Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 146, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1912 — The CIVIL WAR FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK [ARTICLE]

The CIVIL WAR FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

June 10, 1862. The Seward-Lyona treaty for the suppression of the African slave trade was officially promulgated. It li to remain la full force for a period of ten years. Instructions for the ships of the United States and British navies and regulations for the mixed courts of Justice accompanied the publication ~i The schooner Julia was captured at Barataria, La., by Master's Mate John H. Gregory, with a crew of twelve men from the United States gunboat tinny. A fight took place on James Island, S. C., between a body of Union troops Iplls* large force of Confederates. It was hotly contested for more than two hours, and ended in the dii§i|i>l fiture of the Confederates, who were outnumbered. - The Union army under General Fremont reached Port Republic, Va., the scene of the stand made by General Jackson the day before. The Confederates in front of the Union lines at Savage's Station, Chickahomlny Swamp, Va., kept up a bombardment, without effect, their shells falling short of the mark. June 11, 1862. VV\ A severe skirmish took place between a portion of the Thirteenth Indiana light artillery and a mounted squad of Captain Blood's provost-' guard, under Captain Nicklin, and a large body, of -Confederate Irregulars who were hidden in a thick clump of bushes, t The Confederates were eventually dislodged, but not until the National troops had suffered \ some loss in killed and wounded. Twentylive of the irregulars were captured. A flag of truce was received at Batesville, Ark., the headquarters of General Curtis of the Union army, bearing a letter from General Hindman of the Confederate army threatening to hang every Federal officer and soldier who should fall into his hands in case General Curtis should hang certain persons in his hands as outlaws. General Curtis replied immediately, disclaiming any intention of hanging. Specie payment was resumed by the New Orleans Bank of America. A Confederate battery of four guns Was captured at James Island, S. C., by two regiments of Union troops. The schooper Princeton was captured by the United States steamer Susquehanna. June 12, 1862. A fight took place at Waddell’s farm near Village Creek, Ark., between a body of National troops under the com. mand of Col. Albert E. Brackett of the Ninth Illinois cavalry and a party of Confederates known as Hooker’s company, in which the latter were defeated with a loss of twenty-eight killed, wounded and prisoners. Colonel Brackett’s loss was one killed and eleven prisoners. ............,....... A detachment of the Richmond Bines had a skirmish near the Chickahominy on the right wing of the Confederate army with a body of Union Infantry. The fire of the Blues killed six of the enemy and wounded several, when they retreated. General Fremont left Harrlsonburgh, Va. The citizens expressed their delight by an illumination, of every window in town. A small expedition of United States forces under Captain Hynes, topographical engineers, went up the Nansemond river without resistance. Mount Jackson, Va., was occupied by tbe Federal army under General Ikemont. v > An attack on a Confederate battery on James Island, S. C., by three regiments of Union troops, was repulsed. June 13, 1862. i Col. James R. Slack, Federal, commanding at Memphis, Tenn., Issued the following order: “Hereafter the dealing in and passing of currency known as ‘Confederate scrip’ or ‘Confederate notes’ Is positively prohibited, and the use thereof as a circulating medium regarded as an insult to the government of the United States and an Imposition upon the ignorant and deluded. “All persons offending against the provisions of this order will he promptly arrested and severely punished by the military authorities.” The Bank of Louisiana, at New Orleans, being ordered by the provostjudge to pay a citizen in current funds his deposit formerly received in ContrSeutm^Mo^sll^ l 1 McClellan's army near Richmond were driven In from Old Church, and large bodies of Confederates were- discovered moving from the neighborhood of MechanicsVU *BrM dRi to© d battlefield of Fair Oaks. S At daylight the Confederates opened a heavy artillery fire on General Sum-' mond, which lasted for three hours, __ q. , * « u[ » . h the villa** of Gretna La. t <-■ ■ - - w-

Dolaen was'cantnred on the White river, Arkansas, by the tug Spitfire. A fight took place on James Island, S. C, between a body of Union troops and a force of Confederates, resulting in advantage to the Union force. June 14, 1862. : - Captain Craven of the United States steam sloop Brooklyn, sent a marine guard and party of seamen, numbering in ail about one hundred men, under command of Lieutenant Lowry, to Bayou Sara, La., for the purpose of destroying the telegraph apparatus and cutting the wires. Lieutenant Lowry returned to the ship after two hours, having accomplished his work. Gen. Jas. H. Van Alen, military governor of Torktown, Va., Issued an order directing that all negroes in his department, “contraband or otherwise, should be under the Immediate charge and control of the provost-marshal, and be allowed full liberty.” It was understood as a device to give the slaves temporary freedom. ' - ; , Captain Atkinson, Company C of the Fifteenth Indiana, with twenty mem, captured six thousand, two hundred pounds of powder at Sycamore Mills, thirty miles below Nashville, Tenn., and five miles north of the Cumberland river. The company also stopped at Fort Zolllcoffer, and brought off a gun. June Is, 1862. The Confederate General J. BL B. Stuart,'With a cavalry force, left the Confederate lines near Richmond, Va, on the 13th and rode through the lines of the right wing of the Union army in front of Richmond to Garlick’s Landing, Pamunkey river, where he burned twcwschooners; thence to Turnstall’s Station, where he fired into, but failed to capture, a railroad train; thence rode the left wing of the Union army and into Richmond, arriving on this date. - Lieutenant Commander Howell, la tile Union gunboat Tahoma, accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Eng. lish, in the Somerset, crossed the bar at Saint Mark's river, in Florida, and drove a company of Confederate artillery, with fonr or five field pieces, from a fort near the lighthouse on that river, afterwards landing and burning the fort, with the barracks. June 16, 1862. The Richmond Despatch of this date printed the following: “Desertion baa become far too frequent in the Confederate army. And yet the habit is not peculiar to Confederate soldiers. There must be desertions from all military service where there is no punishment for desertion. We mean no punishment adequate to the offence —none which a coward or vagabond had not rather' encounter thffia endure the service or the perils of a battle. Death is the proper punishment, and it is the punishment prescribed in our laws—the punishment meted to deserters by governments generally. We anticipate that onr own ' government will he forced to resort to it. With a creditable forbearance and humanity, the policy of appealing to the pride of a soldier by advertisement, by disgraces, has been pursued by our commanders; but there is little pride and no honor In a deserter, and the fear of disgrace will not deter him from absconding. An example or two would have a fine effect” The battle of Secessionville, James Island, S. C, was fought resulting in the stinging defeat of tho National forces. ~ v;' At Memphis, Tenn, a large body of Confederate officers and soldiers, together with citizens of the city, took the oath of allegiance to the United States of America. The Confederates in front of the National pickets at Fair Oaks attempted to flank a portion.of the Union force during a violent thunder storm, but were repulsed with some loss. Lieutenant Palmer, aide to General Sickles, was killed while giving orders to the commander of the regiment attacked. A squad of Union soldiers, hunting -for deserters- ne&r Culpepper, Va, found a Confederate mail carrier hiding in the woods in whose pouch was a large number of letters to Important Confederates, containing information of value to the Union forces. (Copyright. 1912, by W. G. Chapman.)

Remember This. j When you go to call on the siek always remember that the conversation should deal with cheerful topics and never with anything dull or gloomy. Many an invalid has been plunged into a state of nervous melancholy through the untimely remarks of some Ignorant or thoughtless visitor. “Yes,” sadly related a visitor to one very sick woman, “Mrs. Jones died yesterday She suffered from the same malady as you have, and she was sick for such a long time.” After which she be sisted that she must depart, urging the Invalid to be of good cheer, ft was with great difficulty that the sick woman wax pacified by the nurse, for she imagined that she would be the next to follow Sirs. Jones into the grave. //