Thoughtfully curated historical journalism
By far the greatest bully, braggart and brute in the Federal army is Gen. McCook. Whenever he had an opportunity, he proved his claims to these titles. A correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, writing from Columbus, Tenn., gives another instance of the brutality of this man :
The Second Afghan Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History has reported the discovery of a lost city in the Seistan Basin on the Afghan-Iraq border. Walter A. Fairservis, jr., leader of the exploring group, explains that the site seems to have been unoccupied for 5,000 years. The area yielded examples of pottery bearing designs never used today. Yet these markings are sophisticated and give evidence of an advanced stage of culture. The abandoned town unquestionably had been a settlement of considerable importance in its prime. It was a permanent, not a transient community. This was demonstrated by the durable character of the tombs which it had raised.
A lost city of the Maya Indians, which existed from prehistoric times until after the Spanish conquest of Yucatan, is being excavated in a thorny wilderness area by the National Geographic Society and Tulane University.
The city is Dzibilchaltun, a metropolis from which the Mayas vanished after becoming the most civilized peoples of pre-Columbian America.
Dzibilchaltun’s gray ruins cover an area of 20 square miles north of the Yucatan capital, Merida. The excavation project in Mexico is headed by Dr. E. Wyllys Andrews, an archeologist affiliated with Tulane’s Middle American Research Institute. Luis Marden of the Geographical Society’s foreign editorial staff, leads an underwater team that is exploring a huge cenote, or natural well, in the center of the city.
Largest in New World
The city apparently became the largest in the New World after its founding between 2000 and 1000 B. C., Dr. Andrews reports in the January issue of the magazine. He says it kept growing and thriving uninterruptedly through the crises of Mayan history and into Spanish colonial times.
In its heydey, Dzibilchaltun bristled with pyramidal temples, palaces and buildings of vaulted stone. The city’s size is significant because most Mayan cities formerly were thought to be only ceremonial centers.
Until now, the lost city has been overshadowed by other well-known Mayan centers, such as Chichen Itza and Uxmal. Among the city’s most striking features are a great white causeway paved with limestone and a rambling complex of buildings called the Palace. This covers a dozen acres and could hold most of the principal buildings at Chichen Itza.
On Saturday week, near South Mills above Elizabeth City, N. C., the 3d Georgia Regiment, Col. A. R Wright, attacked a strong force of the enemy, and fought them several hours. The Norfolk Say Book says:
Our force consisted of six companies of the 3d Georgia Regiment and McComas’ Artillery. The companies were not full and the whole number of men on our side may he set down at from three to five hundred.
The Union has lost one of its ablest defenders, and Pennsylvania a noble, upright citizen, ever zealous for the public good. General Charles Ferguson Smith died at Savannah, Tennessee, on Friday last, from an illness contracted at the time of his occupation of that town. The deceased officer was a son of Dr. Samuel B. Smith, of Philadelphia. From the date of his graduation at West Point, in 1825, his advancement, not only in rank, but in the esteem and confidence of his fellow officers, was merited and rapid. Commencing his military career as a second lieutenant of artillery, his distinguished merit on the fields of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Cherubusco, and Contreras, raised him in quick succession to the rank of Major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel. At the time of his death he was colonel of the Third Infantry—one of the best regiments in the service. Such worth as his could not lie dormant in the present struggle.—In August last he was made a brigadier general. At the taking of Fort Donelson his valor was conspicuous, alike to friend and foe, and won for him the rank of major general.
The following is the letter sent to the Mayor by Capt. Farragut yesterday:
U. S. Flagship Hartford
At Anchor off the city of New Orleans, April 28, 1862
To his Honor the Mayor and the City Council of the city of New Orleans:
Your communication of the 26th inst. has been received, together with that of the City Council:
I deeply regret to see, both by their contents, and the continued display of the flag of Louisiana on the Courthouse, a determination on the part of the city authorities not to haul it down. Moreover when my officers and men were sent on shore to communicate with the authorities, and to hoist the United States flag on the Customhouse, with the strictest order not to use their arms unless assaulted, they were insulted in the grossest manner, and the flag which hd been hoisted by my orders on the Mint, was pulled down and dragged through the streets.