Fresh from his overwhelming victory at Rich Mountain, General McClellan continues to vigorously pursue Confederate troops heading toward Cheat Mountain Pass. A dispatch from McClellan’s camp is confident the soldiers will move rapidly towards the rebels and boasts that although secessionists have destroyed the bridges at Huttonsville and, presumably, Cheat Mountain, “this would not delay the advance one hour.” The previously reported number of Confederate dead and captured has not been contradicted: 150 dead and nearly 600 captured, with the latter group reportedly “extremely penitent, they say, and determined never again to take up arms against the General Government.” With the most recent additions, McClellan now holds 900 to 1,000 Southern prisoners.
Twelve Union soldiers were bested and captured by Confederate troops after straying too far from the secure surroundings of their camp at Newport News. Several companies were dispatched in attempts to retrieve them but their success or failure is not yet known. Additionally, in Alexandria, a skirmish between Federal and Confederate troops ended in the capture of three scouts from Alabama.
The Sanitary Committee in Washington has adopted several measures aimed at improving the living conditions in military camps, as well as compensation and medical care for soldiers.
In Baltimore, John Merryman was released from Fort McHenry on $40,000 bail yesterday. The controversy surrounding his arrest by Union troops and his petition for a writ of habeas corpus has made his case quite well known, and the public, as well as many officials in the Administration and military, will undoubtedly be closely following the next chapter of the saga. Merryman will face treason charges in court in November.
Governor John Letcher is asking every able-bodied man in Virginia to protect “all that is dear to freemen,” and join the state militia. In a proclamation released to the public, he urges Virginians
to drive from our land an insolent foe, who is threatening us with subjugation and overthrow. Confident that every true Virginian possesses the nerve and the soul to give his hand and his heart to prevent this fell purpose—the Militia is called to arms. This call will not be unheeded.
In the News:
- The New York Times prints the latest dispatches from General McClellan’s camp.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer provides a biography of Major General George McClelland, including a fetching portrait of the hero.
- The Philadelphia Press has a letter from the steamer Niagara, stationed off Fort Pickens.
- The New York Times has the story of Colonel Siegel’s victory in the first major military clash in Missouri.
- The Philadelphia Press has news from Washington and the Congressional proceedings.
- A foreign correspondent for the New York Times reports the news from London, including the death of Lord Chancellor John Campbell, although he admits it “does not seem to be considered a very serious loss.”
- The Philadelphia Inquirer collects news bits from Southern papers.
Commentary:
- The editors of the Quincy Daily Herald believe that the Mormon leaders in Utah may have “treasonable designs” against the Federal government.
- The Philadelphia Press is convinced that British opinion rests with Union.
- The Richmond Daily Dispatch believes that “with the exception of the Northwest, Virginia has been pretty well purged of traitors.”
- The New York Times publishes a lengthy suggestion about how the North can reduce the monetary costs of the conflict and gives their own opinion.
- The Louisville Journal accuses ex-Governor Floyd of being a horse thief.
- The Philadelphia Press analyzes the battles that have occurred thus far.
Arts and Culture:
- The Richmond Daily Dispatch describes a ghostly legend in Norway.
- The Quincy Daily Herald features an article on the religious revival rising with the escalation of the war and another on the “beauty of religion.”
- The Richmond Daily Dispatch disparages women who are “controlled by the mere dicta of fashion, and they despise common sense. They admire nothing but what is costly.”
