The New York Herald Newspaper, March 11, 1862, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, OFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS, TERMS cash mm advance, Money sent by matt will beatthe sidhel the mmder, None but Bank bills current in New Yori THE DAILY BERALD. ‘wo cent sper copy. $7 per annum. JOB PRINTING executed with cheapness No. 69 Volume XXVII...... AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. eee GARDEN, Broadway.—Coitexn Bawn—How to AY cue Ksne, WALLACK'S THEATRE, No. 844 Broadway.—fnx Wox kK. LAURA KEENE’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Tux Ma- CARTHY; OR, THE PREP OF Lay. NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.-Ancet oF THE AQTIC—F kkscH SPY—RINa.vO RIN ALDINO. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Sticener's Nationa ‘Circus BARNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway.—Cox Nourr—Livinc Hirrororamus, Wate, t.. at ail hours KAN) KaALANav, aferioon and evening, BRYANTS’ MINSTRELS, Mechanics’ Hall, 472 Broad way.—Duws Ly OLY A=. HOOLEY’S MINSTRELS, Stuyvesant Institute, No. 659 Broadway.—Etuiortan Songs, Dances, &c. MELODEON CONCERT HALL, 539 Brondway.—Son: Dancks, BURBLESQUES, £C.— ON1KABAND CONVEN (ens CANTERBURY MUSIC HALL, 595 Broadway.—Sox jks, BURLESQURS, &C.~!NAUGUR TION Batt, - at GAIETIES CONCERT ROOM, 616 Broadway.—Drawixa ENTERTAINMENTS, BALLxTS, PANTOMIMES, FaRCKS, 40, AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 444 Broadway.—Songs, Bat- tuts, Pastomimes, &¢.—A0.0RT Macau CRYSTAL PALACE CONCERT HALL, No. —— Bonixsauxs, SonGs, DaNcns, ac-—i vo Clonns PARISIAN CABINET OF WOND: - Open daily fsom 10 A. M. till 9 P. M. St: A Brows ea) NOVELTY MUSIC HALL, 61 a NOVELTY MUSIC HALL, 616 Broadway.—Buattsaves New York, Tuesday, March 11, 1862, THE SITUATION. Our record of the progress of the war to-day is full of cheerfulness and hope. The rebels are fall- ing back from the lines of the Potomac in every direction. They have evacuated Winchester, on the left wing of their lines, before the advancing troops of Gen. Banks’ division. Centreville, in the centre of their position, is also abandoned: the whole line of the Lower Potomac, with all its formidable batteries, is evacu- ated, and it is confidently reported and gains fall credence in Washington, that the rebels have withdrawn from their almost impregnable Position at Manassas. This movement was looked upon in Washington yesterday asa virtual aban- donment of Virginia. Certain it is that the retreat from all the points which the rebels have hitherto @ecupied on the Potomac, is a measure which will Prove of the utmost moment to the interests of the country. Without being more explicit we may state this with confidence. We publish to-day the full details of the great naval conflict off Newport's News, from our own correspondents and other sources, in which the gigantic iron-clad steamer Merrimac was disabled and driven back by the Union iron-clad battery Monitor. Our account will be found to embrace all the particulars of the battle, together with sketches of the services of the officers engaged, dnd plans of the Merrimac and Monitor The former we give in sections, showing per internal construction. Of our own splendid Sttle floating battery we only give an outside view, which the rebels had ample opportunity to study during the action, not wishing to display her interior just at present, lest it may prove useful to the enemy. From the valuable services rendered by the Monitor the necessity of hastening the com- pletion of the two other iron-clad gunboats or- dered te be constructed tor the govergment he- comes apparent. Three of these craft were or- dered to be built, including the Monitor which was to be fitted up in New York within & hundred days, another at My:tic, within four months, which time is now about up and another at Philadelphia, which ought tu be completed by June or July. atmost importance now to know when these bouts The Monitor, it will be seen, was ready up to time. and has already made her mark. In addition to these boats. there are two of the Stevens batteries—one the original large one, and another smaller one—here, which san be both completed in a few weeks’ iime, if the government concludes to secure their services, and we think it ought to do so without delay. An official despatch was received by General McClellan last night from General Halleck announcing the com- plete route and defeat of the combined rebel armies of Generals Price, McCulloch, Van Dorn and Mc Intosh, at Sugar creek, near Boston Moun- tains, in Arkansas, by the Union army under General Curtis. The victory was a brilliant one, and disposes of the rebel forces in that quarter. The Gght lasted three days. Our loss is said to bea thou- sand killed and wounded, and that of the rebels is considerably more. A large quantity of stores, flags, guns and ammunition were captured by Gen. Curtis. Our cavalry was in rapid pursuit of the flying rebels. The energy of General Curtis ig worthy of all praise. It becomes of the will be ready for service. Our news from Missouri is glorious. We also learn that General Pope's forces have invested New Madrid. Heavy fring was heard in that direction on Sunday and the capture of the place was hourly expected. Gunbouts were going down from St. Louis to sustain General Pope. Tor- pedoes, to the number of four hundred, were found in the river and on the banks, prepared to blow up our gunboats. New Madrid, in ai! probability, has fallen by this time. The naval expedition of Commodore Dupont has accomplished a splendid feat on the Southern coast by the capture of Brunswick, Ga., and Fer- nandina, Fla., which gives the government com- mand of the whole coast of Georgia, from South Carolina to Florida, On the approach of our fleet at Brunswick the rebels fled, abandoning thoir works, which were taken possession of by our troops. The fleet then proceeded twenty miles further South, and entered Cumberland Sound, the entrance to Fernandina, and drove the rebels from Fort Clinch, which was immediately occupied and the Union flag hoisted. The mission of the expe dition was accomplished on the 4th of March. The troops of General Wright took possession of the Fort pod po town of Ferpandine, most of the in- 4 tia and de | NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, MARCH I], 1862—TRIPLE SHEET. habitants of which had fled. We give to-day a map of this coast, showing the results of our victory. The rebels, after being driven from one strong Point to another in Tennessee, are said to be mak. ing a grand stand at Chattanooga, a place of great natural strength, and the concentrating point of | four important railroads. We give ‘o-day @ map of the vicinity, and detailed description of all the leading features of that region. A terrible panic, consequent upon the approach of the Union forces, exists in Memphis. Forts Randolph and Pillow were being put in a state of defence for the protection of the city, The Legis- lature has fled, and Governor Harris is in a deplor- able state of anxiety and terror. We learn from a reliable source that shortly be- fore the reported battle near Fort Craig, on the 21st of February, two companies of Union troops were ordered to garrison Fort Wise, and that al- most simultaneously with the reported conflict, the remainder of the troops, consisting of 1,200 men, left Denver City for Santa Fe—the seat of war. It is the opinion of our informant that they must have arrived in time to reinforce Kit Carson. All was quiet at Denver, and the people felt able to protect themselves. The Indians did not give much trouble to the whites, but the Camanches and Arapphas were about going to war with the Sioux. The United States schooner Samuel B. Routan, from Ship Island for Philadelphia, remained at anchor in the roadstead at Lewes, Delaware, on the 8th instant, having on board the prize cargo of the Confederate steamer Calhoun, which she cap- tured off the Southwest Pass. It consists of fifty tons of powder, two hundred and fourteen bags coffee, some iron, steel, quinine and brandy. By the City of Washington at this port, we have files of European papers dated to the 27th of Feb- ruary, four days later. The English journals do not contain one editorial on American affairs—a very remarkable, perhaps significant fact—for it would appear as if their editors had at length found themselves as powerless against the integri- ty of the Union as are the rebels of the South, and, hence, concluded to leave our affairs alone. The Commander of the privateer Sumter has been arrested by the Moorish authorities at Tan” gier, but we are not informed as to the cause. The Liverpool Courier of the 26th ultimo says:—'‘The ground upon which the arrest was made is not ex- plained, but, from the fact that it was made at the request of the North American Consul, we may surmise that it was on the allegation that Captain Semmes is @ common marauder and pirate." The Dublin Freeman of the 27th ultimo temarks—‘‘The arrest was made at the instance of the federal Consul at Gibraltar, and of the captain of the federal steamer Tuscarora, who proceeded to Tangiers, in order to influence the Moorish au- thorities, and who seem to have found the Moors more complaisant than Christian nations, and more ready to regard the laws of nations as binding them to aidthe Northerners against the South erners."” A full report of the speeches delivered at the American fete in London on Washington's Birthday will be found elsewhere. A Vienna letter to the London Times states that the acceptance by the Archduke Maximilian of the throne of Mexico, at the instance of Napoleon, ig embarrassing to Austria already. People think that some sacrifice must be made to Italy, in return, by Francis Joseph, and they do not relish the idea. Spain is jeaious that one of her Bourbon’s ‘‘out of place’ did not en- joy the chance; and the Emperor of Austria is troubled with the dread that if his near relative should get assassinated in Mexico, it will be said that he wished to get rid of him; whereas, if he sends Austrian troops to protect him there, his subjects at home will complain of the additional army expenditure. CONGRESS. In the Senate, yesterday, petitions were pre- sented for the employment of homeopathic sur- geous in the army, in favor of a bankrupt act, in favor of the emancipation of slaves, against any abridgement of the liberty of the press, and also asking that ‘democratic newspapers now excluded from the mails, whose editors are not convicted of treason, be allowed the same privileges as abo A bill providing for the ful- filment of treaty stipulations with Hanover was in- troduced from the Foreign Relations Committee and passed. The bill to provide for carrying the mails to foreign countries was reported back to the Senate with amendments. A bill was introduced from the Military Committee, providing for bounty and pensions to soldiers and officers of the Western Department. A joint resolution, requiring higher qualifications for commanders of military divisions, was introduced and referred to the Military Commit- tee. Objection was made to the introduction of a joint resolution coinciding with the proposition in the President's late special Message for aid to States desiring to emancipate their slaves. The bill to encourage enlistments in the army was taken up, and afler considerable discussion amendments were adopted reducing the number of volunteer cavalry regiments to thirty, and striking out the provision giving bounty for enlistments from the volunteer into the regular service, when the bill was passed. Tae Sagas, ill_was taken up, and Mr. Browning, of Tilinois, a iaieuatn Shi But no final action was taken on the subject. A vote of thanks to Commodore Foote was passed. The bill making a new Article of War, to the effect that no officer of the army shail return fugitive slaves, was taken up, debated, and finally passed) by twenty-nine yeas to nine nays, when the Senate adjourned. In the Honse of Representatives the Senate bill to regulate the sutler department in the volunteer service was taken up, and, after a long debate, and being amended, was passed. It requires schedules of articles permitted to be sold to be prominently posted in the camps, and prohibits sutlers from farming out their offices or selling to soldiers to an amount exceeding one-fourth their lition newspapers.”” monthly It also stops the sutler’s lien on sol- diers’ pay. A resolution to fo rd the proposi- tion of the President's special Message relative to aiding States which desire to abolish slavery was introduced, and along debate on it took place, consuming the greater portion of the day; but the House adjourned without taking final action on it. M'SCELLANEOUS NEWS. The steamship City of Washington, from Liver. pool the 26th and Queenstown the 27th ultimo, reached this port early yesterday morning. Her news is four days later. Consols rated in London on the 27th of Februa- ry at 94% for money. Cotton closed in Liverpool on the 27th of February firm, with prices un. thousand bales. Breadstuffs remained dull. Pro- visions were quiet, but steady. ‘The steamship Hammonia, from Hamburg on the 23d and Southampton the 26th of February, arrived at this port last night. Her advices are anticipated by the City of Washington. Both the Senate and Assembly of our State Le- gislatare were in session last evening, and con- siderable routine business was gone through with, but owing to the crowded state of our columns this morning, from the pressure of war news, we are obliged to omit an extended notice of the pro- ceedings. The schooner Memento, lying at the government dock, foot of Murray street, North river, is now loading subsistence stores for Hatteras Inlet. The bark Texas, at the same dock, is taking in provi" sions, hay and ammunition—destination not known. ‘The cotton market was active and excited yesterday, and closed at a further advance in prices. The sales em: braced 2,500 bales, on the basis of 29c. in the forenoon, Swith salds in the afternoon at 30c. for middling uplands Pinners took about 1,000 bales, and speculators a good portion of the remainder. The parcels left on the market for sale were very much reduced, and firmly held The flour market was heavy and sales light. The demaud was confined to the home trade’ while prices feil off Sc. a 10c. ver bbl. for some kinds, especially for some grades of Western, Wheat was in- active and sales extremely limited, while prices were irregular. Choice milling lots of white were scarce and in request, while there was no export demand, Corn was heavy, with sales of mixed at 59c. a 60c., in store, and 6lc., delivered. Pork was dull and heavy, with sales at $14 a $14 12% for new mess, closing at the inside figure, and new prime at $10 6234 a $10 75. Sugars wore steady, with sales of 275 hhds., 136 do, molado, and 700 boxes, on terms given in another colnmn. Coffeo was quiet, but rm. Freights were unchanged and engage- ments moderate. Another Glorious Victory—The Contract- ing Lines of the Rebellion—The Great Rebel Army of Virginia Falling Back. Another glorious victory has crowned the Union arms in the West, adding one more to the catalogue of successes which have been following upon each other in all quarters for the last few weeks. An official despatch from General Halleck reached headquarters last night, announcing that General Curtis has de- feated the combined rebel armies of Generals Price, McCulloch, Van Dorn and Macintosh, near the Boston Mountains, in Arkansas, after three days’ hard fighting, and dispersed them in utter confusion. The rebel army of the ex- treme West is thus broken up, and Missouri securely protected from further molestation. Since the battle of Bull run, in July last, the rebels, with an apparently inflexible tenacity, have held fast to their stronghold of Manassas, in front of Washington, and its defensive out- posts, right and left, extending a hundred miles along the southern bank of the Potomac river. All this was essential to their continued occu- pation of the State of Virginia, including their Confederate capital of Richmond. To maintain this, the central and most vital part of their enormous general defensive line, they were too much weakened to protect it at other impor- tant points, which, falling into our possession, enable us now to encircle Manassas with our armics, Realizing, at length, their desperate situation, the rebels, for some days past, have been break- ing up their camps along the Potomac and falling back into the interior. Thus Gen. Banks, on the upper division of the river, crossed over and took up his position in the great valley of Virginia without opposition; thue when Colonel Geary crossed over and ad- vanced upon Leesburg, instead of meeting with another Ball's Bluff defeat, he passed on into the occupation of the town and its defences without finding an enemy; thus Winchester, the strong- est point on the left wing of the rebel army, has been abandoned; and thus on the Lower Poto- mac, the other morning, Gen. Hooker, from the Maryland side, discovered that the rebel bat- teries, which, since last summer, have material- ly prevented our navigation of the river, were evacuated; and now we have the news that the strongly fortified central camp at Centreville, which looks down upon Bull run, has been abandoned—the enemy thus confessing that, even without a battle, Manassas, like those other strongly fortified camps of Bowling Green and Columbus, has ceased to be tenable. In addition to this rebel retrograde move- ment, foreshadowing the speedy expulsion of Jeff. Davis and his spurious.Confederate govern- ment from Richmond, we have the steady ad- vance of the Burnside expedition upon the rear of Norfolk, and the complete invest- ment of New Madrid by General Poke- At the same time, further south, while one detachment of General Sherman and Commodore Dupont’s expedition is closing around Savannah, another detachmom? has en- tered and occupied the harbor of Branswick, in Georgia, and of Fernandina, in Florida—two very important positions in reference to inland operations in that quarter, if necessary, and the suppression of contraband trade. All these movements unmistakably indicate @ speedy end to this rebellion. The loss to it of Typasete ‘ake ary Jip great protecting barrier in the West; the loes of Columbus, without much further difficulty, opens to us the line of the Mississippi down to New Orleans; and this retrograde movement of the great rebel army of Virginia portends the hegira of Jeff. Davis from Richmond, never to return. The general impression is that he, his govern- ment and his armies, will fall back within the limits of the cotton States, and there endeavor to concentrate their diminished armies for a stubborn resistance. planting is at hand, and upon the question But the season for cotton whether they consider their eollapsing Southern confederacy, under the circumstances, worth the sacrifice of two crops of cotton—that of last year and that of the present year—the planters, we suspect, will decide in favor of their cotton and their negroes, aud revolt against the rebeliion. In any event, the days of this rebellion are numbered, anil for the bulk of the cotton crop of the last year the government of the United States will soon provide an outlet for the mar- changed: Thp aalgt of pee doy forjed wp tea Kets of the world: Our Late Sea Fight—A Narrow Escape— Secretary Welles Tried and Found ‘Wanting. Our late sea fight in Hampton Roads is one of the most remarkable and instructive events in the history of modern warfare. It establishes the utter uselessness of wooden ships, with their old fashioned popguns, against iron- plated battering rams and Dahlgren cannon; it shows that almost as by a miracle we have escaped a burning national disgrace; and, most important of all, it shows that the present bead of our Navy Department is behind the age, and unequal to the duties of his position and the just demands of the country. In April last, when the Norfolk Navy Yard was burned by the federal officers in charge, to prevent its immense naval stores from falling into the hands of a rebel mob, ten or more ves- sels of war, which could not be fired up or towed off in season, were scuttled or burned, including the new steam frigate Merrimac, which was scuttled. The only one of our war vessels in the port which escaped was the Cumberland, which was towed out by a steamtug captured a few days before from the enemy. We all know, however, that the rebels had no sooner come into the occupation of Norfolk than they commenced the work of raising the Merrimac, and that they soon suc- ceeded in their undertaking. The fact has been equally notorious to all the world that since August last, down to a month ago, the rebels were employed in converting said ship into an iron-plated bomb-proof battering ram. Incom- mon with the public at large; we presume that Secretary Welles was informed a fortnight since that the Merrimac was finished and ready for sea; and that two other rebel steamers, the Yorktown and Jamestown, also provided with an iron casing, were waiting for a dark night or afavorable opening to run our blockade of Hampton Roads and put to sea. How, then, are we to account for the sorry blockading squadron in Hampton Roads on Saturday morning last, and for the absence of anything in the shape of an iron-plated ship? All the required authority, means and facilities had been possessed by the Secretary of the Navy for half a dozen iron- plated ships. Had he been able to comprehend the necessity and the immense advantages of such vessels, he might have had a half dozen afloat in December last, competent to take Nor- folk, Beaufort, North Carolina; Charleston, Sa- yvannah, Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans. At all events, we can find no excuse for the palpa- ble neglect of the blockade of James river, at a time when three iron-plated rebel steamers, shut up in those waters, were watching fora favorable opportunity to run out to sea or to pounce upon and destroy our helpless wooden hulks standing in the way. Suppose the Ericsson double-keeled, cannon- proof nondescript, the Monitor, with her little cocked hat, revolving and impregnable fort, had been delayed a day or two longer in her passage to Fortress Monroe, are we exaggerating our dangers in saying that the Merrimac might have as- cended the Potomac and shelled the President out of the White House; and that the James- town and Yorktown, escaping to sea, swift steamers as they are, might have cleaned the whole Atlantic coast of our outgoing and in- coming merchantmen? The genius, skill and enterprise of a private citizen have saved us from these dangers and from the disgrace which would have followed the escape of those three rebel vessels from the James river. We have had a narrow escape—so very narrow and so very suggestive that we can afford no longer to trust our navy to any man of the old sailing wooden ship school of Mr. Secretary Welles. We have realized the difference between a man of ordinary military abilities for an extra- ordinary crisis and aman of superior energy, activity and military genius, or the difference between Secretary Cameron and Secretary Stanton, as the controlling head of the War ‘Department. From the outset we have insisted that a similar change was the great necessity in the Navy Department—that Mr. Welles was too slow and too strongly attached to the ancien regime for his important situation. We have wanted and now want a man in his place of a quick, active, fresh, vigorous and comprehen- sive intellect—a zealous, earnest man, who un- derstands the progressive spirit of the times, and who appreciates the wants of the country as a great commercial Power, and who will know how to apply our inexhaustible means and facilities to the creation of a navy equal to all emergencies against domestic conspiracies or foreign combinations. Gov. Sprague, of Rhode Island, is just such a maa. Ife is young, and yet he possesses the matured intellect of a riper age in years; he is zealous and enthusiastic, but his enthusiasm is regulated by a sound judgment; he is a man of the age we live in, and his ideas in reference to public affairs comprehend all the great me- chanical inventions and revolutions of the pre- sent century. A prosperous millionaire, through his enterprising business habits, and universally esteemed as a man of rare endow- ments, and absolutely beyond the range of pri- vate speculations upon the public Treasury, Gov. Sprague, we submit, is the man for the Navy Department at this crisis. We respectfully invite the attention of Presi- dent Lincoln to the superior qualifications of Gov. Sprague for the duties so bunglingly dis- charged by Mr. Welles. The venerable Secre- tary is too old in his notions for the time and the place which he occupies. “A new broom eo eee te ee sweeps clean,” and to find the new broom wanted for the Navy Department the President need not go farther than the patriotic little State of Rhode Island. Waar is THe Matrer with Courector Bar- sey ?—We had supposed that Collector Barney was doing his business well, and avolding politics. But it seems he does not give satisfac- tion to the republican journals. What is the matter? Has he retained some democrats not yet got rid of by the clamors of republican po- liticans?’ Mr. Barney does not sufficiently play the part of # political partisan in discharging the duties of his office ata time when patriots of every party are sinking party and rallying around our flag. But it appears there are men who do his politics for him, in order to save him the trouble. IMegal Recruiting. Sr. Catmanine’s, ©. W., blarch 10, 1862. A man named Corayall was arrested here today, charged with offering inducements to British soldiers to desert and join the American service for trial A Family He was committed oisoned at Hyde Park. SoRANTON, Pa., March 10, 1962 ‘The family of William Jordan, rosiding at Hyde Park Pa., were poisoned last night by inhaling gas from a con’ stove, Two obild wore found dead aud the pargnty susp oUy, ud they opaner recover. ANOTHER BRILLIANT VICTORY Total Defeat of the Rebel Generals Price, McCulloch, Van Dorn and McIntosh. THREE DAYS HARD FIGHTING One Thousand Union Troops Killed and Wounded. THE REBEL LOSS VERY LARGE. OUR CAVALRY PURSUE THE TRAITORS. ALL HAIL OUR GLORIOUS UNION, key &e., &e. Wasunieton, March 10, 1862. The President received to-night a despatch from General Halleck announcing that after a three days’ battle at Sugar Creek, in Arkansas, General Curtis had won a complete victory over the combined forces of the rebel leaders Van Dorn, McCulloch, Price and McIntosh. The Union loss is estimated at one thousand killed and wounded. The rebel loss is much greater, The following is an official despatch to Major General McClellan :— Sr. Louis, March 10, 1862. The army of the Southwest, under General Curtis, after three days hard fighting, has gained a most glorious victory over the com- bined forces of Van Dorn, McCulloch, Price and McIntosh. Our loss in killed and wounded is estimated at one thousand! That of the enemy was still larger. Guns, flags, provisions, &c., were captured in large quantities. Our cavalry are in pursuit of the flying enemy. H. W. Hatreck Maior General. The Southwestern Army and Its Move- ments. St. Louis, March 10, 1862. The correspondent of the St. Louis Democrat writes ag follows:— : Cross Howtows, Ark., March 1, 1862. Vigorous reconnoissances are kept up to watch the enemy’s movements, and foraging parties are active in obtaining supplies. Pork and beef are purchased in the vicinity in abundance, and about half the quantity of flour required 1s obtained in the same manner, and all our forage. Price, whose retreat is acknowledged on all handsto have been ably conducted, has found refuge in Boston Mountains, From two deserters wno camo intocamp yesterday, it is ascertained that he is encamped on Cove Creek road, while McCulloch is posted one and a half miles distant, The latter had burned the village near the Indian frontier, known as Cau! Hill. The supplies of the rebel army are obtained from Van Buren. It is stated on good authority that Price and McCulloch had a violent quarre! before leavjng Cross Hollows. At Fayetteville we found all the telegraphic despatches up the time of the evacuation by therebels. A despatch from McIntosh to Herbert, in command at Cross Hollows» urges him to press forward, and reinforce Price at Spring. field at all hazards, as that point is important to be hed by the Confederates. Ex-Senator Johnson, of Missouri, who opened a re. cruiting office at Springfield for the rebels, previous to Price’s departure, was the first to reach Fayetteville, where ho stopped several days. ‘The clemency of Goueral Curtis, and judicious policy inaugurated in relation to the treatment of the citizens of Penton county, is bringing its reward in the genoral con- fidence already showing indications of being restored among fugitives who fled at ‘our approach. Confederate bills, which were twenty-five per cent discount on our arrival in Penton county, have suddenly bocome value- Jess, and the inhabitants refuse to take them. Major Wright learns that the citizens of Keetsville knew of the intended attack on that place, and com municated the intelligence to the rebels, but kept all in” timation of it from Captain Montgomery. On the after noon before the fight the ladies of the village left, one by one, and during the attack all were out. Major Wright learns that there are fifty-five hundred rebels in Cedar and Dade counties, Missour. These parties are eommitting depredations and swearing ven. geance against Union men. ‘The health of the troops has been good, particularly on the march. NEWS FROM WASHINGTON. Wasuiwcton, March 10, 1862. REPORTS FROM THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION—THE ENGAGEMENT AT WINTON, N. C.—HEROIC CONDUCT OF A SEAMAN, ETC. Despatches from Flag Officer Goldsborough, received at the Navy Department to-day, include the report of Com. mander Rowan, commanding steamer Dolawaro, wh° furnishes an interesting account of bis reconnoissauce’ On the 16th of February he moved his forces, and, reach” ing Winton, was in the act of letting go the anchor, when suddenly a force of North Carolina Vo- lunteers opened @ terrific fire of musketry and artillery on his vessel. Volley succeeded volley in rapid succession, striking her one hundred and twen- ty-five times with musketry, but the enemy's artillery overshot her. Fire was ojened on the rebels by the ship’s shell gun. The Perry being in position, promptly throw a shrapnel among tho forces, which was followed by the ship as soon as Captain Quackenbush could extri- cate her from her position and turn the ship in the narrow river. Commander Rowan ran down past the enemy and land" ed his foree about seven miles below Winton. Our troops .subsequently entered the town and destroyed a quantity of military stores, tents, arms, knapsacks, &c., and the quarters occupied by the troops of the enemy ‘The official report of the cagualtios in tho navy on the taking of Roanoke Island gives the killed as sixty, wounded seventeen and missing two, Lieatonant J. C. Chapin, Commanding the United States City , off Roanoke Island, writes to Com. modore Goldsborough, under date of February 26, no. ticing a magnanimous act of bravery by Jobn Davis, gun- \8 vessel at the taking of Elizabeth City. He says John Davis was at bis station during the action, i@ the magazine issuing powder, when a shell from the ebemy’s battery penctrated into the magazine and exploded ontelde of it. He threw himself over a bar. rel of powder, protecting It with his own body from the fire. while at the same time passing out the powder for the guns. Commodore Goldsborough, in tranemitting this lettor to the Navy Department, says:—“It affords me infinite to forward this communication to the } pleasw par tmord, to whose especial consideration 1 beg le recommend the gallant and voble sailor alluded to adds, in a postscript, “Davis actually seated himself en the barrel, the top being out, and in. this position he re. mained until the flames wero extinguished.” THE MONITOR AND THE MERKIMAC. A despatch from Vortress Monroe says that the Merri mac did not male her appearance today. The Monitor was honored with salutes and cheers, both from the fort fud the fleet, Everybody was exthusiastic in ber praise for the guod services she yesterday rendered, THE FORTRESS MONROR TRLEGKAPH LINR, ‘The telegraph t@ Fortress Mouroe has been fully pied on governmental business: all day, whiotr has pre, vented the press despatches from coming forward. ‘There has been no change in the state of affiirs at thag point. Every effort will be made to give the names of tho killed and wounded at the earliest possible moment. THE EVACUATION OF MANASSAS, ‘The information in regard to the evacuation ef Manassas by the rebels has come from so many and reliable sources that it is now generally, though not officially, certified, There are many theories in regard to the cause of this Tetreat, The most plausible is that the position was most valuable as a protection to the use of the railroad from Richmond to the counties in the valley of the Upper Potomac, but not nearly so defensible a point as the hilla of the Rappahannock, in view of the protection of Rich- mond and Norfolk, The advance of General Banks upon Winchester, and the abandonment of the programme of invading Maryland and attacking Washington, make the occupation of Manassas comparatively worthless, while the gradual approach of Genoral Buell in the West, and that of General Burnside on the coast, were shutting up all avenues of communication between Virginia and the cotton States. Those who are familiar with the country entertain the opinion that the rebels have fallon back to make a stand at the Rappahannock; but the prevailing opinion ts that the evacuation of Manassas is only preliminary to the evacuation of Virginia. IMPORTANT FRON THE POTOMAC. THE FALLING BACK OF THE REBELS, Evacuation of Centreville and Winchester. Abandonment of the Batteries at Cockpit Point, Shipping Point, &c. The Raising of the Potomac Blockade. The Rumored Retreat of the Rebels from Manassas &e., &e., &e. THE EVACUATION OF WINCHESTER. Cuancastows, Va., March 10, 1802, It is currently rumored and believed that Winchester was Cully evacuated yesterday. Areconnoissance is out this morning ‘to ascertain the facts. Tho intelligence from other quarters groatly encour. ages all friends of the Union, as indicating a speedy termination of hostilities. THE EVACUATION OF CENTREVILLE, Wasuineton, March 10, 1862. There is no longer any doubt that the rebels have evacuated Centreville, Winchester and other important points, indicating a general falling back of their forces. Caarestown, Va., March 10, 1862. It is now ascertained beyond a doubt that Winchester has been evacuated by the rebels. The prominent places betweon here and Winchester are eccupied by our troops. THE RUMORED RETREAT FROM MANASSAS. Wasmtnatoy, March 10,1862. It is rumored and believed here that the rebel army is retreating from Centreville and Manassas, THE RAISING OF THE POTOMAC BLOCKADE. Wasmtnatox, March 10, 1862. Lieut. Wyman, commanding the Potomac flotilla, in his official report te the Navy Department, confirms the rumor of the abandonment of the rebel batteries at Cock- pit, Shipping and other points along the Potomac, and also the burning of the steamer Page and other rebel craft. Annexed is Lieuthnant Wyman’s despatch:— Potomac Fromi.ta, March 9—4 P. M. To Secretary WELLES:— Str—The information which I forwarded to you by tele- graph, is, Iconsider, confirmed. The Cockpit and Ship- ping Point batteri ave been abandoned. They have been shelled for an hour without reply. ‘The enemy have set fire to everything at Shipping Point, and frequent ex- plosions give evidence of the destruction of the ammuot- tion. The fires and explosions extend some distance back. Detween Cockpit and Shipping Point. The Page I believe to have been set fire to and blown up. Lieutenant R. A. WYMAN, Commaniling Potomac Flotilla. ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS. Wasuisarox, March 10, 1862. On Thursday night a boat, ¢ 1: ining two contrabands, crossed over to the Virginia side, ead returned with fou™ others—one man and three w+iaen—one nearly white, the chattel of a Quartermaster iu one of the cotion Stave troops. She says she heard her master say that twenty horses were killed, and a larg: onmber of wagons de- stroyed by the fire of the Islan«i Belle and Satelite on Wednesday. She heard nothing said of auy person being killed or wounded. All Saturday night and Sunday morning our pickets, stationed at the river, reported the constant running o' carson the railroad onthe Virginia side of the river, which continued until nearly’ noon, indicating a im’ ment of some kind on the part of the rebels, The dit pearance of the rebel pickets at that time led to the belief that thoy wera abandoning their fortifications ou the river and falling back towards Richmond. At about three o'clock the Anacostia ran out and com menced shelling the rebel battery at Opossum Noxe, Sho had been shelling nearly an hour when dense smoke was seen issuing from the rebel works at Shipping Point, ex- tending rapidly to the south. A few minutes after, and it was thought the steamer George Page was firing up t? run out; but upon turning the glasses to that point flame was discovered issuing from her just forward of the wheslhouses, which spread with great rapidity, and soon the whole vessel was wrapped in flames. Meantime the fire had spread over Shipping Point, and had been also applied to the winter quarters of the soldiers on the main iand, and the whole vicinity was wrapped in smoke and flame. During this time tho Anacostia continued to shell the upper battery aud the adjacent woods. Finding no re- sponse, and seeng no one moving, sho tanded @ boat's crew, under eovor of her guns. Inafew minutes they were seen emerging from the woods and appearing on tho ramparts of the rebel battery. They immediately attached their boat flag to the halyards, and at a quarter- past four the Stars and Stripes waved over the ‘sacred soil”? of Virginia, on the same staff which has so long borne the darved and barred rag of the rebels. Sunday being a day of rest, a lal number of the members of the First brigade were gathored on the bluffs onthe Maryland side, directly opposite, and when the ‘American flag was run up nine cheers wore given, hear- tily enough, probably, to be heard by the eating se, coshers. The fire at Shipping Point still continued to burn, The smok ck of the Page had fallen, throwing up clouds of dense smoke, but still it burned on. The fortifications at Shipping Point were still also wrapped in smoke, and *t four a magazine exploded. About twenty minutes aftor there was another explosion in the woods on the main land, which was followed b, asecond explosion on Shipping Point, neither of which indicated a large amount of powder loft behind. Since then there have beea several explosions on ship ping Point, from which it is presumed the rebels had sevoral small magazines at that point. Six o'CLocK P.M. Since five there has been a heavy cannonading heard ina wosterly direction, probably eight to ten miles in land. Tae whole division is in a stato of excitonwnt, and every man anxious to cross, Company A, Captain Witd, of the First Massachusetts, has gone over, and we hope goon to hear from the othor side, ‘At ten o'clock P. M. on Sunday the Anacostia, baving been joined by the Yankee and svothar gunboat, still continued tto shell the woods, &c.,on the Virginia side without discovering the enamy. ‘Tho detachment from the Massachusetts First returned with various small trophies found at Shipping Point, indi, atiog that the departure of the caboja was qudden, c 4 ——