The Credulity of the Secessionists

From the Richmond Dispatch of the 1st.

A SCENE IN THE HOUSE.

On Thursday night, a stranger, wending his way through Capitol Square, encountered a good-natured news seeker, and informed him that he was going to the President’s house with an official dispatch of the great battle of Bowling Green, where seven hundred Federals  were killed, one thousand made prisoners, and the rest driven into the river.  This news, he said was strictly true, and it was his proud office to communicate it in person to the President.  The listener rushed into the capitol, wrote it all down, marked it “official,” and sent it immediately to the officers of the House of Delegates.  It was silently read, then passed from one to another until finally a member arose and asked that proceedings might be suspended for the purpose of acquainting the House with some highly favorable news.  The dispatch was then read, and its “official” character explained.  Instantly the hall resounded with a shot of joy and the members gave full license to their expressions of congratulation.  They were, however, somewhat mortified the next morning when they found that the much abused newspapers failed to confirm the story of the victory at Bowling Green.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, February 27, 1862, p. 2