On the twenty-seventh, a week later, a second expedition was planned, and carried through with equal success, the object being to destroy some government works at Goose Creek, some ten miles distant. The party was, in this case also, in charge of Acting Master Weeks, and the works to be destroyed were under the protection of a rebel cavalry company, whose pickets the expedition succeeded in eluding. Twelve prisoners were brought off, one the captain of an infantry company raised for coast service. The works destroyed by these two expeditions produced for the confederates two thousand four hundred bushels of salt per diem. I inclose herewith Lieutenant Commander Harmony's list, forwarded to me, of the articles captured and destroyed. Very respectfully, THEODORUS BAILEY, doubt still exists among the troops as to the permanence as cavalry of those regiments which have been dismounted, again takes occasion to assure the troops that he shall keep all of the regiments in service as cavalry, which have been recently dismounted; that he prefers to have these regiments to march on horseback and fight on foot, provided their officers will perfect them in the infantry drill, and that nothing but an absolute necessity, arising from scarcity of forage, or where railroads offer a more rapid transportation, will induce him to dismount his cavalry regiments; and further, that when so dismounted it will be but temporarily, unless in the case of regiments which, having the opportunities, will not avail themselves of them, to 'perfect themselves in infantry drill, so essential to the success of our arms and the safety of the men themselves. He also again urges upon the offi care of their bayonets, however inconvenient it may be to do so, and upon the officers the duty of preparing bayonet-scabbards out of rawhides, as previously ordered. Acting Rear-Admiral Commanding E. G. B. Squadron. List of government property destroyed and cap-cers and men the imperative necessity of taking tured, belonging to the rebel government, by boats' crews and refugees, on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth February, 1864: Three hundred and ninety salt-kettles, average capacity, 100 gallons; 52 sheet-iron boilers, average capacity, 900 gallons; 170 furnaces, made of brick and stone; 150 pumps, wells, and aqueducts; 55 storehouses, used for storage, salt, etc.; 165 houses and shanties; 60 sheds and stables; 6000 bushels of salt, in barrels; a large number of axes, shovels, and hoes; one carpenter-shop, with tools, etc.; one fishing-house; 600 bushels of corn; 350 cords of wood. Captured-Five large wagons; eighteen mules and sets of harness; 2500 pounds of bacon; two fine horses, saddles, and bridles; about 1000 head of cattle, and one prisoner, G. R. Paul, government agent. All the articles captured I gave to the refugees, as they were of no use to us. The estimate value of the above property to the rebels cannot be less than $3,000,000. That is the value put upon it by the most intelligent refugees. List of articles and property destroyed on Goose Creek by the boats' crew from the United States steamer Tahoma, February twentysixth and twenty-seventh, 1864: Two thousand bushels of salt in barrels and bins; three corn-cribs, containing about 1000 bushels; large quantity of hay and fodder; blacksmith's shop and tools; carpenter's shop and tools; about 100 store and other houses, stables, etc.; 165 kettles and pans, average capacity, 100 gallons; 53 large boilers, of about 800 gallons capacity each; 98 well-constructed brick furnaces; nine wagons and carts, 20 sets mule harness. Doc. 91. GENERAL MAGRUDER'S ORDERS. The Commanding General avails himself of this opportunity to notice the fact that Terrell's regiment lost not a man by desertion when ordered to be dismounted, notwithstanding the example set them by some others. He holds the officers responsible for the conduct of his men, and hereby calls upon them to use their weapons, at all hazards, against those who attempt to desert under any circumstances, or who may be guilty of mutiny, or of aiding, abetting, joining in, or exciting the same; and in all cases where efficient steps are not taken by the commanding officers to prevent and punish such crime, they will be arrested and brought before a general courtmartial for trial, conviction, and punishment. In cases where troops temporarily dismounted are moved from one locality to another, their horses will also be removed to places which are convenient to the men, and where forage at the same time can be procured. It is to be understood, that the short marches, occasionally required to be done by the troops of the regiments temporarily dismounted, when their horses cannot be procured in time, are not to be considered as violations of the assurances held out by this order, and are only here alluded to by the Commanding General to prevent a misinterpretation by his troops, with whom he shall always deal, as he has ever done, with frankness and truth. By command of Major-Gen. J. B. MAGRUDER, E. P. TURNER, VII. It being absolutely necessary to take pos session of the cisterns upon Galveston Island for the use of the troops, Mr. Thomas M. League is authorized to take control and possession of all of the said cisterns. He will permit each family THE Commanding General, learning that some to use what may be necessary for their purposes HEADQUARTERS District of Texas, NEW-MEXICO, SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 46. at all times, reserving a sufficient quantity for the troops. The labor necessary to carry water to the commands will be furnished by the Post-Quarter master. sea. By command of Major-Gen. J. B. MAGRUDER. Assistant Adjutant-General. Doc. 92. ESCAPE OF THE FLORIDA. REPORT OF COMMANDER PREBLE. UNITED STATES SLOOP-OF-WAR ST. LOUIS, FUNCHAL ROADS, MADEIRA, March 1, 14 A.M., 1564. SIR: The Florida has succeeded in getting to I shall follow at once, though hopeless of catching her out of port. Nelson said, the want of frigates in his squadron would be found impressed on his heart. I am sure the want of steam will be found engraven on mine. Had the St. Louis been a steamer, I would have anchored alongside of her, and, unrestricted by the twentyfour hour rule, my old foe could not have escaped me. The Governor, true to his declared intention, would only allow her to take on board twenty tons of coal, sufficient to take her to the nearest port. Her commander plead for sixty tons, next forty, asserting that he needed that much to ballast his vessel. The Governor told him, at the suggestion of Mr. Bayman, that he came in without it, and he thought he could go without it; but if ballast was needed, there was plenty of stone on the beach that he might take. As it was supposed that she would go to sea during the night, and certainly in the morning, and I had an intimation, that, in passing us, she | might pour in a broadside, I shotted and cast loose my guns, and had men to man them; got a slip-rope on the chain, and stationed lookouts all over the ship and in the tops; cautioned the officers to extra vigilance, and was repeatedly on deck myself to watch and see that my orders were executed. The night was dark and squally. The Florida lay close into the beach and under the highland, with all her lights covered, and, notwithstanding all this vigilance, she crept out, unseen, to the eastward, and her departure was not discovered until the morn rose, a few minutes since. A blockade-runner, the Julia, which arrived in the afternoon, reports the Kearsage as having left Cadiz three days ago, destination unknown. The Florida gave out that they were going to Cadiz for coals; but I think not, and shall go direct to Teneriffe, hoping, if I do not find her there, to put the Sacramento on her track. to inform him of her intention to ship men to complete her crew. He assured me that it should not be allowed, though it might be done clandestinely, which he could not help. I have reason to believe that she made no addition to her crew, and know from the statement of my gig's crew, that three of the men she brought with her, deserted. Her crew is described to me as made up of Spaniards, Frenchmen, and Portuguese, with a few Englishmen, and but one American. Her First Lieutenant is Thomas A. Dernin, formerly a midshipman in our service. I notice no change in the appearance of the Florida since I last saw her, except that now she has yards on her mainmast: then she had none, and she has changed her billet-head for a shield surrounded by scroll-work, in which is borne the arms of the rebel States. My men have been wild to fight, and I drew the shot from my guns the day she came in, fearing that in their excitement they would fire into her without orders, and break the neutrality of this port. One thing is certain, the Florida does not intend to fight unless the chances are largely in her favor, for she skulked away from the old St. Louis. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO. HENRY PREBLE, Whereas, By my Proclamation of the nineteenth April, 1861, the ports of the States of South-Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, were, for reasons therein set forth, placed under blockade; and whereas the port of Brownsville, in the District of Brazos Santiago, in the State of Texas, has since been blockaded, but as the blockade of said port may now be safely released, with advantage to the interests of commerce; now, therefore, be it known, that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority in me vested by the fifth section of the act of Congress, approved on the thirteenth of July, 1861, entitled, “An Act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," do hereby declare that the blockade of the said port of Brownsville shall so far cease and determine, from and after this date, that commercial intercourse with said port, except as to persons, things, and information hereinafter specified, may from and after this date be carried on, The prevailing winds would not permit me to subject to the laws of the United States, to the get to Cadiz from Madeira in season to do her any regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury, and, injury, even if I thought that port her destination. until the rebellion shall have been suppressed, to The authorities here have done all they could such orders as may be promulgated by the Gento hasten her departure and prevent her full sup-eral commanding the Department, or by an offiply, and I do not imagine that the island will be troubled by the presence of the rebel vessels-ofwar very soon again. I waited on the Governor, cer duly authorized by him, and commanding at said port. This proclamation does not authorize or allow the shipment or conveyance of persons in, or intending to enter, the service of the insurgents, or of things or information intended for their use, or for their aid or comfort; nor except upon the permission of the Secretary of War, or some officer duly authorized by him, of the following prohibited articles, namely, cannon, mortars, fire-arms, pistols, bombs, grenades, powder, salpetre, sulphur, balls, bullets, pikes, swords, boarding-caps, (always excepting the quantity of the said articles which may be necessary for the defence of the ship and those who compose the crew,) saddles, bridles, cartridge-bag materials, percussion and other caps, clothing adapted for uniforms, sail-cloth of all kinds, hemp and cordage, intoxicating drinks, other than beer and light native wines. of partisan rangers; but the Committee had deemed it too sweeping in its character, and had stricken it out. The House objected to the bill altogether, and refused to pass it. The Committee had instructed him to report the present bill, which they thought was demanded by the necessities of the service. It was a measure warmly urged by General Lee and other distinguished officers. The bill was debated, amended, and passed in the following shape: Section 1. The Congress of the confederate States of America do enact, That the act of Congress aforesaid be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided, that organizations of partisan rangers, acting as regular cavalry at the passage of this act, shall be continued in their present organization; Provided they shall hereafter be considered as regular cavalry, and not as partisan rangers. Sec. 2. That all the bands of partisan rangers organized under the said act may, as the interests of the service allow, be united with other organizations, or be organized into battalions and regiments, with the view of bringing them under the general condition of the provisional army as to discipline, control, and movements, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe. To vessels clearing from foreign ports, and destined to the port of Brownsville, opened by this proclamation, licenses will be granted by the Consuls of the United States, upon satisfactory evidence that the vessels so licensed will convey no persons, property, or information, excepted or prohibited above, either to or from the said port, which licenses shall be exhibited to the Collector of said port immediately on arrival, and, if required, to any officer in charge of the blockade. And on leaving said port, every vessel will be required to have a clearance from the Collector of the Customs, according to law, showing no violation of the conditions of the license. Any vio- Sec. 3. The Secretary of War shall be authorlation of said conditions will involve the forfeit-ized, if he deems proper, for a time or permaure and condemnation of the vessel and cargo, nently, to exempt from the operations of this act and the exclusion of all parties concerned from such companies as are serving within the lines any further privilege of entering the United of the enemy, under such conditions as he may States during the war for any purpose whatever. prescribe. In all respects, except as herein specified, the existing blockade remains in full force and effect as hitherto established and maintained, nor is it relaxed by this proclamation, except in regard to the port to which relaxation is or has been expressly applied. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtyfour, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth. By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Doc. 94. REBEL PARTISAN RANGERS. Doc. 95. RECONNOISSANCE TO DALTON, GA. A NATIONAL ACCOUNT. THREE MILES BEYOND RINGGOLD, GA., February 23. It will be long before the Fourteenth army corps will forget the period of anxious expectation which commenced on Saturday, the thirteenth day of February, and only ended on Sunday, the twenty-first of the same month. During all the intervening time, the troops composing the Fourteenth corps, and those of Stanley's division, at least, of the Fourth corps, were held in constant readiness to move, and once or twice actually loaded up their wagons for the purpose of marching. But as often as they got ready, that often the order was countermanded, and the movement postponed, until the morning of the twenty-second. The general object of this movement may be stated in a few words. It had a two-fold, and, in a certain eventuality, a three-fold design. In the rebel House of Representatives, on the fifteenth of February, Mr. Miles, from the Committe on Military Affairs, reported a bill to repeal The aspect of things in East-Tennessee had an act to organize partisan rangers, approved been somewhat threatening, from the time we April twenty-first, 1862, and for other purposes. made our unfortunate advance upon, and preThe bill being taken up, Mr. Miles advocated cipitate retreat from, the town of Dandridge. its passage. He said the Senate bill, in relation The bad management and almost disgraceful to cavalry, contained a provision to abolish corps | result of that operation was as encouraging to the rebels as it was damaging to us; and it act ually became a question with many of our military men as to whether we could, without very serious danger, continue to hold East-Tennessee at all. My own opinion, based upon that of men in whose judgment I am accustomed to repose much confidence, was, that with any reasonable degree of good management, our hold upon EastTennessee was perfectly secure. Nevertheless, Longstreet held, in refererence to our forces there, a menacing position. We did not know exactly how great his strength was. We did know that he might at any time be reënforced either from Johnston's army or Lee's; and it became us to watch him with the utmost vigilance, and, if possible, prevent these reënforcements from reaching him. Any force from Lee's army could join him in spite of us; but in reference to detachments from Johnston, we could do one of two things: either we could, by threatening Dalton, prevent them from being sent out at all, or we could intercept them on their way. To effect, if necessary, the latter object, certain dispositions of troops were made, of which I shall not now speak. Of course these dispositions had reference to other and almost as important objects as the one I have mentioned; but these, also, I have not now occasion to mention. Suffice it to say, that with our troops thus disposed, neither Johnston could send reënforcements to Longstreet, nor could Longstreet rejoin Johnston, without meeting tremendous opposition, and running terrible risks of destruction. Only by traversing almost impassable routes through the vast mountain regions of West North-Carolina and North-Georgia, or by making an immense circuit by railroads running far to the east, could they avoid coming in contact with our vigilant and well-prepared forces. But Sherman was penetrating to the centre of the Gulf-State region. The fifteen thousand troops under Bishop Polk were confessedly unable to check his progress; if the rebel army of the Mississippi were not reenforced, and that right speedily, Sherman would unquestionably soon reach his destination, whether that were Mobile, Montgomery, Selma, or Rome. If, on the other hand, Johnston were allowed to send any considerable portion of his army to the Bishop's assistance, Sherman might be overwhelmed or his march seriously retarded. This would interfere with the general plan for the conduct of the spring campaign, and must at all hazards be prevented. No other means of effecting this prevention offered itself, except a direct movement from Chattanooga toward Dalton, menacing the enemy at the latter place. But this movement might possiby develop the fact that the enemy had already so seriously weakened his force at Dalton, that he could offer no effectual resistance to a strong column moving upon him there. In that case, of course, we should have no objection to taking possession of Dalton itself, and continuing to hold it or not, as might suit our further convenience or necessities. To briefly recapitulate: the objects of the movement commenced on the twenty-second instant were, first, to prevent the enemy at Dalton from sending reënforcements to Longstreet; second, to prevent him from sending the same to Bishop Polk; third, to ascertain his strength at Dalton, and if he had already been seriously weakened, to take possession of that town. The morning of February twenty-second was not a bright one at Chattanooga. There were no clouds, but a dense pall of smoke had settled down upon the earth, obscuring Lookout, snatching Mission Ridge from our eyes, and at first hiding even the sun. When that luminary at last became visible, it looked more like a huge bloody disk than a globe of fire. Under this canopy of smoke could be heard the rattle of hundred drums, announcing the fact that the long-expected, oft-delayed movement had at last commenced, and that large portions of the Fourteenth army corps were upon the march. They were not now moving toward East-Tennessee, as intended ten days before, but, in accordance with the later plan I have sketched, were directing their steps toward Tunnel Hill and Dalton. Near the old battle-field of Chickamauga, the column passed the commands of Generals Morgan and Daniel McCook, which were preparing to follow. The infantry was preceded by a detachment of the Thirty-ninth Indiana, (Eighth cavalry,) two hundred strong, commanded by Colonel T. J. Harrison. Colonel Palmer, with one hundred and fifty of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania cavalry, (Anderson Troop,) and Colonel Boone, with three hundred of the Twenty-eighth Kentucky, moved upon the right flank. Colonel Harrison pushed forward through Parker's Gap in Taylor's Ridge, a pass to the left of Ringgold Gap, and outflanking a party of rebel cavalry, drove them back toward Ringgold Gap, hoping they would there be intercepted by our infantry. Unfortunately, however, the latter were not up, and the rebels managed to escape. It was three P.M. when myself and companion left Chattanooga and started to overtake our forces. Riding leisurely along, we soon found that night was approaching; but were in nowise alarmed at the prospect, for the idea of passing quietly through a Georgia forest, amid the silence and darkness of the night, had its charms for us, especially as we had never been over this ground before. The scene is one of utter desolation. No farmer appears preparing his fields to receive the grain. Dreary pine forests alternate with small patches of cleared land, the latter utterly destitute of fences. Three fourths of the houses are deserted; and from the few that are left, you can see peeping out only some dirty-looking women and children. The whole region is being rapidly depopulated. Before sundown we must have met at least a dozen wagons drawn by blind and bony horses, broken-down mules, shadowy oxen, and fleshless cows, and filled with sorrow-out-house which stood near was riddled and torn stricken specimens of Georgian humanity, all fly- with grape. ing from the doomed land, and intending to make their way to the free and peaceful North. It was fully ten o'clock P.M., when we descried our camp-fires shining red in the distance, through the thick smoke and fog. It was not difficult to find friends, and we partook, for the night, of hospitality springing from generous hearts and dealt out with liberal hands. My only misfortune was, that during the night my horse became loose, and straying off to the vicinity of some teamster's quarters, had his halter stolen, and was brought back in the morning minus that most useful, and, in the wilderness, irreplaceable article. I consoled myself, however, with the reflection that, after all, it was much better to lose a halter than a horse. The sun rose bright and beautiful on the morning of the twenty-third, and we were soon on our way galloping toward Ringgold, around which town the troops had encamped. Here another scene of desolation met our eyes; for on the day following Hooker's terrible fight at Taylor's Ridge, the greater portion of this town had been burned by our troops. Nearly all the good buildings were used as store-houses and offices by the rebel army, and every one of these was set on fire. A mass of ruins in the centre, a hundred uninhabited houses scattered around-such is now the town of Ringgold. our rides through it, we did not see three houses which were not deserted. In Ascending half-way to the summit of Taylor's Ridge, we could see numerous marks of the fierce conflict which had taken place; amongst others the graves of a score of soldiers buried side by side along the slope. My companion announced his intention of presenting the public with a howl over the rebel store-houses which had been burned in the town below; I could not but feel that if I had tears to shed, it should be for our poor dead heroes buried here. The rebels made no resistance to our passage through the gap, although they had held the further mouth the night before, and had captured Lieutenant Ayres, of the Nineteenth infantry, who was examining the ground for the purpose of posting pickets. Winding along its banks for a time, we finally crossed the East-Chickamagua, a clearer and more lively stream than its namesake in the west, which will always excite a shudder in the heart and limbs of him who remembers the awful tragedy once enacted near it. Both these streams unite to form the South-Chickamagua, which flows into the Tennessee a few miles above Chattanooga. As we advanced into the open ground on the other side of the creek, small squads of cavalry were sent galloping in all directions, to protect our flanks, and feel for the still silent enemy. In full sight of the junction, between the Tunnel Hill and Red Hill roads, Colonel Harrison drew up his men in line of battle, and waited the approach of the infantry. No sooner were the latter seen, than the horsemen again advanced; and passing by an ancient, dilapidated stone church, whose dark and gloomy walls seemed to be in mourning for its lost worshippers, we wheeled to the right, and took the direct road for Tunnel Hill. A few dropping shots now revealed the presence of the enemy. At once our skirmishers were deployed, and the line steadily advanced, driving the enemy, whose purpose it seemed to be merely to annoy rather than fight. It was at once amusing and interesting to see, every few minutes, a small squad of them break from their cover as our boys advanced, and go galloping away, followed in almost every instance by a half-dozen bullets. Colonel Harrison's men were armed with the deadly Spencer rifle, a weapon which the rebels could not be induced to examine at short-range. It was perhaps nine o'clock when the beating of drums announced that the troops were in mo- At length, at a distance of five miles from tion, and a column of cavalry came filing down Ringgold, a low, wooded eminence, over which the road. It was Colonel Harrison at the head of ran the road, afforded the rebels an opportunity to his Thirty-ninth Indiana boys. He was going to make a stand. But they did not remain long. A push forward through Ringgold Gap, in Taylor's portion of the Thirty-ninth, dismounting, moved Ridge, supported by the infantry at proper dis-forward under so severe a fire, that I could only tance. General Carlin's brigade, and the Nineteenth Illinois, of General King's brigade, were prepared to support the cavalry. General R. W. Johnson, to whose division these troops belonged, himself accompanied them. Your cor-cupying a position about a mile further toward respondent accompanied Colonel Harrison with the cavalry. Passing by a house which stood near the mouth of the gap, and was now occupied by General King as his headquarters, we again saw proofs of the desperate nature of that conflict in which our own valiant Seventh Ohio suffered so severely. The house itself, the fences surrounding it, and the trees in the yard were fairly honeycombed with bullets; and in addition, an wonder how so few were hurt by it. But they steadily advanced, again driving the enemy, and occupying the wooded eminence, which they continued to hold until two P.M., the rebels oc Tunnel Hill, and exhibiting a serious intention of making a fight. Colonel Harrison would have moved upon him immediately, had he not considered it best to wait for Colonel Boone, of the Twenty-eighth Kentucky, who had been sent off to the right, and was moving along another road which runs through Wood's Gap in Taylor's Ridge. The delay appeared to encourage the enemy; and it soon became evident that he had collect |