1864 Tercentenary of Shakspeare, April 10th. Great storm at Calcutta, October 5th. General Sherman returns to Vicksburg from a successful raiding expedition into Albania and Mississippi, having destroyed over $2,000,000 worth of property, and captured 8000 negroes and 4000 prisoners. The rebels under General Forrest enter Paducah, Ky.; the rebels were repulsed and driven from the city. Severe gale; several vessels driven ashore along the coast. An expedition of Union troops under Colonel Clayton to Mount Elba and Longview, Ark., captured 320 prisoners, 300 horses, about 40 wagons laden with camp and garrison equipments, beside 300 contrabands, and killing and wounding about 200 rebels. United States steamer Maple Leaf blown up in St. John’s River, Florida, by a rebel torpedo; four of the crew killed. Fight between rebels and Union gunboats at New Falls City, near Shreveport, La.; defeat of the rebels; from 500 to 600 of them killed or wounded. Fight with rebels at Grand Ecore, La.; capture of 2000 rebels and twenty cannon by Union troops. The rebels attempt to blow up the United States frigate Minnesota, lying in Hampton Roads, with a torpedo, but fail. Capture of Fort Pillow by the rebels under General Forrest; all found in the garrison, except about 200, massacred after they had surrendered—men, women, and children. Steamer Golden Gate, laden with United States Government stores, captured by rebels near Memphis. Maximilian invested with his new honours as Emperor of Mexico at his Castle of Meramar. Battle at Mine Run between the rebels, under General Lee, and the army of the Potomac, under General Grant; the rebels defeated and driven back; Brigadier General Jas. S. Wadsworth and Brigadier Alex. Hays among the killed. Dalton, Ga., occupied by Union troops under General Thomas. Severe battle between the Union army under General Grant and the rebels under General Lee, near Spottsylvania Court-house; Major General John Sedgwick killed. The gunboats of General Banks and Admiral Porter’s expedition up Red River succeed in getting down over the Falls near Alexandria, through the engineering skill of Lieutenant Colonel Bailey. Fight between Union troops under General Butler and the rebels under the General Hill near Petersburg, Va.; the latter defeated. Another terrible battle near Spottsylvania Court-house, between the Union and rebel armies. General Sheridan completes a successful raid in the rear of Lee’s rebel army in Virginia, recapturing 500 Union soldiers, and destroying eight miles of railroad, two locomotives and three trains. Fight between General Butler’s troops and those of General Beauregard, without definite results. The rebel army in Georgia driven by General Sherman to Buzzard’s Roost Mountain. Major General Hancock captures 7000 rebels and thirty guns in a battle near Spottsylvania, Va. Union troops evacuate Little Washington, N.C., when rebels enter and burn all the houses in the place except about twenty; women robbed and turned adrift without food or shelter. The outer line of works of Fort Darling carried by Union troops under Generals Gillmore and Smith. General Sheridan captures the outer line of fortifications in front of Richmond. Dalton, Ga., evacuated by the rebels under General Joe Johnston and occupied by Union troops under General Sherman. Bombardment of Charleston and Fort Sumter, S.C., renewed with vigour. Resaca, Ga., captured by General Sherman’s army, with 1200 prisoners, ten guns and six trains going South for supplies; Union loss in killed and wounded 2700. General Sigel defeated at Rood’s Hill, in the Shenandoah Valley. Successful advance of General Grant’s army to Cold Harbour, Va. General Fitz Hugh Lee and 500 rebel cavalry captured by General Butler’s troops near White House, Va. General Hunter defeats the rebels at Staunton, Va.; captures 1500 prisoners, 3000 stand of arms and 3 cannon, beside a large amount of stores, &c.; the rebel General W. E. Jones, killed. The rebels attack the Union troops under General Burnside, and are repulsed. General Kautz, with his Union cavalry troops, charges the rebel works in front of Petersburg, Va., and enters the place, but not being supported by General Gillmore, is compelled to retire. Fight between Union cavalry under General Sheridan and the rebels under General J. E. B. Stewart; defeat of the rebel troops and death of General Stewart; General Hunter burns the Virginia Military institute, Governor Letcher’s house, and captures 6 cannon and 600 horses, and a large amount of stores. Maximilian makes a triumphant entry into the City of Mexico; John Morgan, rebel General, captures Cynthiana, Ky., and two Ohio regiments; General Burbridge, with Union troops, subsequently arrives, defeats the rebels, captures 400 prisoners and 1000 horses. Expedition of 8000 Union troops under General Sturgis defeated by 10,000 rebels under Generals Forrest, Lee and Roddy; wagon and ammunition trains lost. Desperate fight between rebel and Union troops on the line of the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad; the Union troops driven from their position, but afterward regain it; a Union brigade gobbled up. Artillery fight in front of Petersburg, Va.; the town set on fire by shells from Union guns. Frederick, Md., evacuated by Union troops under General Wallace, and occupied by rebels, who levy $200,000 on the citizens. Severe fight between the armies of General Sherman and General Hood in front of Atlanta; severe assaults of Hood successfully repulsed. Peace Conference at Niagara Falls; Horace Greeley acts as President Lincoln’s agent, and offers the rebel Commissioners a safe conduct to Washington and back. A mine exploded under the rebel fortifications at Petersburg, Va., which are blown up with the troops in them; a terrific battle ensues; the Union storming column is repulsed with fearful slaughter; Union loss, 6000. Severe fight between the rebels and Union troops under General Warren; the rebels repulsed; Union loss 2800. Martinsburg, Va., reoccupied by rebel troops. Another battle on the line of the Weldon and Petersburg Road, between Union troops under General Warren and the rebels; the latter repulsed, with fearful slaughter; Union loss about 3000. Forrest, with three brigades of cavalry, attacks Memphis, and endeavours to capture Generals Washburne and Hurlbut; they fail in their object, and are driven out by Union troops. Fight between rebel and Union troops near Charlestown, Va., without decisive results. The rebels make another desperate effort to drive General Warren from the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, but are again repulsed, with heavy loss. General Kilpatrick returns from a successful raiding expedition; tears up 14 miles of railroad, captures 4 cannon and 200 prisoners. Atlanta, Ga., captured by Union troops, under Major General Sherman; 27 guns and 1000 rebel prisoners taken. Fight in the Shenandoah valley, near Berryville, Va.; defeat of the rebels; 20 wagons, 2 battle flags and many prisoners captured. Fight with rebels at Greenville, Tenn.; John Morgan, the notorious guerilla, killed, and his force dispersed. Desperate fight with rebels at Opequan Creek, Shenandoah valley; the Union troops, under General Sheridan, capture 3000 prisoners, 15 battle flags and 5 guns. Some rebels capture the steamers Parsons and Island Queen, on Lake Erie, and convert them into pirates. The British Government order that no vessel belonging to the Confederates or United States shall enter British ports for the purpose of being dismantled or sold. General Sheridan gains a great victory at Fisher’s Hill, Shenandoah Valley; captures 20 guns, beside caissons, horses and 1100 prisoners; Union General Russell killed. Great battle in the Shenandoah Valley, between Union forces, under General Sheridan, and the rebels, under General Early; defeat of the latter, and capture of 43 guns, beside caissons, horses and prisoners. General Blunt defeated by the rebels under General Price, at Lexington, Mo. The rebel ram Albemarle blown up in Roanoke River by a United States torpedo boat, under the command of Lieutenant Cushing. Fight between General Pleasanton’s Union army and General Price’s rebel army at Newton, Mo.; defeat of the latter; 2000 rebels and 7100 stand of arms captured. Fight between the Union forces under General Sherman and the rebels under General Hood; defeat of the latter. Armed bands of rebels appear on the Lakes and occasion great excitement and alarm along the Northern frontier. Rebel troops under General Price attack Fayetteville, Ark., and are repulsed with a loss of about 1000 in killed and wounded. The rebels under General Breckinridge attack the Union troops under General Gillem at Bull Gap, and capture 400 Union troops. Severe fight between rebel and Union troops at Strawberry Plains, Tenn., without decisive results. Forty-five Union scouts captured by the rebel General Mosby, near Charlestown, Va. The Senate authorizes the construction of six revenue cutters for the lakes. A bill authorizing the President to terminate the Reciprocity Treaty, passes the House. The Canadian Courts decide that they have no jurisdiction in the case of the St. Albans and Lake Erie pirates, and release them. General Sherman investing Savannah; Admiral Porter’s expedition leaves Fortress Monroe for Wilmington. Re-arrest of one of the St. Albans’ raiders in Canada; re-action of sentiment.
1865 American Rebellion still continuing—Principal events in order of succession:—Columbia, S.C., captured by General Sherman; Fort Anderson, Cape Fear River, shelled by our forces; General Schofield advancing from Smithfield, N.C. Rebel dollar estimated by the rebels as worth two cents in specie. Charleston evacuated. Sheridan pursuing Early and his body guard, all that is left of his army. General Sherman leaves Fayetteville, N.C., destroys the arsenal, and moves on Goldsboro. General Sheridan’s entire command arrives at White House, Va. Johnston defeated at Bentonville, N.C. Goldsboro evacuated, and the rebel forces fall back on Smithfield. General Steele leaves Pensacola, Fla., to attack Mobile. Captain Kennedy, the spy and incendiary, hung at Fort Lafayette. The rebels attack and carry Fort Steadman, but the fort is retaken by a vigorous charge of the Ninth Corps; the President witnesses the action. General Granger commences a co-operating movement against Mobile. General Sherman arrives at General Grant’s head-quarters. General Stoneham captures Boone, N.C. General Wilson moves on Greenville, Ala. A general advance made on Spanish Fort, Mobile Bay. The Stonewall arrives at Lisbon, Portugal, having escaped from Ferrol, Spain, and is ordered to leave the harbour. Battle of Five Forks, Va.; the rebel right doubled up on the centre, and a portion of the wing cut off. General Grant orders an attack on the whole line, and, after desperate fighting, both wings are rested on the Appomattox; the South Side Road is cut, and during the day and night Richmond and Petersburg are evacuated, and Lee’s army is in full retreat for Danville; the rebel General A. P. Hill killed. Selma, Ala., captured by General Wilson’s cavalry, together with the greater portion of Forrest’s and Roddy’s commands. General Sheridan attacks Lee, West of Burkesville and routs him, capturing Ewell and a number of other generals. The news of the capture of Richmond announced to Sherman’s army. General Grant urges Lee to surrender to save the further effusion of blood; Lee asks for terms. General Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. The President and Mrs. Lincoln return to Washington. Mobile captured; 300 guns and 3000 prisoners. General rejoicing all over the country. All the St. Albans raiders, except Young, released. The President issues a proclamation closing certain Southern ports. The President makes a speech in which he defines the States of the rebellion and hints at plans for restoration. He issues a proclamation respecting treatment of our national vessels in foreign ports, and threatens retaliation for discourtesy. A Te Deum chanted in Trinity Church. Lynchburg, Va., surrenders to a Union scouting party, Practical end of the War:—General Grant arrives in Washington and advises that the draft be stopped, that recruiting cease, and that the military establishment be reduced. Lee reported to have advised Johnston to surrender to Sherman. The Europa arrives with the news that the American Minister at Lisbon has demanded satisfaction for the outrage on the American flag. The President assassinated in Ford’s Theatre, Washington, by J. Wilkes Booth, who escapes; another assassin proceeds to Mr. Seward’s residence and seriously stabs him in the throat, also assaulting Mr. Frederick W. Seward. The President dies about half past seven o’clock; Andrew Johnson becomes President of the United States.
1866 Death of Lord Palmerston. The Fenian raid into Canada with the affairs of Ridgeway and Pigeon Hill. The war in Europe, of which the following is a complete table of principal events:—Federal execution decreed by the Germanic Diet. Entry of the Prussians into Leipsic, Gleasen and Cassel. Occupation of Loban. Entry of the Prussian General Vogel into the Hanoverian capital. Occupation of Marenthal, Ostritz and Lauban, in Bohemia, by two Prussian regiments, and occupation of Bernstadt by Prussian cavalry. Occupation of Dresden by the Prussians. Evacuation of Fort Wilhelm by the Hanoverian troops. Prince William of Hanau made prisoner. Cavalry encounter between the Austrians and Prussians upon the Rumburg road. Nixdorf occupied by 7000 Prussians. Occupation of Rumburg by the Prussians. Armistice between the Prussian and Hanoverian troops. Action near Jungbunzlau between the Austrians and the Prussians. The Prussian troops occupied Reichenberg, Trautenau and Aicha (Bohemia). Engagement near Turnau. The army of the Crown Prince of Prussia fought the battle of Nachod. Engagement at Oswiecim. Fight between the Prussians and Hanoverians near Langeusalza. General Steinmetz throws back the Austrian corps d’armée (Ramming) upon Josephstadt. Engagement of the same corps with the 6th and 8th Austrian corps under the Archduke Leopold. Action near Trautenau. The troops of Prince Frederick Charles engaged near Munchengratz. The Hanoverian army surrendered at discretion. Capture of Gitschin by the Prussian army. Actions at Kort, near Turnau, and at Chwalkowitz, between Kalitz and Konigshof. An Austrian army corps under General Clam-Gallus compelled to retire upon Koniggratz. Action at Gitschin. Arrival of King William at Gitschin. Junction of the Crown Prince’s army with that of Prince Frederick Charles. The battle of Sadowa. The laying of the Atlantic Cable and the raising of the old one nearly two years in water and successfully spliced and working, uniting the two continents—the Old and New World—let it be hoped, in the bonds of eternal fraternity.
Glory to God on high, and in Earth PEACE.—Good will towards men.
FINIS.
APPENDIX.
I.