Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 February 1912 — The CIVIL WAR [ARTICLE]

The CIVIL WAR

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK - 4 ;

February 18, 1862. Quantrel and Parker, partisan Confederate leaders, made a daring dash on a body of Ohio cavalry near Independence, Mo. The engagement,; which did not rise above a skirmish, was exceedingly hot for a short time. The Confederates got away neatly. The constitutional convention for the new state of Western Virginia, which had been holding sessions in •iWheeHng for 69 days, adjourned. The !free state provision was defeated In the convention. Commisioners were appointed having power to re assemble the convention if the new state is admitted into the Union by congress. The tone of English speech regarding the United States was different thlssday. John Bright made a strong speech in Parliament denouncing' the attitude of England in the Trent affair, and Earl Russell explained the case of Mr. Shaver, a British subject in prison at Port Warren, sustaining the action of 'the American government Flag Officer Goldsborough and Brigadier General Burnside issued a proclamation at Roanoke Island inviting the inhabitants of North Carolina to separate themselves from the malign Influences of the bad men in their midst and to return to their aliegiance. - ■ ' • The first session of the congress of the permanent government of the Confederate states was opened at noon in the capitol at Richmond, Va, February 19, 1862.

i The Memphis Appeal rumored the evacuation of Columbus, Ky„ by the Confederates. “General Polk issued orders yesterday that the track of the Memphis & Ohio railroad should be torn up and the bridges burned, which order vail obeyed, and by this time the work of destruction is complete on e. great part of the road,” says the issue of this date. “A rumor prevailed on the streets this afternoon that General Polk was. preparing to evacuate Columbus tomorrow, remove all the guns, etc., and demolish the fortifications. The forces at New Madrid and Port Pillow, together with the Columbus troops, are to report to Memphis at once, and make a stand, making an army of 80,000 men.” President Lincoln issued the following proclamation: “It is recommended to the people of the United States that they assemble in their customary places for meeting for public solemnities, on the twenty-second day of February, and celebrate the anniversaryNjf the birth of the Father of His Country, by causing %o be read his immortal Farewell Address.” The electoral votes for president and vice-president of the Confederate States of America were counted in the Confederate congress at Richmond, Va. The total number of votes cast was 109. They were cast unanimously for Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens, respectively. The city of Clarksville, on the Cumberland river, in Tennessee, was occupied by the Nationals under Flag Officer A. H. Foote, U. a N. February 20, 186 g. The loss of Forts Henry and Donnelson, and the strategic retirement of General Johnßton to a point in the rear of Nashville, Tenn., caused alarm among the Confederate sympathizers throughout the state. The state government was transferred from Nashville to Memphis. The transfer was ordered by resolution of the assembly. Isfaam G. Harris, governor of Tennessee, made complaint of the difficulty he had experienced in organizing the militia for defense, and asked for* a remodeling of the militia system. A monster defense meeting was held in. Memphis to act on his suggestions. The stores in the streets were closed, business was suspended, and the populace turned out to see what might be done, so; imminent seemed the approach of the Union troous. The United States steamer Stepping Stoned reconnoitering in the Occoquan creek, in Virginia, in company with a launch and boat’s crew from the Yankee, were warmly handled by a masked battery that opened -on them as they were descending the creek. The fire was hot on both sides until the Union vessels passed out of range. - . 5* \ . 4 Winton, N. C., was burned by the Federal forces under General Burnside. The troops, with gunboats, ascended the Chowan river, where the Confederates opened lire on them. The national tnoopa landed and destroyed the town in retaliation. Jk'&valry raid by troops under General Mitchell in the vicinity of Russel viSe, Ky., netted 11 Confederate prisoners. Fsbruery 21, 1882. v The Richmond Whig deplored the proposition made by Governor Letcher of Virginia to call out for organisation and drill all male inhabitants between the ages of sixteen and sixty. “We have a very great doubt whether each a mass would effect more good than michief,” the paper skid. "To call out the whole male population of the rural districts over sixteen and under sixty-five, or even between eighteen and forty-live, would he * mischievous and inexcusable folly. In the first place, we have no arms to pnt4h,th«r hfyde, , , . In the second place, i®;':.-.■ -if >■

it would ruin the industrial pursuit* of the state and leave ns without the means of prosecuting the war beyond the present session. There will be no want of men without any extraortlnary legislation. . . . If there should be a deficiency, It could easily be supplied hy a draft 7 In a battle that lasted from nine o’clock in the morning until sundown*, near Valverde, N. M., a Confederate force under Colonel Steele defeated and drove in a Federal force under Colonel Canby. Valverde was a little town on the Rio Grande river, near the boundary between New Mexico and Arizona, and seven miles from Fort Craig. The Federal force, which comprised the garrison of Fort Craig, was supported by a battery of six guns under Captain Mcßae. Captain Mcßae was killed in a charge by the Confederates and the battery was captured.

Capt. Nathaniel P. Gordon, commander of the slave ship Erie, was executed at New York, according to sentence. He had attempted to commit suicide at three o’clock in the morning by taking strychnine, hut the physicians succeeded in prolonging his life until it could be taken by process of law. February 22, 1862. Jefferson Davis was inaugurated president of the Confederate States of America at Richmond, Va. The ceremony was at noon, in front of the capital. The oath of office was administered by J. D. Halyburton, Confederate judge. Western Tennessee was proclaimed under martial law by General Grant in a proclamation Issued from Fort Donelson. “Whenever a sufficient num-' ber return to their allegiance to maintain law and order over the territory, the military restriction will be removed," the order concluded. Henry T. Clark, Confederate governor of North Carolina, issued a proclamation calling on the people of the state to respond to the requisition made on the state by the Confederate government for men and money. Washington's birthday was generally celebrated throughout the nation, and the army and navy. The slcop-of-■war Adirondack was launched at the navy yard at Brooklyn. A breakfast given by Americans in London in honor of the birthday of Washington was made the occasion of patriotic speeches and the expression of friendliness toward Great Britain. The breakfast was held in Free Mason’s hall. Two hundred persons attended. The bjghop of Ohio presided. The Hon. C..F Adams, United States minister to Great Britain, responded to the toast “Georgp Washington.’’ The bishop of Ohia proposed the health of Queen Victoria. Mr. Moss, United consul at London, proposed “The Union,” and Cyrus W. Field spoke to “England and America.” President Lincoln's order of January 27 for a general advance on February 22 was not obeyed.

February 23, 1862. Fayetteville, Ark., a town on the White river, 150 miles west of Little Rock, was burned and abandoned by a force of Confederates today, before the advance of a Federal force under General Curtis. The Confederates, who were greatly outnumbered, retreated over the Boston mountains. ' General Halleck Issued an order to all the troops under Ms command defining the policy to be pursued by the forces as they advanced, private property was ordered to be strictly respected, and all non-combatants treated at neutrals, unless they were known to be giving aid to the Confederates, in which case they were to be treated as belligerents. , Regarding the slavery question as a matter for the civil authorities, he prohibited the admission of fugitive slaves within the Union lines except by special order of the generals commanding. Nashville, Tenn., was by the Confederates, haVing become untenable since the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson and the* advance of the i-Union army by river. - President Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson military governor x>f'TennesBvv. February 24, 1882. An expedition composed of four iron-clad gunboats and two mortar boats, with the Twenty-seventh Illinois and a battalion of the Eighth Wisconsin made a reconnoissance from Cairo to Columbus. The Confederates were found to have seized all the fiat boats and skiffs as far pp the river as they dared to go. A movement of the troops in Columbus was also detected. Lieut A. C. Rhind, U. S. N., with Lieut. Prentiza and three men, discovered a bonfederate battery in process of erection at Bear Bluff, opposite White Point on the North -.Edisto river, South Carolina. Two pickets who were found asleep in the magazine were seized, but one of them, resisting, was accidentally shot by Lieutenant Rhind. A body of Texas Rangers concealed In a house at Mason’s Neck, near Occoquan, Virginia, fired on a body of Union soldiers and precipitated a lively skirmish la which the Federala suffered the loss of two men. The Rangers were not dislodged from the house, and their loss was not Harper’s Ferry, Va., was occupied by a Federal force under General Banks. The troops were unopposed. (Copyright. Wt by W, O. Chapman.) *V-* i—»