Year: 1864

men. In Texas the main body Of the
troops are at Beham, near the centre of
the State, where they are ready for a
movement towards Red river What
this force is numerically, and its exact
distributions, Mr.. Peterson does not
exactly know; but it cannot exceed ten
thousand men. The coast force, from
Sabine as far west as there Is any force,
might be set down at two thousand five
hundred The balance of the whole
force in the department Is scattered
throughout its entire extent Calves
ton is now pretty well fortified The
mouth of the BrazOs is fortified by two
batteries-One of six guns and one of
three. The heaviest guns are thirty
two-pOunders. and the lightest twelve
Founders. They are all smooth bores
These batteries are on opposite banks
of the BrazOs, and Immediately at the
mouth. The force there is four hun
dred men, and Colonel Casey, of the
Thirteenth Texas, is in command Our
informant does not know of any other
fortified post along the coast Generals
Slaughter and Bee are both at Houston
with Magruder.


Men have frequently gone home to
see their families, and have been put to
hard labor when they were caught
The desertiOns are very numerous
Fifteen left with our informant on the
5th, and some times as many as fifty or
sixty in a day. About 1900 Of these
deserters have taken position in the
Jurnigan thicket, near the Red River.
and express themselves determined not
to be forced again to take up arms for
the Confederacy. This rendezvous has
been established for eight months, and
is now quite formidable They have @
regular organization, and are constantly
receiving accessiOns TO their force, con
sisting of discOntented rebels and des-
peradoes of all kinds These men have
no artillery, but are all well armed as
infantry All the men capable Of bear
ing arms. are in the ranks There are
no men at their homes except the aged
and crippled. The men allowed TO be-
exempt for experimenting plantations
with over twenty hands on them find
their places supplied by cripplcs, and
themselves placed in the army Mr
Peterson and two others escaped in a
blockade runners boat The blockade
runner was the steamer Alice, which
arrived at Brazos with q cargo of arms
and merchandise, from Havana, about
two months ago. The steamer tried TO
run out several times, but could not,
and had TO return She Is loaded with
cotton This is the only blockade run
ming steamer that has ever been IN the
BrazOs since the blockade was estab-
lished SchoOners run in and out fre-
quently, and there are ten there now,
laden with cotton and biding their time
and chance to run the blockade Two
ran out the night Of the 4th inst After
getting into the boat, Mr.. Peterson and
his companions pulled out TO the block
aiding steamer Penobscot, which was
three miles out from the river Ii was
two A. NJ on the 5th when they pulled
off in the boat, and in half an hour af-
terwards they were on board the PenOb-
scot, rejoiced to be once more under the
protecting folds of the Stars and Stripes.
On board the Penobscot, Captain Ben
ham and all the officers and men treat
ed the refugees with so much kindness
that they, through Mr.. Peterson, desire
thus to return him their sincere thanks.
Our informant made another attempt
to escape about six weeks previous to
the time he left, but was obliged 10 re-
turn on account Of the heavy sea run
ming.


The prospects for crops in Texas this
year are very poor Up to the 9th inst
there had been no rain 10 do any good
TO the growing crops. Corn, that ought
to be waist high, was only peeping above
the ground, and fields that had been
very forward were bitten of by tho
frost add destroyed Letters from the
wheat growing part Of the State say it
will be impossible to make more than
half a crop this year


Recently the rebels have established
q signal corps all along the Texas coast,
in expectation Of the arrival of the fleet
Of iron or steel clad blockade runners
from Europe. These signals are white
and red lights, and were sent from
Richmond They are kept burning
every night The rebels are building
two or three pontoon bridges at Colum-
bia, in the BrazOs river, for the purpose
Of retreating If they should be driven
from the coast The only cOmmunica-
ton between Texas and the rest Of the
confederacy is by individual5-maIlC car
riers-and occasional adventurers There
is no regular mail communication
About a year ago the rebels were build
ing a ram at Buffalo bayou, near Hous-
ton; but the enterprise has since been
abandoned.