November 14, 1863, The New York Herald
All continues quiet in front of the Potomac Army. The headquarters of the Commissary Department are now at Warrenton Junction, from which immediate supplies of rations are daily forwarded. The demoralization in the rebel army is reported to be on the increase. A deserter from the Ninth Alabama (Ewell’s corps) states that the whole regiment has laid down its arms and refused to fight any longer. Upon an attempt to put them under guard they dispersed through the country, with the intention of joining the Union army. The dependency of the rebel soldiers generally is said to be very great. A report was prevalent yesterday that a large force of the rebels shelled General Kilpatrick’s camp, near Stevensburg, on Thursday morning, proving that the enemy are still in strength at this side of the Rapidan.
Very important despatches from the diplomatic agents of the rebels in Europe to the rebel government were recently found in the capture of the blockade runners Robert E. Lee, Cornubia and others, showing that the rebel agents entirely despair of any assistance either from England or France. They state that Louis Napoleon has no intention of affording the South any aid except what the government of England may be disposed to give, and that while he is amusing them with the hope of an alliance with Mexico, they have nothing of a substantial character to hope from him. These statements present the rebel cause in Europe in a very dismal condition.
Several prisoners taken off the R.E. Lee and other blockade runners were brought to this city by the steamer Newbern yesterday. Among them were two British army officers and the Belgian Consul.
General Butler has arrived at Fortress Monroe and assumed the command of his new department. General Foster, upon leaving, issued a farewell order to his troops.
A large quantity of provisions, consisting of pork, beef, sugar, rice, potatoes, coffee and bread were shipped from Fortress Monroe on Thursday by the Commissary of Subsistence to the unfortunate starving Union prisoners at Richmond. Twenty-five thousand rations in all were forwarded, and it remains to be seen whether the prisoners will receive them.
Official despatches from General Thomas, at Chattanooga, and General Burnside, in East Tennessee, were received at the War Department yesterday, dated on the previous evening, and state that all is quiet in front of their respective armies. The despatch from General Burnside is said to set all anxiety at rest as to the safety of his position.
Deserters to our lines at Chattanooga report terrible disaffection in Bragg’s army, the troops laying down their arms and refusing to continue longer in the rebel service. Bragg’s army is said to be sixty thousand strong.
There is no later development concerning the Johnson’s Island affair, except that a large force of infantry, cavalry and artillery has been sent there to defend the place. It is said that Hon. Preston King has been sent to Canada by our government to investigate the plot. Heavy batteries are erected to command the harbor of Sandusky, and the United States steamer Michigan is lying off Johnson’s Island, ready for action.
Our correspondence from New Orleans by the steamer Yazoo yesterday reveals the progress of the Texas expedition to the 3d inst. General Banks is superintending the campaign in person. The full occupation of the frontier line of the Rio Grande is contemplated by the expedition. The French are said to be encamped within thirty miles of Matamoros. A despatch from the army in Western Louisiana states that General Washburne’s advance of the Thirteenth army corps was driven in by the rebels upon the main body on the 3d inst., but that the enemy were subsequently driven back with a loss of over two hundred killed and wounded, and two hundred taken prisoners.
We have copious news from the rebel journals to the 11th inst. They are greatly exercised about the recent elections at the North. The late dismissal of the English Consuls by Jeff. Davis is also commented upon strongly, and the pursuance of a similar course to the French and other European representatives is urged, upon the ground that as European governments do not recognize the confederacy their representatives should not be recognized.