Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 182, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1912 — THE CIVIL WAR FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK ' [ARTICLE]

THE CIVIL WAR FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK '

July 22, 1862. Major General Sherman took command at Memphis, Tenn. Four hundred citizens took the oath of allegiance, and 130 were provided with passes to go south. General Dix, on the part of the United States, and General Hill, acting for the Confederate States, arranged an immediate and general exchange of prisoners. President Lincoln issued an order concerning foreign residents in the United States, directing military officers to retrain from imposing the oath of allegiance upon them, but to adopt such other restrictions in lieu us they might think necessary for the public safety. The steamer Ceres was fired into by the' Confederates at a point below Vicksburg and Captain Brooks of the Seventh Vermont was killed. Governor Gamble of Missouri authorized General Schofield to organize the entire militia of the state and use it In defense against the bands of partisaps who were committing much desultory mischief. President Lincoln Issued an order directing the military commanders qf Federal forces in the insurgent states to seize and use any property of the citizens which they needed. A band of Confederate Irregulars burned the Union commissary and quartermaster warehouses at Florence, Ala., U. S. S. S. Colona, and all the cotton in the vicinity. A band of Confederate Irregulars captured a train of 60 wagons near Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. The Federal ram, Queen of the West, made an- unsuccessful attempt to sink the Confederate ram Arkansas at Vicksburg. The Queen of the West was riddled by the fire of the shore batteries, which the Union fleet of gunboats failed to silence. July 23, 1862.

General Pope issued an order directing the generals in his command to seize all horses, mules and stores within their lines, except such as were absolutely needed by the inhabitants. He also issued an order for the arrest of all disloyal male citizens within the lines. Those willing to take the oath of allegiance and furnish security for its observance were permitted to remain at their homes; those refusing were to be sent south. Confederate partisans, led by Porter, defeated a company of Union cavalry under Major Caldwell near Florence, Mo., Inflicting a loss of 26 killed, wounded and missing. A body of National troops under Colonel Kilpatrick defeated a small force of Confederates near the North Anna river, in Virginia, and burned a Confederate railroad train loaded with grain, wagons, tents, baggage, commissary and medical stores, and other valuable property. . Several persons were arrested in Fredericksburg, Va., by order of General Pope and held as hostages for certain Union men seized by the Confederates some months previous. July 24, 1862. The steamer Thbal Caln was seized as a prize by the JJ. S. S. S. Octarora, having on board ammunition for the Confederacy. The schooner Emma was captured by the U. S. S. S. Adirondack. Skirmishes took place at Malvern Hill, Virginia, and Coldwater, Miss. The Union Merchants’ Exchange at St. Louis adopted a stirring address to the people of the state, pledging their own fidelity to the Union and aid to the volunteer fund. Captain Harman, Thirty-first Ohio, mought off a force of Confederates at Trinity, near Decatur, Ala. In consequence of the fears of the Irish and other foreign residents of St Louis that they would be obliged to serve in the Union army, General Schofield issued an order informing them that the subjects of foreign powers, lawfully pursuing their avocations, were exempt from such service. The Union- forces stationed at Grand Junction, Miss., were with-: drawn to Bolivar, Tenn. Eighty men of the Ninth Virginia Union infantry were surprised and captured at Summerville, Va. The Union fleet, of gunboats under command of Commodore Farragut embarked the Union army under General Williams at Vicksburg and proceeded down the Mississippi river to Baton Rouge. The flotilla of mortar boats, under Commodore Davis, left its position in front of Vicksburg and proceeded up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Yazoo. July 25, 1862. Great excitement existed at St Louis, Mo., over the order of Governor Gamble authorizing General Schofield to order out the militia to suppress the Confederate partisans who were doing much mischief abroad in the state. An engagement took placd on the Hatchie river, near Brownsville, Tenn., Major General Pope, at Washington, Issued the following order: “Hereafter no guards will be placed over private houses or private property of any description whatever. Commanding officers are responsible for the conduct of troops under their command, and the articles of war and regulations of the army provide ample means for restraining them to the full extent required for discipline and efficiency. Soldiers were called into the field to

do battle against the enemy, and ft fa not expected that their force and energy shall be wasted in the protection of private property of those most hostile to the government No soldier serving in this army shall hereafter be employed in such service.” The Confederate steamer Cuba arrived at Mobile, Ala., after an exciting chase by the blockaders. Two companies of Union troops guarding the bridge at Courtland, Ala., were surprised and captured by Confederate cavalry. A reconnoitering party of Union troops, under' General Gibson fell In with a Confederate force near Orange Court House, Va., and drove them away, after a sharp skirmish. A meeting of Irish citizens in St Louis expressed indignation against their fellow-countrymen who Were endeavoring to avoid service in. the militia by taking refuge behind the British consul. President Lincoln issued a proclamation warning all persons to cease from aiding, countenancing or abetting the rebellion, under penalty of having their property confiscated, under the act lately passed by congress.

July 26, 1862. Madison Court House, Va., was occupied by the First Connecticut Cavalry, after a skirmish with Confederate cavalry. Prominent citizens of Hayward county, Tennessee, were captured by Confederate partisans for selling Cotton. The Union transport schooner Louisa Reeves of New York, laden with forage for the Army of the Potomac, was captured by Confederates and burned at Coggin’s Point, James river, Va. A body of Missouri state militia met and defeated a company of partisans in the first conflict since the state militia had been called out by General Schofield, under Governor Gamble’s authority to suppress the guerrillas. A Union reconnoitering body defeated a small force of Confederates in a skirmish at Youngs Crossroads, at the head of White Oak river, N. 0. A body of Union troops under Captain Bradway came up with a body of partisans that they had a brush with the day before near the Mountain Store, twenty miles from Houston, Mo., and completely routed them. The fight took place on the Big Piney river., Large sums of money were being subscribed by towns, counties and states to provide a bounty fund for volunteers who should enlist under President Lincoln’s call for 300,000 extra men. July 27, 1862.

Two Confederate schooners were captured up the Chipoaks creek, James river, Va., near Claremont, by a boat expedition under command of Lieutenant Gibson of the United States gunboat Yankee, and brought out of the creek without molestation, although a company of Confederate cavalry was stationed three-quarters of a mile distant. A reconnoitering expedition, consisting of the United States gunboats Paul Jones, Unadilla, Huron and Madgle, left Savannah bay and proceeded up the Ogeechee river,, in Georgia, until they arrived pear Fort James, the strength of which they discovered by bombarding it for about two hours, when they returned to their former anchorage. A number of young women of New Albany, Ind., offered to act as clerks add saleswomen to replace the young men of that place who would enlist, promising to turn over half their sal-, aries during the volunteers* absence, and surrender the positions to them on their return. Richmond, Ky., was visited by a band of Confederate irregulars under John Morgan, the great partisan leader. The stores, houses and stables of Union men of the place were plundered. * ‘, July 28, 1862. General Grant ordered General Sherman to take possession of all unoccupied stores, manufactories and dwellings in Memphis and to collect their rents for the benefit of the United States government where the owners were Confederates absent from the place. In reply to a letter written by Mr. Seward to the American minister at London, Earl Russell sent a dispatch to the British minister at Washington, in which he said: “From the moment that intelligence first reached this country that nine states and several millions of inhabitants of the great American Union had eeteded, and had made war on the government of President Lincoln, down to the present time, her majesty’s government have pursued a friendly, open and consistent course. They have been neutral between the two parties to a civil war. “At this moment they have nothing more at heart than to see the consummation of which the president speaks in his answer to the governors of eighteen states, namely, the bringing of this unneoesary and Injurious war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion.” There was a* skirmish near Bayou Barnard, in the Cherokee Nation, in which the Union forces were reported victorious. Colonel Guitar of the Ninth Missouri, reinforced heavily, repulsed an attack of Confederates at Moore’s Mills, seven miles east of Fulton, Mo., after a four hours’ fight Parkersburg, Va, was thrown into a panic by a report that a band of partisans ' was on the “way to attack the place. Money in the banks was carried into Ohio, the bridge was tom up and a committee appointed to ask the enemy not to bum the town. . (Copyright, m by w. G. CkapmaaJ