eral Jackson. The crossing was suspected, but not at so early an hour, and the Federal troops were close upon the Confederates before they were seen by the latter. The first stand was made at Porterfield's farm, on the turnpike and near Hainesville, where it was necessary to destroy a barn and carriage-house in order to make a charge upon the Confederates. Here was a sharp skirmish-the Confederates held their ground for a time, but eventually retreated. Knapsacks and canteens were thrown aside as incumbrances to a backward march. They left behind them a number of blankets and other articles of value, indicating a hasty retreat. The loss of the Federal troops was reported by General Patterson, at three killed and ten wounded. This was called the skirmish at Falling Water. The troops moved thence to Martinsburg. WILSON'S CREEK, BATTLE of. This was the severest engagement of the year, except the battle of Bull Run. General Lyon, (see LYON,) who had arrived on the 5th of August at Springfield, Missouri, learning that General Price, of the Confederate army, (Missouri State Guards,) had effected a junction with General Ben. McCulloch, and that the consolidated force, about 23,000 strong, was within ten or twelve miles of Springfield, resolved, though aware of the hazard of the movement, as a last resource, to attack the Confederates at their camp on Wilson's Creek, nine miles from Springfield. His entire force amounted to 5,200 men, of whom one regiment, the Fifth Missouri, were threemonths men, whose time had expired nine days before the battle, but who had been retained by the urgency of Colonel Siegel. There were in all less than 500 cavalry, while the Confederates had over 6,000, according to General Ben. McCulloch's report. He had also three batteries, comprising in all sixteen guns, all of light calibre. This force marched from Springfield at eight P. M. on the 9th of August, intending to commence the attack at daybreak the next morning. They were in two columns, the larger consisting of three small brigades and not quite 4,000 men, under the command of General Lyon himself, the brigades being severally commanded by Major Sturgis, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews, and Colonel Deitzler; the smaller column, of about 1,300 men and one battery of six pieces, was commanded by Colonel (now Major-General) Siegel. The Confederate camp was situated along Wilson's Creek for a distance of five or six miles, and in the ravines, and on the heights west of the creek; and General Lyon's plan of attack was to march his main column, which he divided into two, giving the command of one to Major Sturgis, in front and to the left flank of the enemy, so as to enfilade their position on the creek; while Col. Siegel with his column, taking another road from Springfield, and crossing the creek, which here assumes the form of an inverted U, lower down, should endeavor to turn their right flank. Siegel's column fell into an ambuscade, and suffered severely, losing five of his six cannon, and was thus unable to render as efficient service as had been intended. The fight was continued in front, and on the enemy's left with terrible effect for over six hours; the Confederates twice, in the course of the battle, coming up to the Federal lines with the Union flag flying, and thus deceiving the Federal troops till they could get so close as to pour a most destructive fire upon them, but themselves falling back in confusion, when the artillery, which was served by officers and men of the regular army, was brought to bear upon them. General Lyon, who was thrice wounded early in the engagement, and had had his horse killed under him, mounting another horse, led the Second Kansas Regiment, which had lost its colonel, for a charge upon the enemy; but was killed instantly by a rifle ball, which struck him in the breast. His death did not, however, throw the Federal troops into confusion, and the battle, in which Major Sturgis now commanded, was continued for nearly three hours longer, when the Confederate troops were driven from their camp and the field. Finding his force too much reduced to hold the position, Major Sturgis gave the order to fall back on Springfield, and there resigned the command to Colonel Siegel, who made a masterly retreat with the remnant of his army, his baggage trains, and $250,000 in specie, to Rolla. The loss of the Federal force in this battle was 223 killed, 721 wounded, 292 missing, mostly prisoners. The Confederate loss, according to their own account, was 517 killed, about 800 wounded, and 30 missing. Three of their generals were wounded, two of them mortally. WINCHESTER is the capital of Frederick County, Virginia, one hundred and fifty miles north-northwest of Richmond, and seventy-one miles west by north of Washington. Excepting Wheeling, it is the largest town in the State west of the Blue Ridge, which is twenty miles distant. It is the terminus of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad, thirty miles long, which connects with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Harper's Ferry.__ The Confederate forces, on their retreat from Harper's Ferry in the middle of June, halted here. The place was thenceforth occupied by them through the year. It was the head-quarters of a wing of the great army of the Confederates, whose centre was at Manassas Junction. The number of troops was greater or less as circumstances might require. The fortifications surrounding the town, except to the southward on the high ground, were very heavy. The works were made with logs and barrels filled with earth. In front of the breastworks deep trenches were dug, communicating below with the inside of the works. The guns were masked by artificial thickets of evergreens, extended in some cases, to be used as ambuscades for riflemen and sharpshooters. The fortifications extended two and a half miles, and the trees were felled between Bunker Hill and Winchester to impede a hostile ad vance. WINTHROP, MAJOR THEODORE, an officer of volunteers in the United States army, and an American author, born in New Haven, Conn., September 22, 1828, killed in the battle at Great Bethel, June 10, 1861. He graduated with high honors at Yale College, in 1848, and soon after, partly to recruit his health, impaired by too close application, sailed for Europe, where he made an extensive tour mostly on foot. In Italy he formed the acquaintance of W. H. Aspinwall of New York, and upon his return became tutor to his son, with whom he afterwards again visited Europe. Returning from this second tour, he entered the employ of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and went to Panama, where he resided about two years. He then joined the unfortunate expedition of Lieutenant Strain, the exposures of which injured his health to such a degree that he was compelled to return to New York. He next engaged in the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1855. He first practised in St. Louis, but finding the climate unfavorable, he returned again to New York, where his fondness for literary pursuits drew him aside from his profession. His ing prairie, lying south of the Wisconsin River, also well watered and gemmed with lakes, but of less altitude, and admirably adapted for the cultivation of the cereals. The northern portion forms a part of the great lumber-producing region of the northwest, while the southern will long be one of the most productive wheat regions of the continent. The following are some of the agricultural productions of the State in the year ending June, 1860, according to the census: Wheat, 15,812,625 bush.; rye, 888,534 bush.; Indian corn, 7,565,290 bush.; oats, 11,059,270 bush.; wool, 1,011,915 lbs.; potatoes, 3,848,505 bush.; barley, 678,992 bush.; cheese, 1,104,459 lbs.; butter, 13,651,053 lbs.; maple sugar, 1,584,406 lbs. ; maple molasses, 83,003 gals.; sugarhouse molasses, 19,253 gals.; tobacco, 87,595 lbs. The State has paid great attention to internal improvements. On the 1st of January, 1862, there were completed and in progress in the State, 2,223 miles of railway; of these 922 miles were open for traffic, the construction and equipment of which had cost $33,630,693. The condition of the banks of the State, at the commencement of 1861, was as follows: Number of Banks Capital.... Loans and Discounts... Other investments... Notes of other banks.. Other liabilities.. At the commencement of hostilities which resulted in the present war, he enrolled himself in the artillery corps of the Seventh Regiment, and subsequently was made_acting military secretary and aid by Gen. Butler. description of the forty-two days' campaign of Deposits.... the Seventh Regiment, in the June, July, and August numbers of the Atlantic Monthly, attracted much attention by its gracefulness and brilliancy, and the interest thus excited was afterwards heightened by his untimely death. In the autumn of 1861, Messrs. Ticknor and Fields, of Boston, published two works of fiction of considerable merit, "Cecil Dreeme" and "John Brent," which were found among his papers after his death. WISCONSIN, one of the Northwestern States of the Union, was admitted in 1848. It lies between the parallels of 42° 30′ and 47° 05′ north latitude, and between 87° and 92° 50' west longitude from Greenwich. It is bounded N. by Lake Superior; N. E. by the upper peninsula of Michigan; E. by Lake Michigan; S. by Illinois; and W. by Iowa and Minnesota, from which it is in considerable part separated by the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. Its area is 53,924 square miles, and its population in 1860 was 775,873. It is divided into 58 counties. The State consists geographically of two distinct regions the elevated plateau lying north of the Wisconsin River, and maintaining a mean altitude of from 800 to 1,200 feet above the surface of Lake Superior-a country of heavy forests and high rolling lands, well watered, and with abundant lakes-a region in which the affluents of the Mississippi cross and interlock with the streams which fall into Lakes Superior and Michigan; and the southern roll .110 .$6,7-2,000 7.724.357 4,919,656 1,722.779 745,063 1,162,986 872.513 4,810,173 4,0-8,181 1,602,201 In June, 1862, there was a riot in Milwaukee, in consequence of the rejection by the bankers of that city of the notes of most of the banks of the State. The banking law of the State, which was modelled on the free banking law of New York, though modified in some particulars, permitted the lodging with the State comptroller, for the security of the issues of the banks of the State, of the bonds of the different States; and as the bonds of the Southern were generally lower than those of the Northern States, the banks had purchased largely of those as a basis for banking, and had issued their notes on those securities. The rapid reduction of the market value of these stocks, after the commencement of secession, produced an equally rapid depreciation in the value of the bank notes based upon them, and the eventual curtailment of the issues of these banks, occasioning severe losses and much bitterness of feeling on the part of the innocent holders of their notes. The riot was finally quelled by the State authorities without loss of life, but after considerable destruction of property. Wisconsin was one of the first States of the North to declare herself unalterably for the Union. The State had gone for Lincoln in November, 1860, by 20,000 majority over all the other candidates, and the State election held the same month had resulted in a very large republican majority in both branches of the Legislature. The Legislature convened at Madison on the 10th of January, and Gov. Ramsey undoubtedly expressed the sentiments of the majority of the people of the State in saying, as he did in his Message, that "the election of Mr. Lincoln was legal, and there was no just cause of complaint from any quarter." In reference to the secession movement which had already attained formidable proportions, he said: "This is not a league of States, but a government of the people. The General Government cannot change the character of the State governments, or usurp any power not delegated; nor can any State change its character or increase its rights. The signs of the times indicate in my opinion that there may arise a contingency in the condition of the Government, under which it may become necessary to respond to the call of the National Government for men and means to sustain the integrity of the Union, and thwart the designs of men engaged in an organized treason." The response of the Legislature to this Message was such as to show their loyalty and willingness to participate in any measures which the emergency might demand; but as, during the winter, there seemed to be a strong probability of a pacification of the difficulty, no measures of defence were adopted. The Legislature adjourned April 17. On the receipt of the President's proclamation of April 15, the Governor's guard at once volunteered, and volunteer companies were formed in all parts of the State. Gov. Ramsey called an extra session of the Legislature, which convened in May. In his Message, the Governor reviewed the causes of the difficulties, and recommended that immediate measures should be taken to prosecute the war with energy. He urged the immediate equipment of six regiments of volunteers, the purchase of a number of rifled cannon, and the appropriation of a million of dollars for the purposes of the war. He also suggested the necessity of a more efficient military organization, and insisted on the vital importance to Wisconsin of the free navigation of the Mississippi. "The vast lumber and mineral interests of Wisconsin, independent of her commanding produce and stock trade, bind her fast to the north border and Northwestern States, and demand, like them, the free navigation of the Mississippi and all its tributaries, from their highest navigable waters to their mouths." The Legislature responded fully and heartily to the recommendations of the Governor. During their session, which closed on the 27th of May, they passed a "war bill," providing for the raising of five additional regiments, besides the three already called for by the Government; and, in case these should also be needed by the United States, the raising a reserve of two more still, and, in case of farther call from the General Government, they authorized the Governor to keep constantly a reserve of two regiments beyond what were required for the national defence. For the organization and equip ment of this force they made specific provision. An act "to provide for borrowing money to repel invasion and suppress insurrection," was also passed, which appointed the Governor, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer Commissioners to negotiate a loan upon State bonds, bearing six per cent. interest, of one million of dollars. Sixty per cent. of this loan was to be negotiated for specie, and the remainder for fully secured bank paper. Two acts were passed in regard to the maintenance of families of volunteers: one appropriating from the war fund five dollars per month to each family, and the other authorizing counties, towns, cities, and villages to levy special taxes for the same purpose. The sum of $50,000 was appropriated to buy arms, and an act passed to prevent rendering aid to enemies, containing stringent provisions for the prompt punishment of offences coming within that category. Under the stimulating influence of excitement, and provided by their enactments with the necessary means of effective service, the citizens of Wisconsin promptly enlisted in the service of the Government. The whole number sent into the field by the State at the commencement of 1862, according to Gov. Salomons, was 24,000, a number considerably in excess of the quota of the State; and it is only justice to say that no troops proved themselves more efficient in all soldierly duties than those from Wisconsin. From the difficulty of procuring arms, they were unable to enter upon the service so early as the soldiers of some of the other States, but once armed and equipped, their courage and endurance rendered them most valuable soldiers. WOOL AND FLAX FABRICS, AND CANE FIBRE. A process has been introduced for disintegrating wool, flax, and cane, by charging it in a cannon with steam, and then suddenly discharging it with explosion. Flax and hemp thus reduced to fine short fibre is well adapted for mixing with wool in various cloths. Short flax fibre is capable of being most intimately mixed with wool in the fulling operation. The disintegration of cane is performed by charging cylinders of boiler iron, which are about 18 feet in length and 14 to 2 feet in diameter, with cane to about two-thirds full. A head of steam is then let on, which moistens and softens the cane, until it has sufficient force to blow open a door at one end, when the whole mass is exploded with a noise like that of a cannon. The cane falls to the ground, presenting the appearance of coarse oakum. It is then, by another process, reduced to pulp and manufactured into paper of all qualities, from the cheapest to the finest. The cane is the common fishing rods, which grow in great abundance in North Carolina. One establishment for the disintegration of cane has been in operation at Elizabeth, N. J., for some years. The work is now suspended in consequence of the impossibility of obtaining the raw material in North Carolina during the war. ZWIRNER, ERNST FRIEDRICH, a German architect, born at Jacobswald, in Silesia, Feb. 28, 1802, died at Cologne, September 22, 1861. He was the son of an inspector of forges, and was destined in childhood to the pursuits of inetallargy, for which he manifested a high capacity; but his preference for architecture was so evi⚫dent that his father consented to allow him to follow his own inclination. After completing his classical course of studies, he entered the school of architecture at Breslau, from which he graduated at the age of 19 years. His first engagements procured him the means of entering, three years after, the Royal Academy of Architecture and the University of Berlin. He remained there four years, and was enrolled among the auxiliary members of the Superior Administration of Architecture in 1828. He became next the pupil and assistant of Schinkel, one of the most eminent architects of modern times, and for a time followed his plans and principles. In 1833 he was elected architect of the Cathedral of Cologne, and thenceforth it was the first object of his ambition to complete that great work in accordance with the spirit of its projector. The cathedral had been already five hundred years in building, and Ꮓ each generation had advanced it somewhat, but none had dared to dream of seeing it finished and surmounted by its colossal dome. Zwirner believed its completion within his life-time and under his direction possible, and when the good people shook their heads at his enthusiasm, it only strengthened his faith and made his zeal the more fervid. He succeeded in interesting Frederick William IV., king of Prussia, in the work, and in inducing him to bestow upon it an annual subsidy of $37.500, to aid in its completion; liberal subscriptions came also from other quarters, and in 1854 King Frederick William, with his own hands, placed the keystone in the north portal of the cathedral. The great work, a most admirable reproduction of the best gothic architecture of the middle ages, was nearly completed in 1855, but the last touches of the architect were not given to it till 1860. M. Zwirner also desired and executed several other chapels ad cities of great beauty, at different points on the banks of the Rhine. At the time of his death he had been for some years presides of the Council of Architecture of the provizce of Cologne, and privy councillor of the Prussian Government. |