Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-04-01

ments sent out by Kimba1l as fiankers-
However, Garrett abandoned the stone
wall, and every effort put forth by the
Confederate commander and his lieu
tenants to ward of disaster was una
vailing. The Confederate troops on the
left of Garrett, Fulkerson's brigade,
were isolated by Garnett's withdrawal
from the line, and the relentless acuvl-
ty of Kimbalrs men allowed no respite
for the recovery of lost ground. The
stone wall became the prize of the Fed
eraI men. as did also two Of Jackson1s
cannon.
1t was now nearing night. and Kim
balls line was very much confused
On his new front there was wide
stretch of open ground with wood on
the hither side offering good raily1ng
point for Jackson. But his troops re-
treated to their trains, and Ashby's
cavalry was drawn upon to do picket
duty along Kimball's front
In his formal official report Jackson
wrote that though Winchester was not
recovered and though the contested
field remained in possession Of the enc
my, yet the most essential fruits of
the battle are ours" In a dispatch TO
General Johnston, dated March "A, he
appealed for 5000 more infantry, a
doubling up of his force to aid him
against Kimball alone should the lat
ter advance. He was himself at that
moment retreating south and in the
same dispatch to Johnston added, Il
will try and remain on this side Stras-
burg" Evidently "StonewalP' met his
peer when accident threw him afoul Of
Colonel Kimball in his first Shenandoah
campaign.
Other Events of the Week.
On March IS the Confederate gun
boat feet on the Mississippi river at
tackled the Federals at New Madrid,
Mo. They were repulsed by General
Pepe's land batteries and Flag Officer
Foote'S ironclads. This sally Of the
Confederates was in retaliation Of an
attack made on the previous day by
all the Federal ironclads and mortar
boats. The new ironclad Benton, lash
ed between the Cincinnati and st. Lou
is. was on one side of the river, the
Mound City. Carondelet and Pittsburg
on the other. Fire opened at 1:20 at
the rate Of one gun a minute. The
Confederates replied promptly and
struck the Benton, but owing to the
distance from which they were fred
did but little damage.
During the action one of the rif1ed
| guns of the st. Louis exploded, killing
and wounGsng several of the gunners
| From this time on but little progress
was made in the reduction of the Con.
federate works, the gunboats firing a
few shots now and then at long range
The motar boats were daily throwing
| thirteen inch bombs.
| The advance guard of the Federal
army of the Potomac sailed from
! Alexandria for the Yorktown peninsula
for the purpose of attacking Richmond
The question of the legality of the
| Federal blockade of southern seaports
was settled in Europe by the accept
ance of it by England on March 20
The law officers Of the British govern
ment formally declared that it was eff
ficient in the sense required by inter
national law and therefore legal 81
long as the United States could main
tain it.
March % the army of the Potomac
having been transferred by ships from
Alexandria, Va. to Fortress Monroe
was getting ready to march TOWARD
Yorktown. Farragut was preparing t
attack the Confederate forts at New
Orleans with his warships or dasl
past them under fire. All of the yes
sells assigned to his command had ar
rived, including a feet of morta
schooners. Only two of the big ship
were able to cross the bar-namely
the Hartford and the Brooklyn. TIL
navy department had made the mis-
take of sending warships of too heav.
draft, and the bar delayed the prog
ress of the feet toward the fort
twelve days. Meanwhile the Confed
crates worked day and night t
strengthen their principal land de
lenses, Forts Jackson and St Philip
on opposite sides of the river abou
half mile apart.
In addition to these forts the ConfeC
crates had improvised a defense fee
using for the purpose heavy tugs an