NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume II, Issue 61, 28 November 1863, Page 6

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

THE WAR IN AMERICA. PROGRESS OF THE POLISH INSURRECTION. (From the Home News.) AMERICA. The fate of Charleston appears by the last intelligence to be virtually decided. Forts Wagner And Gregg and the whole of Morris Island are in the hands of the Federals. Nineteen guns and 100 prisoners have fallen into the hands of the conquerors. The actual fall of Charleston may possibly be delayed by the same tenacity that continues to hold Fort Sumter, though it is a mass of ruin. But the catastrophe can scarcely be averted, as almost all the meaus at the command of General Beauregard have not been sufficient to prevent the capture of two of the most important points of the defensive works on land.

The utmost that can be said is that all the outworks were not lost at the date of the last despatches. Fort Sumter still held out. Much more formidable is Fort Moultrie, the second of the old defensive works of the harbour. This fort was engaging the Federal Monitors when the last accounts left. Above these points none of the Federal ironclads have ever advanced, and till they do the nearest gun of the attack is still more tnan four miles from the city. What the Federals have really gained by the evacuation of Foits Wagner and Gregg is the whole of Morris Island, which forms the southern side of the entrauce of the bay. The northern shore of the channel is formed by Sullivan's Island, on which the Confederate batteries have not yet been silenced. By these new forts, and by Fort Moultrie, must all the future resistance to the Federal at'ack by sea be made, if any prolonged resistance is intended. In Fort Moultrie besides a magazine has been blown up. If these works hold out with half the pertinacity of Fort Sumter, the complete capture of Charleston may yet be delayed. Of 7551 shots fired at Fort Sumler 3495 took effect upon the outside, and 2130 upon the inside. The flag had been shot away 14 times, and as often replaced. But in war loss is loss, and the effect of a disaster cannot be diminished by any arguments proving it rather an advantage than otherwise. The Southerners have abstained from seeking such imperfect consolations for their reverses; the blows they have received they have acknowledged to be seriously damaging to their cause, and they will admit that the loss of half their defensive works seaward is a heavy stroke of misfortune. If General Gilmore has gained the whole of Morris Island, there is nothing to prevent him from bringing his Parrot guns, of which he is said to have 30 ready, still nearer the city, and with the fresh supply of the explosive shells he daily expected, complete from a distance of three miles the destruction he was able to threaten and actually commence at five. On the night of the Bth September a Federal naval force attempted to capture Fort Sumter, by assault, but was repulsed, with the loss of 60 in killed, wounded, drowned, and captured. Among the latter were seven officers. Whatever may be the ultimate fate of Charleston, its defence will have been one of the most gallant and determined actions of the American war. Thojgh Fort Sumter has been nearly battered to pieces, it is not abandoned. It is said that it can be repaired sufficiently to make it useful in case the Federal navy should again try to force its way into the harbour. The Tribune states that the evacuation of Morris Island was solely the consequence of General Gilmore's engineering operations, Admiral Dahlgren's Monitors and ironclads being for the most part spectators of the contest, and the problem of water approach to the city is still unsolved. Matters have now reached that stage when the efficient co-operation of the navy department seems to be indispensable to future progress. It is necessary also that it should be prompt. The Richmond Examiner of the Bth says the Yankee troubles have not yet commenced, nor will commence until they get into the harbour. The universal belief at Charleston is that Wagner and Sumter will be taken, but that Charleston will not be, and that if the ironclads once enter the harbour they will never get out again. The Confederates have mounted at Charleston but in what exact position is not known, two 800-pounder Blakely guns, recently arrived from England, with which they expect to do fearful execution to the Monitors whenever they come within range. There is no news from the army of the Potomac, but there is cheering intelligence for the Federals from Tennessee. Chattanooga, it is reported, has been evacuated by the Confederates, and taken possession of by General Rosecrans, who thus holds one of the most vital stragetic points in that region. It was suppose! that the Confederates, who had been reinforced by two divisions of Lee's army, had march°d northward to attack Burnside. After taking Kingston Burnside marched upon the Confederates at London, defeated them; and then marched on to Knoxville, the centre of the railway system of Tennessee. That place he took without resistance.

It is said that General Bumside with his despatch tendered to the government his resignation of the command of the department of the Ohio, which it appears he has long meditated. General Kosecrans in his official report, published on September 9, of his operations in Tennessee, commencing with his occupation of Muifietaboro,' states that his captures were 60

commissioned officers, 1575 non-commissioned officers and privates, three rifled siege guns, many small arms, 89 tents, 89 flags, and 3500 sacks of corn and meal, and that his total losses were 85 men killed, 462 wounded, and 13 missing. General Lee is not inactive. We hear of his forces on all sides of General Meade's army. It is reported from Washington, on the authority of well-informed military men, that General Lee has received heavy reinforcements,, and that he meditates another aggresive campaign. The weakness exhibited by the Confederates at Chattanooga and other points lends strength to this belief. Strong reinforcements are being sent from New York to the army of the Potomac. It was feared that General Stuart was threatening another raid into Maryland, and he must therefore be on Meade's right flank; while a Confederate force was said to have crossed the Kappahannock below Fredericksburg, and this movement would threaten the Federal left. The New York Times urges the government to prepare for a war with France. Such a war, it says, is not certain, but it would be dangerous and foolish to act as if it were impossible. The same paper has little doubt that Napoleon has made a secret treaty with President Davis for the cession of Texas, as the equivalent for recognition and substantial aid. A ferocious massacre has been perpetrated by some of the cavalry under the guerilla chieftain, QuantrelL They attacked Lawrence, Kansas, at midnight; fired it, murdered the mayor and about fifty citizens in their own houses; wounded one hundred citizens, and shot twenty-five ni'gro recruits. The band of murderers subsequently disbanded. Yet they are being hunted through the woods and mountains of the border counties of Missouri. Lirge numbers of them have been killed, and their horses destroyed. Despatches from Leavenworth, in Kansas, of the 10th September, state that official intelligence had been received of the capture of Fort Smith, in Arkansas, by General Blunt, on the Ist September.

President Davis has had a consultation with the governors of the different Confederate States with reference to the nrming of the slaves. The result of the deliberation was reported to be that 500,000 negroes were to be immediately called out and armed for the defence of the Confederacy. It was further rumored that the slaves, in consideration of this service, were to receive their freedom and 50 acres of land each at the conclusion of the war. General Schenck has arrested and sent into the Confederate lines the editors and proprietors of the Baltimore Republican for publishing a piece of poetry, entitled *' The Southern Cross."

THE POLISH INSURRECTION. In Warsaw, the superior power of the unseen national government continues to make itself felt. Its behests aie obeyed with singular completeness by the officials of the Russian government, who resign their offices at once when told. Two hundred inhabitants have been transported to Siberia. The action of the 3rd was terminated by the retreat of the Russians. The insurgents pursued them for a distance of five English miles and then halted. On the 4th the Russians appeared at a new point, but no fighting took place. There were several skirmishes on the afternoon of the sth, and on the6;h Lelewel found himself surrounded, and had to attack the enemy in order to fight his way out of the circle which was gradually closing upon him. The insurgents were drawn up in a wood, and on issuing from it marched against the body of Russians which stood between them and the Galician frontier, distant about 40 English miles. Lelewel broke through the intercepting force, and then, before he could commence his retreat, had to do battle with the whole of the Russian army, which had been menacing his position, and which now bore down upon him from both side? of the wood. Lelewel, after being wounded in the left arm at the very beginning of the battle, received two shots in the body as he was leading his infantry to the charge, the action having at that time lasted for about half an hour. The unequal contest was maintained for another hour, and the insurgents had then nothing to do but to retire as best they could. The loss of life was comparatively small, but a great many prisoners were taken. Although the detachment was dispersed, yet the insurgents kept together in groups, and contrived to bury the spare arms which they had carried with them throughout. The following facts respecting Lelewel's life are full of interest:—When on the 22nd of January of the present year the nation, under intolerable oppression, took up arms in defence of its violated rights, a handful of young artisans under the command of a Cracovian named Martin Borelowski, known by the pseudonym of Lelewel, left Warsaw, and proceeded into the Palatinate of Lublin. With an undaunted conviction of the ultimate success of the cause to which he had devoted himself, he more than once bravely and successfully engaged the Russian*, which led the national government to promote him, and finally to appoint him colonel in command of the Palatinate of Podlachia. Lelewel, by profession a tin manufacturer, and afterwards in business in Warsaw, was one of those rare men who, penetrated above all with a self-sacrificing love of country, never allow themselves to think for a moment of personal elevation. Honest, truthful, of spotless character, he sacrificed his position and his life to his country, whose freedom from its intolerable yoke was his only thought and desire. Lelewel's sensible conduct towards the peasants and the simplicity of his manners earned him universal favor. His death is a sad blow to the national cause. He died the death of the brave—an indefatigable worker for his countrymen ; and posterity will

number him among the bravest defenders of the I country. His loss but few will be found able to | replace. lie was apparently about 40 years of age, was a tall powerful-looking man, with black hair, a large black beard, and eyes which announced all the energy and determination which he showed so plentifully in action. According to a despatch received from Thorn, an attempt has been made upon the life of General Berg as he was driving through one of the. suburbs of Warsaw. An Orsiui bomb was flung at him from a window. The general is reported to be wounded, and a Circassian in his suite was > killed. The person who flung the bomb has nut been discovered. In consequence of tbe attempt mude upon the life of General Berg in Warsaw, the two palaces of the Zamoyski family, from a window of one of which the bomb is alleged to have been thrown, were entirely plundered by the soldiers. All the male inhabitants of both mansions were carried off to the citadel. The two Counts Zamoyski and Prince Lubominski are in chains, ai.d it is added that the palaces have been condemned to be henceforward used as barracks. The public library, the archives of the Vistula Steam Navigation Company, and a valuable Oriental co.lection (that of Professor Kowalewski) are stated to have been burnt. Hanging and butchering are going forward in Poland with spirit; and vigorous skirmishing, in | which the Russians usually are reported to nave the worst of it.

ITALY. A glance at the Italian journals will convince any one that brigandage has recently assumed proportions hitherto unknown. If, thanks to successive amnesties, political brigandage has almost disappeared, the brigands, who make a trade of robbery und murder, have become much more numerous, and are now regularly organised. Some of the bands consist of 80 men, others of 60, and they are constantly engaged in conflicts with the troops and the National Guard. One of these bands, in the neighborhood of Acri, carried off the Bishop of Tropea and a canon who accompanied him. A report from the Prelect of Benevento states that the band of Caruso has committed in one month 93 murders, fired 22 farms, and massacred 5000 head of farm-stock. The government, feeling itself powerless to put down this evil, has just addre&sed a circular to the Italian bishops, requesting them to recommend the parochial clergy lt to give their parishioners a true account cf the crimes committed by the brigauds, as much to inspire them with horror for these crimes as to prove to them that by their cessation alone can the provinces become tranquil and enjoy the benefits promised by the new order of things, sanctioned by the national vote, and manifestly favored by Providence. The brigands taken from the steamer Aunis were handed over on Sept. i 1 to the Italian gendarmes at Mont Cenis on ihe frontier. The biigands of the province of Basiiicata, who were expected to surrender in consequence of the safe-conduct granted to them, have commenced giving themselves up. Some chiefs, among whom is the notorious Tima, have appeared, despatches received from Melfi, Potenza, and Caseita, announce the surrender of numerous brigands with their chiefs. Much rejoicing prevailed among the people on this account. Murders, robberies, rapes, incendiarism still make up the tale of Neapolitan brigandage. But a few weeks since a priest was taken from the alta" at Torrecuso, when the women rose, rang the bells, and called the men together. Within the town there was hard fight iiur, and one biigand was shot by a woman from the hou>e of a gentleman ca led Biunchi. On the 6th September, this gentleman with two others, were en route to Heneventum, escorted by 12 soldiers and nine National Guards, when on a sudden they were attacked by the band of Caru>o. Four soldiers and a sergeant fell from the first shots, and all the others were taken off prisoners. The soldiers were dismissed scot tree, but the National* wire all shot. The gentlemen, under escort, were taken into the mountains, and one liberated on paying 2000 ducats. Bianchi remains as a hostage, and fears are entertained for his life. A few days ago a banc" of brigands, of from 40 to 50 men, being pursued by a strong detachment of troops, took refuge in the district of Castelvetere, near Benevento. There, finding 18 peasants, both men and women tilling their fields, they murdered them all for having attempted to take to flight. Two of the women kille I were enciente. While Caruso was superintending this butchery he was heurd to say—''The National Guard of Castelvetere will learn what it is to pursue us.'' A strong force of the line and National Guard has been sent after him, but hitherto with litt.e success. In some cases of brigandage it cannot be denied that the National Guard do not cut a brilliant figure. Witness the case of a lieutenant and seven National Guards fired upon a few days ago by five brigands near One of the former was killed, two ran away, and the remainder succeeded in sheltering themselves in a church. One would think that under these circura>tances the five National Guards niu-t he more than a match for the five brigands. By no means. The latter besiege the church, oblige their adversaries to give up their arms through the window, and to open the door ; then tie tluui hand and foot, shoot two of them, and wo ild have shot the others, had they not been obliged to take to flight in consequence of the arrival of succour.

At liiornero, on the 7th of September, the brigand chiefs, Crocco, Xiuco Nanco, Carusa, and Fortora, presented themselves to the commandant of the Italian troops, requesting a safj conduct for 250 other brigands who had promised to give in their submission to the government. The chief* left Rionero for Lagopesole with cries of "Viva Victor Emanuel," and displaying fchu national flag.