May 9, 1863, The New York Herald
The official report of Admiral Porter, recording his great success in the capture of Grand Gulf, Miss., was received at the Navy Department yesterday, and created much excitement in Washington. The possession of this point places the formidable rebel strongholds at Vicksburg and Port Hudson at our mercy. Admiral Porter says that he now holds the door to Vicksburg. The fight lasted five hours and a half. The forts were literally torn to pieces by the fire of our vessels, but all the guns captured by our forces were in good condition. The works at Grand Gulf were the most formidable ones the rebels possessed in the vicinity of Vicksburg. Admiral Porter and General Grant now hold them, and are remounting the guns. General Grant is reported by despatches from Cairo to have reached Port Gibson. Many of the rebels who fled from Grand Gulf were captured by our pursuing forces.
We have the authority of the Secretary of War, in his despatch to Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, yesterday, that the Army of the Potomac will speedily resume offensive operations; that, although the principal operations of General Hooker failed, there has been no serious disaster to the organization and efficiency of the army, and that not more than one-third of General Hooker’s force was engaged,
The movements of General Stoneman’s cavalry force, which formed the most brilliant episode in the nine days’ fight of Hooker’s army, are finely illustrated in the map which we publish today. It shows the different routes taken by the several divisions of the cavalry corps under Generals Stoneman, Averill and Buford, and Colonels Kilpatrick, Davis, and Wyndham. Starting from Kelly’s Ford on the northwest, the lines of march are faithfully portrayed, (marked with the design of arrows) to all the points touched at the portions of the track torn up, the bridges destroyed, and the spot where the canal was cut, near Columbia. The latest news reports Colonel Kilpatrick as having reached Gloucester Point, through Tunstal’s Station, near Yorktown, where he joined General King. Of the brilliant movement of Colonel Kilpatrick’s command, General King says in his official notice of his arrival at Gloucester Point: – ‘They burned the bridges over the Chickahominy, destroyed three large trains of provisions in the rear of Lee’s army, drove in the rebel pickets to within two miles of Richmond, and have lost only one lieutenant and thirty men, having captured and paroled upwards of three hundred prisoners. They have marched nearly two hundred miles since the 3d of May. They were inside of the fortifications of Richmond on the 4th, burned all the stores at Aylett’s Station on the Mattapony on the 5th, destroyed all the ferries over the Pamunky and Mattapony and a large depot of commissary stores near and above the Rappahannock, and came in here in […..] good condition.” A splendid record this for any officer. The roads to Gloucester and Tunstallwill be found indicated on the map. The operations of General Hooker are also carefully illustrated – the localities of the battles of Marye’s Hill, Salem Heights and Chancellorsville – and the points on the Rappahannock where the army crossed and recrossed.
The rebels admit the loss of eighteen thousand men in the late battles. This brings the returns very close to the figures estimated in the statements made on our side, which put the loss of the enemy at about twenty thousand.
The story of our special army correspondents is continued in our columns today, and we need do no more than refer to it here. As an evidence of enterprise, assiduity and brilliant descriptive power, from beginning to end, it is unmatched on the records of war correspondence.
Not the least remarkable in this interesting budget, is the account of our captured correspondent, his experiences in Richmond, and his trip to and fro while in the hands of the Philistines.
The President has issued a Proclamation preliminary to the enforcement of the Conscription act, defining the position and obligations of inchoate citizens under that law. Persons of foreign birth who have declared their intentions to become citizens, are, by this proclamation, pronounced liable to be drafted, if after the expiration of sixty-five days from the date thereof they still remain within the territory of the United States. In connection with the Proclamation, we give today a list of those classes who are exempt owing to physical disability.
The defences of New York harbor have been the subject of much attention from committees of the State, the United States and the city. Plans and suggestions have been presented from various parties. One of the designs for the effective protection of the harbor we give today on our first page, and we recommend our readers to the careful study of it.