POETRY AND INCIDENTS. HAIL TO THE KEARSARGE. Hail to the Kearsarge, castle of oak, Hail to her captain and crew! Haughty Britannia no longer can boast Hail to the queen of the sea! The British lion may cease his roar: At sea a pirate, a thief on shore, Hail to our Yankee tars! Hail to the Stripes and Stars! Cheers!" Two-Ninety," the robber, is dead! Hail to our holy cause! Hail to our equal laws! CAPTAIN SEMMES, C. S. A. N. JUNE 19, 1864. Out of Cherbourg harbor, one clear Sunday morning, the cavalier, Captain Semmes, with his cap a-cock, Sailed from the friendly Frenchman's dock. Under the flag of the cross of shame; Knight of the handcuff and bloody lash, Semmes has been a wolf of the deep For a cavalier of high degree; And Raphael Semmes don't sound, indeed, As if it came of the purple seed; But all the blood in his veins was blue, And his clay was porcelain through and through. Heigh-ho! the Lord doth know We are but dirt, and our blood's so-so. What will the doughty Captain do "Heigh-ho!" said Semmes, "Let's blow That craft to splinters before we go." Semmes had heard, with his lip a-curl, Will they dare to fight with gentlemen? Straight out to sea the Kearsarge drew, Heigh-ho! 'tis well to know Who looks on the deeds done here below. Semmes led the waltz and struck the tune: An ounce of powder or pound of shot. They held their peace till the guns would tell, From her bursting scuppers smoked and streamed, Seven times in that deadly round Well was it for the cavalier, Safely they bore the chief aboard, Through the Deerhound I'd have sent a shot, And John might have liked the thing or not! Heigh-ho! come soon or slow, In the end we are bound to have a blow. What said the Frenchman from his hill, But the end of all was both looked blue. One thing they wished, which they dared not say, "If the fight had but gone the other way! Heigh-ho! I told you so! Oh! Semmes was a sorry fool to go!" GEORGE H. BOKER FORT PILLOW. A SOUTHERN HYMN OF PRAISE. Down with him! Slay him! for he dared to brave See! there's another, writhing and near dead, Stop that young nigger's cry-knock out his brains- Sainted be every one who on this day Half the work's done for us, but all must die! Let blood have carnival, let hate go free! And on the escutcheon of the South shall stand Bring up the prisoners-form them in line- Finished-'tis finished, and we leave the fray, Stronger and bolder for the feast of blood,⚫ R. R. B. THE LOSS OF THE SOUTHFIELD.-P. H. Pursell, the Acting Assistant-Surgeon of the Southfield, gave the following account of the loss of this ship: "UNITED STATES FLAG-SHIP MINNESOTA, "The forward lashings were parted by the pressure of the ram between our vessels, and the after ones were then cut, and as many as could get on board of the Miami did so. When the Miami retired, she was followed a short distance by the ram, which was considered slow, making about four knots per hour; the Miami, however, throwing solid shot at her as she retired. Some of the men of the Southfield took the small boats, and were picked up by the Whitehead and Ceres. "The gunboats Miami, Whitehead, and Ceres returned to the mouth of the river and came to anchor. "The Ceres was despatched to Newbern immediate OFF NEWPORT NEWS, April 21y, with the body of Lieutenant Commander Flusser. "SIR: About half-past five P.M., on the seventeenth instant, Fort Gray, near Plymouth, on the Roanoke River, was attacked by the rebels from a battery of six field-pieces, on a sand-bank, some eight hundred or one thousand yards up the river. Lieutenant Commander Flusser despatched the Ceres to communicate with the Whitehead, which was doing picket-duty up the river. "In passing up by the rebel battery, she received a shot in the port gangway, killing two and wounding seven men. Firing upon the fort ceased at about nine o'clock, the Ceres returning about this time. At early dawn on Monday, eighteenth, the enemy charged upon Fort Gray, and were repulsed. The Bombshell then steamed up the river to communicate with the Fort, receiving several shots, and put in a sinking condition. After communicating with the Fort, she returned and sank at the wharf. "Later in the day the enemy appeared in force in rear of the town, and at sunset commenced a vigorous attack on Fort Williams and Fort Wessell, at which time the Miami and Southfield, previously chained together, were cut loose. The Southfield steamed up the river to protect Fort Wessell, whilst the Miami dropped down the river and shelled the enemy in front of Fort Williams. During the evening the enemy assaulted Fort Wessell, and were repulsed three times, the Southfield throwing shell among the enemy. "At about half-past ten P.M., the Southfield dropped down the river and reported to Lieutenant Commander Flusser, who ordered the vessels to be lashed together with hawsers, the Southfield being on the port side of the Miami. At about midnight the Southfield came down the Cachie, and came up alongside the Miami, reporting the ram on the way down; the Ceres returning about the same time, having been sent around through the Cachie to communicate with the Whitehead. "About three o'clock A.M. on Tuesday, nineteenth, the ram dropped down along the left bank of the river, under cover of the shade of the trees, with the current, and when near, ran obliquely across into the starboard bow of the Southfield. We had been firing shell the previous evening on shore, and the guns of both vessels were left loaded with shell, which there was not time to draw. Lieutenant Commander Flusser fired the first shell at her, and upon its bursting, some fragments, either from this or from the Southfield's shells, rebounded, and caused the death of Lieutenant Commander Flusser, also wounding the officers and men below mentioned, the fragments piercing his chest, face, and skull. "Upon the approach of the ram, the Southfield also fired at her. The prow of the ram running into the Southfield, caused her to fill with water, and she sank inside of fifteen minutes. "The officers missing from the Southfield were, Acting Master W. B. Newman, Acting Ensign Thomas B. Stokes, Acting Second Assistant Engineer William F. Goff, Acting Third Assistant Engineer John A. Streiby, Acting Master's Mate George W. Pratt, and Paymaster's Clerk George W. Brown. "Some of the officers and men of the Southfield may have been captured, but most of them must have escaped; few or none were probably lost. Acting Ensign Thomas A. Hargis, and Acting Third Assistant Engineer Harrington, and some six or eight men were wounded-none mortally-of the Miami. "The Miami was uninjured. The ram is thought not to have used her guns whilst under our bows, nor could our guns then bear on her. The shell fired at her was when she approached, and her firing, which seemed to be from small guns, was while the Miami retreated, when she was struck by a glancing shot from the ram. Very respectfully." [Personal.] LETTER OF GENERAL SEDGWICK. HEADQUARTERS SIXTH ARMY CORPS, MY DEAR TOWNSEND: There is a change proposed in the organization of this army-reducing the number of corps to three. Whether I am to be retained as one of the commanders, I do not know; but I write this to ask you, when the matter is brought up in Washington, to retain the number of this corps-the Sixth. It is entirely harmonious, and a great deal of esprit du corps is in it. I do not believe there is a regiment in it that would leave willingly. Another reason is-since its organization there has never been a regiment added or detached. This is not the case with the other corps. The Third has been made up of the odds and ends from several armies, and this is partly true of the First; and every corps (the Sixth excepted) has had several regiments assigned to it, from time to time. I am afraid the First, Second, and Third will be retained, when I should like to see the Second, Third, and Sixth. I am sure you will assist me in this matter, if in your power; at all events, I rely upon you in letting me know when the subject comes up. Yours very truly, Colonel E. D. TOWNSEND, JOHN SEDGWICK. Assistant Adjutant-General. WHO TOOK ROCKY FACE RIDGE?-Lieutenant R. C. Powns, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio regiment, writing from Dallas, Georgia, May nineteenth, 1864, made the following communication to the Louisville Journal: "In your issue of the twenty-first instart, there is a communication from your army correspondent, A. J. Daugherty, which gives an account of the battle of Rocky Face Ridge. The hazardous undertaking of driving the enemy from that almost inaccessible stronghold is credited to General Willich, who is represented to have 'ascended to the summit, and asked permission to march steadily forward to ward the Gap.' I do not know on what authority the statement was made, but surely the impression it is intended to convey is far from the truth. General Willich took no part in driving the enemy from Rocky Face; and that he should have asked permission to march steadily forward toward the Gap' after the battle had been fought and the danger past, is complimentary neither to his good sense nor his gallantry. "The following is a plain statement of the facts: The work of driving the enemy from Rocky Face Ridge was assigned to General C. G. Harker, commanding the Third brigade of Newton's division. The One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio infantry, Colonel Opdyke, was placed in advance, and was the first to ascend the Ridge. At seven o'clock A.M., of the eighth instant, he drove in the rebel pickets, and at half-past eight A.M., after sharp skirmishing and clambering over perpendicular cliffs, he rested his command on the summit of the Ridge. "After Colonel Opdyke had effected a lodgment, he found himself confronted by greatly superior numbers. This fact having been reported, the rest of Harker's brigade was sent to his support, and finally Newton's whole division were posted on the Ridge. "No other troops save those belonging to Newton's division fired a shot or were under fire while on Rocky Face, from the time of its original occupation by the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio on Sunday, the eighth instant, until the evacuation of Dalton by the rebels. "This much of Mr. Daugherty's letter I have thought proper to correct; and although I am well aware that Harker's brigade does not need the honors of Rocky Face to establish its character for gallantry, I am not disposed to look on in silence, while its laurels, nobly won, are misapplied. "I believe General Willich to be too true a soldier to covet honor which he does not win; and even if it were otherwise, I cannot think the Journal would lend itself to falsify, in order to gratify his vanity. "I ask you to make this correction as due to truth; in justice to General Harker and his veteran brigade; in justice to the noble dead who now sleep on Rocky Face, and whose tombstones are those rugged, bloodstained cliffs; in justice to the two hundred killed and wounded, who are now absent from our depleted but still invincible ranks on account of that terrible charge; as well as in justice to the living, whose lives are daily offered to obtain redress for comrades cruelly slain, and to establish a government whose honor and power we have no desire to outlive." SPEECH OF MRS. MAJOR BOOTH. who had escaped the fiendish scenes of Fort Pillowscenes that have stamped yet deeper blackness on the infamous brow of treason. Mrs. Booth came forward. In her hand she bore a flag, red and clotted with human blood. She took a position in front of the fourteen heroes, so lately under her deceased husband's command. The ranks before her observed a silence that was full of solemnity. Many a hardy face showed by twitching lids and humid eyes how the sight of the bereaved lady touched bosoms that could meet steel, and drew on the fountain of tears that had remained dry even amid the piteous sights witnessed on the battle-field after a fierce action. Turning to the men before her, she said: "Boys, I have just come from a visit to the hospital of Mound City. There I saw your comrades; wounded at the bloody struggle in Fort Pillow. There I found this flag-you recognize it. One of your comrades saved it from the insulting touch of traitors at Fort Pillow! "I have given to my country all I had to give-my husband-such a gift! Yet I have freely given him for freedom and my country. "Next my husband's cold remains, the next dearest object left me in the world, is this flag-the flag that waved in proud defiance over the works of Fort Pillow! "Soldiers! this flag I give to you, knowing that you will ever remember the last words of my noble husband: 'Never surrender the flag to traitors.'" Colonel Jackson then received from her hand, on behalf of his command, the blood-stained flag. He called upon the regiment to receive it as such a gift ought to be received. At that call he and every man of the regiment fell upon their knees, and, solemnly appealing to the God of battles, each one swore to avenge their brave and fallen comrades, and nevernever to surrender the flag to traitors! The scene was one never surpassed in emotional incident. Beside the swift-rolling waters of the Missis sippi-within the inclosure that bristled with the death-dealing cannon- - knelt these rough soldiers, whose bosoms were heaving with emotion, and on many of whose cheeks quivered a tear they tried to hide, though it did honor to their manly natures. Beside them stood in her grief the widow of the loved officer they had lost; and above them was held the bloody flag. that eloquent record of crime which has capped the climax of rebellion, and which will bring a reckoning so fearful. - In few but pointed and incisive words, Colonel Alexander pledged himself and his command to discharge to the uttermost the solemn obligation of justice they had that day taken. Colonel Kappan followed him, expressing himself in favor of such retaliatory acts of justice as the laws of warfare require in a case of such fiendish and wicked cruelty. Woe to the unlucky Reb who falls into the hands of any of the commands represented at this solemn declaration! The determination of the officers of the Sixth United States heavy artillery is incontestable, their bravery has been tried, and they have never been found wanting. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND GENERAL GRANT. On Tuesday, April third, 1864, the widow of Major Booth, the late commander at Fort Pillow, arrived at Fort Pickering, below Memphis, Tenn. Colonel Jackson, of the Sixth United States heavy artillery, had his regiment formed into line for her reception. In front of its centre stood fourten men, as fine, brave fellows as tread the earth. They were the remnant of the took place between the President and Lieutenant-Genfirst battalion of the regiment now drawn up—all | eral Grant: The following is a copy of a correspondence which |