February 5, 1863, The New York Herald
There is nothing new from the Army of the Potomac. Everything is quiet in that direction.
The attack by the rebels on Fort Donelson, which we reported yesterday, resulted in their entire defeat. At the commencement of the action of the enemy took four of our guns at a charge vigorously and gallantly made, but our troops as gallantly responded by taking them back again, killing one hundred and thirty-five of the rebels and wounding fifty. Among the latter is General Forrest, the rebel leader.
A heavy snow storm was raging at Fortress Monroe yesterday, more severely than anything which had occurred there for many years.
We have some reliable intelligence of the movements of the pirate vessel Retribution, from the captain of the schooner Springbok, which has arrived in Boston from Port Paix. Captain Grindle states that the Retribution was off that port about January 15, and sent a boat on shore, pretending to be a merchant vessel. The statement is confirmed by Captain Jordan, of the Schooner H.S. Boynton, who left Fort Paix January 10, at which time also she was understood to be in that vicinity. If so, the report of the destruction of four of five vessels off St. Thomas by that privateer is probably false, as St. Thomas is far to windward, and the Retribution could not have beat up in season to make the report true.
The Union cavalry in the vicinity of Murfreesboro have been active. On the 2d inst. a body of Stokes’ Tennessee cavalry and a Kentucky regiment of infantry made a splendid dash on a rebel camp at Middletown, fifteen miles from Murfreesboro, and captured one hundred of the enemy, with all their camp equipage, horses and wagons. Another fine attack was made at Franklin by a body of Davis’ cavalry, who captured twenty of the rebels.
Brigadier General Robert B. Mitchell, commanding, at Nashville, has issued an order announcing that, accordance with directions from Headquarters, Department of the Cumberland, no person will be allowed to go south from that point except by way of Vicksburg.
In the important news which we published exclusively yesterday morning from the South was a despatch copied from a Richmond paper, and dated at Chattanooga, Tenn., January 30, stating that General Wheeler’s rebel cavalry had attacked a fleet of twenty-five federal transports on the Cumberland river, and destroyed five, on Friday, the 23d ult. This is now known to be false, because we have news direct from Nashville, which states that the fleet which arrived there consisted of twenty-three steamers. They were attacked, as the rebel account states, on Friday; but, beyond a shot which passed through the R.B. Hamilton, and a few bullet holes in the Commerce, no damage was done, and the entire fleet arrived safely at Nashville.