The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-24 00:00:00

AN ESCAPE FROM THE CAPITOL.

Some time before the battle of Fredericksburg,
two officers of this garrison, Captain Phillips and
Wynn, of the Grenadier Guards, urged by a spirit
of adventure, determined to pay a visit to the Con-
federate army in Virginia, and see for themselves
its actual condition and military efficiency. With
considerable difficulty and some privation they suc-
ceeded in making their way from Washington to
General Lee's head-quarters,where they were. kindly
received, and hospitably entertained with the rude
fare which the Southern Generals sh
'asr e with their
attack upon
troops. During their visit Burnside
the Conft derate position in the rear of Fredericks-
burg took place, and our adventurers had an oppor-
tunity of seeing how Southern troops fight and how
Northerns run away, and of hearing the shrill
music of Federal shot and shell. During the ac-
tion, and at a critical moment, General Lee was
left without an aide to carry an important order,
and Captain Phillips, feeling like Commodore Tat-
nall, that blood was thicker than water, volunteered
his services, and acted as an extra aide, carrying
the Confederate General's order into the thick
of the fight, and winning the admiration of his
hosts for his coolness under fire. In making their
way back to Canada, Captain AN ynn was arrested
at Baltimore by the Federal Government, on the
charge of acting as a bearer of despatches
for the Confederates, but his companion eluded
pursuit, reached New York, where, thanks to his
knowledge of German, he succeeded in baffling a
hot search after him, and in disguise finally passed
the detectives at Rouse's Point, who were on the
look out for him, and reached Canada. The alleged
despatches of which Captain Phillips wase thbearer were,we believe, nothing more than
Let-
ters of the correspondent of the Londhoen Timest and
Illustrated
the sketches of the correspondent of t
News, which can hardly be coenseiednierniedittaesdcotnettrhaebannldd
of war. Captain
Capitol Prison, andWwynnthwreaatened with exemplary
punishment as a Coasnfederate messenger. Lord
Lyons appears to have left him to bear the conse-
quences of his indiscretion, and, being naturally dis-
gusted with his position, ho determined to escape.
To effect
ihis
whe had to break throad, angh the door of
was confined make his
the room n hich hegh a window three storeys from the
zway ijunthroud, beneath which a sentinel paced with a
loaded rifle. Having got over the preliminary diffi-
culties, he watched until the sentinel in his march
turned into a gateway, when he got through the
window, descended swiftly and quietly by the aid
of the pipe from the eave-trough, and reaching the
ground before the sentinel appeared again, ran off,
and although destitute of money, and uncomfortably
lightly clad for the season, succeeded in reaching a
hiding glace, and finding friends by whose aid he
finally eluded pursuit and reached Canada. We think
the most appropriate punishment for the two sinners
would be an order from the General commanding
them to publish their adventures, so far as is con-
sistent with good faith to their Confederate enter-
tainers. Having had opportunities of knowing the
whole truth as to the battle of Fredericksburg, and
of judging of the fighting qualities of the two armies
engaged, their judgment as military men would be
exceedingly valuable and interesting to the world
at large.—Montreal Conzmeretal Advertiser.