m ?\
^^^^Ffkhe south
_
I BEAUFORT, S. C., OCT. I,
For Pjresideut,
I 1ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
W OF ILLINOIS.
For Flee President,
F ANDREW JOHNSON,
f
OF TENNESSEE. ^ i
rThe Free South
is for sale by the following Agents :
Beaufort?J. C. Alexander, Poet Office.
Jacksonville?E. H. Reid, Post Office.
Fernandiua--W. W. Masi, Post Office.
St. Angnstine?J. W. Allen, Post Office.
Morris Island - W. F. Wood, Post Office.
WILKES A THOMPSON, Proprietors.
t Notice to Xcwsidealers und Agent*.
Send in yoar orders as early as Monday night. Liberal
terms to those ordering largely! Agents n anted in
every Regimen r. Address
, WILKES & THOMPSON, Beaufort, S. C.
? ?' ? .
VICTORY :
(. Secretary Stanton's Dispatches
. Splendid Achievement of Gen. j
Sheridan Over the Rebel
Early in Shenandoah
Valley.
Fifteen Battle Flags and Five
J? Pioces
of Artillery Taken, j
Over Five Thousand Prisoners
^ Captured.
%
Gen. Sheridan gained a decisive and
f important yictory over Gen. Early, on
. -Monday, Sept. 19, at the northern end
or mouth of the SheanndoAA Valley. Tho
following is G-en. Sheridan's own terse
dispatch, dated at one in the morning of
the 20th, to Gen. Slevenscli at Harper's
> Eorry, announcing the fact:
" General: We fought Early from
daylight till between 0 and 7 P. M. We
drove him from Opequan Greek through
- Winchester and beyond the town. We
capturfci 2,500 to 3,000 prisoners, live
pieces of artillery, nine battle-flags and
all the .Rebel wounded and dead. Their
wounded in Winchester amount to some
three thousand. We lost in killed Geh.
David Russel, commanding a division of
the Siith Army Corps, and wounded,
Gens. Chapman, Mcintosh and Upton.
The Rebels lost in killed the following
i f;Hn Rhodes, Gen.
gene.au vu*w*?. > _
Wharton, Gen. Gonlon and Gen. Raciscur.
We have just sent them whirling
through Winchester, and we are after
them to.morrow.
A later dispatch makes the number of
Lattle-flag.s fifteen instead of nine.
The President has appointed Gen.
Sheridan a Brigadier in the Regular army,
and assigned him to the prominent comli:
nd of the Middle Military division.
The chief occurrences of the battle were'
as follows:
Gen. Sheridan's army broke camp on
Sunday, the 18th, and marched before
. * daylight Monday morning. The cavalry
nuder Wilson, crossing the Opequan
(which runs north to the Potomac,)
charged the Rebel tield-works, carried
them, took thirty prisoners, and made a
? rto infantrv. The Sixth
clear passive .... ?.
Corps now crossed the Opequan. formed
hue of battle a mile and a half beyond,
on the way to Winchester, and for two
hours waited for Gen. Emory with the
Nineteenth Corps, delayed by a mistake
about orders. Thi? delay enabled Early
to bring up a lar^ part of the forces
whose absence decided Sheridan to attack.
When the X.i"teenth came up it was at
once formed, and advanced in four lines
of battle to the charge, along with tho
Sixth Corps, drums beating, colors flying,
they had reached before, and, lying down
again, awaited the coming np of Gen.
Crook and the Army of West Virginia,
being our reserve. At 3 P. M. they came,
and formed on oar right. Gen. Torbet,
with Merritt's and AverilTs Cavalry Divisions,
having been fighting and driving :
Rebels all day, also uow came np and i
formed still further on tile right. Gen.
Crook rode along his lines, and his men,
cheering him loudly, promised to "go in
and wipe out Winchester." Gen. Sheri- 1
dan rode over and made arrangements
with Gen. Torbert for the doings of the
cavalry, and ordered the final charge.
Our whole line, three miles long, advanced
with cheers and yell that were heard above
the artillery, and closed in upon the
Rebels through a hot musketry fire, very
damaging to both sides. While this infantry
fight was undecided, the cavaln
bugles were heard, and Custer and Merritt,
each carrying his headquarters flag,
charged at the head of their whole force. "
They burst through the Rebel line, broke
them up, and in a few minutes had secured
721 prisoners, nine battle-flags a^d
two guns. Our stubborn infantry advanced
again, and the battle was won.
Early's divisions, broken to pieces, fled
mi the vuIIpy or into the mountains.
~jr /
Oar cavalry followed close, picking up
numerous prisoners. Pressing forward,
Gen. Slieridan went straight forward into
Winchester, where he found some 3,(XX)
prisoners. The enemy's whole loss in
killed, wounded and prisoners, must have
been about 7,500; ours is about 500 killed
and 2,500 wounded. The pursuit was
continued that day until darkness shut it
ofl'.
[OFFICIAL?WAR BULLETIN. ]
WaB DcrAKTilEXT, I
Washington, Sept. 22?3 P. M. \
Maj. Gen. Drx : The following telegram,
announcing another victory of
Gen. Sheridan over Early, has just been
received:
Harplr's Ferby. Sept. 23, ISCh
" Hon. E. M. Stanton : Sheridan has
again beaten the enemy at Fisher's Hill,
capturing sixteen guns and many prisoners.
This is,'in all probability, the finale
of Gen. Earlj.
fl, L). Stevenson, Brig. Gen.''
r - tliiv rtifiniiiifr vo.
jl iic omLiivx ii* ?,
ported that oar wounded were all cared
for at Winchester with adequate arrangements
and supplies. The number of our
wounded prior to the battle of yesterday
was estimated not to exceed two thousand.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary Of War.
SECOND DISPATCH.
War Department, ' )
Washington, Sept. 23?3:30 P. M. } ,
May Gen. John A. Dix : Sheridan's j
victory proves to be signal and complete. ;
Notliing but the coming night Saved even
a remnant of Early's army.
t The following dispatches of Gen. Stevenson
and Maj. Gen. Sheridan's official
report to Gen. Grant give all the particu
? Jl _
lars tnus lar receiveu ^
Harper's Ferry, Sept 23, 1864.
" To Hon. E. M. Stanton : The military
telegraph line is down. The affair is
complete and overwhelming. Respectfully,
JohnD. Stevenson,
Brigadier General."
Headquarters M. M. Division, j
Six miles from Woodstock,
11:30 P. M., Sept. 22, 1864. )
Lieut Gen. G*axt, Commanding the Annies of the
U. S., City Point. j
I have the honor to annonnce that I;
achieved a most signal victory over the
H THE FEEE SOUTH?BE.
steapily and trim, as 011 par.. J a. Mus- J
ketry and artillery tire opened almost at
once on both sides; when our lines were
within two hundred yards of the enemy,
a tremendous masked battery tire was
opened by the Rebels, which drove back
our first two lines upon the third. Here
the men lay down, while oar artillery was
brought up and opened upon that of the
enemy, silencing it. Another advance
was then made; by obstinate fighting our
lines were carried forward to the point
A.UFORT, S. C., OCT. 1, 1SG4.
army of General Early at Fisher's Hill,
to-day. I found the rebel army ported i
with its right resting on the north fork of !
the Shenandoah, and extending across
the Strasburburg Valley westward to
North Mountain, occupying a position
v. kick appeared almost impregnable.
After a great deal of monenvering
during the day, Gen. Q-ook's command
was transferred to the * xtreme right of
the line on North Mountain, and ho furiously
attacked the left of the enemy's
line, carrying everything before him.
While Crook was driving the enemy in
the greatest confusion and sweeping down
behind their breastworks, the 6th and
19th Army Corps attacked the rebel
works in front, and the whole army appeared
to be broken up. They tied in j
the utmost coufusion. Sixteen pieces of
artillery were captured; also a great
many caissons, artillery horses, Ac.
I am to-night. pushing on down the
vallev.
I cannot say how many prisoners I have 1
captured, nor do I know either my own
or the enemy's casualties. Only darkv
4 > |
ness has saved the whole of Early's army (
from total destruction.
My attack could not be made till 1
o'clock in the evening, which left but lit- ,
tie daylight to operate in. The 1st and ;
3d Cavalry Divisions went down the j .
Lauray Valley to-day ; and if they push ,
ou vigorously to the main valley the result
of this day's engagement will be still ,
more signal. The victory was very complete.
A more detailed report will be
made as soon as I can obtain the necessary
data. (
P. H. Sheridan, Maj. Gen. Com'dg. ,
- - 1.1, 11 1 5 _
It will bo remembered Unit ivdiy s j ,
command embraced the "Stonewall Brigade"
and the troops constituting
" Stonewall" Jackson's corps, and was
the elite of the rebel army.
E. M. STANTON,
Secretary ol War.
i
PIRATES ON LAKE ERIE.
"Daring- Exploit* of tliu Itcl>cl* Caplure
of Two Steamers* &c.
Buffalo, Sept. 20, 1SG1.
News has been received here tiiat a
number of rebels from Canada captured
the little steamers Parsons and Island
Queen'near Bass Island, on Lake Erie,
yesterday afternoon, and have gone down
or across the lake, probably for reinforcements,
guns and ammunition.
The capturing party numbered about
thirty men, wljo were armed with revolvers
and bowie knives. No other arms
w?*re noticed. The captors took at Mid
die Bass Island wood enough to Lust two
days.
Washington, Sept. 21, 1601.
. Commander Carter, of the United
States steamer Michigan, has telegraphed
to the Secretary of the Nnvv, dating oh'
Johnson's Island to-day, concerning tiro
capture by pirates of the steamers Torsous
and Island Queen. He says, theywere
pursued by him, and that he has got
the principal' agent prisoner 011 board,
and many accomplices. He adds :?"All
is well and safe at present. The object
was to capture the Michigan."
It further appears that Colonel Hall has
six of the pirates party on Johnson's
Island.
<< hi- !
A Seven ALIJLE OHOI.?xuu muu^uv
iron Ames gun was tried tried at Bridgeport,
Ct., last week. Three shots were
tired with the following result, as reported
in the Bridgeport Standard:
The first shot, with a charge of sixteen
pounds of powder, the gun elevated at
twenty-four and one-half degrees, was
sent five and three-quarters miles. The
| second shot, elevation the same, with a
charge of twenty pounds of powder, was a
''tumbler," and fell short about one and
a half miles. The third shot with a '
charge of twenty-five pounds of powder,
went a distance of 7 '4 miles in thirty seconds.
The shell weighed 107 pounds.
i
I
NO. 46.
IMPORTANT FROM THE RIO GRANDE.
Capt ure and Occupation of
Brownsville by Cortina.
He Hoists the American Flag
and Tenders his Services
to the Government.
The Rebels under Col. Ford Driven Oub
Cairo, Sept. 18, 1864.
The steamer Belle, from Memphis, ha**
arrived here, bringing Memphis papers
of yesterday evening. Sergeant J. S.
Clarke, hls't Illinois Infantry, furnishes
particulars of the atSair on the Rio
frrfliule.
It appears that on the morning of the
6th inst., the French moved out of Bag(l
d with a force of f>,000. and commenced
t!fe ascent of the Ilio (irar.de, with the
purpose of attacking Mntamoros. They
wore uninterrupted until reaching a point
opposite White Bauehe, where they met
Cortina with a Mexican force, preiiared
to contest their approach.
A terrific a:tillery duel ensued, when
the French were compelled to fall hack in.
confusion, closely followed for three
utiles, when coming to a piece of cliappiral
they made a stand.
Cortina opened on the Imperial force
with shot and shell.
While engaged at this point the rebel
commander of Brownsville, Col. Ford,
came down from Texas on the Kio
Grande with a large drove of cattle for
the French, and seeing they were engaged
with Cortina promptly espoused the cause
of the French and opened on the Mexican
rear.
Seeing this the Imperial Army made
an attempt to turn the tide of battle and
charged the Mexicans with the bayonet,
determined to conquer or die. ^Tliey
were, however, driven back in .disorder to
the cover of the chapparaL? ^ * "
Cortina then brought to bear two
pieces of artillery on Ford's force, obliging
him to retire. About this time the
bist Illinois, stationed at Brazos Santiago,
hearing the tiring on the Bio Grande,
were ordered to march to the scene, and
arrived in time to witness the repulse of
the rebels. The gallant "Sucker" boys
then pitched into Ford, drove him live
miles, capturing his camp equipage ami
about thirty stand of arms.
Meantime Cortina succeeded in putting
the Imperialists to flight, and drove them1
to Bayo tld Bio. As his artillery could
not compete with their heavy ordnance
on shipboard, he withdrew his forces to
White Bundle and crossed 500 men into
Texas, where they lay on their arms during
the night of the 0th, by the side of
the American troops.
Xo sooner had Cor tin . crossed the Bio
Grande than he lowered the 'flag of iiis
country?wliitc, red and green?and
hoisted the stars and stripes, which w.is
enthusiastically greeted by the Mexican
soldiers, as well as the American.
On the 9th Cortina followed Ford to
the old battle-field of Resaca de la Pulnia,
where he rested his troops for the liigkt,
while Ford fell back to Brownsville.
Cortina dispatched couriers to Mntamoros
to order forces there to prepare to move
away. Early on the morning of the 8th,
500 Mexicans moved up the Rio Grande*
crossed the river, and came down the
Texas side, attacking Brownsville simultaneous
with Cortina.
The struggle for Brownsville was brief*
and resulted in the defeat of the rebels,
who were driven from the town. Cortina
took possession of the town. The exit
of the rebels was so liasty, they left their
Hags floating on the' Court House and
other public buildings, which were soon,
tore down, and the stars and stripes
hoisted, amid the shouts of the citizens
and Mexican soldiers, who were almost as
proud of the starry banner as our brave
boys.