The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-04 00:00:00

Artillery Experiments at Portsmouth.

"Cedar Creek, Virginia, Oct. 20.
" We have again been favoured by a great victory
won from disaster by the gallantry of our officers
and men. The attack on the enemy was made about
3 p.m. by a left half-wheel of the whole line, with
a division of cavalry, turning each flank of the
enemy. The whole line advanced. The enemy, after
a stubborn resistance, broke up and fled, and were
pushed with vigour. The artillery captured will
propably be over 50 pieces. This, of course, includes
what were captured from our troops in early morn-
ing. At least 1,600 prisoners have been brought
in, besides waggons and ambulances in large num-
bers. This morning the cavalry made a dash at
Fisher's-hill and carried it, the enemy having fled
during the night, leaving only a small rearguard.
I have to regret the loss of many valuable officers
killed and wounded, among them Colonel Joseph
Thorburn, commanding a division of Crook's come
mand, killed; Col. Howard Kitchen, commanding a
brigade, wounded; C.A. R. ISl'Kenzie, commanding
a brigade, wounded severely, but would not leave
the field. I cannot yet give exact details. Many
of our men who were captured in the morning made
their escape, and are coming in. Gen. Ramesur,
commanding a division in Early's army, died this
morning. " P. H. SHERIDAN.
" Lieutenant-General Grant."
General Grant's appreciation of the victory to
Cedar Creek is expressed in the following despatch
" City Point, Oct. 20, 8 a.m.
"I had a salute of 100 guns from each of the
armies here fired in honour of Sheridan's victory,
Turning what bid fair to be a disaster into a
glorious victory stamps Sheridan what I have
always thought him to be, one of the ablest of
generals. " U. S. GRANT.
" To Hon. E. Stanton, Secretary of War."
The/Vete York Herald of Oct. 21 publishes the
following letter from its correspondent :
" As I have previously stated, it was moonlight,
and all around prevailed the stillness usual to that
hour of the morning. While this stillness was pre.
veiling the enemy had noiselessly massed a heavy
column of troops behind the hills en the southewest
side of Cedar Creek and directly in front of the
positions occupied by our extreme pickets. At a
given signal, as we afterwards learnt, the enemy
advanced rapidly in solid columns. Oar pickets
were charged, some of them captured, and some
driven in hardly before they had time to dis-
charge their muskets—in fact, what few did
come in the enemy came in soon after, and so
close to them that it was a tie which party
. warned the slumbering camp of the army of
the danger. Now, having driven in or captured our
pickets on the left of the line of infantry, the enemy
charged across Cedar Creek at the fords, and very
soon after on the bridge over said stream, and reached
the side of the hill and breastworks occupied by
Thorburn's division of the Bth army corps. The
rebels hesitated not, but dashed on over all barriers,
completely surprising and, in a measure, stampening
the left of Gen. Sheridan's line. By this success the
enemy gained- some artillery—l believe the 4th
Pennsylvania battery. The suddenness of the attack
and its wonderful success for a short time, surprised
the troops so completely that many of them were
taken prisoners. The greater portion got away with
their arms. The other division of Crook's Corps,
which was allowed some time to form, did so, and
was soon joined in by the remaining portions of
Thorburn's division. All this while the enemy
kept pressing upon our men with a rapid and mur-
derous fire from musketry, as also from artillery
posted upon the hills on the opposite side of Cedar
Creek. Having directed a column against Crook's
forme the enemy quickly Wined his attention to-
wards the right of the pike, where the 19th Corps,
Gen. Emery's command, was getting in line. At
this time a bold charge was made by the enemy,
under cover of his guns, to capture Emery's artillery.
In a measure this charge was successful, although it
Was resisted with great vigour by a fire that would
have done credit to the best of veterans, In the
charge the rebels took one or two pieces of the Ist
Maine battery, and, I believe, a portion of the Chase
battery. What most helped the rebels was the
exact range which they got of our pieces. As soon
as the fight commenced it was known that the left
had suffered. The 6th Corps passed from its
position of reserve over to where the Bth Corps was
leceted in the commencement of the engagement.
The trnins were got out as speedily as possible,
taking the road to Winchester, where they arrived
in Way. The enemy, discovering the success of
his surprise, and believing that it was no At for him
only triumphantly to advance—and, by the way, I
must mention that it was now broad daylight—
brought his columns and artillery stress Cedar
Creek, to press the pursuit with vigour, While
this was being done a brief lull prevailed. Oar line
tees contracted, and commenced to fall back slowly.
'ice enemy pressed the pursuit rapidly and with
groat persistency. General Sheridan was on hie
way from Washington back to his headquarters
when the attack was made. Ho reached Winches-
ter the night before the attack, and remained there
for consultation. Early in the morning he heard
the cannon, mounted his horse, and pushed forward
to the front. On his way up ho met a string of
teams going to the rear, accompanied by the usual
Lumber of wounded and stragglers which proceed
from a reverse. Pressing onward he found some
considerable opposition wan being made to the ex-
ultant foe. He seemed to apprehend the tiva state
of disks at a glance, and at once proceeded to
rsna:dy the Oil that had been brought upon his

Yesterday the fourth of the labours of the Arm•
strong-Whitworth Special Committee at Ports-
mouth brought to a close the first course of experi-
mental firing with the 70 pounder rifled naval gun
from her Majesty's gunnery ship Excellent. The

second course it is intended by the committee to
commence this morning from the deck of the Stork
gunboat, tender to the Excellent, with shell against

,he Alfred target ship.
The commencement of the practice on board the

Excellent yesterday morning was some what re.
tarded by a protest or representation laid before the

committee by the representatives of the Elawick
Ordnance Company, to the effect that a wrong

statement had been given in relation to the sizs o

he vent in the Whitworth near vent screw, and
that the vent itself was in fact larger than the

committee understood it to be. The point was of
the utmost importance, for the gun had on severs'

occasions during the three days' trials na'.sfired with
a burnt priming, and if the vent was of the size it

was understood to be this recurrence of misfire could
be understood as arising from the causes referred
to in the Sun of y esterday ; but if the
vent was larger than it was understood to be, then
any continuous recurrence of misfires with a burnt
priming might be taken, to a certain extent, as
condemnatory of the position of the vent, To ascer-

tain the real facts of the case the committee ordered
an impression to be taken of the vent, with a gotta
percha pad, in the usual manner, and this, on exa.
mination, gave the real dimensions of the vent as
the 400th of an inch less than the understood size.

The committee, having thus by their measures
cleared Mr Whitworth's staff of any imputation of
unfair:dealing, and settled the vexed question be.
tween the two parties, ordered the vent to be en..
larged to its proper size and the firing then to
commence with 40 rounds from the Whitworth in
independent and quick firing, to be followed up
with 20 rounds each from the shunt and wedge
guns, and closed by a third 20 rounds from the
Whitworth. It became surprising that as the firing
yesterday proceeded the Whitworth gun, with its
vent triflingly enlarged as it had been, began to
show a tendency to misfire even to a greater ratio
than it had done during the three preceding days'
firing. This for a time seemed almost inexplicable,
until Mr Whitworth, in standing close to the gun
when it was being sponged, said that he heard the
sponge-head strike 'with a sharp sound on the face
of the breech plug, or the rear of the gun's chamber.
Examination of the sponge-head disclosed the fact
that the iron bolt which passes through the sponge
and revolving brush to the staff had its head at
the extremity of the sponge laid all but bare of its
protective covering, and might thus have struck
against the platina end of the vent in the rear of
the chamber each time the gun was sponged out,
and, barring up the metal, partially e!osed the vent
and caused the gun to misfire. After an exami.
nation of the sponge-head, this was Mr Whit-
worth's hypothesis, and there was no apparent cause
for gainsaying it. The vent spindle will, however,
have to be again removed from the gun and a care.
ful examination made before any definite conclusion
can be arrived at. Oae thing is certain. Mr Whit.
worth has been very unfortunately placed in firing
his gun in the first instance with a vent smaller than
it was understood to be, and liable to choke, and in
second instance in using a sponge with an uncovered
bolt from its head, in the most convenient position
for hammering up and closing the vent altogether.
The result of all this, however, will be that the
Whitworth gun will be closely watched by its ad-
versaries during the remainder of its trials, and its
maker must watch its vent as keenly as others
will do.
The firing yesterday was as follows
INDEPENDENT FIRING.
Range, 2,600 yards.—Charg© of powder, 101 b.

Whitworth 70-pounder gun; 2:0 rounds fired; time, 12
min. 36 sac.

QUICK FIRING.
Description Number of Time.
of Gun. Rounds. m. 8.
Whitworth

Armstrong Shunt 20 without lubricators 10 5
Armstrong Wedge 2O ........
Whitworth
The shortest times in firing 20 consecutive rounds
during the four days appear to be as follows ;
Independent Target Firing.—Wedge, 10m. 235.;
Whitworth, 12m. 365. ; Shunt, 16m. 28s.
Quick Firing.—Wedge, lna. 17s. ; Shunt, 10m. ss;
Whitworth, 10m, 10s•; 65ewt. Bin. smooth-bore,
9m. 63.

The wedge gun is very light for its charge and
701 b bolt, and at fm,ch discharge jumps inboard with
great velocity, springing from the deck when checked
by its breeching in a most extraordinary manner
No accidents occurred with it, however, not w
standing the extraordinary rapidity with which
it was fired, for as it jumped so its crew of seamen
jumped in company, as though delighted with its
gambols. Its discharge of 20 rcunds filled the Ex"
cellent's gun..deck with smoke, Bo that the guns in
the ports adjoining to the wedge gun could scarcely
be discerned. The shunt gun recoiled more steadily
and loaded with ease. The Whitworth, being about
1 cwt. heavier in metal than the shunt, recoiled still

less and loaded as easily as a emooth•bore gun.
In our report of the second day's trial some blame
was cast upon the seaman filling No. 2 at the
wedge gun for " a want of tact in handling the
wedges," which, coupled with the fouling of the
wedge grooves, caused the gun to work slowly at
one period of the trial. A subsequent investigation
however showed that the fault lay entirely with
the gun in its fouling of the wedge grooves, and
. _

that no blame could rightly be laid on No 2. A
seaman is entitled to any explanatory reparation
that may affect his professional character equally
with the commissioned officer.

Some firing with 12-pounder boat guns—one
ordinary service Armstrong breechloader, one Arm-
strong shunt rifled muzzleloader, and one Whit-
worth rifled muzz`eloader—was commenced at the
conclusion of the firing with the 70. pounders, and
this brought the day's proceedings to a close.

MUNICIPAL HONOUR TO SIR DAVID BREWSTER
—On 'Monday the freedom of !ho town of Jedbargh was
conferred upon Sir David Brewatcr.
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