AFFAIRS AT WASHINGTON. 
Chattanooga which state that 10,000 rebels are 
at or near Dalton. Wheeler’s cavalry was near 
Red Hill on Sugar Creek. Gen. Hardee’s head¬ 
quarters were at Kilton. The enemy are 
fortifying Rome and Atlanta. Our troops were 
in w inter quarters at Chattanooga, Huntsville* 
Lookout Talley and along the Nashville Railroad. 
The guerrillas along the river have been 
remarkably quiet since Gen. Eliott’s marine 
brigade had been in the neighborhood. The 
brigade has captured, during the past three 
weeks, over fifty prisoners, many of them 
officers; also upwards of one hundred mules and 
horses. 
Seven members of the 6 th Ohio cavalry have 
been captured by the rebels near Tullahoma 
and brutally murdered. They were tied to a 
tree and shot, and t heir bodies thrown into the 
river. 
After suffering defeat at Somerville and Mid- 
dlt'burg, the particulars of which have not been 
received, the rebel General Forrest divided his 
forces into four columns, which were reported 
to be 4,000 strong, and crossed Wool river, near 
Lafayette, on the 29th ult. They destroyed 
seven small culverts there, and, the telegraph on 
the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, between 
Collieraville and Moscow, have gone south, with 
Gen. Grierson’s cavalry and Morgan’s brigade 
of infantry in hot pursuit, and it is hoped will 
bring them to a stand at Coldwater. The bridge 
over which this force crossed Wool river had 
been ordered to he destroyed, but the order was 
disobeyed. 
Arkansas.— Advices from the South-West 
say a fight occurred on the 18th ult., near Fort 
Gibson, in the Cherokee country, between 1.000 
rebels under Quanlrell, and Col. Philips, of the 
Indian brigade. The fight lasted several hours 
and resulted in the complete defeat of the rebels, 
who scattered in all directions, leaving 50 killed 
and wounded on the field. Our loss was small. 
The following dispatches have been received 
at army headquarters: 
Little Rock, Ark., Doc. 25. 
1 have just received the following dispatch, 
signed Howell Clavton, commanding at Pine 
Bluff, dated Dec. 24. 3 1’. M.: 
Kirby Smith, Chalmers And Price met iu con¬ 
sultation at Camden about three days ago. They 
have united their forces, amount ing to 22,00<J 
men in all. The inleution is to make an ad¬ 
vance when the roads aud streams will permit. 
Marmaduke has been removed by Chalmers. 
Pogrom ’6 headquarters are at Camden. About 
800 cavalry are near Princeton. A force is re¬ 
ported at Arkudelphla, It is reported that some 
1,700 of the Vicksburg and Port Hudson prison¬ 
ers have reported to Price for duty. Pogrom 
advanced as far as Saline, with a view of attack¬ 
ing this post on the 13th of this month, but w as 
diverted from his intention by the expedition 
under Col. Morrell. They are conscripting 
everybody who is able to bear arms, and arc 
pressing all the horns and mules In the country. 
The Saline is full to its banks. 
F. Steele, Maj.-Gen. 
Lift of New Advertisement*. 
For Sale—Ja«. K. Haswell. 
To all Wanting Farms—O. K. Landis. 
Foreman or Partner Wanted. 
The Bwinl, Ac.- Jolin Rawlins. 
Employment—Bovlan A Co. 
SPECIAL NOTICES. 
Atlantic Monthlv—Ticknor <fc Field. 
Everybody Coes'For It— D. B. I)e Land & Co. 
N. Y., JANUARY 9, 1864. 
ROCHESTER 
The Army in Virginia. her hull and one between wind and 
The rebel army ha* gone into winter quarters Eighteen shots struck her in the uppei 
between Gordonsville and Orange Court House, and aloft. One 30-ponnd shell lodged 
A dispatch dated the 5th says that nothing of steerage, but did not explode, which sho 
interest is transpiring. All are endeavoring to the enemy had more than field pieces, 
keep comfortable. Three inches of snow fell The North Carolina Times Fays a flvi 
last night. The weather to-day was pleasant, gold piece w as sold at auction for $150 
but very cold to-night. The enrollment of citi- federate notes, at Danville, a few day 6 sine 
zens in this army is nearly completed, including same paper heartily indorse* President Li 
whites and blacks. The number subject to draft recent Proclamation, and advises the pc 
will be very considerable. the State to accept it. It also copies and ei 
The rumors of the enemy's designs and opera- a remarkable article from the Richmond 
tione in the Shenandoah Yalley are exaggerated, which contains the following significan 
Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry, perhaps 1.000 strong, graph: 
supported by Early’s three meagre brigades on “Slavery has stabbed itself to death, 
foot, with Imboden and other IochI leaders, ginned against the light, committed the 
with detachments numbering all told. 6,000 or donable sin, and must die.” 
7,000 men, are near Woodstock, on Mount Jack- The Raleigh .Standard and the Raieig 
son, and make an occasional dash as far North as ijress are very severe in their criticisms c 
“Winchester. The latest indications point to the Davis* Massage. These papers publish 
Moorfiekl Valley, if not west of the Mountains, dent Lincoln’s Message and Proclamatio 
as the scene of operations. Certainly they have favorable comments, 
not approached as yet in right of the Baltimore The North Carolina Times says thc- 
& Ohio Railroad trains, which arc running regu- steamer G. P. Bigelow, which was captu 
larly and successfully with large quantities of the U. S. transport Fulton and then abiin 
freight and many passengers. The best evidence made her way into Swansboro, near Wi 
of official confidence in the security of the route, ton, unloaded her salt, and was about to I 
is the sending of important detachments over it. blockade in ballast, when she was eaug 
A force numbering 1,400 in all, under the com- burnt by one of the United States steamer 
mand of Col. Geo. D. Wells, of the 34th Massa- health of this department is good. The w 
chusetts Infantry, returned to Harper’s Ferry ^ nd i<j and pleasant, 
on the 29th ult., without the loss of a man. Advices from Folly Island of the 30t 
After penetrating to Harrisonburg, where Aver- Arago, state that our guns at Gumming’s 
ill had finished his work, and after Wells had opened on Charleston Christmas momin 
accomplished his strictly according to orders, he bl g from 1 to 3 o’clock. Several fire* 
found himself confronted by from 7,000 to 10,000 kindled, which burned considerable. Th 
of Lee’s forces under Gen. Rosser and part, of batteries replied to our fire without dama 
Gen. Stewart’s cayalry in his rear at Front Royal. The lowing information has been re 
By clever strategy and forced marches he es- Qn lhe turc of the £toamer Chatham, < 
caped the former and avoided the latter and boySound , Ga „ December 26, by the g 
reached his post with men and ammunition un- Huron> uuh shc wa8 obBCrved 
harmed. So desperate at one time seemed the out to sea . The ch a.se was immediately 
chances of the expedition that the rebels m H m- A fter a few shots she hove to. She wt 
Chester offered beta that not a man would return, Daiitn> Ga> . aud bound to Nassau. T 
yet one hundred rebel prisoners were safely Uaill stated he had had papers, but had t 
brought o . them overboard. By his statements his 
The following dispatch has been received at congbta of 20 o bales of cotton, besides t 
the headquarters of the army: and resin. She has been sent north. 
IlARi'ER s Ferry, Va., Dec. 2o. _ 
To Brig,‘Gen, CnUam, Chief of Staff :—General ! 
Sullivan’s column has returned safely, bringing | Movements in the West and South-West 
in 100 prisoners, about 100 horses, equipments, i ... ., . D 
&c. Mv different columns are all now safely Tennessee.-’] he rebel lose at tin 
back. Have captured in all over too prisoners of CMckamauga. as officially announced 
and a large amount of property. My plane and pillows : killed, 2.299: dangerously wo 
others have been promptly and faithfully execu- 4 , TS0; 4.500: missing. 1,000. 
ted with a angle exception, and with but small * c 
loss on our part B. F. Kelly, A letter from an officer who has just lei 
Brigadier-General. { , rn Tennessee, says that section of the c 
Maj.-Gen. Btoneman has been relieved from can subsist an army during the winter 
the command of the cavalry in \ irginia, and opening of communication with C’hatt 
assigned to duty as Chief of Cavalry at the will also facilitate the transmission o’? su 
AY est, whither he proceeds at once. Gen. Stine- The following is Gen. Grant’s eongrati 
man’s successor here has not yet been decided order to his army: 
u f K)n ' Headquarters Military Dmsiox or • 
There is great dissatisfaction among the rebels, Mi*km*ifti, lx the Field, 
and dOBcito* WHO luve lrnrd the Pxorfdenf. OKOaul 
proclamation, Ac., hasten to come in. They all mand ing takes this opportunity or return 
declare that if the proclamation could be dis- sincere thanks and congratulations to the 
tributed freely among the rebel troops, thousands !irmu ' s ‘ °f l ke Cumberland, the Ohio, tie 
would a, once -nter our lines. They say the p or jj jC recen t splendid and decisive so 
proclamation is kept from the men, although the achieved over the enemy. In a short tit 
officers have received it. have recovered from him the control 
®l)c ^onbenser 
— Brigham Young has jupt taken a new wife—hie 
91st. 
— The death? in Boston last week numbered one 
hundred aud four. 
— The Bnow is already forty feet deep among the 
Rocky mountains. 
— New Years calls this year were more general than 
ever in New York. 
— Up to noon of Saturday last there had been organ¬ 
ized 173 National banks. 
— Nearly 300,000 people visited Central Park, New 
York, on Christmas day. 
— Five thousand Arkansians are reported to have en¬ 
listed in lhe federal army. 
— The loss of life on the French railways is only one 
in seven million passengers. 
— The farmers in Hungary axe said to be starving. 
The crops all failed tins year. 
— A mercantile firm in San Francisco subscribed 
$6,000 to the Sanitary Fund. 
— It is estimated that there are between two and three 
thousand Quakers In the army. 
— A pyramid like the Egyptian pyramids, but smaller, 
has been discovered in California. 
— Over $ 200.000,000 have been subscribed by our peo¬ 
ple in aid of our armies in the field. 
— Mr. Cunis, a British civil engineer, has invented a 
screw which steers as well aa propels. 
— Mr. Wm. G. Weld has sent from Paris a contribu¬ 
tion of $500 to the Boston Sanitary Fair. 
— Gen. Joseph Johnston has formally assumed com¬ 
mand of the rebel army lately under Bragg. 
— Six thousand coffee plants are growing near Sacra¬ 
mento. They stand the California winter well 
— A child was recently baptized in Winona, Minn., 
having the curious name of Stonewall Jackson. 
— The deaths in New York during the past week were 
461—104 men, 105 women, 154 boys, and 118 girls. 
— Over one hundrod colored recruits were obtained 
in Indianapolis, Indiana on the 13th and 14th ults. 
— An Israelite has recently been chosen mayor of 
Southampton, England, aud another is mayor of Liver¬ 
pool. 
— The funeral of Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran, in 
New York, on Sunday week, was of an imposing char¬ 
acter. 
— A white ermine, a rare animal, is on exhibition in 
Boston, it having recently been captured in that vi¬ 
cinity. 
— A Philadelphia paper says the receipts of petroleum 
during the past year will reach nearly a half million of 
barrels. 
— Governor Curtin proposes to rerive the project for 
establishing an asylum for soldiers’orphans in Penn¬ 
sylvania. 
— Among the novelties of trade is the receipt of tobac¬ 
co in the New Orleans market from the State of Con¬ 
necticut. 
— A bill is ready for Congress, on i is re assembling, to 
establish a Soldiers’ Home for volunteers disabled in 
the service. 
— Elisha Killiom, of Wins tod, Ct, 75 years of age, 
and toothless those twenty years, is now cutting a new 
set of teeth. 
— Among the acts passed by the West Virginia Leg¬ 
islature at its recent session was one for a system of 
free schools. 
— A man sat down on the sidewalk in Quebec a few 
days ago and froze to death, dozens of people passing 
all the while. 
— The late rise in the Ohio river allowed 5,500,000 
bushels of cool to he floated down to Cincinnati and 
places below 
— The great Sanitary Fair at Cincinnati is in the full 
tide of success. The receipts for the first two days 
were $20,000. 
— Somebody in Providence, R- I, got married cm 
Christmas, and gave the officiating clergyman a $500 
chock as a fee. 
— It is said that Russia has ordered a conscription of 
twenty men on every ten thousand inhabitants for the 
whole empire, 
— An eight-day clock, the machinery of which is 
made from soup hones, is ;among the novelties of the 
Cincinnati Fair. 
— The Canadian Government has determined to es¬ 
tablish two military schools—one at Toronto and the 
other at Quebec. 
— Buffalo harbor contains twenty-five elevators, and 
four new .ones are building. Their storage capacity is 
5,270,000 bushels. 
— The various soup houses in Pliiladelphia are now 
malting preparations for distributing sonp to the poor 
during the winter. 
i _ Tomatoes put up fifteen years ago were opened in 
Salem, recently, and found to be as fresh and good as 
when first canned. 
— The rolling stock of the railroads of Great Britain 
would reach, if linked together, from one end of the 
country to the othor- 
— The rebel prisoners at Point Lookout decidedly ob¬ 
ject to being exchanged and returned to service in the 
“Confederate" army. 
— Mr. Spurgeon, the London preacher, lately remon 
struted with the young ladies of his congregation for 
fainting away so often. 
— The Manchester American says that spotted fevor 
is alarmingly prevalent in Piennont, N. U Twenty 
person? have (lied of it. 
— There are now in Now Orleans seven schools for 
colored children, with twenty teachers and eleven hun¬ 
dred and ninety scholars. 
— Of fTO horse? lately sent to Gen. Butler from New 
York for cavalry service in his deportment, 71)0 were 
condemned is worthless. 
— Solitary confinement has been abandoned in the 
State prison in Michigan, as most of those so confined 
become hopelessly insane. 
— During the recent terrible gale on the coast of Eng¬ 
land, a Hamburg whip was wrecked, and three hundred 
of her passengers drowned. 
— The widow of Senator Douglas is at present in 
Washinu’tim City, engaged by Secretary Chase as a clerk 
in the Treasury Department. 
steamer Pembroke last year. This argues a 
good understanding with Japan. 
Our Government will not permit Gen. Butler 
to be outlawed by Judah P. Benjamin. The ex¬ 
change of prisoners, committed soldy to him, 
will be continued in his hands. Secretary Stan¬ 
ton has determined to enlarge his powers and 
confirm his agency by putting all the rebel 
prisoner* in the United State* under his care. 
There will be 30,000 of them at Point Lookout 
within three weeks. The policy is resolutely 
decided on insisting that the exchanges shall 
take place through Gen. Butler, and that none 
shall take place but through him. Jeff Davis 
was in favor of recognizing him aa Commissioner 
Ould had already done. Benjamin, who wrote 
the proclamation outlawing Butler, effected a 
majority vote in the Cabinet against dealing with 
him, on the ground that he w as an outlaw. Pres¬ 
ident Lincoln’s last proclamation outlawed the 
whole Richmond government and there is no 
doubt that the exchangee will soon be estab¬ 
lished. 
The following is the message sent to Congress 
on the 5tli inst. by the President: 
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Represen- 
iatives :—By a joint resolution of your honorable 
bodies, appren cd December 23d, 1863, the paying 
of bounties to veteran volunteers as now' prac¬ 
ticed by the War Department, to the extent of 
$300 in each (rase, is prohibited after the 5th day 
of the present month. 
1 transmit for your consideration a communi¬ 
cation from the Secretary of YVar, accompanied 
by one from the Provost Marshal General to 
him, relating to the subject above mentioned. I 
earnestly recommend that the law be so modified 
as to :illo\v bounties to be paid as they now are, 
at least until the ensuing first day of "February. 
I am not without anxiety, lest t appear to he 
importunate in thus recalling your attention to a 
subject Upon which you have so recently acted, 
and nothing but a deep conviction that the pub¬ 
lic interest demands it, could induce me to incur 
the hazard of being misunderstood on this point. 
The Executive approval was given by me to 
the resolution mentioned, and it is now, by a 
closer attention and a ftdler knowledge of fails, 
that I feel constrained to recommend a reconsid¬ 
eration of the subject. 
Abraham Lincoln. 
The Secretary of YY’ar in a letter accompanying 
the Message says, no one seems to doubt the 
necessity of increasing the military force for the 
speedy termination of the rebellion, and although 
much differences of opinion exist in respect to 
the- system of raising troops by volunteers and 
payment of bounties, and the system of raising 
iui adequate, force by draft; yet two things are 
certainFirst, that whatever may be the weight 
of argument or the influence of individual opin¬ 
ion, a large portion of the people in every State 
prefer the met hod of contributing their propor¬ 
tion of the military force by bounty to volunteers, 
rather than draft Second, that veteran soldiers 
who have become inured to service, even when 
paid bounty, constitute a cheaper force than raw- 
recruits, or drafted men without bounty. The 
information received by the War Department 
from the armies in the. field prior to the passage 
of the resolution of December last, indicates that 
a very large proportion of the forces now in ser¬ 
vice, would have cheerfully ro-enlixted for three 
years, under the terms authorized by the order 
of this Department, and That such enlistments 
have been checked and will, in a great measure, 
be put to an end by the restriction imposed by 
the action of Congress, it is believed that If 
any limitation should be imposed upon the pay¬ 
ment of bounties to encourage the enlistment of 
the veteran forces now in the field, it ought not 
to be sooner than the first of February. 
The Provost Marshal General in a communica¬ 
tion, says, after great labor the recruiting service, 
under the President’s call of Oct. 17, Is fairly in 
progress. Letters dated between the 20th and 
24th of December, from the Superintendents of 
the recruiting service in sixteen States, are, in 
the main, very encouraging. As to the prospect 
of getting a large number of recruits by volun¬ 
teer enlistments, several of the States were iu a 
lair way to raise the quotas assigned them. 
The act approved Dec. 23, 1863. forbidding, 
after .January 5th, the payment to volunteers of 
all bounties except the $100 authorized by the 
act of 1861, was not known at tlio time those 
favorable reports were made to me. I have no 
doubt that the effect of that act will he to check 
if it does not stop enlistments. Of the hundred 
dollar bounty provided by the act of 1861 but 
twenty-five dollars can be paid iu advance, the 
seventy-five dollars being due [only after two 
years of service. 
It took some time, after October 17th, to get 
the people roused to the subject of volunteering. 
They are now in most of the Matos earnestly 
engaged in it, and I have reports for October 
and November, and part of December, showing 
that 42,479 men have been enlisted, and the daily 
average of enlistments is increasing under these 
circumstances, 
A telegram has just been received from W ash- 
ington stating that a joint resolution has passed 
the House extending the payment of bounties to 
volunteers until the first of March. 
Department of the Gut£ 
In Western Louisiana all is quiet. Our 
army is encamped and the enemy is equally in¬ 
active. 
President Lincoln’s annual message and the 
accompanying proclamation were received in 
New Orleans by the Union men with un bound¬ 
ed satisfaction. Resolutions of approval have 
been passed at the meetings of the several Union 
associations, and Free State stock has been rising 
ever tdnee. 
The health of the Union troops in Western 
Louisiana is remarkably good. Experienced 
surgeons who have recently made the tour of 
inspection to look into the sanitary condition of 
the army, B ay there never was a body of men in 
their experience with as little sickness iunong 
them. In a division of eleven large regiments 
there were but 20 sick in the hospital and 23 in 
quarters. 
Gen. Fitz Henry Warren, with considerable 
force, had embarked on the steamer YVarner, 
and, crossing Matagorda Bay, occupied Indiau- 
ola without opposition. .Some important rebel 
documents w ere captured, among them Magru- 
der’s addroas to the people of Western Texas. 
An expedition of three negro regiments, one 
white regiment and a battery of artillery, under 
Gen. Uliman, had gone to the mouth of Red 
River to look out for rebels. 
Gen. Herron is assigned to command the Dis¬ 
trict of the frontier bordering on the Rio 
Grande. 
Our forces iu Texas are making steady pro¬ 
gress, occupying one place after another, and 
meeting w ith no opposition whatever. 
Gen. Magruder has issued a proclamation 
dated at Houston, in which he says the defence 
of Western Texas will not be given up as re¬ 
ported. He urges minute men and all others 
capable of bearing arms to organize at once and 
proceed to the camp of Gen. Bee at Victoria, 
lie says that the Confederate troops arc march¬ 
ing to repel the invaders, and that, San Antonio 
and Austin arc being rapidly fortified. He 
speaks confidently of being able to eventually 
drive the vandal* back to their ships. 
Letters received from officers in Gen. Banka’ 
army say that the cotton hold by planters iu 
Texas w kieh will soon be brought into market 
is over 300,000 bides. 
The Navy PepiuTment has received informa¬ 
tion of the capture of the Mexican Ralon Del 
Nino off Padre Inland, Texas, in December last, 
by the U. B. steamer New London. She had 
neither log hook or papers. Her cargo consisted 
of codfish, coffee, wine and percussion caps. 
The N. V. Herald’s correspondent from Key 
West, by the steamship Blackstone, states that 
the naval operations on the coast of Florida are 
active and successful. 
An extensive salt w ork of the rebels was de¬ 
stroyed in St. Andrews Bay, and St. Andrew's 
City was leveled to the ground by the crews of 
the steamers Bloomer and Restless. The salt 
w-orks destroyed were valued in all at nearly 
$3,000,000. 
Department of the South. 
A letter to the Baltimore American, dated 
on the fleet, off Charleston. Dec. 24th, says: 
“ As I intimated in my last, we have settled 
down here into the expectation of a month or 
two more of inactivity. The strike among the 
engineers of the North which had delayed the 
completion of the monitors and deprived our 
iron-clad fleet of reenforcements which w r ere 
expected here for more than a month, was the 
cause of the delay. The disaster to the Weeliaw- 
ken and the coming on of winter with its 
constant storms, ha* still further forced this 
delay. Two months hence spring will be 
advanced here, and with our iron-dad force 
increased by three or four monitors, we will be 
prepared to take advantage of the healthiest and 
most pleasant part of the year. Let us hope 
that Gen. Grant does not steal a march on us by 
one of his famous rear attacks. In the mean¬ 
time, if w r e cannot look for immediate results 
here no great disaster* need be apprehended. 
Gen. Gilmore’s position is impregnable. The 
monitor Lehigh by the time this reaches you 
will be in complete repair, rendered necessary 
by the hammering she received when aground. 
The Patapsco has nearly completed her repairs, 
and will shortly relieve the Nantucket at War¬ 
saw Bound. Both, like the i’atapsco and Lehigh, 
have been provided with extra deck plates that 
will add to their invulnerability.” 
The Navy Department has received official 
information of the attack on the gunboat Marble 
Head, iu Snow inlet, on Christmas, by which 
Robert Brown, L. Shaw and James Phillips 
were killed, and Charles Moore. Alexander 
Henderson, John Hackett and Charles Semmo* 
were wounded. Commander Balch of the Paw¬ 
nee, says that at 6:30on themorning of the 25th, 
the enemy opened fire on the Marble Head, 
which was replied to vigorou.-ly, At 6225 the 
Pawnee opened fire on the enemy’s batteries 
from her 100-pound rifle gun. At. 7 the C. 1*. 
Williams hearing the fire, slipped her cable and 
came down Folly River under sail, and opened 
fire handsomely. A rapid fire from the three 
vessels soon caused the enemy to retreat. At 
74 the enemy had retreated in disorder, leaving 
two guns in the batteries. The Pawmee then 
proceeded off' Legaresville. 
Soon after this, Gen. Gordon, eommanding 
the troops on the south end of Folly Island, 1 
