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Monthly Record of Current Events, November 10.

UNITED STATES. OUR Record closes on the 10th of November. For more than a month after the battle of Antietam the great body of our Army of the Potomac remained in Maryland. At length on the 20th of October the main body of the army began the passage of the river at Berlin, six miles below Harper's Ferry, the cavalry under General Pleasanton leading. They proceeded by way of Leesburg, pushing forward scouts toward Aldie and Middleburg. The enemy meanwhile had fallen bade from the Potomac, following up the course of the Shenandoah with the apparent design of occupying that valley, and threatening another incursion into Maryland, or of falling back by that route in the direction of Richmond, The main advance of our army was in a parallel direction, the Blue Ridge being between, our forces being on the east side and those of the Confederates on the west. There was a continued series of skirmishes between cavalry corps and outposts; but in the course of the week we had occupied the chief passes through the Blue Ridge. On the 8th of November our head-quarters were at Warrenton, with the advance at Culpepper Court House, some twenty miles further south. Our Army of the Potomac then occupied nearly the same ground as before the battles of Bull Run and Centreville at the end of August. The enemy apparently were spread over the valley of the Shenandoah from Winchester southward. It was reported that their main strength, largely reinforced, was at Gordonsville, on the Rappahannock, seventy-five miles south of Winchester, from which point there is direct railroad communication with Richmond, so that they had the choice either to fall back or to turn and give battle at pleasure. Their plan appeared to be, if they found themselves in sufficient force, to give battle on the Rappahannock, where they are strongly intrenched, while a simultaneous attack on our rear should be made from the Valley of the Shenandoah. It will thus be seen that the chief apparent object of our advance into Virginia, the cutting off the enemy from Richmond, or forcing him to give battle except at his pleasure, has not been attained. Matters stood thus on the 8th of November, when an order unexpectedly arrived at head-quarters removing General M'Clellan from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and appointing General Burnside in his place. As far as we can now judge, the reason of this action is to be found in the delay of the advance of the army. General Halleck, in a report to the Secretary of War, dated on the 28th of October, says that on the 1st of October he urged General M'Clellan to cross the Potomac at once, pointing out the disadvantage of delaying until the autumn rains had swollen the Potomac, and impaired the roads, and on the 6th he peremptorily ordered General M'Clellan to "cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south." Three weeks passed before this order was complied with. General Halleck affirms that, in his opinion, "there has been no such want of supplies in the army under General M'Clellan as to prevent his compliance with the orders to advance against the enemy. Had he moved to the south side of the Potomac, he could have received his supplies almost as readily as by remaining inactive on the north."

A dashing exploit has been performed by a body of Stuart's Confederate cavalry. On the 9th of October they crossed the Potomac, about 2000 strong, at a point considerably above the right of our army. They pushed rapidly on and reached Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where they secured a considerable amount of clothing, and destroyed some property belonging to the Government, and burned the railroad depot. The incursion was such a perfect surprise that no opposition was offered. Having supplied themselves with fresh horses, which they seized from the inhabitants, they set out to return to Virginia; but instead of retracing their steps they made a detour to the south, and reached the Potomac at a point to the left of our forces; thus having made a three-days dash to our rear, actually passing clear around our whole army, and escaping without loss.

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The invasion of Kentucky, and the threatened incursion into Ohio, by the Confederates under Bragg, has been repelled. On the 26th of September General Bragg issued a proclamation to the people of the Northwestern States, in which he said that the South was waging a wholly defensive war; that they had been and were anxious for peace; but that hitherto hostilities had been carried on solely within their borders; and that self-defense required that they should visit some of the consequences of the war upon those who obstinately refused to make peace. The responsibility of the continuance of the war he said rested upon the people of the Northwest. They were the natural allies of the South, and should conclude a separate peace with the Confederate Government. The Mississippi River was a natural bond of union between the grain and stock-raising States of the Northwest and the cotton and sugar States of the South, which should never have been disturbed by the cupidity and bigotry of New England and the East. The South would be the best customers of the West, while the East would be their perpetual rivals. As for the free navigation of the Mississippi, the South were ready to concede it without striking a blow; as for the Union, it was a thing of the past; a Union of consent was the only union worth a drop of blood. "I come, then," concludes this proclamation, "with the olive branch of peace, and offer it for your acceptance, in the name of the memories of the past and the ties of the future." The arrival of General Buell's army at Louisville put a stop to the projected invasion of the Northwest, if it had ever been seriously entertained; and General Bragg began to fall back. But during his incursion into Kentucky he had secured a large amount of stores and supplies, which were sent forward in advance. General Buell came up with the rear of Bragg's army near Perryville, where a sharp action took place on the 8th of October, attended, however, with no important result. The enemy were repulsed in their assaults, but continued their retreat with no serious molestation. Guerrilla fights and combats of detached bodies have occurred at various points in Kentucky, but these have had no decisive bearing upon the main result. General Buell, who has been sharply censured for want of activity in advancing upon the retreating forces of the Confederates, has been relieved from the command of the army of the West, which has been confided to General Rosecrans.

The battle of Corinth, briefly noted in our Record of last month, proves to have been one of the most sharply contested and decisive engagements of the war. The enemy, under Van Dorn, in superior force, made a violent attack upon our advanced positions on the 3d of October, and succeeded in driving us into the town of Corinth. Van Dorn sent a dispatch to Richmond saying, "We have driven the enemy from every position; we are within three quarters of a mile of Corinth; the enemy are huddled together about the town; some are on the extreme left, trying to hold their position." On the morning of the 4th the Confederates made an attack upon a fort on the northwest of the town, and succeeded in gaining momentary possession of it, but were soon driven back with great loss. They then made a vigorous assault from another quarter, and penetrated the streets into the main part of the town; but they were met with so severe a fire that they were driven back in disorder and abandoned the attack. They were followed up in their retreat for some days, suffering severely. General Rosecrans, who has since been appointed to the command hitherto held by General Buell, was in actual command in this engagement. The official report gives our total loss in these actions as 315 killed, 1812 wounded, and 247 prisoners and missing — a total of 2374. Of the enemy 1423 are reported to have been buried by our forces, 5000 were wounded and left behind in the retreat, and 3000 prisoners were made — a total loss of 9423.

In Arkansas a second battle took place near Pea Ridge on the 22d of October. General Curtis reports that General Schofield, finding that the enemy had encamped here, sent General Blunt toward that point. He found the enemy, estimated at from 5000 to 7000 strong, at Maysville, in the northwest corner of the State. After a sharp engagement, which lasted about an hour, they were totally routed, with the loss of all their artillery, many horses, and a part of their transportation and garrison equipage, and were driven in disorder beyond the Boston Mountains. Their whole organized forces were thus driven back to the valley of the Arkansas River.

In the Department of the South some important movements have been made. The most considerable of these was an expedition sent from Hilton Head on the 21st of October, with the design of destroying the bridges on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Three or four sharp encounters took place in the neighborhood of Pocotaligo, which resulted in our favor; but the enemy having destroyed the bridge in their rear, the advantage could not be followed up. The obstruction of the railroad was only partially accomplished, and the enemy having been reinforced both from Charleston and Savannah, the expedition was abandoned. The chief point gained seems to have been a thorough reconnoissance of the region between the island of Port Royal and the line of the railroad. — General Mitchell, who was only recently appointed to the command of this department, died of fever on the 30th of October, He was a native of Kentucky, born in 1810: graduated at West Point in 1829, in the same class with the Confederate Generals Lee and Johnston. He afterward devoted himself mainly to scientific pursuits, and became widely known as an astronomer. Upon the breaking out of the war he was appointed a Brigadier-General, and established his reputation for skill and daring by his famous raid upon Chattanooga. — Galveston, Texas, was occupied on the 9th of October by a detachment from our mortar fleet, under command of Commodore Renshaw. The military forces of the enemy had before abandoned the place, and the occupation was accomplished without opposition.

It has been for some months reported that armed vessels of great power were being built in Great Britain for the insurgents, to be employed in preying upon our commerce. This could not be done without the direct knowledge and indirect complicity of the British Government. At least one of these vessels has been sent out. She is known as the Alabama; was built and equipped at Liverpool and Birkenhead, and left the latter port late in August, under the command of Captain Semmes, formerly of the Sumter, with a crew composed mainly of Englishmen. She is a propeller, said to be very fast under sail or steam, and heavily armed. She made her appearance off our coast early in October, and since that time is known to have captured 22 merchant vessels of various descriptions. Of these 19, with their cargoes, were burned; the others were released, upon their captains giving bonds for their

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value, to be paid after the conclusion of peace. These vessels appear to have been released solely to enable them to take off the crews of those which had been destroyed, for whom the Alabama had no adequate means of making provision.

The Autumn Elections have generally resulted unfavorably to the Republican party. In Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and Michigan, the candidates have generally succeeded by majorities greatly reduced from the last election. In New York, where State officers and members of Congress were to be chosen, Mr. Seymour, the Democratic candidate for Governor, had a majority of about 10,000 over Mr. Wadsworth, the Republican candidate. We have returns of the elections for members of the next Congress from fourteen States. From these States the Republicans have in the present Congress 95 members, and their opponents 38; in the next Congress, which meets in December, 1863, the Republicans will have 72, and their opponents 69 — a Republican loss of 23, and an Opposition gain of 31. The principal changes are in New York, where the Republicans lose 10 members; in Ohio they lose 8; in Pennsylvania 7. According to the best estimates which can now be formed, the next House of Representatives from the loyal States will consist of 185 members, of whom 83 will be Republicans and 102 Opposition of different shades of opinion. The Senate will consist of 48 members — 29 Republicans, and 19 Opposition.

MEXICO. The advance of a powerful French naval and military expedition against Mexico reached Vera Cruz on the 21st of October. General Forey, the commander, previous to landing, issued a proclamation declaring that it remained to France alone to defend the position which she had originally taken in conjunction with Spain and Great Britain. The war which had been undertaken was not against the Mexican people, but against a handful of adventurers who had seized upon the government; and as soon as the Mexican people were freed from restraint by French arms, they would be at liberty to select whatever form of government pleased them. France, in intervening, acted solely in behalf of the interests of the Mexican nation and the cause of civilization. — All accounts concur in representing that, in the capital and other chief towns of Mexico, there was the utmost determination manifested to resist the French invasion.

EUROPE. The American war, in its various aspects, continues to be the absorbing subject of thought and discussion. The rumors in respect to European intervention are so discordant that no reliance can be placed upon them. As far as the action of the British Government is concerned, the most significant expressions are contained in recent speeches of Sir George C. Lewis, the Secretary of War, and Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer. The former denies the claim of the Confederate States to recognition, on the ground that they "have not yet accomplished their independence;" and the latter says that while he thinks it for the interest of England that the Union should continue, and that the neutral course of the British Government has been the only wise one, he yet holds that the Confederate leaders have made an army, are making a navy, and, what is more, have made a nation. He anticipates their certain success, as far as regards their separation from the North. He, with other responsible members of the Government, opposes any present recognition of the Confederate States. — Sir John Pakington, in a recent speech, advises an offer of mediation, on the ground of a separation between the North and the South, with the understanding that the failure of this proposal will be followed by an immediate recognition of the Southern Confederacy. — Sir E. Bulwer Lytton declares that the Union can never be restored, and that "the curse of slavery" will not long survive the separation. Mr. Cobden urges the formation of a league, the object of which shall be to procure the abolition of all blockades of commercial ports, and the exemption from capture of merchant vessels not actually engaged in the conveyance of articles contraband of war. — The project of an Atlantic Telegraph has been revived; Messrs. Glass, Elliott, and Company, who are extensive marine telegraph contractors, have formally offered to make and lay a cable from Ireland to Newfoundland upon condition of being paid weekly their actual disbursements, with an additional 20 per cent. in shares of the Company, when the line shall have been put in working order. Upon these conditions they offer to subscribe Ł25,000 to the capital of the Company. — A revolutionary movement has taken place in Greece; King Otho, after vainly endeavoring to quell it, abdicated in favor of his brother; and a Provisional Government has been established, with Prince Mavrocordato as President.