The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-06 00:00:00

ARV._

PRICE ........4d.
...
STAMPED
...sd.

of the rebellion, or perhaps to be sold into slavery.
We have no doubt they will be subjected to the most
atrocious treatment by their Southern captors. Many
of them were undoubtedly freemen by birth ; many
had earned their freedom by services to our cause
I and our army, and all of them were under the
guardianship and protection of the Government.
Most of them were employed in various army work
at Harper's Ferry, under the Act of last session of
Congress, authorising the employment of negroes
as military labourers. We suppose that Govern-
ment will do nothing about these unfortunate per-
sons who had placed themselves under its care,
though by all the laws of war, of national honour,
and of humanity, it is as much bound to see to
their just treatment as to that of any other of its
agents. Three or four times of late the rebels have

taken numbers of the black military labourers with

our army. They took a considerable number on the
Peninsula; they took a large body who were sent
out grave-digging near Bull Run, after Pope's re-
cent engagements ; and now, at Harper's Ferry,
they made the best haul of all. The rebels, of
course, could not be induced to treat negroes as pri-
soners of war; but our Government, having become
responsible for their freedom and safety, should
either put them where they will •be safe from the
rebel grasp and the horrors of slavery, or should try
by negotiation to save them from the latter doom
awl mitigate their misfortunes. It would be better,
of course, if it would make haste to put down the
rebellion, by which these and all questions would
be solved.

With regard to the war, the Evening Express
says :
" There would seem to be reliable information
that the rebel army has not entirely left Maryland.
On the contrary, they are reported to be in consider-
able numbers in the neighbourhood of Williams-
port. Heavy skirmishing was going on at that
point and on both sides of the river on Monday.
Everything remains quiet at the ford near Shep-
herdstown. The forces on either side of the river
are cautiously watching each other. The rebels
keep their men out of sight, but occasionally a
solitary horseman makes his appearance on the op-
posite bluff, and after a brief observation disap-
pears."
The Sharpsburg correspondent of the Baltimore
American writes on the 22d :

" There has come a lull, in which the contending
armies are lying quietly, with the Potomac be-
tween them, awaiting developments which will at
no distant day probably bring them again in
collision. Neither will rush unadvisedly to a
new contest, without exhausting all pre-
caution that generalship and military skill can
suggest. Since the reconnoisance across the Poto-
mac at Clarksburg on Saturday last, perfect quiet
has reigned along the lines, scarcely disturbed
even by skirmishing of pickets. We hold the
river at Sharpsburg in strong force, while the
rebels occupy the opposite bank, but not, it is
thought, in force. We also occupy Williamsport.
General M'Clellan's head-quarters are in the vicinity,
and he can be seen several times a day, moving
about, overlooking and directing movements in pro-
gress. The battle-field of Wednesday is daily
trampled by a small army of curiosity-seekers, from
the west, north, and east. The field is pretty well
cleared of all material evidence of the struggle.
The dead have all been buried, except the black
and putrid bodies of some poor fellows who had
crept into secluded corners and thus escaped the
search of the burying parties. The wounded have
been all removed ; those who could be were trans-
ported to Hagerstown, Chambersburg, Harrisburg,
and other places. A number of the more
dangerously wounded, whom it would have been
death to have removed any distance, still remain in
houses and barns in the vicinity of the field which
have been fitted up as temporary hospitals."
The Express of the 22d contains also the follow-
ing letter from the Potomac :
" Contrary to general impression, it turns out
now that Sigel and Heintzelman have not been
sent up the north bank of the Potomac. They
had such an order given them, it seems, but it
was countermanded—undoubtedly for good reason.
This will explain to the public, who have been
anxiously looking for Sigel and Heintzelman in
force before the retreating rebels, why their ap-
pearance has not been made. Despatches from Fre-
derick as late as 10 o'clock on Sunday night report
thatduring the night previous there was considerable
firing between our pickets and those of the enemy
on the opposite side of the river. At 6 o'clock on
Sunday morning, quite a number of the enemy, sup-
posed to be a brigade, showed themselves on the op-
posite bluff and fired a volley of musketry into our
artillery camp. Our batteries, Captain Waterman's,
Martin's, and Ilazlitt's soon opened a concen-
trated fire on the rebels, causing them to disappear.
The enemy have no artillery on the bluff. The 4th
Michigan, with a few men from Syke's brigade,
crossed the river at Shepherdstown Ford late on
Saturday afternoon, for the purpose of making a re-
connoissance. They met with a stout resistance
from the enemy, but succeeded in reaching this side
of the river with but slight loss, bringing with
them four pieces of artillery which they took from
the rebels. The occupation of the Viriginian shore
was attempted again next morning, with less suc-
cess. Acting Brigadier-General Barnes, with his
own and a portion of Syke's brigade, some cavalry,
and two batteries, crossed the river and took a posi-
tion on the Virginian shore. Shortly after the
troops had been placed in position, the enemy
emerged from under the cover of woods, with a line
of infantry nearly a mile long. Both troops soon
became engaged, when the order was given to
re-
tire, which was done in good order, the enemy fol-
lowing
r artil-
lery, lowing close behind. When the enemy eaulew,-
range, fire was opened with 20 pieces of o I"
effect
lery, posted on the Maryland bank, with
reach.
loss Their
that they were forced to retire out of reah
loss from our artillery fire must have been heavy,
to make large
as the explosion of our shells was wounded,
gaps in their lines. Our loss in Ka The troops
wounded
and prisoners will reach about 1".
s ekerilled,
safely returned to Maryland, bringitniff
force of rebel
with them. It was reported that their
the direction of
cavalry and artillery had left
sent in that direction
Williamsport, and a force was
was heard in that
this morning. Hefty)? firinfich shows that they
direction on Sunday night,
w
have become
--D Af------TJEDEREss.—The wretched
THE CONDEMNED
who is ordered for execution on
woman, Catherine Wilson,
lust., for the crime of murder by poison-
Monday, the 20th
atrocious
circumstances, still continues to
ing, under most
pearance of indifference and callousness
exhibit the
rsna:sZed her ever since she has been in Custody,
ears her committal she has only been visited'
that has cha
It app ear° that since
who represented herself to be an
and she only came to the
by one person,
-
friend of the prisoner,
intimate
no one occasion. From all that has transpired
tritreisr°els-no°l:eason to believe that the unhappy woman has
any relations, or at all events any who take the least interest
in her, as no one has applied to see her in that capacity.
notwithstanding the clear manner in which the crime
was.
established by the evidence, the prisoner, it appears, has,
upon several occasions, earnestly asserted her innocence of
the offence, and she professes still not to have heard a
single word of the address that was made to her by Mr. J us-
tice Byles who tried her in passing sentence, when, it will
be remembered, he alluded to other charges of the same de-
scription that had been made against her, and to the proba-
bility of her being guilty of three, if not four, other murders,
by Poison. She always alludes to the judge as " the gen-
tleman," and says that she did not understand what ho
said. She is evidently a woman of a most determined spirit,
and she does not seem at all alarmed at the prospect of
death ; but it is probable that she may be buoyed up to
some extent by the idea that the capital punishment will
not be carried out in her case, although of course every
effort is made to disabuse her mind of such a feeling, and to
induce her to prepare for the fearful and inevitable result
of a conviction for such a crime. It is said that Mr. Neale,
the solicitor who defended her upon her trial, has sent in
a memorial on her behalf to the Home Secretary, but
beyond this it does not seem that any section of the public
has made a movement by petition or otherwise to obtain a
commutation of the capital sentence.