Battle of Rich Mountain

 

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Civil War Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861

This Harper's Weekly newspaper features eye-witness pictures and stories describing a number of important events at the early stages of the Civil War. It has a nice picture of the Battle of Winchester, and the Battle of Hoke's Run. It also features a nice full page picture of Washington DC, showing the unfinished US capitol dome.

(Scroll Down to See full page, or Newspaper Thumbnails will take you to the page of interest)

 

Boonville

Boonville, Missouri

Prentiss Williams

General Prentiss and Williams

Rich Mountain

Battle of Rich Mountain

Louisiana Zouaves

Louisiana Zouaves

Hoke's Run

The Battle of Hoke's Run

Troop Review

Review of New York Troops

French Lady

French Lady Cartoon

 

The Battle of Rich Mountain

Wilson's Zouaves

Wilson's Zouaves

Fourth of July Celebration

Fourth of July Celebration

Camp Life

Civil War Camp Life

Washington D. C.

Washington D.C. Pictures

Horses

Civil War Army Horses

 

 

 

 

 

 

JULY 27, 1861.]

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

467

(Previous Page) It would be a solemn vindication of the power of the Government. It would be an earnest to the world that it meant to maintain itself; and to loyal citizens that it meant to restore its authority and protect their rights.

We all owe it to ourselves and to the rebels to show that we mean the supremacy of the Government and the punishment of all who lead the fight against it in the same way that, when the laws are broken by a riot, the Government proceeds against the ringleaders.

RETALIATION.

IF the Government punishes traitors—if it hangs pirates, for instance, will not the rebels retaliate?

Very possibly : and what then ? Which is best, that every man who takes up a musket or ships upon a privateer to shoot and rob honest American citizens shall know that he does so at his extremest peril, or that it is a game in which if he be caught he will be let go again ?

A Government that fears retaliation is not sure of itself. When Washington vas personally entreated by Andre, not to spare his life, but to mitigate his sentence, the Commander-in-Chief was deeply pained by the sad necessity of refusal ; but his duty to a people was stronger than his pity for a single man, and he exacted the utmost penalty.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.

A FRIEND at the West writes to know why General Scott, who was a Major-General forty years ago, is supposed to be advanced in rank by the title Lieutenant-General ?

A wiser friend in the East replies that the rank of Major-General is one of the regular grades of army promotion; but the Lieutenant-Generalcy is a rank of honor especially created by Act of Congress for General Scott.

HUMORS OF THE DAY.

IRISH FERTILITY IN EXCUSE MAKING.

AN Englishman, traveling in Ireland, remarked to the driver of a coach upon the tremendous length of the Irish miles.

"Confound your Irish miles ! Why, there's no end to them!"

"Sure, Sir," said the coachman, "the roads are bad about here, and so we give good measure."

A PRETTY HOME TRUTH.—Man may be the Head of the Family; but, far better than that, Woman is the Heart of it.

 

When Louis XIII. passed through the little town of Languedoc, the mayor and the consuls were very much embarrassed about his reception. They consulted a butcher of the place, who was reckoned a very Solomon. The fellow, proud of being sought after, offered his services to introduce them to the king, and performed his duty by saying, " Sire, as I am a butcher by trade, I bring you a few of my beasts." The mayor and the consuls then made a low bow, and the ceremony ended to the general satisfaction of all.

''A WONDERFUL MAN. "

A Turin letter, describing the new Italian Minister, declares inter alia-

"M. Ricasoli never feels fatigue. Four hours' sleep, a piece of bread and butter, and a glass of water, are sufficient to supply his daily wants. He has no court, but he displays a greater haughtiness than Louis the Fourteenth. Rarely is he seen to laugh. He is generous, but is feared. His peasants tremble at his approach, yet he has made them rich and comfortable. Never was a character more strongly marked."

This is quite exact as far as it goes, but it is incomplete. We are glad to be able to finish the description from an equally accurate source:

"For his appearance—M. Ricasoli is seven feet high, but has the delicate feet and hands of a child of four years old. His hair is snow-white, his eyebrows, whiskers, mustache, and beard of the jettiest black.

"For his temperament—it is bilio-sanguineo-lymphatico-nervous. He will weep over the pages of Manzoni, but did not shed a tear when his mother died.

" For his habits—he hates pomp and form, but never goes out without four running footmen, and insists upon being served upon the knee.

"With an annual income equivalent to £10,000 19s. 4d. in English money, his personal expenditure amounts to 1 1/2 pauls (8 1/2 d. English) daily. He is at once silent and loquacious, amiable and sulky, impetuous and cold-blooded, tall and short, young and old—in one word, he is exactly the man whom clever correspondents delight to paint, but whom nobody ever met with."

It will be interesting to lovers to know exactly the difference between a kiss and a treading on the toe—as to the time each demonstration takes, that is to say, in making the lady aware of it. Science has lately decided that the nervous sensation travels one hundred and ninety-five feet in a second, and that a touch on the cheek, therefore, is communicated to the brain one-thirtieth of a second sooner than the pressure on the toe.

A man in Kentucky killed a cow a few days since, in whose stomach was found a large brass pin, a hair pin, and a quantity of hooks and eyes. It is inferred that the old cow swallowed the milk-maid.

"Is this your house and home?" asked a traveler of a farmer as he saw him boarding up a pig-sty. "No," replied the farmer. " I'm only boarding here."

"How much can you pay us?—what can you offer in the pound?" demanded the creditors of a bankrupt farmer. "Alas! gentlemen, all I really have is a donkey in the pound," replied the ruined agriculturist.

"I'll let you know when I come again," as the rheumatism said to the leg.

  "Well, Patrick," asked the doctor, "how do you feel to-day?" " Och, doctor, dear, I enjoy very poor health intirely. This rumatics is very distressin' indade; when I go to sleep I lay awake all night, and my toes is swilled as large as a goose hen's eggs, so whin I stand up I fall down immediately."

A man down East has invented yellow spectacles for making lard look like butter. They are a great saving of expense if worn while eating.

An emigrant to Port Natal, writing home to one of his friends, says, "We are getting on finely here, and have already laid the foundation of a larger jail."

An empty bottle must certainly be a very dangerous thing, if we may judge from the fact that many a man has been found dead with one at his side.

"Very good, but rather too pointed," as the fish said when it swallowed the bait.

Why is a fool in high station like a man in a balloon?—Because every body appears little to him, and he appears little to every body.

The following is a true copy of a letter received by a village schoolmaster : "Sur, as you are a man of noledge, I intend to inter my son in your skull."

Water isn't a fashionable beverage for drinking your friend's health, but it is a capital one for drinking your own.

The man who " challenged contradiction" got into an awful fight, and was severely beaten.

A man, whose son ran a way for "parts unknown," advertised him in the papers, describing him as "red-haired, blue-eyed, and having a turned-up nose." One evening, while the anxious father was, as usual, inquiring of every one he saw concerning his runaway son, a wag, who was standing by exclaimed,

"I'm positive your son will turn up soon, my man." "Have you seen him, my friend ?" asked the father, grasping the other by the hand.

"You say his nose turned up, don't you?"

" Yes, yes; but have you seen him ?"

"No, I haven't ; but if his nose turned up, he'll turn up too; for every one must follow his nose, you know." The father groaned at this poking fun at misery.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.

CONGRESS.

ON Tuesday 9th, in the Senate, a bill passed to refund and remit duties on fire-arms imported for the use of a State. The bill to increase the army was reported from the Military Committee with an amendment to increase the new regiments to the same number as the old ones. The death of Senator Douglas was announced, and after eulogies upon the character of the deceased by Senators Trumbull, M'Dougal, Collamer, Nesmith, Browning, and Anthony, the customary resolutions were adopted and the Senate adjourned.-In the House, a bill appropriating $6,000,000 for the payment of militia and volunteers was passed. The Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means reported a bill for a national loan. The Committee on Commerce reported a bill closing the ports of entry of seceded States, to collect duties on shipboard, and to seize and confiscate all vessels belonging to rebels. It was ordered to be printed and recommitted. Mr. Lovejoy again brought forward his resolution declaring it to be no part of the duty of the army to capture or return fugitive slaves, and it was adopted by a vote of 92 to 55.

On Wednesday, 10th, in the Senate, much time was occupied in debating a resolution approving of the acts of the Administration with reference to the suppression of the rebellion. An amendment, declaring that nothing shall authorize the permanent increase of the army or navy, was agreed to, and the further discussion of the subject was postponed. A bill authorizing the President to employ volunteers to aid in suppressing the insurrection and protecting property was taken up, and, after some discussion, was passed by a vote of 34 to 4.-   In the House, the bill refunding and remitting duties on arms imported by States since the 1st of May, or until January next, was passed by a vote of 135 to 10. The House then, after au hour's debate, passed the bill authorizing a loan of $250,000,000, by a vote of 149 to 5. The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow on the credit of the United States, within twelve months from the passage of the act, a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, for which he is authorized to issue certificates of coupon, or registered 7 per cent. stock, or Treasury notes. The House also passed a bill which provides that whenever it shall, in the judgment of the President, by reason of unlawful combinations of persons in opposition to the laws of the United States, become impracticable to execute the revenue laws and collect the duties on imports by the ordinary means, in the ordinary way, at any port of entry in any collection district, he is authorized to cause such duties to be collected at any port of delivery in said district until such obstruction shall cease; and in such case the surveyors at the ports of delivery shall be clothed with all powers and subject to all the obligations of collectors at ports of entry.

On Thursday, 11th, in the Senate, various bills, all having reference to a vigorous prosecution of the war, were presented and referred to the appropriate committees. The Loan Bill was referred to the Committee on Finance. Bills for the employment of volunteers in the navy, to regulate the marine force, to increase the navy in time of war, increasing the number of paymasters in the navy, and in relation to the Naval Academy, were introduced, and all referred to the Naval Committee. The House bill for the payment of the volunteers was amended by making the appropriation five and three-quarters, instead of six millions, and the bill was passed. The resolution offered on Wednesday for the expulsion of the rebellious Senators of the seceded States was called up, and, after some discussion, adopted by a vote of 32 yeas to 10 nays. Senator Saulsbury, of Delaware, gave notice of his intention to introduce a resolution for an amendment of the Constitution, with a view to the adjustment of the present difficulties. The Senate took up the resolution approving of the acts of the President, which elicited lengthened remarks from Senators Polk of Missouri, and Powell of Kentucky, in opposition, which were briefly replied to by other Senators, when further action on the resolution was postponed till Friday. The bill for the better organization of the military establishments, with its several amendments, was ordered to be printed. The Senate then held a short executive session, and adjourned.—In the House, bills were reported making additional appropriations for the legislative, executive, judicial, and civil departments of the Government; to promote the efficiency of the army, and for the employment of volunteers, which were referred to the Committee of the Whole and ordered to be printed. In Committee of the Whole, on the Army Bill, for the appropriation of six hundred millions of money and five hundred thousand men to uphold the Government, a warm debate arose, in which several members participated, after which the bill was reported to the House and passed. The Naval Appropriation Bill was also passed, and the House concurred in the Senate's amendments to the bill for the payment of the militia and volunteers.

On Friday, 12th, in the Senate, the Force bill, after considerable discussion, was passed, by 36 yeas to 6 nays. The previous vote on the bill authorizing the employment of volunteers was reconsidered, some amendments made, and the bill again passed—yeas 35, nays 5. A bill was introduced relative to the Sanitary Commission, and referred to the Military Committee. Notice was given of a bill to be introduced authorizing the Federal Government to take possession of personal property in the rebellious States where the owners have been found in rebellion. Senator Saulsbury, of Delaware, offered his previously noticed resolution for an amendment to the Constitution, with a view to putting a stop to the present war. It is in substance the Crittenden Compromise of the last Congress. On the presentation of the credentials of Mr. Frederic P. Stanton, appointed by the Governor of Kansas to fill a supposed vacancy from that State, understood to be caused by the appointment of Senator James Lane to a command in the regular army, Senator Lane demurred to being ousted from his Senatorial functions before his military nomination had been confirmed, and the matter was referred to the Judiciary Committee. Various bills received consideration, all having in view the strengthening of the administrative arm of Government..-In the House, the bill came up authorizing the President to accept the services of five hundred thousand volunteers for the prosecution of the war, and appropriating five hundred millions of dollars to pay for the same, when a spirited discussion took place, participated in by various members. The bill finally passed the House. It has yet to past the Senate. Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, offered a preamble and resolution, declaring vacant the seats of such members as have accepted commands in the militia of their several States, which occasioned a lively passage of words between various representatives, when the matter was tabled by 92 to 51. A resolution was adopted requesting the Attorney-General to lay before the House a copy of his opinion in relation to the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

On Saturday, 13th, in the Senate, a bill was introduced providing for an Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Senator Johnson, of Tennessee, presented the credentials of Messrs. W. B. Wiley and J. S. Carlisle, Senators elect from Virginia, in place of Senators Mason and Hunter respectively. Senator Bayard, of Delaware, moved to refer the credentials to the Judiciary Committee before administering the oath, which was disagreed to by yeas 5, nays 35. The new Senators from Virginia were then sworn in amidst suppressed applause from the spectators. The $250,000,000 Loan Bill was taken up, and several unimportant amendments, proposed by the Finance Committee, were adopted. Senator Saulsbury moved to make the sum $150,000,000, as that amount would be sufficient till the next session of Congress. The motion was rejected—yeas 4, nays 36—and the bill was then temporarily laid aside. The bill to increase the present military establishment was discussed, and reported to the Senate. The Senate, after an executive session, then adjourned.—In the House, Mr. Blair offered a preamble setting forth that John B. Clark, a member of the House from Missouri, held a commission in the rebel State Guard of Missouri, accompanied by a resolution declaring that said Clark has forfeited his rights as a representative, and that he be forthwith expelled. After some debate the resolution was adopted by a vote of 94 to 45. The bill to promote the efficiency of the army, by retiring disabled and infirm officers, was passed. The bill to make good the loss of private property incurred by soldiers in going from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter was passed. The amount involved is $1120. A message was received from the President, stating that he had signed the bill providing for the payment of troops called into service up to 30th of June last.

On Monday, 14th, in the Senate, John W. Forney was elected Secretary ; he received 26 of 36 votes cast. The Army Appropriation bill and the bill providing for an increase of the military establishment were passed. The resolution approving of the acts of the President with reference to the suppression of the rebellion was, on motion of Senator Breckinridge, made the special order for 15th, when he said he would make a speech on the position of public affairs. The $250,000,000 Loan Bill was taken up, and several of the Finance Committee's amendments were adopted. A bill providing for the confiscation of the property of rebels was introduced. After an executive session the Senate adjourned.—In the House a large amount of business was transacted. A resolution requesting the Secretary of the Navy to supply a sufficient force to suppress rebel privateering was adopted. Ben Wood, of New York, offered a resolution providing for a National Convention, to devise measures for the restoration of peace to the country. It was laid on the table by a vote of 92 to 51. Bills to increase the efficiency of the army were reported and referred. A select committee was ordered on the subject of a general bankrupt law, to report to the next session of Congress. Mr. Vallandigham offered resolutions condemning the President's action in reference to the war, but they were promptly laid on the table. A bill to define and punish conspiracy was passed by a vote of 123 to 7. A resolution was adopted directing the withholding of money due on account of the steamer Cataline until the Select Committee on Contracts report thereon. A resolution directing the Committee on Elections to inquire whether Hon. Henry May, a member from Maryland, has been holding criminal intercourse with the rebels, and to report what course should be taken in the premises, was adopted. The Senate's amendments to the Volunteer bill were concurred in, and the House adjourned.

THE BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN.

A brilliant battle, resulting in a complete success, signalized the opening of the campaign of General McClellan in Western Virginia. It occurred on Thursday afternoon at Rich Mountain, where a force of 2000 rebels were strongly intrenched under Colonel Pegram. The official dispatch of General McClellan to the War Department, dated from Rich Mountain, states that he dispatched Brigadier-General Rosencrans, a young and able West Point officer of engineers, with four regiments of Ohio and Indiana troops, as an advance-body, through the mountains from Roaring Rum, a distance of eight miles, over which route they had to cut their way through the woods. After a march of nearly twelve hours, General Rosencrans came on the rear of the rebels, and, after a desperate fight of an hour and a half, completely routed them, driving them in the utmost disorder into the woods, and capturing all their guns, wagons, and camp equipage, or, as General McClellan says, "all they had." They also took several prisoners, many officers among them. Sixty of the rebels were killed, and a large number wounded. Of the Union troops twenty were killed and forty wounded. General McClellan had his guns mounted to command the rebel's position, but he found that the gallantry of Rosencrans spared him the trouble of going into action.

SURRENDER OF PEGRAM.

A dispatch was received at Washington from General McClellan a few hours after the receipt of the news of the above battle, containing intelligence of the proposal of Colonel Pegram to surrender his whole force, who are represented as being quite penitent, and resolved never to serve again against the Federal Government. The following is General McClellan's dispatch :

"HEAD-QUARTERS, BEVERLY, VA., July 13, 1861. "Colonel E. D. Townsend, Washington, D. C.:

"I have received from Colonel Pegram propositions for his surrender, with his officers and the remnant of his command, say 600 men. They are said to be extremely penitent, and determined never again to take up arms against the General Government. 1 shall have near 900 or 1000 prisoners to take care of when Colonel Pegram comes in. The latest accounts make the loss of the rebels in killed some 150.   G. B. McCLELLAN,

"Major-General Department of Ohio.

ROUT OF GARNETT'S CORPS D'ARMEE.

The rebel forces, under General Robert S. Garnett, a native of Virginia, and formerly a Major in the United States Army, while retreating from Laurel Hill to St. George, were overtaken on Sunday by General Morris, with the Fourteenth Ohio and the Seventh and Ninth Indiana regiments. When within eight miles of St. George, at a place called Carrick's Ford, the rebels made a stand, a brisk fight ensued, and they were completely routed and scattered by the troops of General Morris. While General Garnett was attempting to rally his men he was struck through the spine with a rifle ball, and fell dead on the road. Two hundred of the rebels are said to have been killed in the recent actions in this quarter, a large number wounded, and more prisoners secured than their captors can take care of. The flight of the rebels is represented as a most disastrous rout.

THE PRIVATEER "JEFF DAVIS."

This city was startled last week by the news that a Southern privateer has been making sad havoc among our merchant ships in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras. The audacious vessel sails under the name of the Jeff Davis, and is heavily armed, and commanded by an ex-officer of the United States Navy. She succeeded in capturing five vessels—one ship, two brigs, and two schooners—and sending them with prize crews toward some Southern port. Captain Howard, of the United States Navy, despatched three revenue cutters from this port in search of the privateer, and two other cutters started from Boston on the same errand. The gun-boat Iroquois also left in pursuit.

THE PRIVATEER "SUMTER."

Information reached us last week of the seizure of eight more vessels, bound for American ports, by the privateer Sumter, off the southern coast of Cuba, seven of which were run into the port of Cienfuegos, and one burned off the Isle of Pines. The Sumter was formerly the Marquis de la Habana, one of Miramon's Mexican steamers, which was seized by the United States squadron at the time of his bombardment of Vera Cruz. We published a portrait of her a few weeks since.

A NEW GOVERNOR TO BE CHOSEN IN MISSOURI.

The political and financial condition of Missouri is se desperate that a call for a Convention has been issued, to meet in Jefferson City on the 22d of this month, for the purpose of nominating a Governor and Lieutenant-Governor and other State officers, in place of Governor Jackson, who is a fugitive, and the others who are not willing to act under the laws and Constitution of the United States. It is thought that a full Provisional Government of loyal men will be appointed by this Convention, to act in the present crisis.

PERSONAL.

Major-General Polk, alias Bishop Leonidas Polk, of Louisiana, who has superseded General Pillow, is to have command of all the rebel land and water defenses of the Mississippi River from the mouth of the Red River as far up as the Union forces will permit him to come. What is to be done with Pillow does not yet appear.

FOREIGN NEWS.

FRANCE.

RECOGNITION OF THE KING OF ITALY. NAPOLEON'S note of recognition to Victor Emanuel as King of Italy had been published. He does not in it approve of the past policy of the Cabinet of Turin, will not recognize acts of aggression which threaten the peace of Europe, and will retain his troops in Rome "so long as the interests which took them to Rome are not guaranteed."

JUDGMENT IN THE PATTERSON CASE.

The Imperial Court of Paris delivered judgment on the 1st of July in the Patterson-Bonaparte case. The Court, assenting to the argument of the Procureur-General, declared that the suit instituted by Madame Patterson and her son Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte was not maintainable, and condemned them to pay the costs.

FANCY SKETCH OF RIGHT REVEREND MAJOR-GENERAL BISHOP POLK HEADING HIS "DIVISION."

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