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of the diplomatic corps, the judges of the Supreme Court some of the Senate & other distinguished guests were there. It was a very brilliant affair. The most important military news of the month is the death of Zollicoffer He was strongly entrenched in the [[blank]]  part of Kentucky but left his mountain fortress to attack our troops & was killed & his army routed.

Feb. 7th    News of the capture of Fort Henry by the Federal troops. only one man killed, a rebel general one colonel, two captains & sixty privates taken prisoner

Sat. Feb 15th    The young men of the building have all gone into the city to hear the particulars of the great ^victory of the Burnside Expedition

The papers are full of excitement this evening The Burnside Expedition left Cape Hatteras on the 5th. & headed by Com. Goldsborough proceeded up Croton Sound lying between Roanoke Island & the main land. The confederates were driven from their batteries in the centre to the upper part of the island & their forced to surrender. over two two thousand prisoners were said to have been taken. The whole Island is now in the possession of the Federal army also the [[strikethrough]] cities of [[\strikethrough]]Elizabeth City & Edenton. The former was set fire to by the Southerners & partly consumed. Edenton is a small ^but flourishing port
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town & [[strikethrough]] is the key to the road around the Dismal swamp. [[strikethrough]] The Generals most conspicuous in the contest besides Goldsborough & Burnside were Foster, Parke, & Reno. The news from Missouri & Tennessee is of equal interest. Gen Price has been driven from Springfield & virtually from the state. Fort Donelson on the Cumberland river is surrounded by Generals Grant, Smith, & McClernand with 40 000 men. The confederates have about eleven thousand & Generals Johnson Pillow Floyd & Buckner are said to be in the fort: also Beauregard & John Bell.

The news from Great Britain announce the arrival of Mason & Slidell at Southampton. No demonstration was made on their arrival The former went to London & the latter to Paris. The French papers conclude from the attitude of the English press that the Trent affair was only a pretext for war & that Eng. wants to force the blockade of the Southern ports. The speech of the French Emperor at the opening of the legislature is characteristically cautious it is impossible to discover from it what are is intentions in regard to America.

A bill has passed both Houses of Congress making the Treasury notes a legal tender.

Feb 17th    Success seems to crown the Federal armies in every quarter just now. Gen Lander has routed
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