The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 18, 1861

stopped, though only for a short season—a halt was
permitted—food and absence of rain exercised their
restorative influence; but as we set forward again in
the afternoon the pertinacious downpour was re-
sumed. Another wretched night, passed half on
the march, half in a saturated wheat field, another
long day's march, and on the night of the 6th we
reached the little town of Hagerstown, distant
about five miles from the Potomac.

RICHMOND, July 28.
Upon the 14th inst., the army of General Lee,
which had lain passive in the neighbourhood of
Hagerstown since the evening of the 6th, courting
rather than expecting an attack, was withdrawn
across the Potomac into Virginia. To take this step
there were many circumstances which moved
General Lee. In the first place, the same unprece-
dented weather which had accompanied almost the
whole of his march into Pennsylvania continued
until the end, and the heavy downpour of rain
which ushered in the month of July and had been
driving
we
rt
hua
egn acit in
ai
rtapproached
s d
a theetod Pe
oo
mt
bursto
scarcely intermitted for 14 days, pursued and pelted
il
run
it us
eia
imaa
swelling
mercilessly
eytdahrraei
army
almost todistraction. Secondly,
there was difficulty in finding mills which, in the
swollen condition of the streams that fed
them,
could be made available for grinding
wheat, and
supplying the army with flour. Thirdly, the di •s-
-astrous and unexpected tidings of the fall of Vicks-
burg and Port Hudson
, coming on the top of the
failure of General Lee's Pennsylvanian campaign,
induced him to abandon the hazardous measure,
which he at one time contemplated, of again ad-
vancing against the enemy, flushed as he was with
the triumph of having for almost the first time in
this war repulsed a Confederate attack, and inspirited
beyond expression by the fall of Vicksburg. But at
a less serious moment it would be laughable to read
the feigned indignation of the Northern press at the
lathes of tieneral Meads in not gobbling up General
Lee and his army. In the history of all previous re-
treats from the Anabasis of Xenophon up to the pre-
sent hour, never was army withdrawn with so little
molestation from its enemy as General Lee's. That
there was considerable anxiety entertained by Gene-
rals Lee and Longstreet during the night of the 3d
and the day of the 4th of July, in regard to the pos-
sibility of General Meade's assuming the offensive, I
am far from denying. But such anxiety was early
dispelled by the capture of a Federal courier bearing
despatches, which announced that on the night of
the 4th General Meade's head-quarters would be at
Westminster, or in other words, at a point much
nearer to Washington than Gettysburg, and at
which the indications are that a strong position had
been selected by General Meade, where, but for the
attack which he was obliged to accept at Gettys-
burg, it was his intention to have made his final
stand.

How cumbrous and unwieldy a machine was the
army of General Lee will be evident to all who
reflect that he advanced into Pennsylvania for an
unknown and indefinite period, with immense
(although not sufficiently immense) ordnance trains,
and with vast supplies of stores connected with ths
Commissary and Quartermaster-General's Depart-
ments. It is a mistake to suppose that the trans-
portation of the Confederate Army is unusually
scanty and limited. Compared with the sumptuous
trains and countless sutlers that accompany the
Federal hosts, the Confederates, it is true, carry little
indeed; but it is not likely that the war economy
pursued for the last two years by the Federal Go-
vernment will be accepted as furnishing any other
precedent for European nations than the shortest
cut to ruin. lam assured, however, by competent
and experienced judges that the Confederate trans-
portation trains rather exceed than fall short of the
European average. Specially is this the case with
Stonewall Jackson's corps, now for the most part
under Ewell's command, which under its famous
leaderfrequently undertook campaigns in the lightest
marching order, but of which the normal trains
were large and cumbrous, and scrupulously guarded
at all times by the ceaseless vigilance of General
Jackson himself. But on this occasion General Lee,
in addition to his own very sufficient trains, had
accumulated in Pennsylvania an amount of farming
wagons which is so variously estimated that I dare
not assign a figure to it, but which, from personal
observation, I can state to have been very conside-
rable indeed. These wagons were principally at-
tached to the Corps of Gen. Ewell, who was always
in the van as we entered Pennsylvania, and their vast
aggregate heightened the difficulty of adopting one
of the possible plans which I indicated in my letter
from Hagerstown, and which by some empirics
General Lee has been blamed for not selecting. I
allude to the plan of falling back into the gorge of
theGe
South Mountain, and there awaiting an attack
from
General Meade.
bythe
premature This course was
rendered
engagement im-
possible—first,
Federalsbe-
tween
on July l
HillandEwel:
andan secondly and tuheeeotnwdoA, rhmy theyCo drpitassofntheee
which separated Gen. Ewell and his vast transpor-
tation trains from the bulk of Lee's army. It is still
the opinion of the best and wisest heads that Gen.
Lee, in resolving to attack Meade's strong position
at Gettysburg, played for a mighty stake which he
was justified in thinking he could win, and which,
in point of fact, he was within an ace of winning.
How nearly the Confederates succeeded in driving
their opponents from the heights is probably fully
known only to Gen. Meade and Gen. Halleck ; but
some measure of the damage inflicted upon the
Federal army may be taken by one who witnessed
the faintness and feebleness of Gen. Meade's pur-
suit. With the exception of a brief cannonade be-
tween some of the Federal cavalry and the rearguard
of Gen. Ewell on the sth, pursuit there was none.
Some damage was done to Gen. Ewell's train, prin-
cipally, I believe, through the agency of Pennsylva-
nian citizens ; but altogether ther,.! were not 100
wagons destroyed. Gen. Lee returned to the Vir-
ginian side of the Potomac with 5,000 Federal pri-
soners; with his immense trains all bat uninjured ;
with an amount of Pennsylvanian waggons and
horses which I dare not attempt to estimate ; with-
out the loss of a caisson or a gun, except two, which
were abandoned because the horses broke down ;
without paying any other toll than that which was
exacted in the three days of battle at Gettysburg,
and for which no doubt full value was given by the
Federal army; and with his own army in such
heart and spirits as I have never seen excelled.
Considerable credit is due to the engineer depart-
ment of Gen. Lee's army for the ingenuity which
they displayed in building, with great rapidity, the
pontoon bridge at Falling 'Waters (about four miles
from Williamsport), which upon the 13th and 14th
inst. conveyed Gen. Lee's army trains and most of
his army across the Potomac. Daring our absence
in Pennsylvania the Confederate pontoon bridge,
which had been left in the Potomac and was insuf-
ficiently guarded, was, as some say, by the inhabi-
tants of Martinsburg, and, as others, by the inhabi-
tants of Hagerstown, in great measure destroyed.
It will be recollected that General Lee's army
reached Hagerstown on the evening of the 6th. For
some days we lay there without thought of further
retreat, but when the calamitous tidings from
Vicksburg and Port Hudson overtook us, and when
simultaneously the rain continued to descend, it was
deemed advisable to stand once more upon Vir-
ginian soil instead of striking deeper into Mary-
land in pursuit of an enemy who had obviously no
intention of attacking us, and out of whom another
fight could only be got by following him and
assailing him in his own chosen position. It be-
came abundantly evident, when by slow and
tardy marches, protracted from the 3d of July
(the last day of battle) until the 11th, when the
Federal army began to approach Hagerstown in
elde
af ogracien, G
thatene rnaol
hAolpeoa do ef
ad
gr eewn e
rnael a
er n
g toa
gGe emneenr
tale
oLu
be indulged unless it was brought on by General
Lee. The Federals reconnoitred our position near
Hagerstown, which consisted only of a few hastily
thrown up breast works, and not liking the look of
it, fell back for two miles, and began to
ply dili-
bmaottide st
hveehy i
dili-
gently spade and pickaxe, according to their almost
invariable practice. It is singular how frequently,
since General Lee assumed command in Virginia,
13 months ago, the Confederates, in the numerous
tl
ail-
ac he t
ed haveal occurred,
always
o
t h ehaveoffensive
nt 8. For seven days in the battles around Rich-
same in the series of battles which extinguished

General Pope it was the same at bhancellorsville,
the same at Gettysburg. And few things are more
evident than that, in spite of the homage which the
Federal Generals all concur in paying to their re-
spective armies, nothing is further from the policy
of each General than to follow the example of
General Burnside at Fredericksburg, and to attack
Gen. Lee in a position chosen by himself. It was
the opinion of General Jackson, it is the opinion
of General Longstreet no less than of General Lee,
that upon the soil of Virginia it makes no difference
shat the disparity of numbers may be, if the Con-
federates fight behind even the most insignificant
breastworks and receive their enemy's attack. It
is difficult, so long as the spirit and morale of Gen.
Lee's army remain what they are now, to compute
how many men the Federals would have to bring
before they could carry such works as defend Rich-
mond and Petersburg, if ever they should succeed
in driving the Confederates from the open field into
these works.

The Recent Murder in Switzerland.

A correspondent of a contemporary writes :—The recent
assassination of M. Quensel, of Hanover, while travelling
in Switzerland, has excited such general horror and con-
sternation, and so many vague accounts are in circulation
tending to cause groundless alarm, that I believe a simple
statement of facts may be acceptable to your readers. On
arriving at Sion a few days since I found information had
been just received of the arrest of Bartholomew Balet, the
murderer. His brother had been for some days previously
in custody, and there appears to be no room to doubt that
these two men only were concerned in the atrocity. The
traveller had started from Sierre, intending to walk
through the beautiful Vela d'Anniviers and d'Herens.
He slept at Zinal, and left in the morning of the 23d July,
intending to pass the Cols Sorrebois and Torrent to this
place. He was accompanied by a guide, the brother-in-law
of the " aubergiste" at Zinal. About midday he reached the
summit of the Col du Torrent. Here the guide called his
attention to a small wall of stones very recently erected on
the summit. A powder flask and bullets were also seen on
the path. The traveller descended the Col shortly in ad-
vance of the guide. When about ten paces from the summit
a shot was fired, and a ball passed through the guide's
shoulder and broke the arm of the traveller. The latter
exclaimed " Sauve qui peut," and commenced running; at
the same moment a second shot brought the guide to the
ground. The traveller probably followed the zigzag path,
while the assassin ran down a direct course, and he must
have fired aga n almost close to his victim, as the clothes
bore marks of the powder. 'fhe bullet passed through the
heart, and death must have been instantaneous. The assas-
sin returned to tha guide, from whom he took the knapsack,
threatening at the same time to finish him. The guide im-
plored a few moments to make his peace with his Maker.
The brigand, touched with pity, bound up the guide's wound
and helped him back over the Col, offering him five francs,
" Nous sommes cinq," and adding that if his companions
knew of his sparing him they would kill him also. This
statement created the belief that an associated body of bri-
gands existed in these parts. The guide, faint and ex-
hausted, remained on the mountain side until his groans
brought some shepherds to his help. They carried him to
the nearest chalet, where he became insensible. This was
at a considerable distance from Grementz, the nearest vil-
lage in the Val d'Anniviees, and it was not until the follow-
ing morning that a party of villagers was able to ascend the
mountain. They found the body of M. Quensel on the path,
despoiled of everything of value except a ring. It was ne-
cessary to communicate with the authorities of the place be-
fore the peasants dared to remove the body. This was done,
and the remains of the unfortunate man were subsequently
brought here and interred in the village churchyard, where
they now rest, the grave being carefully tended and dressed
with mountain flowers.
Subsequent inquiries
prove that only two men were con-
cerned in this horrible murder, and these two are brothers
named Balet, inhabitants of a small village on the other side
of the Rhone. The elder was last year convicted of forgery ;
he escaped from prison, and, accompanied by his brother,
fled to Algiers. They remained there till the spring of this
year, when they returned ; but the elder brother, to avoid
arrest, appears to have led a wild life, secreting himself in
the mountains in the neighbourhood of his home. It is sup-
posed that the younger brother gained information at Sierre
of the intended course of M. Quesnel, and thus the plan
formed. Four shots were fired ; both men had double-bar-
relled rifles. These have been subsequently found, and one
of them, peculiarly marked, is recognised by the guide.
The knapsack and alpenstocks have also been found,
concealed in an outbuilding belonging to the family of the
brigands. Within an hour or two of the murder two men
were seen by the shepherds hastening by another col, the
Pas de Lonaf from the scene of the murder towards the
Rhone. I have received this intelligence from the Presi-
dent of the Tribunal of Sion, who yesterday revisited the
scene of this horrible catastrophe, accompanied by the offi-
cials and a gentleman from Hanover sent by the King to
attend the investigation.
The younger brother Balet was apprehended shortly after
the murder at his own home. The elder fled to the
Canton Berne, and was a few days since arrested at a vil-
lage called Gsteig, on the farther side of the Sanetsh Pass.
The popular indignation is so great that precaution has
been deemed necessary to prevent the execution of summary
justice on the prisoner's arrival at Sion, while chains of
more than ordinary strength have been prepared to prevent
a second escape of the convict, These are, I believe, cor-
rect &mile of an occurrence which has occasioned a deep
sensation throughout Switzerland. It must naturally affect
the confidence hitherto reposed in the Swiss; but I do not
t h l has
willtdisgracedk e
place theiri u a
country.
think there is reason for continued apprehension. The per-
petrators of the crime stand alone,and haveenebeen secured,
and among the population there.eh
is but feeling of execra-
the
tion and of grief at
The guide, who was supposed to have been mortally
wounded, is recovering, crime
thew trial
fortnight.

The Late Fatal Omnibus Accident

Yesterday morning Mr.taii Payne resumed the inquiry, at
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, the death of Chas.
Fox. aged 37, an omnibus conductor, who was run over on
Thursday last by
another omnibus on Holborn-hill, and
killed on the spot.
It being alleged that the accident
was
caused driver of the second omnibus had
s
caused by racing,
been apprehended, but w
th©
,itFteudrntoivbattli,lB on Friday
_la st.
s
William Wray,On
living aadmitted
at 7
lhursday last, about half pa three, I was standing at the
corner of Funn
.y Inn, when my attention was called to
two omnibuses racing towtardfs the City, one being slightly
before the other. That par o Holborn is very broad. I
be-
lieve they were
going at the rate of eight or nine miles an
hour. The horses of the second omnibus were about level
with the body of the first
sbut it pasted the other on the
near side at a rapid
Pace, and the deceased having alighted
and attempted to
pass in front of the horses of the second
omnibus, was knocked down by the horses, and the hind
off wheel passed over him. The second omnibus, after
sta
• short time, proceeded on its jouey.
Ircring
cross-examination rn
examination this witness said—I saw the deceased
immediately he
alighted. There was a very short distance
indeed between the tail of the first omnibus and the horses'
heads ef the second ;
When I first saw them the PerhaPB between two and three yards.
y were near Gray's-inn-lane, but
I cot
which was the first. The deceased's omnibus
pulled up as he
was getting off the monkey-board. I did
not see him get off, but he was knocked down by the off-side
horse just as his omnibus stopped. Ido not consider there
was sufficient room for the second omnibus to pass the first
on the near side, as the aecond was obliged to squeeze past,
I should think there was a space of about 12 or 15 feet be-
tween the deceased's omnibus and the kerb. There is a
cab-rank just there, and there were cabs on it, but I cannot
tell the distance between the first omnibus and the cabs on
the off side.
Dr. Jones, who resides at 1, Montague-place, Kentish
Town, said-1 was in the omnibus of which the deceased
was conductor. There appeared to be a great hurry to get
forward, as there svas another omnibus about 40 or 50 yards
behind Eta
The one I was in went on the Leather-lane side
of the cab-stand, At this time the second omnibus was
coming up fast, and I heard the deceased continually urge
his own driver to greater speed. This was when the light
green omnibus was about 20 yards behind. When they
came opposite Furnival's Inn both omnibuses were racing.
A female passenger was standing by the side of the kerb,
and one omnibus was drawn up about a foot from the public
convenience in the centre of the road. The conductor got
down, and went in front of his omnibus, telling the coach-
man to pull across, saying, " Pull them across, and stop
them "—Pointing to the omnibus then advancing. Witness
seeing, from the speed of the advancing omnibus, that there
might be a dangerous collision, took measures for making
his escape. The conductor at this time continued to exhort
his driver to pull across, at the same time walking back-
wards in a way that he was unable to perceive the approach-
ing omnibus. At this time a female (the wife of the de-
ceased), who was in his omnibus screamed violently, I
looked at the conductor, and saw the pole of the second
omnibus strike him in the back. He was by this whirled
round the horse-collar, and fell on his head. He was then
struck by the horse's fore off-leg, and on the ear by his hind
off-leg. The deceased seemed to struggle to free himself,
when the wheel passed over the chest by the side of the head
from the shoulder, and down the centre of the body. He
was at once removed on to the path, when there was a per-
ceptible tremor in the body, the blood pouring in great
quantities from his mouth. I saw there was no hope for
him, and at once gave directions for having the driver of the
second omnibus taken into custody. I consider that the
driver of the second omnibus must have seen the deceased
before he was knocked down, as there was nothing else in
the way. There was not apace for the two omnibuses to
pass without running over the deceased, and the second
omnibus could not have passed round the other without
danger of upsetting his own vehicle. The deceased had his
back to the second omnibus, and was evidently not aware
of its approach, for he backed on to the chains of it. The
driver of the second omnibus had time to stop before the

accident happened after the:deceased placed himself in:the
position in which he *As stmck.
Mr. H. J. Dalrymple, 34, Great fit. Helen's, gave corro-
borative evidence.
Edward Gilbert, a cabdriver, said he bad measured the
ground where the accident had taken place, and found that
the urinal near which the first omnibus stopped was 29 feet
from the kerb, and the near wheels of the same about 12
feet from the kerb. He considered the second omnibus was
going at the rate of seven miles an hour. At the time the
deceased was struck there was three or four feet distance
between the two omnibuses, Langley, the driver, tiied to

pull up directly after the deceased was knocked down, and

did so about 20 yards from where the accident happened.
He did not try to pull up before the accident. He was driv-
ing about seven miles an hour, and he considered it would
take 20 yards to pull up horses going at that speed. The
road was down-hill, and there would always be a difficulty
in stopping an omnibus under such circumstances, as the
strain was all upon the collar, although it might have been
stopped in a less space.
Benjamin Watkins said he was driver of the omnibus to
which the deceased was conductor. The other omnibus runs
from Notting-hill to Mile-end Gate, the time of starting
being about the same; he generally started first. He
started on that occasion from St. John's Church at ten
minutes to three. About Furnival's Inn witness heard his
conductor say "Wo I wo I" and he pulled up. The con-
ductor hever said a word else to him—in fact the direction
to stop were the last words he heard him utter. Hearing
something coming his near side he turned to see what it was,
and then saw the deceased knocked down by the defendant's
omnibu.. In answer to questions he said he never heard
the conductor give him directions to pull in and stop the
other omnibus ; he might have said so, but witness did not
hear him. The omnibus works in with the London General
Omnibus Company's omnibuses. There was neither oppo-
sition nor racing on that day. There was plenty of room
for the Whitechapel omnibus to pass him on the near side.
The distance Langley went after the accident was not more
than would be required to pull up in, although it might be
done in a yard or two less. The speed was about 8 miles
an hour.

Geo. Cook, of 2, Holford-mews, Holford-square, said he
was a cab-driver, and at the time of the accident was first
cab on the rank. Saw tho omnibus of which the deceased
was conductor atop. It belonged to the General Omnibus
Company. Hearing a scream, he looked round, and saw
the conduetor in front of the pole of another omnibus. (He
then described the accident), and added that the driver,
Langley, did not stop when first spoken to,although he gave
two checks to his horses. He slackened the pace and looked
behind, and then pulled up about 10 or 12 yards from where
he knocked the deceased down.

By a Juryman—Langley stopped before the police came
up.

Walter Woolf°, a general dealer, said he was on the de-
ceased's omnibus at the time in question. He then described
the occurrence, and said the omnibuses were going at the
ordinary speed, and there was no racing,
Harriett Briggs, wife of James Briggs, said she was in the
dark-green omnibus, and observed the horses of another om-
nibus dodging very close behind them. She said the dark
green omnibus did not stop until the conductor was on the
ground ; in fact, it was partly in motion then.
Chas. Waters, a barman, said he was a passenger by the
light-green omnibus, and saw the dark one hailed by a pas-
senger. The deceased jumped down while the omnibus was
in motion, and told the driver to drive over to the near side,
He was then standing by the side of the omnibus, and wit-
ness heard him say, "pull to the near side." The driver of
the omnibus I was in called out to the deceased, and the off
side horse trod on his heels six or seven times, the pole at
the time pushing him along. The driver of the light om-
nibus pulled up and tried to stop as soon as he called out to
the deceased, and stopped 15 or 20 yards from the spot where
the deceased fell. The deceased jumped down from his own
omnibus right in front of Langley's horses. He was going
about eight miles an hour, and called out, but within two
or three seconds the pole struck and knocked him down.
Witness also called out to him, but there was no time to
stop the omnibus and avoid running over him. There was
no room for a vehicle to pass on the off side.
Mr. Christopher Williams said he was one of the house
surgeons of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and deposed to
the deceased being brought there dead. The death he con-
sidered arose from a fracture on the base of the skull.
Sarah Hetworth said she was waiting on the pavement at
Furnival's Inn when the deceased's omnibus drew up, as if
to take her up. She did not require it, and shook her head.
She then corroborated the other witnesses as to the occur-
rence. She added that the accident would not have occurred
if the deceased had remained between the omnibuses, but he
persisted in running. The driver of the light.green omni-
bus could not have avoided a collision.
After some further evidence, the coroner summed up,
and the jury deliberated for a lengthened period.
The learned Coroner (finding that there was no chance of
their agreeing, the numbers being nine to eight) discharged
the jury at five o'clock, without giving a verdict.
It is understood that the majority (nine) were in favour
of a verdict of manslaughter; and the minority (eight) for
accidental death.