March 13, 1863, The New York Herald
The news from the army on the Rappahannock today is unimportant. The pickets of the enemy along certain portions of the line on the opposite side of the Rappahannock are one half negroes and one half white men. The negroes are armed and uniformed the same as the whites. Only one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards intervenes between our pickets and the enemy, and they are plainly to be distinguished without the aid of a glass.
A despatch from Rutherford’s creek, Tennessee, states that the whole rebel force of Van Dorn retreated towards Shelbyville on Wednesday night, that the country between Nashville and Columbia is now cleared of marauders, and that the means of crossing Duck river are destroyed. This postpones for a time the expected engagement in that quarter.
The account of our special correspondent on board the gunboat Montauk of the late fight of our iron-clads at Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee, will be found intensely interesting. The Montauk was struck with solid shot seventy-one times, and was lifted clear out of the water at the bow by the explosion of a torpedo, but she was not injured. The action was a terrific one, no less than three hundred and one shells having been thrown by our vessels, and two hundred and seventy-seven solid shot and shell by the enemy. Our firing upon the fort was magnificently directed, and, notwithstanding the statements in the Southern journals that Fort McAllister was uninjured, it proves that it was very seriously damaged. We give a very fine map today showing the scene of action and the position of all our vessel during the engagement. The impregnability of our iron-clads under the heaviest fire is pretty well established by the result of this conflict.
An arrival of three steamers from Port Royal yesterday furnishes us with the latest news from that quarter. The attack on Charleston has not yet commenced. The papers of that city say that neither the Indianola nor Queen of the West have been destroyed, but are still in good condition. An officer of the rebel army who was taken prisoner in the vicinity of Charleston states that negotiations for peace have been under consideration for the past three weeks at Richmond, but that the fact had not been permitted to go before the public. The British steamer Queen of the Wave ran ashore near Charleston and Admiral DuPont was using every exertion to save her. The British steamship, the Douro, which was captured off Cape Fear, on the 9th instant, by the United States gunboat Quaker City, was brought into this port yesterday by the latter vessel as a prize. Her cargo consisted of four hundred and twenty bales of cotton and some turpentine and tobacco. She ran the blockade at Wilmington, North Carolina, and was making for Nassau when intercepted by the Quaker City.
The difficulties existing between General Hunter and the officers of General Foster’s command appear to be yet unsettled. General Naglee has been ordered to New York by General Hunter, and has issued a farewell address to his division, in which he predicts that […..] is mighty and will prevail.”
Several valuable prizes are now on their way to this city. The prize steamer Adela, has arrived at Fortress Monroe from Key West, bound to New York. The prize steamer Virginia, bark Mohlen Williamson and brig J.W. Sawyer, with prize cargoes f twenty seven vessels, left Key West for this port on the same day. The steamship Peter Hoff, Captain Jamran, R.N., with a valuable cargo, was captured on the 25th of February off St. Thomas by the United States gunboat Vanderbilt, and arrive at Key West, where she was sent for adjudication. The Hoff was bound from London to Matamoras via St. Thomas. The prize schooners Avon, Alligator and Anne Hortenz have also arrived at the same place.
The whereabouts of the pirate Florida remains a mystery. She is reported as having been seen at so many different places, and under so many various circumstances. She was reported, for instance, as being seen off Abaco on the 24th ult., lying a helpless wreck upon the waters. On the same day she is said to have been taking in coal and provisions at Barbados, whereas a bark which arrived here and sailed from that port on the 24th reports that no privateers were there at that time.
By the Anglo-Saxon, which arrived here yesterday, we have the latest features of the European view of the American question. The London Times, commenting upon the recent action of the conservative states, says that they are taking steps which prove that their object is peace, and finding a federal government unwilling to give effect to their desire, have superseded its action, and thus commenced […..] second stage of this tremendous American revolution for themselves.”
Discussing the conflict between the statements of Mr. Seward and M. Mercier relative to the mission of the latter to Richmond, the Times regrets that Mr. Seward finds it necessary to deny the humane act imputed to him by Mercier, which would reflect credit on him, and at the expense of Mr. Seward veracity. It expresses its belief, at the same time, that Mr. Seward did listen to M. Mercier’s counsels.
The London Globe thinks that it is the duty of either the government of France or the United States to demand an apology for the contradiction existing between Messers. Seward and Mercier.
The British steamship Kangaroo, from Liverpool, which arrived at this port on Wednesday evening, brought on freight eight hundred and twenty-five bales of cotton. The City of Baltimore brought three hundred and sixty- nine bales.