CAPTURE OF JACKSONVILLE, FLA.

MARCH 12, 1862.

Jacksonville, the principal town in East Florida, is situated on the St. John's river, twenty miles from the sea. Vessels drawing twelve feet of water can cross the bar. An important commercial city of Florida, it was desirable to restore it to the protection of the government, and after the capture of Fernandina, the commanders of the expedition turned their attention to the accomplishment of this object. The United States gunboat Ottawa, in company with the Pembina and Seneca, succeeded in crossing the bar off Jacksonville, on the 11th of March. Commodore Rogers found to his great satisfaction, as already at Fernandina and St. Mary's, no attempt to dispute his progress or resist the restoration of the city to its allegiance to the government.

Contrary to expectation on both sides, the approaches to this place by the river were not defended, and no resistance was offered to the Union forces by land or water. As at Fernandina, the batteries were evacuated, and the guns for the most part left behind. This was by order of General Trapier, who is said to have acted upon orders from General Lee, commanding the Confederate troops on the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida coast. There were some five thousand rebel troops in this part of Florida-at Fernandina, and on the line of the railroads to Tallahassee and Cedar Keys.

When it was ascertained by the Mayor of the city that the troops were to be withdrawn, he held a consultation with General Pyles, in company with a portion of the city council, in which the question of resistance was freely discussed. The retirement of the troops, and the entirely defenceless condition in which the people had been left, allowed them no choice had they been ever so much determined to dispute the entry of the Federal forces. The Mayor, H. H. Hoeg, issued a proclamation, informing the citizens that no opposition would be made, and calling upon all the inhabitants to treat their expected visitors with proper decorum, and to do nothing that would provoke any ill-feeling between citizens and soldiers.

On the arrival of the vessels Lieutenant Stevens was politely received by the authorities, who came on board his vessel, the Ottawa, and through S. L. Burritt, Esq., gave up the town. Many of the inhabitants had abandoned their homes, fearing to trust the Federal troops. Others, however, remained, and testified their gratification at the arri val of the fleet.

Unfortunately, however, they did not reach Jacksonville in time to save that beautiful town from the flames, as a part of it was laid in

ruins. On the afternoon of the 11th, some five or six hundred armed men, claiming to be a part of the force which had been stationed at Fernandina, arrived by railroad, and announced that they had come, by order of General Trapier, to burn the steam saw-mills, lumber, etc., which might be of value to the Federal authorities. No time was given to save property of any description. At dusk the torch was applied, and in a brief space eight of these immense establishments, forming nearly a circle on both sides of the river, were in a blaze. Immediately afterwards, the spacious and elegant hotel, well known to Northern invalids as the Judson House, was fired by unknown persons, together with warehouses, the railroad freight depot, etc., etc. All this property was a total loss to the owners, as no attempt was made to save or rescue any portion of it. The loss was estimated at half a million of dollars.

The population of Jacksonville, before the war broke out, was about four thousand. It had a large trade, as the St. John's river is settled with plantations, and is navigable for two hundred miles above the town for large vessels, and there were a dozen steamers running on it. The lumber trade was very extensive and prosperous. About fifty million feet of Florida pitch pine were sawed there annually. This business was ruined by the incendiaries. The exports of rosin, turpentine, etc., amounted to $100,000 annually; cotton, $250,000; cedar, $100,000, etc. The arrivals of vessels were about 400 yearly. The town was built mainly of brick, lighted with gas, and was a great resort for invalids, for its mild and balmy climate. The Florida, Atlantic and Gulf rail road, starting here, intersects with the road from Fernandina to Cedar Keys, twelve miles from Jacksonville, and then goes on to Tallahassee, the capital, one hundred and sixty miles, and thence eighteen miles to St. Mark's, on the Gulf.

General Sherman and staff arrived on the 20th, in the steamer Cosmopolitan. He immediately issued a proclamation to the people, assuring them of protection and peace, and calling upon them to continue their accustomed business. On the same day a meeting of the citizens was held, at which the most loyal sentiments were avowed, and a series of very strong resolutions adopted in favor of the Union, and denouncing the acts of the secession convention and the State authorities in a most emphatic manner. The resolutions also called for the holding of a Convention of the State to organize a State government for Florida, and called upon the chief of the military department of the United States to retain at Jacksonville a sufficient force to maintain order and protect the citizens and their property and persons.

The loyal men of the town, after being thus assured of the continued protection of the government, gave evidence of their patriotism and devotion to the constitution; and for a time they enjoyed the peace

and protection they so much desired. But it was of short duration, and the result was more disastrous to them than the uninterrupted occupancy of the place by the rebel force would have been. Not only had the most important business establishments been sacrificed to the flames, but the principal hotels and other buildings had also been destroyed by the retiring enemy. In a short time General Hunter, the new commander in that department, ordered the evacuation of the city by the Federal troops, and they accordingly withdrew. Immediately the rebel forces returned, the secession authorities renewed their administration, and the active Unionists were arrested, imprisoned, their property confiscated, and in many cases their lives were sacrificed. Some of them were fortunate enough to escape with their families and some personal effects, and obtain passage on vessels bound to New York, where they arrived, and narrated a painful history of their sufferings. Jacksonville occupied and speedily evacuated by Federal troops, makes a gloomy chapter in the history of loyal adversities during the rebellion.

000UPATION OF COLUMBUS, KY.
MARCH 3, 1862.

The city of Columbus stands on the Kentucky shore of the Mississippi, twenty-five miles below Cairo, which is at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It is a place of great natural strength, from the high and precipitous bluffs upon which the city is built. This important position had been early seized as a stronghold by the enemy, and herculean labors had been performed in the erection of batteries and fortifications, and the mounting of immense guns of the heaviest calibre. The necessity of holding Columbus against the Federal approach, in order to protect Nashville, Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans, was one of the great incentives to the rebel commanders in expending so much labor and time in its defence. But all their calculations had been shaken by the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the evacuation of Bowling Green. Their line of defence was broken by these brilliant movements, their flank was exposed, and they were in danger of having their retreat cut off by a vigorous movement of the Federal army flushed by brilliant successes. There was no alternative but to risk a similar defeat and capture, or to evacuate their works. The latter course was adopted, and on February 27th, the army commenced its retreat from the apprehended foe. They carried away with them large quantities of commissary stores, ammunition, guns, and war material of every description, and by March 2d, had abandoned their works and the city.

On the same night, Lieutenant-Colonel Hogg, of the Second Illinois Cavalry, left Paducah to reconnoitre in the direction of Columbus. At the same time, the flotilla at Cairo was being put in a state of complete readiness for a movement, which was kept a profound secret from all but the commander and his advisory officers. Commodore Foote, himself, was not acquainted with the movement of Lieutenant-Colonel Hogg. On the morning of the 4th, at daylight, the flotilla left Cairo, and dropped down the river. Commodore Foote and General Collum were on board the flag-ship Cincinnati, accompanied by the gunboats St. Louis, Louisville, Carondelet, Pittsburgh, Lexington, and four mortar boats. General Sherman commanded the transports Aleck Scott, I. L. McGill and Illinois, with the following troops aboard: Twenty-seventh Illinois, Colonel Buford, Forty-second Illinois, and two batteries.

On reaching that part of the river which makes a curving sweep toward Columbus, the vessels took up various positions, the mortar-boats being placed at a favorable point on the Missouri shore, where they could shell the rebel works, and be out of sight and range of their guns. While the gunboats were gradually nearing the fortifications, a flag was discovered flying from the summit of the bluffs. It was at too great a distance to be distinctly discerned, but the possibility of the Federal flag flying on that spot was not to be entertained. General Sherman, on a tug-boat, advanced and turned the bend in the river, out of sight of the fleet. No shot was fired, and the gunboats followed in time to discover the General and some of his men scaling the summit of the bluff. The stars and stripes were floating magnificently where only a few hours before the flag of the enemy asserted dominion. The General soon ascertained that Lieutenant-Colonel Hogg had arrived on the afternoon of the 3d, and quietly occupied the abandoned fortifications, and raised the national colors on their walls.

The works were extensive, of massive strength, capable of resisting a protracted siege, and supplied with guns, of which 128-pounders formed a part. The natural position, as well as the immense defensive preparations which had been made, seemed to render them impregnable to an attacking force. Yet with all these advantages the enemy had spiked many of their guns, rolled them down the bluff into the river, destroyed large amounts of stores, burnt their buildings and retired.

The Federal forces, jubilant with their easy conquest, and spared the horrors of bloodshed, took possession of the place in a spirit of cheerful triumph. There was no drawback to the rejoicing-no dead to bury, no wounded to send their groans through the cheering shouts that rang far and wide from under the stars and stripes when they were once more flung to the wind. Columbus was drawn back to the Union almost witho it an effort.

BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, ARK.

MARCH 6-8, 1862.

One of the most brilliant events of the war west of the Mississippi, was the battle of Pea Ridge, which lasted from the 6th to the 8th of March, and crowned the national army with a splendid victory, after a long and toilsome pursuit of the rebels.

After the removal of General Fremont from the command in Missouri, the army which he had led from Jefferson City to Springfield, made a retrograde movement, falling back on Rolla, St. Louis and the towns on the line of the Missouri river. As was to be anticipated, the consequence of this retreat was the return of General Price, with his forces, and the reoccupation of the whole of Southern Missouri by the insurgents. They remained in possession of the field until February, when a new national force, under Generals Curtis, Sigel and Ashboth entered the field and advanced rapidly in pursuit of the retreating enemy. The rebels fell back, to avoid a general engagement, and evacuated Springfield, on the 12th of February, near which, in a brief skirmish, General Curtis' army encountered and defeated them. On the morning of the 13th General Curtis entered the town, and restored the national flag to its place. Price left about six hundred sick men behind him, and large quantities of forage and wagons. He expected that the Federal army would remain several days at least in Springfield, to give the troops rest, satisfied with the re-occupation of this valuable position.

But General Curtis was not a man to sleep upon his arms. On the morning of the 14th, he resumed his pursuit, and continued his march to Crane's Creek, about twenty-two miles from Springfield. He pressed closely upon the enemy, and on the 17th had another encounter with them at Sugar Creek. This protracted pursuit of three weeks, at an average rate of twenty miles a day, is remarkable in the history of warfare. But like most western men, General Curtis had learned the art of war, and the expediency of energetic action to some purpose. He had given up his seat in Congress when the war broke out, and took the field, forgetting politics and every thing else in a burning love of his country. With such men long marches and hard fighting is the business of war. They shrink from nothing but inaction.

Both armies had now reached the soil of Arkansas. The rebels being rapidly reinforced by regiments which had been stationed in that State and the Indian Territory, General Price was in a better position to give battle. Upon mature deliberation, General Curtis selected Sugar Creek as the best position he could take to withstand any attack which might be made upon him. The enemy had, in the mean time, taken up his po