The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 8, 1863

N°. 22,161

Now ready, at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
RESPECTABLE SINNERS.
By MRS. BROTHERTON.
" 'Respectable Sinners' is very clever. The style is bright
and lively. It is a readable, entertaining Athenaeum.
"A very attractive novel, charmingly told."—Sun.
Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

AMERICA.

of Philadelphia, or Florida, No. 2. I was invited into the
cabin, and the crew were sent below. I found on board
Captain Robinson, of the ship Byzantium, burnt that
morning, The Good Speed was in flames at 8p m. The
privateer then stood to north-east all night, and at 10 a.m,
of the 22d saw the fishing schooner Marengo, which crew
was also brought on board and the schooner burned. Dur-
ing this time there was a thick fog and little wind. At 5
p m. the fog lifted, when we found ourselves in a fleet of
fishing vessels. Three of them were burnt—schooners
Elizabeth Ann, Captain Thomas, Rufus Choate, Captain
Smith; and schooner Ripple, Gearing. The schooner
Florence, Captain Gardner, was then captured and bonded,
and we were all put on board of her to proceed to New York.
At 9 p.m., being short of water, a portion of the men left at
No-Man's-Land. We then proceeded to New York, where
we arrived on the 26th.

(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)

THE ItAID INTO EAST TENNESSEE.
(Official report from Col. Saunders.)
CINCINNATI, Thursday, June 25.

NEW NOVEL.
Now ready at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
VICISSITUDES OF A GENTLEWOMAN.
"An admirable story."-Messenger.
Also now ready, in 1 Tol.,
HEART AND CROSS. By the Author of
"Margaret Maitland."
Hurst and Bing ett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

The following despatch has been received by
Major-Gen. Burnside from the expedition sent into
East Tennessee :

BOSTON, June 23.

I arrived here with my command at 11 o'clock
this morning. I struck the railroad at Lenoir, de-
stroyed the road up to Knoxville, and made a
demonstration against Knoxville, so as to have the
troops drawn from above. I then destroyed the
railroad track, and started for Strawberry Plains.
I burnt the State Creek Bridge, 312 feet long, and
the Strawberry Plain Bridge, 1,600 feet long, also
the Massey Creek Bridge, 325 feet long.

CHRONICLES OF CARLINGFORD.
CHEAP EDITION.

This day is published,
SALEM CHAPEL.
A new Edition, complete in One Vol., price ss.

Lately published,
THE RECTOR; and
THE DOCTOR'S FAMILY.
In One Vol., Post Octavo, price 10s. 6d.
Originally published in " Blackwood's Magazine."
W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London.

I captured three pieces of artillery, some 200
boxes of artillery ammunition, over 500 prisoners,
and 100 stands of arms.

I destroyed a large amount of salt, sugar, flour,
meal, saltpetre, and one saltpetre work, and other

DEDICATED TO LORD BROUGHAM.
MORRISON VERSUS BELCHER.—See THE
CURIOSITIES OF OCCULT LITERATURE.
Fourteen Years' Astrological Experiences, &c. 4s.
Hall, Smart, and Allen, ;:5, Paternoster.row, E.C.

stores

My command are much fatigued. We have had
but two nights' sleep since leaving Williamsburgh.

The rebel force in East Tennessee is larger than
I had supposed.
I did not attack London Bridge for reasons that
I will explain. _

A CRITIQUE on the NEWSPAPER PRESS,
in the
LITERARY TIMES,
Every Week, Id.

At Massey Creek I determined to return into the
mountains. I had very great difficulties that were
unexpected. I found the Gap, through which I
intended to return, strongly guarded with artillery
and infantry ; a force was also following in our
rear. I then determined to cross at Smith's Gap,
which I did.

'ONES'S HUNDRED LECTURES.-

13 • The Creation and the Deluge, Colenzo and Cumming,
Astronomy and Philosophy, Athenian and English Laws
compared, the Poets, Drama, Mythology, Elocution, and
Oratory.
W. H. Allen and Co., Waterloo-place.

CHURCH'S New Picture, the, ICEBERGS,
painted from studies made in the Northern Seas in
the summer of 1859.—German Gallery, 168, New Bond-street,
W. Admission, ls.

I will report more fully as soon as possible.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. H. SAUNDERS, Colonel Commanding.
The following are the latest detailed despatches

FRENCH GALLERY, 120, Pall-mall.—The
TENTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION of PICTURES,
the Contributions of Artists of the French and Flemish
Schools, is NOW OPEN. Admission, Is. Catalogue, 6d.

from Pennsylvania and Maryland :
Yarmouth, N.S., Friday, June 20.—The packet
schooner Monitor, from Boston, reports as follows—
" At 12 o'clock last night, 30 miles west by south of
Yarmouth, fell in with a large ship, burnea to the
water's edge, name unknown. She was still burn-
ing, and in tow of two Westport schooners. At 4
o'clock this morning, saw a steamer standing south-
wardly ; she partially changed her course and speed

T" oxF ORD,
6, OXFORD STREET.

Will be performed Selections from the following Operas
LA CIRCASSIENNE, MARTHA, and
MASANIELLO.

Supported by Miss Russell, Miss Townley, Miss Ellison,
Messrs. Albert, Green, Bernardi, Ruish, Kimberley, and

W. Evans, with full band and chorus.
Conducted by Mr. Jonghmans.
Drew Dean's Flute Solos
Master Sanders, the Juvenile Vocalist.
lINSWORTH, the modern Demosthenes.

- _
two or three times. Saw a similar looking steamer
on Wednesday, 70 miles east of Cape Ann, standing
north-east."
Portland, Me., June 26.—The schooner Julia
Elena, from the Bay of Fundy, arrived to-day, and
reports a large steamer, a barque, and a three-
masted schooner, at the mouth of the bay, destroy-
ing vessels. They had burned the schooner Archer,
of Southport, and bonded a barque—name un-
known. Fishing vessels arrived here report a large
rebel steam barque and a three-masted schooner off
Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, burning our fishing ves-
sels. They spoke the ship Angine, of Boston, which
had been captured and bonded for 80,000 dole., and
was bound for New York with the crews of three
burned fishing vessels.
Boston, Friday, June 26.—The schooner Vision,
at WeMeet, reports that on Tuesday last, at 3 p.m.,
12 miles S.S.W. of the South Shoal Light, saw a
side-wheeled steamer of about 700 tons on fire. Re-
mained by her until she sunk. Could not ascertain
her name.
Gloucester, Cape Ann, June 26.—The schooner
Crusader has just arrived from the Fishing Banks,
and reports that on Thursday at 11 a.m., twenty-
five miles tiV ,S.W., from Chatham, heard heavy
firing, supposed to be from a U. S. gunboat, which
passed here the evening previous.
Gloucester, June 26.—The fishing schooner Van-
guard has arrived here from the Banks, and makes
the following report :
" On Tuesday, saw the schooner Wanderer, of
Gloucester, on fire on the west end of George's.
At the same time, thirty fishermen were in sight.
Saw nothing of the pirate."

Eugene, W. Randall, J. Hutcheneon, and the mai vellous
ARTHUR and BERTRAND.

The lIALL hss been newly Decorated and Ventilated, and
Ls now one of the most Beautiful in the Metropolis.

CANTERBURY HALL AND
FINE ARTS GALLERY.
NOTICE.—ENTIRE CHANGE OF ENTERTAINMENT.
The Last Two Weeks of the' Marvellous ARTHUR and
BERTRAND, the Two French Clowns.

ARTHUR LLOYD'S burlesque Drama, arranged expressly
for him.

SAM COLLINS, with new Songs.
UNSWORTII, the celebrated Stump Orator.
EUGENE, and TAYLOR.

GRAND SELECTIONS from OPERAS, GLEES, and

CANTATAS.

Principal Artistes—Miss Russell, Miss Townley ; Mr. Green
Signor Bernardi, and Signor Tivoli.

Conductor, Mr. Jonghmans.
Admission—Hall, 6d. ; stalls and balcony, is.

(From the Boston
.transcript, June 25.)

The naval agent at this port has to-day chartered
and armed the steamships Admiral Dupont and
Daniel Webster, which will sail before night in
search of the Tacony. Their armament are small
but powerful. The Shattuck will undoubtedly be
dispatched tomorrow. No more .ailing vessels will
be taken for this purpose, but steamers only.
The war steamer Iron Age and Llowqua received
orders to-day to sail immediately, and will proba-
bly be far at sea before midnight. The revenue
cutter Morris sailed early this morning.

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been determined to be, although the most
inviting, the most treacherous place along
the entire line of rebel defences. Our soldiers in
their charge found it to be filled with deep, narrow
gullies, too small to cover a large body of troops and
too large to make a passage over them even for in-
fantry barely possib!e. Horses are out of the ques-
tion and were not used at this point. These artifi-
cial ravines are completely covered with fallen trees
and vines, which are so arranged as to nearly obs-
cure them from sight, and to make an advance over
them a matter of extreme difficulty. In our charge
upon the enemy's lines at this spot it was impos-
sible for our soldiers to keep in regular order of
battle. Frequently whole squads of men would
sink out of sight only to be resurrected by the
assistance of their comrades. Down the right line
of the enemy's works all approach to the fortifica-
tions is made exceedingly difficult by high bluffs
and deep irregular gullies. The enemy's rifle pits
are, although bearing the appearance of very wide
constructions, built upon the most approved modern
engineering skill. Here again fallen trees have
been so arranged as to make it impossible to move
artillery or troops in line of battle. The entire dis-
tance of rebel works presented for our reduction are
nearly eight miles in extent.
Last Saturday evening the order of attack was
determined on at the head-quarters, and communi-
cated to the generals who were to command the
assaulting columns. Most of the details were ar-
ranged by Gen. Grover. The point of attack was the
extreme north-easterly angle of the enemy's breast-
works. Five or six days previous to the assault
several pieces of the enemy's artillery, which had
been in position behind their fortifications imme •
diately in our front, were dismounted by our guns
and abandoned. Those still in position were ren-
dered useless to the rebels by our sharpshooters.
Rebel deserters and prisoners brought into camp
speak cf our artillery practice as splendid, and say
that they were not able to fire a gun more than 5 or
6 times before they had to move it as the accuracy
of our range would work it certain destruction. As
before mentioned, we commenced preparations for
the attack while yet it was scarcely daylight. The
plan of the assault was briefly as follows :—The
75th New York, under command of Capt. Cray, and
the 12th Connecticut, led by the Lieut.-Colonel
Peck, were detailed as skirmishers forming a sepa-
rate command under Lieut.-Col. Balcock, of 75th
New York. The 91st New York, Col. Van Zands,
commanding—each soldier carrying a five pound
hand grenade, with his musket thrown over his
shoulder—followed next in order. The skirmishers
were to creep up and lie on the exterior slope
of the enemy's breastworks, while the regiment
carrying the grenades were to come up to the same
position, and throw over the grenades into the
enemy's lines, with a view to rout them and drive
them from behind their works. The 24th Connec-
ticut, Colonel Mansfield, with their arms in like
manner to the grenade regiment, followed, carry-
ing sand begs filled with cotton, which were to be
used to fill up the ditch in front of the enemy's
breastworks, to enable the assaulting party the
more easily to scale them and charge upon the rebels.
Following these regiments came, properly speak-
ing, the balance of Gen. Weitzel's whole brigade,
under command of Colonel Smith, of 114th New
York. This command consisted of the Bth Vermont,
Lieut.-Col. Billing Lam ; the 114th New York, Ma-
jor Morse; and the 116th New York, Lieut.-Col.
Van Patten. Next came Col. Kimble's and Col.
Morgan's brigade, the last of which, with another
brigade (the name of which I was unable to learn),
was under the general command of Col. Birge.
This force was held to support the assaulting column,
which was under the immediate command of Gen.
Weitzel, who made the attack on the right. Gen.
Emory's old division moved in conjunction with
General Weitzel on the left, forming a separate
column.
The two Divisions—General Weitzel's and Gene-
ral Paine's—were under command of Gon. Grover,
who, as has been before stated, planned the whole
assault after General Bank's order to advance was
received by him. Hence the mode of attack was
entirely his own. Gen, Weitzel's Division was
expected to make a lodgement inside of the enemy's
works, and in that manner prepare the way for
General Paine's Division. After the inside of the
enemy's fortification had been reached, skirmishers
were to push forward and clear the way, while
both columns were to be deployed in line of battle
and move towards the town of Port Hudson, where
a grand citadel, which forms the last means of rebel
defence, is situated.
I have thus far been speaking of General Grover's
command exclusively, and the plan above given is
applicable only to his movements as determined on
at the time of its adoption.
About daylight the 75th New York, which had
been slowly advancing, approached the enemy's
works sufficiently near to see his fire. Previously,
the columns of the main body of General Grover's
command were found in the woods skirting the
enemy's breastworks. The 12th Connecticut during
the night had lost its way in the woods. and the
91st New York was ordered by General Weitzel to
take the place that had been assigned to it, and
follow immediately in the rear of the 75th New
York. After the advance of the 75th and 91st
regiments. General Weitzel's entire command
commenced moving forward. Several days previ-
ous our army engineers had been preparing a
covered way, which extended from the woods where
our troops lay to within about 150 yards of the
enemy's position. Through this covered way our
troops marched in single file up to the point where
the first line-of-battle was formed. It should be
remarked that the covered way spoken of was re-
lied upon as being sufficiently deep to afford pro-
tection to our soldiers. It turned out, however, to
be of no considerable consequence, owing to some
fault in its construction. After the advance had
arrived at the end of the covered way, they
began strongly to push over the innumerable
barriers that had been planted by the rebels to
obstruct their march. The difficulties I have
before spoken off concerning the open field
immediately facing the enemy's works were here
experienced. The deep gullies, covered over by
brush and creeping vines, were completely ob-
scured from sight, and were only known to exist
after our soldiers had plunged into them. Part
of our skirmishers deployed to the right while suf-
fering severely from the enemy's fire, and a portion
of the advance took up a position on the left of the
point to be attacked. They were immediately
Paine
in by General Weitzel's column, General
in the meantime advancing towards the ene y
m
It
works with his command further on the left.
on as they
should be stated that our troops, as so
had left the cover of the woods, which were
had
300 yards from the enemy's breastworks, A
ject to the constant fire of the rebel
infantry.
portion of our artillery, which was P
lanted some
Captain
distance in the rear of our advancitT:
ksi.'orccesa,
his battery of
up a continuous fire on the rwebitehl wJ
Terry, of the Richmond,
eight-inch Dahlgren guns, idandg ptaioCoadenxeiNcuPLtioalfi:
lin, Indian Artillery, did
much to protect
Thos© batteries served
were advancing to the
epceetinengetmoyb'se
our troops as they
skirmishers had picked their
attack.3oyards h about of th
Aftert within
way up to .
run," into the ditch,
works, they
able to shelter themselves under coverof
Itivihieileeetbheel
i
I fortifications, and keep the enemy down
I regiment, with the hand grenades, ,
advance
and perform their part of the .\\ ork shouldn driving
the
rebels from their position. The portion of the 75th
which succeeded in reaching the ditch were
imme-
diately repulsed, and nearly all of them were killed
or wounded. The ditch was so enfiladed that it was
o
impossible for men to live under
of the enemy. The the murderous fire
question
this was not known before,nbalutayl bheavaeskneod timewhy allte
comment.

In consequence of the repulse of the portion

-..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

of the 75th N.York that succeeded in reaching the
ditch, the hand grenaders could accomplish but
little. In fact, although they made many desperate
and gallant attempts to be of service, they rather
damaged than bencfitted our prospects of success;
for as they threw their grenades over the rebel

breastworks, the rebels actually naught them and
hurled them back upon us. In the meantime

while the skirmishers were nobly endeavouring to
sustain themselves in their position. General
Weitzel's column moved up as rapidly as possible,
and made a series of desperate assaults on the
enemy's works, which for bravery and daring the
history of the war can hardly furnish a parallel.
At this time, the sun having fairly risen, the fight
became general. A fog, which had partially ob-
scured the contending armies, lifted, and revealed
their respective positions. The enemy were fully
prepared for us, and they lined every part of the
fortifications with heavy bodies of infantry. The
battle had begun in earnest, and General Paine's
column, as well as General Weitzel's was actively
engaged. Before proceeding further with the details
of the fight of General Grover's command, it will be
necessary to mention a fact that I have previously
omitted—namely, that under the general plan of
attack, as directed by General Banks, Generals
Anger and Dwight were to make feints on the
extreme left of General Grover's position to dis-
tract the attention of the enemy from the main as-
sault. Accordingly, before the engagement became
general between General Grover's command and the
enemy, Generals Augur and Dwight had attacked
the enemy, as before indicated, on General Grover's
extreme left.
It was not the intention that the last named of
these forces should storm the rebel works, but hold
the enemy in check while General Grover was per-
forming his part of the work according to the ori-
ginal, which, had he been successful, would have
opened the way for the advance of our entire army
on to it. Hudson proper is surrounded, as
it is understood, by a series of fortifications more
impregnable than any we have yet assaulted. The
fight on the part of General Dwight's command was
exceedingly severe, and scarcely less so with Gene-
ral Grover's. General Dwight's loss in killed and
wounded will probably exceed 200. General
Augur's loss will fall considerably short of that
number. Under General Grover's command pro-
bably the most desperate fighting was done by
General Weitzel's old brigade. Colorel Smith
leading these veterans, the heroes of many fights,
fell early in the action mortally wounded. A ball
pierced his spine and passed round to the right
side. The colonel still lingers ; bnt his death is
hourly expected. The charges made on the rebel
works by our brave soldiers showed a deter-
mination to carry them at all hazards; but human
bravery on this occasion was not adequate to the
accomplishment of their object. The most formi-
dable obstacle that presented itself as a barrier to
our success was the rebel glacis, which, at the point
attacked, had been constructed in such a manner as
to make every bullet tell that was fired from the
rebel breastworks while our troops were endeavour-
ing to make ascent. In fact, the great natural
advantages and engineering ability at Port
Hudson have been rather under than over-
' rated. Immediately upon the fall of Colonel
Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel Von Petten, of the 160th
New York, took command of the brigade, and gal-
lantly led the charge until all turther hope of driv-
ing the rebels from their position was gone. Bri-
gade after brigade followed in rapid succession,
storming the rebel works, until compelled to fall
back under the terrible fire of the enemy. Conspi-
cuous among the brigades that did the most despe.
rate fighting were those under the command o
Colonels Kimball, Morgan, and Birge. They were
all, however, eventually repulsed with great

slaughter.
The fighting ceased at 11 o'clock in the morning,
We having been repulsed in every assault, our
soldiers, under command of their officers, laid
themselves down under the shelter of the gullies,
trees, covered way, in fact everything that could
afford them protection, and waited for the day to
pass and darkness come on. Many of our wounded
who were accessible were carried from the field by
squads detailed for that purpose. It is a shameful
reflection on humanity that a large number of our
soldiers, carrying the wounded and dying from the
field on stretchers, were shot down by the enemy,
and in several instances the wounded were killed
while being borne from the field. At nightfall,
however, we commenced the burial of our dead, and
succeeded before the morning in carrying most of
our wounded from the battleground.
I have no time to give you further details, as we
have not yet entirely recovered from the confusion
of the battle, and a courier is about leaving with
despatches. The many gallant acts, scenes, and in-
cidents, lists of killed and wounded, &c., I shall
have to reserve for my next letter.
Our total loss in this last attack upon Port Hud-
son will probably not fall much short of 1,000.
It is rumoured, just as I am closing this letter,
that we are to attack the enemy again to-night.