LOCAL MATTERS.
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[SOPO Editor’s Note: A portion of this article was not transcribed because it does not pertain to the Siege of Petersburg.]
MORE PRISONERS BROUGHT IN—Ten prisoners, captured from Hancock’s Corps, by our cavalry, while attempting to cut the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, yesterday afternoon [June 21, 1864]1, were brought in to the Provost Marshal’s office last night, between 10 and 11 o’clock. Among them was Lieut. Col. [Homer R.] Stoughton, of the Second U. S. Sharpshooters2. The other nine represented almost as many different regiments, but all belonged to the 2nd (Hancock’s) Corps. The prisoners represent that this corps was engaged in the expedition towards the Railroad. There was a short, stumpy, dusty Irishman among the prisoners, who did not hesitate to speak his mind. He was drugged into the army. He said America is not what it was cracked up to be. He was told it was a great country to make money in, but he found more lead than money flying around.
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UNION PRAYER MEETING.—The Union Prayer Meeting will be held at the Washington Street Presbyterian (Rev. Mr. Miller’s) Church, this afternoon [June 22, 1864] at 5 ½ o’clock. These prayer meetings, which are now held daily, are, we are glad to say, very largely attended. The crisis demands the prayers of all Christian people, and members of all denominations should unite in offering them.
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THE CAPTURED OTTAWA INDIANS3.—Indian names are generally musical in their sound, and have in consequence been much admired. But if our readers can extract any music out of the following, which is a partial list of the names of the Indians captured near this city on Friday night last [June 17, 1864], it is more than we can do. The bare effort to write some of them, almost exhausts us4:
Jacke Penasenorquad. [sic, Jacko Pe-nais-now-o-quot]
Louis Micksquat. [possibly Louis Marks?]
Wm. McSatraw. [possibly William Mixinasaw?]
Michael Johony. [possibly Michael Jondrau?]
Jackson Wargishwabber. [possibly Jackson Nar-we-ge-she-qua-bey?]
Adam Schohbsquaheern. [possibly Adam Saw-be-come?]
Peter Penarroquaquaw.
John Nicheraw.
These names were taken down letter by letter, as the interpreter would spell them. The Provost Marshal or the commanding officer at Andersonville, Geo[rgia]., wither the prisoners are now going, will have a sweet time in getting a list of them—There are some Dutchmen captured with the Indians, who enjoy longer names and more unmusical even than the above.
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ACCIDENT—A shell from the enemy’s battery exploded on Lombard street yesterday afternoon [June 21, 1864], in the vicinity of the “Southern Express” Stables, wounding slightly two negro men—one a slave to Mr. R. S. Thompson, and the other a slave to Major N. M. Tannor. Both wounds were through the arm.
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FIRE LAST NIGHT.—The fire last night [June 21, 1864] about 10 o’clock, was the accidental burning of some old papers in the upper story, rear portion of the late Mr. W. H. Hardee’s store on Sycamore street. Firemen were promptly on the spot and extinguished the burning pile before any damage was done to the building.
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PRISONERS SENT SOUTH.—Three hundred and sixty one prisoners, being a portion of those captured from Grant’s army on Friday and Saturday last [June 17-18, 1864], were marched to the depot yesterday afternoon [June 21, 1864], and sent South to Andersonville.5
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Source/Notes:
- June 21, 1864 was the first day of the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road. On that day, elements of Winfield Hancock’s Union Second Corps were probing towards the Weldon Railroad, having been assigned as a mobile force designed to leave the Union entrenchments east of Petersburg to strike south and then west from the Jerusalem Plank Road. The 2nd United States Sharpshooters were on the skirmish line tentatively probing ahead, when the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry was able to successfully lay a trap. ↩
- SOPO Editor’s Note: Stoughton was captured by the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry, having “advanced straight into a trap sprung by the Confederate Cavalry and were soon nearly surrounded.” See Gerald L. Earley’s book The Second United States Sharpshooters in the Civil War: A History and Roster (McFarland, 2009), page 187, for more details. ↩
- SOPO Editor’s Note: These men probably all came from Company K, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters. This company consisted of men from the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi tribes. The 1st Michigan Sharpshooters belonged to 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Ninth Corps, Army of the Potomac. The Ninth Corps made assaults all day at Petersburg on June 17, 1864. ↩
- SOPO Editor’s Note: The possible names of the men below all come from Herek, Raymond J. “Roster, Co. K.” These Men Have Seen Hard Service: The First Michigan Sharpshooters in the Civil War (Great Lakes Books), by Raymond J. Herek, Wayne State University Press, 1998, pp. 434-435. ↩
- “Local Matters.” The Daily Express (Petersburg, VA). June 22, 1864, p. 2 col. 4-5 ↩