ml Pim- y otte 
ISLE NAT'S EEE.A.E.'rZB/LEIsrT- 
ROCHESTER, N.Y., DECEMBER 28, 1861. 
THE WAR’S PROGRESS. 
FACTS, SCKNKS, IN’OIDJENTS, ETC. 
General .Sceit on the Trent .Seizure. 
General Scott has written a letter to .John Big¬ 
elow, Esq., in answer to inquiries respecting the 
probabilities of a war between England and America. 
It has been published in most of the English and 
French journals, and its effects can be but salutary 
to the cause of truth and justice. He discusses the 
question in the proper spirit, and tempers firmness 
with moderation. The following is the letter, which, 
though written for the eye of Europeans, will be read 
by Americans with interest: 
My Dear Sir:- You were right in doubting the 
declaration imputed to me, to wit: that the Cabinet 
at Washington had given orders to Beize Messrs. 
Mason and Slidell, even tinder a neutral flag, for I 
• was not even aware that the Government had had 
that point nnder consideration. At the time of my 
leaving New York it was not known that the San 
Jacinto had returned to the American seas; and it 
was generally supposed those persons had escaped to 
Cuba for the purpose of re-embarking in the Nash¬ 
ville, in pursuit of which vessel the James Adgerand 
other cruisers had been dispatched. 
I think I can satisfy yon in a few words that you 
have no serious occasion to feel'concerned about our 
relations with Utiglnnd, if', as her rulers profess, she 
lias no disposition to encourage the dissensions in 
America. 
In the first place, it is almost superflous to say to you, 
that every instinct of prudence, aB well as of good 
neighborhood, prompts our Government to regard no 
honorable sacrifice too great for the preservation of 
the friendship of Great Britain. This must l>e 
obvious to all the world. At no period of our his¬ 
tory has her friendship been of more importance to 
our people; at no period has our government been in 
a condition to make greater concessions to preserve 
it. The two nations are united by interests and sym¬ 
pathies—commercial, social, political and religious, 
almost as the two arms to one body, and no one is so 
iguorunt as not to know that what harms one must 
harm the other iu a corresponding degree. 
I am persuaded that Hie British Government can 
entertain no donht upon this point; but if it, does, 1 
feel that I may take it upon myself tu say that the 
President of the United States, when made aware of 
its existence, will lose no opportunity of dispelling it. 
Nor is there anything, I venture to affirm, in the 
seizure of these rebel emissaries, which ought to 
receive an unfriendly construction from England. 
Her statesmen will not question the legal right of an 
American vessel of war to search any commercial 
vessel justly suspected of transporting contraband of 
war that right has never been surrendered by Eng¬ 
land—it was even guaranteed to her by the Treaty of 
Pari*, and British guns frowning down upon nearly 
every Htrait arid inland sea upon the globe, are eon- 
elusive evidence that she regards this right as one, 
the efficacy of which may bo not yet entirely ex¬ 
hausted. Of course there in much that is irritating 
and vexatious in the exercise of this right under the 
most favorable circumstances, and it is to be hoped 
the day is not fur distant when the maritime States of 
the world will agree in placiug neutral commerce 
beyond the reach of such vexations. 
'•'lie United States Government has been striving to 
this end for more than fifty years; to this end, early 
In the present century, and in its infuncyas a nation, 
it embarked in a war with the greatest naval power- 
in the world; and it is even now a persistent suitor at 
every maritime court in Europe, for a more liberal 
recognition of the rights of neut rals, than any of tin- 
other great maritime nations have yet been disposed 
to make. Hot till those rights are secured by proper 
international guarantees unon a comprehensive and 
enduring basis, of course England cannot complain 
of an act, of which, in all its material bearings, her 
own naval history affords such numerous precedents. 
Whether the captives from the Trent were contra¬ 
band of war or not, is a question which the two Gov¬ 
ernments can have no serious difficulty in agreeing 
upon. If Mr. Reward cannot, satisfy Earl Russell 
that they were, I have no doubt Earl Ilnsscll will be 
able to satisfy Mr. Seward that they were not. If 
they wore, as all authorities concur iu admitting, 
agents of the rebellion, it will be difficult to satisfy 
impartial minds that they were any less contraband 
than a file of rebel soldiers or a battery of hostile 
cannon. 
But even should there be a difference of opinion 
upon this point, it is very clear that our Government 
bad sufficient grounds for presuming Itself in the 
right, to escape the suspicion of having wantonly 
violated the relations of amify which the two coun¬ 
tries profess a desire to preserve and c ultivate. 
The pretense that we ought to have taken the Trent 
into port, and had her condemned by a prize court, 
in order to justify our seizure of four of her passen¬ 
gers, furnishes a very narrow basis on which to fix a 
serious controversy between two great nations. 
Stated in other words, an offense would have been 
less if it liud been greater. The wrong done to the 
British flag would have been mitigated If, instead of 
seizing the four rebels, we had seized the ship, 
detained all her passengers for weeks, and confiscated 
her cargo. 1 am not surprised that Cant Wilkes took 
a different view of his duty, and of what was due to 
the friendly relations which subsisted between the 
two Governments. The renowned common sense of 
the English people, 1 believe, will approve of bis 
effort to make the discharge, of n very unpleasant 
duty as little vexatious os possible io all innocent 
parties. 
If. under these cicnmstanc.es, England should deem 
it her duty, in the interest of civilization, to insist 
upon the restoration of the men taken from under 
the protection of her Bag, it will be from a convic¬ 
tion. without doubt, that, the law of nations in regard 
to the rights of neutrals, which she lias taken the 
leading part in establishing, requires revision, and 
with a suitatile disposition on her part to establish 
these rights upon a just, humane, and philosophic 
basis. Indeed, lam happy to see an intimation in 
one of the leading metropolitan journals which goes 
far to justify this inference. Referring to the deci¬ 
sions of the English Admiralty Courts, now quoted 
in defence of the seizure of the American rebels on 
board the Trent, the Loudon Times of Nov. 28 says: 
“So far as the authorities go, the testimony of 
International law-writers is all one way, that a belli¬ 
gerent war cruiser has the right te stop, and visit, 
and search auy merchant ship on the high seas. * * 
* v But it must be remembered that these deci¬ 
sions were given under circumstances very different 
from those which now occur. Steamers in those 
days did not exist, and mail vessels, carrying letters 
wherein all the nations of the world Lave immediate 
interest wore unknown; we were lighting for exist¬ 
ence, and we did iu those days what we should nei¬ 
ther do nor allow others to do, nor expect ourselves 
to be allowed to do in these days. 1 ' 
If England, as we are here encouraged to hope, is 
disposed to do her part in stripping war of half its 
horrors by accepting the policy long and persistently 
urged upon her by our Government, and commended 
by every principle of justice arid humanity, she will 
find no ground, in the visit of the Trent, for contro¬ 
versy with our Government. I am sure the President 
and people of the United States would be but too 
happy to let these men g p free, unnatural and unpar¬ 
donable as their offenses have been, if by it they 
could emancipate the commerce of the world. Greatly 
as it would be to our disadvantage at this present cri¬ 
sis to surrender any of those maritime privileges of 
belligerents which are sanctioned bv the laws of 
nation*, I feel that 1 take no responsibility in saying 
that the Uniled States will be faithful to her tradi¬ 
tional policy upon this subject, and tho spirit of her 
political institutions. 
On the other hand, should England be unprepared 
to make a corresponding sacrifice; should she feel 
that she could not yet afford to surrender the advan¬ 
tages which the present maritime code gives to a 
dominant naval power, of course she will not put 
herself in a false position by asking us to do it. In 
either case, therefore, I do not see how the friendly 
relations of the two Government* are in any imme¬ 
diate danger of being disturbed. 
That the over-prompt recognition as belligerents of 
a body of men, however large, so long as they con¬ 
stituted a manifest minority of the nation, wound 
the feelings of my countrymen, I will not attempt to 
deny, nor that that act, with some of its logical con¬ 
sequences which have already occurred, has planted 
In the breasts of many the suspicion that their kin¬ 
dred in England wish them evil rather than good; 
but the statesmen to whom the political interests of 
these two great people are confided, act upon higher 
responsibilities and wilh better lights: and you may 
rest assured that an event so mutually disastrous as a 
war between England and America, cannot occur 
without some other and graver provocation than has 
yet been given by cither nation. 
Win yield Bcott. 
liotel Wi.-fllmlnlpter, Paris, Dec 2,1801. 
Bombardment of Pensacola.— Official Report. 
We have given both facts and rumors of the late 
bombardment at Pensacola, principally from rebel 
sources; but we are now enabled to lay before our 
readers the Official Report of Col. Brown, the com¬ 
mander of Fort Pickens: 
Headquarters Department or Florida, ) 
Fort Pickens, Nov. 25, 1861. 5 
General:—T hat Fort Pickens has been beleaguered 
by the rebels for the last nine months, and that it was 
daily threatened with the fate of Sumter, is a fact 
notorious to the whole world. Since its occupancy 
by Lieut. Rlemmcr, the rebels have been surrounding 
it with batteries, and daily arming them with the 
heaviest and most efficient gnns known to our ser¬ 
vice—guns stolen from the United States—until they 
considered Ibis fort as virtually their own, its occu¬ 
pancy being only a question of time, 
1 have been in command since the 1 Gt.h of April, 
and during the whole of that time their force has 
averaged, so far as I can tenra, from eight to ten 
times the number of mine. The position in which I 
Lave thus been placed baa been sufficiently trying, 
and I have at three separate times intended to free 
myself from it by opening my batteries on them, bfit 
imperious circumstances, over which I had no con¬ 
trol, have unexpectedly in each instance prevented. 
Affairs were In this state on the morning of the 9th 
of Octoher. when the enemy, fifteen hundred strong, 
attacked by surprise a portion of my command on an 
intensely dark night. They were defeated and driven 
from the island with great loss by less than two hun¬ 
dred regulars and fifty volnuteers—all the efficient 
force I had disposalde for the purpose. An insult so 
gross to the flag of mv country could not by me be 
passed unnoticed, and 1 designed immediately to take 
appropriate notice of it: hut, as 1 said before, cir¬ 
cumstances over which I had no control, prevented. 
all performed their duty with tie greatest cheerful¬ 
ness, and in the most able and efficient manner. I 
am much indebted to Major Arnold, my executive 
officer, for bis valuable assistance—bis whole conduct 
was admirable—and Captains A len, Cbaliin, Blunt, 
Robertson, Hildt, and Duryea, and Lieutenants Mc¬ 
Farland, l.angdon, Clossin, Shipley, Jackson, Pen¬ 
nington, Seeley, and Taylor, merit my wannest 
encomiums for the coolness anl deliberation with 
which they performed, without ane exception, their 
duty under a heavy and continuous shower of shot, 
shells, and splinters for two successive days. Lieut. 
Todd, ordnance officer, had full supplies of all 
required articles, which were rn hand at the post, 
and his department was conducted with system and 
efficiency. Major Tower, Surgeon Campbell, and 
Assistant-Surgeon Sutherland, id their respective 
duties, sustained their high reputations. Captains 
Robertson, Duryes, and Blunt, &nd Lieutenants Pen¬ 
nington and Seeley, respectively, commanded Batte¬ 
ries Lincoln, Scott, Totten, and OamcroD. and a small 
battery at Spanish Fort, and the other officers’ batte¬ 
ries in the fort, with distinguished ability. 
Captains Dobte’B and Bailey’s companies were with 
the batteries at Lincoln and’Cameron, and did their 
duty faithfully amt efficiently. The companies of 
Captains llenberer and Duffy, of the Cth regiment 
New York volunteers, were successively on duty at 
the fort, and rendered cheerfully important, assistance 
to mo. The regular companies engaged at the batte¬ 
ries, all of whom performed their duty so efficiently ( 
as to preclude my making a distinction, arc compa¬ 
nies A, F, and 1., First Artillery; C, H, and K, 
Second Artillery, and C and E, Third Infantry, and 
companies G and I, Cth regiment New York volun¬ 
teers. 
In closing, I tender to Flag Officer McKean and 
Captain Ellison, of the navy, and to their officers and 
crewp, my best thanks for their co-operation, which 
would have had the happiest results but for the 
unfortunate fact that great draft of water prevented 
their sufficiently near approach to the works of the 
rebels. 
Department of Missouri. 
The Hannibal Messenger of the 14th in Ft. learns 
that By. Gordon, the notorious chief of Northwest 
Missouri, bad been shot at a hotel in that county, 
and could not possibly recover. It is said that a 
Couple of citizens rode up and shot Gordon on sight. 
It is also said that Gordon had made hiH brags of 
burning Platte river bridge, and it was for this that 
be was so summarily dealt with. We also learn from 
the engineer on the train, that Gordon’s whole band 
of two hundred desperadoes had been taken prisoners 
by General Prentiss. 
A gentleman who left Henry county on Sunday, 
Ba} T H that Clinton, the seat of that county, was in 
possession of from 6,000 to s,000 rebels, most of 
whom were from Price’s camp at Osceola, and the 
balance were recruits from the Northwestern coun¬ 
ties. They were persecuting Unionists and plunder¬ 
ing private property. Our informant, also says that 
lute on Sunday evening last, they met the advance 
guard of Pope’s division, three miles from Clinton. 
They think the rebels wero entirely ignorant of the 
approach of our troops, and express the belief that 
they have been surprised and cut off. 
Osceola is about 26 miles south of Cliuton, and if 
our informant’s statements be correct, a very rapid 
mandedtbe whole force of the rebels which defended 
the bridge that Col. Davis carried by assault. He 
fled with bis patty, and was not taken until some 
time after the rest of the rebel force, and in conse¬ 
quence of the darkness, he was not recognized until 
the next day. It seems that Colonel Magoffin visited 
his home, and arranging his affairs, he sent a mes¬ 
senger to withdraw his parole, and instead of surren¬ 
dering himself as other officers do, be left before this 
messenger arrived at Sedalia, He was in the rebel 
army when the fight came on, and feeling that he would 
deserve and would probably receive different treat¬ 
ment from those who bad not forfeited all right to be 
treated as prisoners of war, fought desperately but 
nnavailingly. Gen. Pope refused to accept his 
force. McCook reported that the rebels attacked my 
pickets in front of the railroad bridge at 2 o’clock 
to-day. The pickets consisted of four companies of 
the 22d Indiana, Col. JVillick, under Col. Van Imblen. 
Their forces consisted of one regiment of Texan 
Rangers, two of infantry, and one battery of six gnns. 
Our loss was I.ienL Saxe and eight enlisted men 
killed, and ten wounded. The rebel loss was thirty- 
three killed, including the Colonel of the Texas Ran¬ 
gers, and about fifty wounded. The rebels retreated 
inglcrionsly. D. C. Bukll, Brig. Gen. 
messenger arrived at bedalia. He was in the rebel The Cincinnati Commercial has received dispatches 
army when the fight came on, and feeling that he would from Frankfort, Ky., stating that advices from Somer- 
deserve and would probably receive different treat- set state that yesterday morning at daylight, General 
ment from thoso who bad not forfeited all right to be Schoepff, with all his force, marched out to attack 
treated as prisoners of war, fought desperately but the rebels. Zollicoffer is in position on Fishing 
nnavailingly. Gen. Pope refused to accept his Creek, with 6,000 men and some artillery. General 
parole, and ordered him to be placed in confinement Scboepff’s force consists of two Tennessee regiments, 
until Gen. Halleck ordered what disposition should be Hoskin’s Kentucky regiment, and the 17th, 31st, and 
made of him. He is one of the most desperate and 
unscrupulous of these marauders in this section, and 
it is to be hoped that he will receive the punishment 
his crimes arid forfeiture of his parole deserve. 
Msj. McKee, with 103 men of Col. Bishop’s com¬ 
mand, encountered and repulsed 400 rebels, four 
miles south of Hudson, and killed 10 and took 28 
prisoners and 30 horses. Five of our troops were 
slightly wounded. The rebels had attacked a stock 
train, captured all the stock, and held the railroad 
men as prisoners. They were in the act of reloading 
the stock, when the train, stock and men were res¬ 
cued by our troops. 
The following official dispatch from Gen. Halleck 
confirms the statement previously received, and gives 
full proof of the importance of the Union victory. 
Gen. Halleck’s second dispatch to McClellan, and a 
dispatch from Sedalia announcing that thirty-four 
car toads of jirisoners left that place for St. Louis last 
night, dear the matter up. Halleck telegraphs as 
follows: 
Headquarters, S*. Louis, Ho., Dee. 20,1861. 
To G, /J, McClellan, Major General Commanding 
Army:— A part of General Pope’s forces, under Col. 
J. C. Davis and Major Marshall, surprised another 
camp of the afternoon of the 18f.h, at Milford, a little 
north of Warrensburg. A brisk skirmish ensued, 
38th regiments of Ohio, Standart’s Ohio and Hewitt’s 
Kentucky batteries of ten guns—four rifled and four 
smooth-bore, and two Parrot guns. Zollicoffer has 
no wagons on thi3 side of the river, and but indiffer¬ 
ent means of crossing. Gen. Schoepff was confident 
of whipping, with some hope of capturing most of 
his men. The Tennesseans lead the column. 
Department of the East. 
A battle was fought on the 20th inst, by Gen. 
McCall’s division, which resulted in a Union victory. 
Gen. Ord started at 6 o’clock in the morning on a 
foraging expedition, in the direction of Drainesville, 
his command consisting of four full regiments, the 
Buck Tail Rifles, Lieut Col. Kane, and Easton’s bate 
tery, consisting of two 24 and two 12-pound howitz¬ 
ers. Gen. McCall, anticipating that they might be 
attacked, ordered the 1st and 2d brldages to follow 
at 8 A. M. 
The 1st brigade, Gen. Reynolds, advanced on the 
Leesburg turnpike, and took a position on Difficult 
Creek to await further orders. Two hours later Gen. 
McCall, with his staff and an escort of cavalry, fol¬ 
lowed by the same route. Meantime General Ord 
advanced to Thornton’s House, near Drainesville, 
I make these prefatory remarks to explain why I have advaneo of Pope and St eele’« divi(( j otJB ha8 doa btles 8 
now opened rav butteries on the enemy, when, from . , 
the suihUdchb of my forces—about one sixth of his, 
thirteen hundred to eight thousand—I have not the 
means of producing any decisive results, and as evi¬ 
dence of my having accomplished what I designed— 
the punishing the perpetrators of an insult to my 
country’s flag. 
Having invited Flag Officer McKean to co-operate 
with me in attacking the rebels, and to which he gave 
a ready and cordial consent, T. on the morning of the 
22d, opened my batteries on the enemy, to which, in 
the course of half an hour, he responded from his 
nnmernim forts and batteries, extending from the 
Navy Yard to Fort MelfftO, a distance of about four 
miles, the whole nearly equi-diVtant from thin fort, 
and on which line he has two forts—McRae snd Bar- 
ranees—and fourteen Heparate batteries, containing 
from one to four gun*, many of them being 10 inch 
ccdunibiadx, and some 12 and 13 inch sen-Coiist mur 
tars, the distance varying from 2,100 to 2,#00 yards 
from this fort. At the same time of my opening, 
Flag Office* McKean, in the Niagara, and Captain 
Ellison, in the Richmond, took position ax near to 
Fort McRae as the depth of water would permit, but 
which, unfortunately, was not sufficiently deep to 
give full effect to their powerful batteries. They, 
however, kept up a spirited fire on the fort and adja¬ 
cent batteries during the whole day. My fire was 
incessant from the time of opening until it was too 
dark to pop. at tho rate of u shot for each gun every 
fifteen or twonly minutes, the fire of the enemy 
being somewhat slower. 
By noon the gnns of Fort McRae were all silenced 
but one, and three hours before suuset this fort and 
the adjoining battery ceased tire. I directed the 
guns of batteries Lincoln, Cameron, and Totten, 
principally on the batteries adjacent to the Navy 
Yard; Ihose of Battery Scott to Fort McRae and 
the lighthouse batteries, and those of the fort to all. 
We reducod very perceptibly the fire of Barrancas, 
entirely silenced that in the Navy* Yard, and in one 
or two of the other batteries, the efficiency of our fire 
at the close of the day not being the least Impaired. 
The next morning I again opened about the same 
hour, llie navy unfortunately, owing to a reduction iu 
the depth of water, caused by a change of wind, not 
being able to get so near as yesterday, consequently 
the distance was too great to be effectual. My lire 
this day was less rapid, and I think more efficient 
than that of yesterday. Fort McRae, so effectually 
silenced yesterday, did not fire again to-day. We 
silenced entirely one or two gnns, and had one of 
ours disabled by a Bhot coming through the embra¬ 
sure. 
About three o’clock tire was communicated to one 
of the houses in Warrington, and shortly afterwards 
to the church steeple, the church and the whole 
village being immediately in the rear of some of the 
rebel batteries, they apparently having placed them 
purposely directly in front of the largest and most 
valuable buildings. The fire rapidly communicated 
to other buildings along the street until probably two* 
thirds of it was consumed; and about the same time 
fire was discovered issuing from the hack part of the 
Navy Yard, probably in Wolcott, a village to the 
north and immediately adjoining the yard, as War¬ 
rington does on the west, Finally it penetrated to 
the yard, and as it continued In burn brightly all 
night, I concluded that cither In it or Wolcott many 
buildings were destroyed. Very heavy damage was 
also done to the buildings of the yard by the ava¬ 
lanche of shot, shell, and splinters showered unceas¬ 
ingly on them for two days, and being nearly fire 
proof, being built of brick and covered with slate, I 
could not succeed in firing them, my hot shot nor 
shells not having any power of igniting them. 
The steamer Time, which was at the wharf at the 
time, was abandoned on the first day and exposed to 
onr fire, which probably entirely disabled her. The 
fire was again continued HU dark, and with mortars 
occasionally until two o'clock the next morning, 
when the combat ceased. 
This fort, at its conclusion, though it has received 
a great many shot and shell, is, in every respect, save 
the disabling of one gnn carriage and the loss of ser¬ 
vice of six men, as efficient as it was at the com¬ 
mencement of the combat; but the ends I proposed 
in commencing having been attained, except one, 
which I find to be impracticable with my present 
means, I do not deem it advisable further to continue 
it unless the enemy think it proper to do so, when I 
shall meet him with alacrity. 
The attack on “Billy Wilson’s” camp, the at¬ 
tempted attack on my batteries, and the insult to our 
glorious Dag, have been folly and fearfully avenged. 
I have no means of knowing the loss of the enemy, 
and have no disposition to guess at it. The 
tiring on his batteries was very heavy, well di¬ 
rected, and continuous for two days, and could 
hardly fail of having important results. 
Our loss would have been heavy but for the fore¬ 
sight which, with great labor, caused us to erect 
elaborate means of protection, and which saved many 
lives. I lost one private killed, one sergeant, one 
corporal, and four men (privates) wounded, only one 
severely. 
My officers, non-commissioned officers, and pri¬ 
vates, were everything I could desire. They one and 
been made upon Price’s headquarters. 
The names of about 600 rebels have been enrolled 
at the Provost Marshall's office, upon whom contri¬ 
butions arc to be levied under General Halleck’s gen¬ 
eral orders No. 24, for the benefit of the suffering 
refugees. Abont sixty of the most prominent of 
these were to be called upon the 20th Inst, for the 
sums set opposite their names, varying from $100 to 
$400, and the balance u*'* Jp be notified as exigen¬ 
cies r«q alro. 
(Jen. llalleck sent cmT^pJlst the following tele¬ 
gram to Washington: 
To Major- General Med Alan — Captain Wood's | 
scouting party has returned from Rolla. It pursued 
the enemy south of Houston, killed one of them, and 
brought In a Major as prisoner of war. About one 
hundred of Price’s men were captured and released 
on parole, the Bcouting party not being able to bring 
them along. H. W. Halleck, 
Major-General Commanding. 
Dispatches received at St. Louis on the 19th, from 
Gen. Pope, show that he has obtained a great victory 
over a part of Price’s band of rebels, and secured a 
very large number of prisoners, horses, arms, Ac. 
After a forced march, he got between the enemy 
encamped six miles from Chillihowc, Johnson 
county, and 2,200 strong in Clinton and Henry coun¬ 
ties; but as soon as they heard of his approach they 
beat a rapid retreat towards Rose Hill, Johnson 
county, leaving all their baggage, arms, munitions, 
Ac., in our possession. Pope then threw forward ten 
companies of cavalry and a section of artillery, in 
pursuit, following with the main body of the army. 
At Johnson, Yates county, the rebels being so 
closely pursued, scattered in all directions, but mostly 
towards the South. Pope then forced a strong cav¬ 
alry reoonnolssance within fifteen miles of Osceola, 
and intercepted and captured 150 oi the fleeing rebels, 
and all their baggage, stores, Ac. Other squads of 
from ten to fifteen men in number were taken, mak¬ 
ing an aggregate number of 300. 
The next day our scouts brought us information 
that a large reliol train, and re-enforcements which 
wo had marched sontli to intercept, had divided. 
The larger portion were marching south towards 
Waverly, intending to camp at the right of Milford. 
Gen. Pope brought the main body of bis army iu 
position a few miles south of Waverly, and sent a 
scouting force under Col. Jefferson C. Davis a few 
miles south of Warrensbnrgh and Knobnoster, to 
come ou the left and in the rear of the enemy, at the 
same time ordering Merrill's Cavalry to march from 
Warreusburgli and come from the right of Col. Davis, 
who pushed rapidly forward and came up to the 
enemy in the afternoon, drove in his pickets, carried 
the strongly defended bridge by a vigorous assault, 
and drove the enemy into the timber, who, finding 
himself surrounded, surrendered. Thirteen hundred 
men, including two colonels, one lieutenant colonel, 
one major and seventeen captains, were taken prison¬ 
ers, and sixty wagons heavily laden with supplies 
and clothing; a large number of horses and mules 
also fell into our bauds. Our loss was two killed and 
fourteen wounded. That of the enemy was consid¬ 
erably greater. This was the best planned and exe¬ 
cuted action of the war, and reflects great credit on 
the General commanding, and officers and men who 
so faithfully and promptly carried out bis plan. 
A dispatch from Sedalia, Missouri, of the 22d, says 
thirty-four cars, loaded with prisoners taken by Gen. 
Pope, go to St. Louis to-night. The prisoners are a 
motley crew, varying from sixteen to seventy years 
of age. Many of the arms captured are United States 
muskets, aud some of the men are dressed iu the 
United States uniforms taken from our troops at Lex¬ 
ington. Several United States wagons were also re¬ 
captured. 
Among the prisoners taken by Gen. Pope was the 
notorious Col. Magoffin, of Georgetown. About two 
weeks since, Col. Magoffin sent word to the com¬ 
manding officer that bis wife was sick, and be beg¬ 
ged permission to see her before she died. He was 
informed that if he would give his parole of honor 
as a prisoner, his request would be granted. He 
did so, and the next that was heard of him, he com- 
wlicn the enemy, finding himself surrounded, surren- "’hen his command was suddenly fired upon by a 
dered at discretion. We took thirteen hundred pri- force lying in ambush in the dense woods adjacent. 
soners, including three colonels and seventeen cap- This was the signal for battle, and a brisk engage- 
tains, one thousand Htand of arms, one thousand . ,, , 8 
horses, aixty-livc wagonB, and a large quantity of men * promptly ensued. Gen. McCall, who arrived a 
tents, baggage and supplies. Our Iosb is two killed f ew minutes previously, took command. Tn a mo- 
know lght WonDded * * he enen) J’ s l° s8 1® no* yet ment’s time, Paston’s battery was planted alongside 
Information was received last night from Glasgow, J? 0 ™* 01 *’! Uo ' m ’ und was fired ra P idl * and wiUl 
that our troops at that place had taken about two > errl blo effect in the enemy’s ambush. Col. Kane’s 
tons of powder, in kegs, buried on Jackson’s farm. Back Tail Riflemen were placed in advance, and 
This effectually cuts off their supply of ammunition. fi re d upon the enemy whenever they made their 
II. W. Halleck, Major General. _ ‘ ...... 
J appearance. The rebels, who had a battery of six 
The (.nnserrative, of St. Louis, has advices from pieces, returned the cannonading and replied to the 
Mound City of the 15th, stating that a portion of the rifles with musketry. 
od regiment, under command of Msj. \V illiams, made The firing was kept up some three-quarters of an 
a da , -h into Missouri on the I<th inst., and burned hour, when the brigade retreated rapidly, the fire of 
the villages of Papinsvillc and Butler, the latter being the whole brigade, rifles and battery, being too hot 
the county seat of Bates county, and returned with a for them. Our troops stood up bravely under the 
large number of refugees, stock, Ac. They had two sharp volleys of the rebels. Their steadiness was 
men killed at Butler. These towns have for a long praised by Gen. McCall and his officers, 
time been the resort of guerrilla bands of rebels. The rebels took the direction of Fairfax Court 
House, leaving on the field a number of their dead 
Department of the Ohio. and wounded. Our troops pursued them a short 
DisrATCHEH from Louisville of the 18th inst. distance and returned. Forty dead bodies of the 
give an account of an engagement at Mumford6ville, rebels were picked up, and 16 wounded prisoners 
which, it is claimed, considering the disproportion were taken and placed fit Hunter’s and other houses 
of numbers, is the most brilliant Federal victory yet in Drainesville. Gen. Ord captured eight wounded 
achieved. prisoners Bnd two caissons with ammunition. In 
Four companies of about 350 men, of Col. Wal- their haBte, the enemy left behind them arniB of 
) ft , u „ iu K u„c..«, >—i •. ’ Colonel, drove every description, clothing, Ac. Theitvloss is esti- 
baclc over 3,000 rebel cavalry, artillery, anu -1- mu,-.. ■»«« .own 
They were first attacked by a regiment of Texas cav- killed was Col. Tom Taylor, of Frankfort, Kentucky, 
airy, whom they repulsed and followed, when they commauder of the 1st Kentucky regiment of rebels. 
were drawn into ambush aud tired at from all Bides 
by rebel infantry. The Federals returned their fire 
vigorously and stood their ground until the rebels 
fell back, leaving their dead and most of their 
wounded on the field. No re-enforeementa reached 
Van Webber’s Federal command as reported yester¬ 
day, until after tho engagement was over, 
Howe’s Louisville battery supported the Federals 
on the north side of Green river, firing at very 
long range with rilled cannon. Four other compa¬ 
nies were on the south side of the river, but engaged 
as pickets a mile and a quarter distant from the 
action. 
Among the Federals killed were Lieut Sachs, of 
Cincinnati, who killed eight men with two revolvers, 
but was finally killed, receiving nine bullets. Also 
among the killed are Henry .Toser, Richard Whoerf, 
Frederick Shoemaker, J. Shambrose, and Peter 
Smith, all of Cincinnati. 
Of the Texan Rangers, 62 were killed, besides Col. 
Terry. The number of wounded is unknown, but 
killed was Col. Tom Taylor, of Frankfort, Kentucky, 
commander of the 1st Keutueky regiment of rebels. 
The forces of the enemy consisted of 3 regiments 
of infantry—1st and 2d Kentucky and 10th Alabama 
—with a cavalry regiment aud a battery, all under 
command of Col. John 11. Torrey, of the loth Ala¬ 
bama regiment, acting Brigadier-General. The dead 
rebels were left on the field. 
The loss on onr side was six killed and eight 
wounded, most of whom belonged to the Buck Tails. 
Col. Kane received a slight wound. At 9 o’clock our 
troops returned to camp, bringing in 50 wagon-loads 
of forage. 
A later account says the detachment of Gen. McCall’s 
division, which took part in the battle of Draines- 
ville, did not arrive at Drainesville till about noon, 
and remained until 2.30 o’clock, when the enemy 
arrived, coming from the direction of Centerville. 
Previously to this Gen. Ord bad placed Ills forces in 
position to repel an anticipated attack. The fire 
was first opened by the rebel battery throwing shot, 
! shell, grflpe, and caniBter. This was responded to 
by Kastman’s battery with effect. The infantry on 
supposed to be large. The United States Army ( each side soon engaged in the conflict, and at this 
buried their dead. Fonrteeu of the rebel horses were 
found dead on the field, and three rebels taken pris¬ 
oners. 
Parties just arrived from the scene of the fight, 
state that yesterday and to-day nineteen dead and 
wounded rebels were found in the hushes. The U. S. 
loss—ten killed on the spot, seven mortally, and 
thirteen otherwise wounded. Of those mortally 
wounded four have since died. The rebels lost a 
Colonel, Captain, and Lieutenant. 
The Federal forces on the south side of Green 
river have been considerably augmented, but the 
time they were hot more than sixty yards apart. 
After general fighting for an hour, a shell from 
our side exploded in the ammunition of a rebel 
caisson, making fearful havoc. Three of the rebels’ 
heads were completely blown off, and others horribly 
mutilated. At ibis time the enemy wavered and 
showed a disposition to run, when Gen. Ord gave 
the command to charge, which was gallantly obeyed, 
and the rebels precipitately fled. They were pursued 
for upward of a mile, when Gen. McCall ordered a 
recall to be sounded, and our troops fell back to the 
position just vacated by the enemy. Twenty of the 
report of a general crossing southward yesterday is I wounded rebels received surgical treatment from Dr. 
untrue, find would not take place till the Green river Lowtnan and assistants, having been taken into 
bridge, on which a large force is engaged, is re-con- bouses for that purpose; they were taken to General 
strutted. McCall’s camp, where they had the ambulances arrive 
The rebels sent a flag of truce to-day, asking per- in proper time, 
mission to inter their alleged uuburied dead. AH our wounded and killed were brought away. 
Among the killed on our side was Capt, Anderson, A large number of trophies were brought away by 
of Lee’s battery, and Lieut. Thompson, of the Maine out own troops, such as guns swords and pistols. 
Guards. The victory is said to have been dearly In the pockets of dead rebels were found Richmond 
bought by considerable loss on our side. It is papers of the 19th, but they contained no news of 
thought not unlikely our success will be followed by importance. On the bodies of officers were found 
an assault on the enemy’s entrenchments on Cheat letters showing an intepse hostile feeling in the 
Mountain, which is about 17 miles distant from the South against the North. In one of the letters dated 
scene of the late battle, which was on the summit of Centerville, 19th inst., addressed to a friend, and but 
the Alleghany, on the turnpike from Staunton. partly finished, it was said it was impossible for the 
Gen. J. Johnston's brigade made a reconnoissance Federals to remain much longer iu their present eon- 
in force on the 20tli inst, six miles south of Green dition; that the effect of the news from England and 
river, without finding a trace of the enemy. the pressure of Congress would necessarily compel 
No official account of the Mnmfordsville fight has McClellan to advance, and in such an event a victory 
yet been received at headquarters, nor anything from of the Confederates would be certain, 
Gen. Schoepff. During the stampede, eight of the rebels were 
In the Kentucky Legislature the House adopted by taken prisoners and brought to Washington. They 
the usual party vote, resolutions that Kentucky state that they left Centerville very early Friday 
assume payment of her portion of the direct tb* im- morning, in order to obtainforage, and unexpectedly 
posed by Congress. met our troops, who had proceeded thither on similar 
The Senate adopted the House resolutions on Fed- business; they also said that a larger number were 
eral relations, with amendments indorsing the Presi- killed ou the part of the rebels than they supposed, 
dent’s action regarding Fremont's proclamation and The victory on the part of onr troops is considered 
Secretary Cameron’s report, and requesting the Presi- the more brilliant as they had never before been in 
dent to dispense with Secretary Cameron. Tote was any action. They have been highly complimented, 
unanimous on the amendment. both by Major-General McClellan aud General 
Gen. Buell has telegraphed to headquarters the McCall, 
following: The following is Gen. McCall's dispatch aimounc- 
Locistillb, Dec, 18. . ^ engagement and victory at Drainesville: 
To Major General McClellan McCook’s division is drai torvill* December 20—4 P M. 
at MumtordviUe; Mitchell is at Bacon’s Creek; Zoili- Drainkbyilli, December .>-4 v 
coffer is either retreating across Cumberland river 
or preparing to do bo at the approach of any superior 
Major-General George H. McClellan,— Gen. Ord’s 
Brigade, with the First Regiment of Pennsylvania 
