. But the 4,
my Of the Potomac never reached its desiuatlo
t on the north side Of the JaEee; nor did the Arm
Richmond on the zouth side. Indeed, there VI
| no call for the Army Of the James .ahorc Rich
| n,ond, il the Army Of the Potomac could not iol
it: bui II the Army Of The James failed to accom-
pish oil that II hoped for, at least it met with n
We held the lines that nc up, from the An
pomatto1 to tile James, and NC hold thl m to til
day tasy-the adyaneed lines or ali the armies op-Ea1
eide doing this after fortify1ng our position, Ii
ArE1y OF the James sent 1850 men to the aid Q
nsi re iAImy Of the Potomac, and savcd the battle
Pass With me now to the next movement Of ths
Army Of the James-the attempt to take Pctcrs
burg. On tie ninth Of June. Upon that occasion
md the projected assanl: On Petersburg was no
raadc. But ycu will observe, IT there W1s faI1ure
there waB no disasters.
On The 18th Of June, the column Of The Army o
the james haIins returned from the relief OF th,
Army OF the Potomac. another Increment On Pc
tershurg took place. which rcsnlted in tue capture
Of The onter snd at that time only Inc Of detenslv.
the army Of the James, are the advanced ltues o
the armies operating upon Petersburg to this day
Ibe strongest Of these works wss captured By
ektrm1sh line Of negro soldiers. and no troop
have advanced etcp beyond their position in thu
direction after seven months Of siege.
On the s9th Of September, the Army Of ths
James crossed the river IN Two colnnns, one Al
Hartna, the other at Deep Bottom. One attackc;
Battery Harrison, the skirmish line being rallant
y LED By Lowell hoy, Col[Donahoe, who fol
son TIC strongest worE Of he rebels IN the1t @ sxt,
miles Of cntrenchmcnts around Richmond. Or
me Fame day, crossing at Deep Bottom, the Tenth
negro, division. three thousand strong, In column
Of division, with musket fright shonlder shit, .
with not cap on einglc cone Of gun, charged
double lines Of abattis like aash, in the fee q
eight hundred rebels, who never stopped running
tor nye miles Laughter md cheers.l The quc5
settled before the eyes Of every doubtcr In lie
ssked nat a. quesiioa = viii the negroes Sshtr'
bnt, Will they fight for usP''
have thug enumerated all the assaults int Ucrn
ordered by the Commander Of the Army or tho
JanesTone Jane aga1nst strong but illy-deIcnded
wo1R FoFt @ 19a and another against very
BY negroes, ordered for the high and noble pu.-
pose Of demonstrating forever the capabilities oj
IT, faec coan IN arms 1estins under evsry prejudice
cause lie could take the responsibility Of riskine
the loss Of the men By the assau1t, who lay there
as be rode past them, with their aces nptafned to
aary saerince IN so holy cause. tGreat cheering I
And ,na hns ~ friends fey that had right 70
less1y;" and think the declaration ought moi to
be taken a. criticism upon any one, but simply
as statement Of the facts Of my own manner ol
On the 1st Of October, Gen. Lee concentrating
npo3 Ra.tety HARRISON, in which the whole Of a
benr enSev vas sn ftne2
*
effort to fctake what our forces had captured oa
the esth Of September. So that the Army OF the
Jau2es liss safely entrenched withln slx miles Of
Atchm0na. which is again the advanced position
Of AZ the forces operating aganst the rebel capital
ihc 2. It movement Of the Army Of tha james
(e1eep'tns that Of the 9th Of October, vhtn 1t
purpose Of holding. the enemy in their trenches
while the Army Of the Potomac ATTEMPTED to turn
their lett at Hatehers Run} Vas that which caused
come little discussion IN the community Of late
The attempt upon Wilmington, to Soma Of tho
leading poin.s 10 regard to which now wish to
direct your careful attention.
Porter commented to assemble at Fortress Non
roe; Immediately on the appearance OF the fleet
IN Hampton Roads. instead ofany attempt being
ei9 made to keep ths expedition secret there COM
only equaed By the cacklfng ofa hen when she Is
about to .et on single egg. Qaughter) 30 that
nearly every man in tho country, North and South,
the rebels all knew-that t wa nttlng oui to be
sent 10 Wilmington; indeed, to such an extent
Has fbe publicity carried: that although Gen Welt
hccn sent to recoanotre the vicinity OF For; Fish
Ell, yet Gen. Grant concluded that the enemy were
50 Informed Of the purpose Of the expedition, that
did actually refuse do leaving tue aeet lying
in Hampton Roads for months, claiming to be
ready, and boaEtins what they would do to Will
Afterward, for the purpose Of t.yfnc an cxper.
ment and 81 falloWans the question 10 be tested
what would be the effect or the explosion ora
large quantity efpowder in the ueighborhood OF a
Which i Mas e1.ned bT Repe IF
Wonld have, or whether II would resn.t Ia compa-
fcnd three Thousand men in aid OF the n1vy. and
aftt + learning that the enemy were detachiug
forces to meet Sherman. be increased the force to
hnaf1 h1 fo1.and one hslf q which were negroes
on Gen brase had eared 81 his IL foless 10
meet sherman, and therefore the fort would bs
found u9delended hy any considerable force.
feet would run by the fort i, L, tape Fear rlrer,
and then hy landing the troops md entrench1n:
acrosa the Peninsula between the rlynr and the
1t was said that there was not sufficient depth
o. water to go up tho r'vcr. but as. e1nce the fort
has, has indeed been silenesd. there seems to have
the gunhoats up the river, am Inclined 10 tue
opinion that 1t was another want-rather than the
want Of wateE-that prevented the gunboats going
up the Hyer by the torts while they were In pos
session Of the eenemy-E:tFragu4 ,e1s not tAeret
Although Admiral Porter telcgraphed me,
WHICH teIeeraph have, that he would be ready
ready en- that day, gel We waited for the lect at
Fortress Monroe uutll the 14th day OF December,
Wien We sailcd from Chesapeake Bay At o'clock
dezyous sppointed by Admiral Porters pr1nted
order, on the night Of the 18th !; aud there ne
waited three days while the sun never shown moro
caimes, while the wind was never more zephyr
like, until the 18th, but still AdmIra! Porter did
not come, and the fort at that time was substan-
ns nst 81 s te s e s no
Judge, then, OF my snrprlse when read in one
that the army waa not ready soon
enough; in anothe. that ne sailed to soon; and
again. In another dispatch, flor they seern to be
fFuitfnl Of dispatches, that tho *powderboat was
prepared By me, and that We waited for that.''
Fellow cii.ens, have lived With Jon, man and
yea, you vii, hays me-, for thlsty Years e longef
times, I'D hops to stand before yoa many tines tines
the good Of the country; but often as / have met
you here. no man can say that ever misrepscsent-
cd fact, and when nov tell you TINT never saw
that Powcer-hoat, that all had to do with 1t was
navy one hundred and fifty tons Of powder, and
the whole thing wns under the charge of the navy,
ey eaa:hy Nv & m sSs t
Judge Of the truth Of the dispatch which states
that prepared he powder-bo3t But the powder
boat o,a It T. said was failure. Granted; e the
int nded that there should be then exploded more
powder thnn ever Was at once exploded hefore-
pnwdear enonsh IN M judgmen1 to hare done
written advice Of Admiral Porter that should
: etakd out twenty-five miles, let of the steam, and
draw ne FIRE from the boiler Of my boat before 1t
even there. Laughter and applausc.] That sug-
gestlon, say, have In writing.
Yet Porter would intimate L had too much faith
lc The efficacy Of the powder-hoat I'D that he had
20 believe IN it's effect Certain it admitted that
be got his fleet 80 fur awny from the scene Of the
explosion that for that or some other reason
he could not Eet back asaiu under ten hours there
atcr to fire the first ahot at the fort after the pow
der-boat exploded. There was very l7rge 1nan. !
dty Of powder, and am stitl confident that II it
had gone of It would have done great damage. Ii
EEas Intended to place 1t In bags with fuses run
ming al through II 20 that 1t might DO instaata-
done The clock-work, he candles, the fuses.
everything prepared to ignite It. failed; and the
ony why that II Was got Of At all was to set IRE to
end OF the mass OF powder, the explosion Of
which sent the other part into the water, without
being burnt 90 that IN my hcllef not more than
making IN explosion, indeed. which IS described
q hardly moro than would have been felt from a
dtteeu-inch run.
You see, therefore, the experiment Has not tried