ing to effect this. We opened fire on them, and | the firing was kept up on both sides until about two o'clock in the morning, shortly after which the reinforcement sent me by you arrived. Nothing further was done until daylight, when the enemy commenced throwing shot and shell across the Dam, and also at Fankell's Ferrytheir object at the latter place, in particular, appearing to be the destruction of property. At Dam No. 5 they succeeded in setting fire to and destroying a barn. Firing at each of the above places was kept up all day, with little intermission on both sides. I am happy to be able to state that none of my company were wounded, although one man of the Massachusetts regiment was severely so. I have great pleasure in speaking well of the prompt action and willing- | ness on the part of some of the Union men in this vicinity in rendering me all the assistance they could, not only in showing me the best points for cover for some of my small party, but also in handling the musket with them. I have learnt, from reliable information, that the enemy's known loss in killed and wounded amounted to twelve-seven at the Dam, and five at Fankell's Ferry; but I believe it to have been heavier. Two of their cannon burst, and one was rendered unserviceable by the breaking of the axle of the gun-carriage. Also, that their total force was about fifteen hundred strong. From what shot and shell we have picked up, their guns appear to be of the latest improved pattern. The enemy appear to have left this district, with the exception of some few pickets, as nothing is observable of them in force from Fankell's Ferry or the Dam, at which place they left behind them a considerable quantity of intrenching tools. I have the honor, &c., GILBERT ROBINSON, An "eye-witness" gives the following account of the attack: WILLIAMSPORT, Md., Sunday, December 8, 1861. I have just returned from Dam No. 5, about seven miles above this on the Potomac, where a sharp skirmish has been going on all day. When the firing was first commenced, about four o'clock last evening, by the rebels on the other side of the river, Capt. Robinson's Com pany, of Col. Lehman's regiment, the Virginia First, who were on picket duty at that point, were the only men we had present; but they were reinforced this morning about two o'clock by Company C, Capt. Wm. II. Jackson, of the Thirteenth Massachusetts, Col. Leonard, who left this place last night about ten o'clock. The rebels opened the battle by throwing shell and canister in rapid succession. They had four or five ten-pound rifled cannon, and one large Parrott gun; but when they had ceased firing at dark last evening, had succeeded in doing nothing but destroy Mr. Stanhope's house, which stood close by the river on this side. They also threw several cannon balls into several other small buildings which stood in the neighborhood of Stanhope's house. Our men had no artillery, and returned the fire occasionally with small arms. Some of our men were in and about the buildings toward which the enemy's shot was directed, but most of Capt. Jackson's company were stationed along a fence running parallel with the river, on the brow of the hill on this side of the river. There was also a large hill on the opposite side, and it was on the top and the slope of this bill that the rebel cannons were planted. The firing ceased at dark last evening, but was renewed with shell and canister at daylight this morning. It was at once as brisk and unceasing as it had been yesterday, but was immediately returned vigorously by Capt. Jackson's company, who had by this time arrived and taken their position on the top of the hill. As soon, however, as the rebels had discovered their position this morning, they elevated the range of their artillery, and the second shell they threw struck a large barn on the brow of the hill, a little to the right of Robinson's men, belonging to John Sterling, which immediately took fire and was burned to the ground. Some of the Massachusetts boys, who had been enjoying a nap on the hay-mow during the after part of the night, had just left the barn when the shell struck it. Mr. Sterling had barely time to get his horses and cattle from it, and lost his entire crop of grain. The cannonading ceased about nine o'clock this morning, but was renewed again about four this evening, and kept up till dark, since which time there has been no firing on either side. The enemy's shells, this evening, were directed toward Sterling's house, which stood a little in the rear of the barn, but they did not succeed in hitting it. None of our men were killed or wounded, save James Kenney, of Company C, of the Massachusetts Thirteenth, who received two pretty severe flesh wounds in the thigh and in the calf of the leg. He was wounded while coming up the hill from the river, where he had taken his position during the night, with some others, behind Stanhope's house. He was first struck in the thigh, and in an effort to get away was again struck in the leg. He was lying in Sterling's house this evening, while the shells of the enemy were flying thick and fast about it; but he will soon be on his way to Boston, from whence he hails. It is not known how many the rebels lost, but several were seen to fall, and taken into a couple of houses which stand on the Virginia side. Kenney was wounded by a Minié ball, which seemed to be the only kind of small shot the rebels used. The firing of small arms was very brisk on both sides during the whole day. We expect some artillery here daily, but the rebels have removed from the Dam, and will not likely appear soon again. They showed themselves about a thousand strong. -N. Y. Times, Dec. 13 Doc. 218. A FIGHT ON THE LOWER POTOMAC. LIEUT. WYMAN'S REPORT. UNITED STATES STEAMER HARRIET LANE, OFF MATTAWOMAN CREEK, December 9, 1861. Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy: SIR: I have the honor to report to you that this morning, about half-past nine o'clock, seeing the enemy's pickets, three camp wagons, and a mounted officer coming down the road to the southward of Freestone Point, and halting at some buildings near the beach, I'directed the steamers Jacob Bell and Anacostia to shell the buildings. I stood in with this vessel as far as the draft of water would admit to protect them in the event of the enemy's bringing a field battery to Freestone Point. After shelling the buildings and hill, and driving back the pickets, Lieutenant-Commanding McCrae landed with a few men, and fired four houses, which have since burnt to the ground. They contained sutler's stores, flour, &c. As eighteen hours elapsed before the fire subsided, I judge that the quantity of stores must have been considerable. The fired but a few musket shot. I am, very respectfully, &c., enemy R. H. WYMAN, Ü. S. N., The correspondent with General Hooker's December 9, 1861. about. Several wagons were seen approaching the buildings near the shore, where the rebels had some store. Lieutenant McCrea, of the Jacob Bell, communicated with Captain Austin, commanding the Anacostia, and both vessels stood off Freestone Point, where they commenced shelling the woods and buildings. Captain R. H. Wyman commanding, was staThe Harriet Lane, flag-ship of the flotilla, tioned a mile or more behind. She fired two ninety-six-pound shots. On a line with her, a little lower down the river, were the Reliance and Herbert, with the Stepping Stones immediately behind, all in the mouth of Mattawoman Creek. This was the position of the steamers, with a sloop lying near, when the cannonado commenced. For an hour and a half the two steamers poured shell into the woods. From the balloon I could see the shells burst over the tops of the trees and near the surrounding buildings. Some struck the residence of Mr. Fairfax, situated in a grove upon the hill. Fairfax is said to be a Colonel in the rebel army. The wagons moved away as quick as possible, and several mounted officers scampered off as well. The booming of the cannon aroused the camps, and hundreds of our men covered the hills on the Maryland side, from which the whole action could be seen. While the vessels were firing into the woods, our guns at Budd's Ferry sent a few shells across. The rebel batteries directly opposite, of their shells exploded on this side without at Shipping Point, returned the fire. Several doing any damage, and one of ours burst right their upper battery. The rebels ran in every direction. In the mean time I had descended in the balloon and embarked in a boat which LieutenantColonel Wells, commanding the First Massachusetts regiment, had kindly placed at my disposal, with a crew under Lieutenant Carruth, and was on my way up to the flotilla. The lower Potomac was enlivened this morn-in ing by the gunboats of the upper flotilla shelling the woods and burning the buildings at Freestone Point, while about the same time there was a fine review of New Jersey troops on the Maryland side. At nine o'clock in the morning the New Jersey Brigade, recently arrived in General Hooker's Division, was reviewed and inspected by him. The day was one of the finest ever known in Maryland at this season. It was like a delightful day of the early Indian summer. The brigade, consisting of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth regiments, is under command of Colonel Starr, of the Fifth, an officer of extensive experience in the regular army. The appearance of the men was highly commendable, eliciting complimentary encomiums from the Commanding General, who never praises those who are undeserving. After the review he proceeded to carefully inspect the different regiments. The morning being calm and clear, I made an ascension in the balloon to draw a sketch of the rebel camps on the Virginia side of the river. Six steamboats belonging to the upper flotilla were seen near the mouth of Mattawoman Creek. Presently, at half-past ten o'clock, the Jacob Bell, Lieutenant McCrea commanding, got under way and went within about a thousand yards of Freestone Point. She fired five tensecond shells into the woods, and then put The Anacostia fired twenty shrapnel, one five-second and two ten-second shell. The Jacob Bell fired seventeen six-inch and fifteen eight-inch shell. Fifty-seven were fired altogether. The Jacob Bell then went close to the shore, and Lieutenant McCrea, with four men in a small boat, accompanied by another boat from the Anacostia, landed and set fire to the buildings near the water's edge, which they said contained stores belonging to the rebels. One containing empty barrels was not burned. The other buildings were soon enveloped in a sheet of flame. They were formerly used as a fish house, and rented for three thousand five hundred dollars per annum. The boats presently returned to their respective steamers, which then fell back and anchored near the Harriet Lane. The reflection of the setting sun on the Potomac, which was placid as a lake on a summer evening, together with that of the burning buildings, rendered the scene exceedingly beautiful. In the evening a light breeze came up, and to-night a number of small vessels, mostly oyster boats, are passing up the river. It is now a quarter to nine o'clock, and the rebel batteries at Shipping Point have just opened on two of the larger ones-the Oriental and the Shining Light, Captain Walker-which the rebels can easily distinguish by reason of the clearness of the night and the brightness of the moon. Both batteries are keeping up a rapid fire upon them. The flashes of two, three, and four guns are seen simultaneously. Shells, with the burning fuse, are making graceful curves through the air like shooting stars, and then comes the loud reports of their bursting. We have a fine view of this magnificent night cannonade from the rear verandah of Mr. Posey's residence. Some of the shells have struck the water, several are bursting in the air, and some have come over here to the Maryland shore. One shot which ricocheted along the water touched the side of the Shining Light about the water mark, but being spent did not do any damage. About forty shots were fired by the rebels, but none of the vessels sustained any injury. The firing soon ceased, and every thing was quiet during the remainder of the night. Doc. 219. GOV. PICKENS' PROCLAMATION, CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS. STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Brigades of South Carolina Militia respectively, in accordance with the ninth section of said act. 2. Brigadier-General De Saussure, commanding Fourth Brigade S. C. M., is directed to proceed at once to take, or cause to be taken, a complete and accurate census of his command, in accordance with provisions of the ninth section of the above Act of the General Assembly, and make the returns thereof to this office. 3. The Generals commanding the Seventh and Eighth Brigades of S. C. M., are directed to make out and return to this office returns of the same character. 4. That Generals of Divisions and Brigades and Commanders of Regiments are charged with the prompt extension and faithful execution of the above provisions of said act and of this order. 5. That the number of volunteers or drafted men required from each company (beat or volunteer) be apportioned by the commanding offi cers of regiments, under the direction of Generals of Brigades, and when any company (beat or volunteer) fails to furnish its required quota, then the commanding officer of the regiment will at once order and execute a draft for such quota, in accordance with the form provided in the one hundred and forty-sixth section of A. A. of 1841. 6. The regiments of infantry will consist of ten companies, at least sixty-eight men in the aggregate, and the companies of cavalry of at least seventy-two each, aggregate, to serve for a period of not less than twelve (12) months. 7. Elections will be ordered for company officers by the commanding officers of the regiments, as soon as the requisite number of men have volunteered, or been drafted, and the rolls of the companies and certificates of election will be forthwith forwarded to this office. HEAD-QUARTERS, Dec. 9, 1861. OUR State is invaded, and Charleston is threatened, by land and by sea, with large forces. I, therefore, in conformity with an act passed the 7th inst., entitled "An Act to annul and suspend certain portions of the Militia and Patrol Laws of this State," do hereby issue this, my proclamation, calling for twelve thousand 8. Upon the reception of the rolls of compavolunteers, to be furnished for a term of ser-nies and certificates of election of company offivice not less than twelve months, unless sooner discharged. These troops will be received and mustered in according to orders, below issued, by the Adjutant and Inspector-General. Unless this call is promptly responded to, a draft will be executed according to the provisions of said Act. For further particulars, special reference is hereby made to the order of the Adjutant and Inspector-General. F. W. PICKENS. STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, HEAD-QUARTERS, ) ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S OFFICE, COLUMBIA, Dec. 9, 1861. General Orders No. 121: In accordance with the proclamation of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, and under the provisions of the Act of the General Assembly, entitled "An Act to suspend and amend certain portions of the Militia and Patrol Laws of this State," it is hereby ordered: 1. That ten companies of Infantry and two companies of Cavalry be raised and organized forthwith, from the First, Second, Third, Fifth, cers, orders will be issued for the rendezvousing of said company in camp, and company officers will take rank from the reception of their com panies in this office. 9. Tenders of volunteer companies made from and after this date, should be made to and transmitted to this office, by the commanding officer of the militia regiments, from which such companies are raised, who will keep a copy of such rolls to perfect his census returns of their respective regiments. 10. All volunteer companies not having the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, required by law, except those in actual service, or already ordered into actual service, are herewith ordered to be dissolved, and their arms, accoutrements, and equipments returned forthwith to the arsenals at Charleston or Columbia. 11. The census returns required by the act will be accurately made out and returned in a proper form to this office without delay. 12. Officers charged with duties under this order are required to execute them promptly and efficiently without further notice, upon the pain of being visited with the extreme penalties of the law. By command of the Governor. S. R. GIST. Adjt. and Inspector-Gen. of S. C. Doc. 220. MR. CARDWELL'S RESOLUTIONS, OFFERED IN THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE, DECEMBER 10, 1861. Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, As its unanimous sense, that any and all propositions of the Congress of the (socalled) United States of America to reconstruct a Union which they have prostituted to the base purposes of annihilating the liberties, trampling upon the rights, destroying the lives, and plundering the people of the Confederate States, thus driving them to the assertion of their independence and the formation of a new Confederacy, for the maintenance of their inalienable rights and the preservation of their sovereignty, is but another form under which our enemies would subjugate the South and reduce us to the despotism of their degraded doctrines, and that we cannot view any such proposition of reconstruction in any other light than as a crowning insult to our intelligence and manhood, to thus approach us after the acts of rapine, murder, and barbarity which have marked their inhuman invasion of our territory; and that any such proposition should be met promptly and unhesitatingly with our indignant rejection. Resolved, That the secret sympathizers of Lincolnism in the South, if any there be, who may favor any such insulting approach of our enemy, deserve to be branded as traitors to the South and enemies of their country. Resolved, That any commissioners appointed by the Lincoln Congress at Washington to the government of the Confederate States, having for the object of its mission a reconstruction of the old Union, should be at once promptly rejectde by the government of the Confederate States. Respleed, That the Confederate States and their people ardently desire a peaceful solution of existing difficulties with the Northern States, and that an honorable peace, guaranteeing our independence, would be hailed by our people with joy and satisfaction, but that, having taken up arms to achieve our independence of a government which has cruelly persecuted and oppressed us, and which has shown a determination to overturn every guarantee of our constitutional rights, by a long train of abuses and usurpations, the people of Tennessee cannot with honor and safety to themselves, and with security to their posterity, consent to any treaty which shall not recognize our entire independence of any political connection with the government of the so-called United States. Resolved, That the Governor be requested to forward a copy of these resolutions to each of our Representatives to Congress, and also a copy to each of the Governors of the Confederate States, with a request that they be laid before their respective State Legislatures. Doc. 221. ASIEPOO RIVER EXPEDITION. COMMANDER DRAYTON'S REPORT. UNITED STATES STEAMER PAWNEE, SIR: In obedience to your order of the 4th instant, I proceeded to sea at daylight of the 5th, accompanied by the gunboat Unadilla, Lieutenant-Commanding N. Collins; steamer Isaac Smith, Lieutenant-Commanding Nicholson, and coast survey steamer Vixen, Captain Boutelle, and reached anchorage off the fort on Otter Island, St. Helena Sound, at mid-day. In the course of the afternoon, some negroes coming on board, and reporting that there was a body of soldiers at the entrance of Mosquito Creek, a place up Ashepoo, where the inland route to Charleston commences, I proceeded as far as that place, when night coming on, obliged me to return. I saw, however, no signs of the presence of white people, excepting that some buildings, which I discovered next day to have | been on Hutchinson's Island, were burning. On the morning of the 6th, the United States steamship Dale, Lieutenant-Commanding, W. T. Truxton, appearing off the harbor, I sent the Isaac Smith to tow her in. Unfortunately, however, when half way up, the Dale stuck fast, and no exertions could get her afloat until one o'clock that night, when she was forced into deep water, having suffered no apparent injury, and towed the following morning by Capt. Boutelle in the Vixen, around Morgan Island. So soon as she was safely at her anchorage near us, I proceeded up Ashepoo with the Unadilla, Isaac Smith, and Vixen, to examine the river further up than I had been able to do on the previous occasion. On approaching Mosquito Creek, we saw a picket of soldiers, who took to their horses on our approach, and escaped into the woods, hastened perhaps in their flight by a shot or two which were thrown after them. Continuing up the river, I landed on Hutchinson's Island, and found that two days before, all the negro houses, the overseer's house, and outbuildings, together with picked cotton had been burned. The attempt had, at the same time, been made to drive off the negroes, but many had escaped, although some of their number, they said, had been shot in attempting to do so. The scene was one of complete desolation. The smoking ruins and cowering figures which surrounded them, of those negroes who still instinctively clung to their hearthstones, although there was no longer there shelter for them, presented a most melancholy sight, the Doc. 222. impression of which was made even stronger by the piteous wailing of the poor creatures, a CAPTURE OF REBELS IN CALIFORNIA. large portion of whom consisted of the old and decrepit. They were not able to leave until some time after dark, and, singular enough, the moment we were fairly under way, a bright signal light was burned on the very plantation we had just quitted, showing that some of the blacks, for there was certainly no white man there, were communicating our departure. On the following morning, with the same vessels, I started to explore Coosaw River, but very soon after leaving, the Unadilla was completely disabled by the breaking of the main cross-head, and I was obliged to leave her at anchor and continue on with the other two vessels. When off Fort Heyward, I left the Isaac Smith, it not being quite safe to take so long a vessel higher up, and continued in the Vixen, so far as the entrance of Beaufort Creek, to a place called the Brick Yards, where I had been told there was either a fort or a guard of soldiers. Nothing, however, being seen of either, I anchored off a plantation belonging to Mr. Bychewood, close by, for the purpose of getting information, as I saw a great many negroes there. On landing, I found that a short time previously, the cotton-house, with its contents, had been burned, and all the negroes that could be caught, had been taken away. Here were large numbers of those, however, who had left Hutchinson's Island after their houses had been burned, and who, with their household effects piled up about them, lined the beach. Some of them, begging to be permitted to go to Otter's Island, saying that they had neither shelter nor food, were taken back with us. Late in the afternoon I returned down the river, reaching our anchorage off Fort Otter at sunset. As I did not see that the services of the Pawnee were any longer necessary in St. Helena Sound, and thinking it important to get the Unadilla as soon as possible to a place where her engines could be repaired, I determined this morning to tow that vessel to Port Royal harbor, which I have done, reaching here in company with the Vixen at half-past seven this evening. In obedience to your instructions, before leaving, I transferred the charge of the fort and adjacent waters, to Lieutenant-Commanding Nicholson, who, with the Isaac Smith and Dale, will remain there until he receives further orders from yourself. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Flag-officer S. F. DUPONT, Commander. As about one hundred and forty negroes, most of them in a very destitute condition, had collected at Otter Island before my departure, I directed Lieutenant Nicholson to see that they were supplied with food, until some disposition would be made of them, or until he heard from you. Very respectfully, P. DRAYTON. MAJOR RIGGS OFFICIAL REPORT. CAMP WRIGHT, OAK GROVE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, / LOWER CALIFORNIA, Nov. 30, 1861. COLONEL: I take advantage of the departure of Señor Sepulva Ramon, Carillo's brother-inlaw, to inform you of the arrest of the Showalter party, Showalter with them. It consists of sixteen men, each armed with rifles and a pair of revolvers. They gave us a hard chase, but we finally captured them. They parleyed, but finally concluded not to resist, although against the advice of Showalter. The names of the party are T. A. Wilson, Tennessee; W. Woods, Missouri; Charles Pendroth, Kentucky; Wm Sands, Tennessee; T. L. Roberts, South Carolina; R. H. Wood, Mississippi; T. W. Woods, Virginia; J. W. Sampson, Kentucky; S. A. Rogers, Tennessee; J. Lawrence, Arkansas; Levi Rogers, Alabama; Henry Crowell, Pennsylvania; Wm. Turner, Georgia; Dan. Showalter, Pennsylvania; A. King, Tennessee. Retook two of the party on the 27th, near the post, viz.: E. B. Summers and F. V. Chum. They were the advancing party, eighteen in all. I am now examining them, and will send you by express, that will leave here to-night some time, full particulars. They now regret that they did not resist; if they had they would have given us a hard fight. There is no doubt that every one of them is a secessionist, and are on their way to lend aid and comfort to the enemy. I would like to know as soon as possible what to do with them. They have pack mules, and are well fitted out, and a desperate set of men. I am under great obligations to Francisco Ocampo for my success. It is reported that some eighty men are getting ready, and on the road. I will keep a good watch for them. Very respectfully, EDWIN A. RIGG, Major First Infantry, commanding Canip Wright. Head-quarters District of Southern California, Doc. 223. GEN. HUNTER AND SI GORDON. To the Trustees of Platte City, Platte Co., Mo.: GENTLEMEN: Having received reliable information of depredations and outrages of every |