The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 18, 1862.

CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

SOUTHAMPTON, THURSDAY.

The North German Lloyd's steamer Bremen,
Captain Wessels, with the mails for England,
France, and Germany, from New York on the sth,
at 6 p.m., arrived off Cowes, en route for Bremen,
at 2 p.m. to-day.
She brings 248 passengers, 140 of whom are for
Southampton ; also 686,210 dols. in specie, of which
472,210 dols. are for England, 208,000 for France,
and 6,000 dols. for Germany.
The Teutonia arrived out on the Ist inst.
We have no later news by this arrival, but the
Neve York journals of the 4th and sth contain
several accounts, all more or less confused and con-
tradictory, of the recent battles. The following is
the account of the correspondent of the Neu, York
herald :
"It was generally understood at daylight on
Saturday, the 28th, that the army was to evacuate
its line of entrenchments. To do this with the re-
quisite precipitancy it was necessary to move only
the most essential baggage, and leave behind every-
thing that was ponderous or bulky. The officers
were given to understand that they must discrimi-
nate between necessaries and luxuries, and the sick
told that ambulances could be granted to very few,
if any. The wounded were told nothing, but the
silence was ominous to them, as it foretold them left
on contested ground in the hands of heartless trai-
tors, while the army should be receding column by
column, towards the remote and doubtful James.
The scene on that memorable Saturday morning can
never be forgotten—White-house resigned, our sup-
ply depot cut off, a part of our line of earthworks
deserted, and the army grouped, tentless and expec-
tant, in the open field, sleeping after the labours of
the battle. Hundreds of soldiers were limping
hither and thither, their arms in slings, asking
for their regiments. Hundreds of others started
upon painful and almost hopeless pilgrimages to
the James, where they fondly believed the Union
gunboats to be, and felt that under their watchful
ports there would be rest, safety, and shelter. The
long lines of fevered. staggering people struck out
for the river, and many a drop of blood spattered
the sand as they filed through brook and wood,
over hill and dale, nerved by tha certainty that
every footfall ensured more directly their deliver-
ance. Some of the wounded hobbled ten miles the
first day, upon crutches, and we saw one man with
a ball through one hip and the other ankle broken,
that kept up with an ammunition waggon through
e even hours. The ambulances were crowded with
men until the springs bent fiat upon the axles, and
a very common matter to see was several wounded
men sitting in the tail of the waggon with bloody
feet dripping upon the steps. All day long the
waggons went out in foggy files, and the troops
sauntered towards the same ultima thule. Great
siege guns and greater pontoons went ringing in
the cortege, and horsemen, teamsters, and negroes
vied with each other in cursing and swearing,
" Very few slept on Saturday night, for the issues
of the dawn came upon many with a heavy fore-
boding, and that solicitude for the army and its
general that every individual felt pressed home
with a bitter premonition of dangers to come. It
was said that the enemy had pushed a great column
between us and the James, and that when we
reached the river itself Beauregard would be found
there, backed by 100,000 men, to interpose between
us and the gunboats. It rained a little during the
night and moistened the dusty ground. By three
o'clock in the morning the rebel prisoners had
been marched off by Major Willard, the teams
at head• quarters were on their way, and before
five o'clock the general and suite were in the
saddle, dashing across the open country, turning
for a moment their eyes upon Richmond to fix them
again more tenaciously upon another and better
stand-point. We left a large number of wounded
in the hospital at Savage's, perhaps a thousand and
more in all, and these soon experienced a second
time the bloody greeting of the enemy.
At daylight on Sunday our whole line of earth-
works had been deserted, and our artillery removed
a mile to the rear. Here it was judiciously dis-
posed, the batteries masked, and the infantry
covered by thicknesses of woods. The spot was
part of the battle-ground of Fair Oaks, but it is
designated as Peach Orchard Station.

" At daylight the enemy came eastward on the
Williamsburg road, one column advancing down
the railroad. They opened from two batteries on
the left; but their firing was awkward and ineffec-
tive, as likewise their musketry, which was close
and might have been more serious. When they
reached a line of march, about three hundred yards
from our front, the whole terrible fire of our cannon
burst upon them. They staggered, but before the
full effect of our discharge was discernible the
pieces rang again and their columns were fearfully
thinned. For a half hour our fire was so close that
it seemed the perpetual echo of a single deafening
report—a continuous blaze of flame and ball, to
which the Confederates replied feebly, but with
some show of determination. General Sumner rode
in the thickest of this fight, and the gallant brigade
of Meagher was like a wall of shamrock. Indeed
Richardson's division vied with Sedgwick's, and
ileintzelman's troops were not behind hand in their
behaviour. The whole fight, though continued from
eight o'clock a.m. to twelve, was like one incident,
and it terminated with a loss on our side of not
more than 150 men, to the rebels of not less
than 1,500. The efforts of the enemy to over-
reach us on the left were made futilely, for we took
pains to cover our line of general retreat along the
Williamsburg road, by deploying our left along
that road to a creek that crosses it more than a
mile in the rear of Savage's. They endeavoured to
charge through the brigades of Burns, Dana, and
Gorman ; but the steady fire of such regiments as
the 20th Massachusetts baffled them in that regard.
Having held the place until, in the judgment of the
generals, our teams, heavy artillery, and ambul-
ances were far across White Oak Swamp, our troops
fell back leisurely to the neighbourhood of Savage's
station, and again drew up in order of action.
"The battle of Savage's was more sanguinary. It
commenced about five o'clock in the afternoon, and
lasted till eleven o'clock at night. The rebels,
when we had fallen back from Peach Orchard, filed,
with large reinforcements andadditional b •
as well as with several squadrons of cavalry, to-
wards several roads leading to the Chickahominy,
end, covered by the thick timber, were enabled to
remain concealed until they had' reached a wheat
field that stretches from Savages to a dense belt of
in the direction of the
woods fume of Dr Trent and
Messrs. Mickey, Dudley and Couch.
Suddenly ap-
pearing out of the edges of
the timber, they opened
upthe in
with rifled cannon upon our
forces, drawn
full view to the south of the railroad. Directly
y
ran out three batteries to commanding in
the wheat-field, and opened a rapid
, enfilading's
fire
of shell and grape. This was at first so staggering
that our men could not form, nor our artillerymen
bring their batteries into service. The 106th Penn_
Sylvania regiment was seized with momentary
panic, but soon recovered, and did good service.
of the fight
The first-named lost in the beginning
100 killed and wounded men, and a regiment
of rebel cavalry galloped in and drove the regi-
ment off, so that the wounded had to be re-
signed. In the meantime a rebel brigade Was
observed stealing down to the right, as if with the
design of flanking our troops by reaching a position
on the Williamsburg road. Captain Pettit at once
planted two guns on the railroad and swept the
column with grape and canister, until it went back
to the woods upon a run. Some of the sharpest
infantry fighting of the war ensued, in which parts
of Sedgwick's, Richardson's, Hooker's, Kearney's,
and Smith's divisions engaged with various sub-
COBB. The rebele came determinedly across the
field, firing as they advanced, until General Sumner
ordered our troops up at double quick to a charge.
About 4,000 of them went off at once with a roar
that might have drowned
the musketry. The
rebels kept their position for a moment, and then
fell back to the rear of their batteries. Meagher's
brigade, however, succeeded in charging right up
to the guns of a Virginian battery, two of which
they hauled off, spiked,
and
chopped the carriages
The 86th, (le 69th d
to pieces' It here , and
participated in
this gallant act.o was
maeoehu.s,at the brave Col.
Pierce, of the 29th'Its Regiment, for-

merly Gen. Pierce, of Big Bethel fame, lost an arm.

It was taken off by a solid shot.

"Night came on, but put no end to the carnage.
The steady roar of cannon and the sharp, quiek
ring of musketry, now bursting into olleys, now
degenerating into that rasping noise made by file-
firing, filled the whole air. The darkness was lit

up by the fitful flashes, and, to complete the awful
picture, the woods were set on fire by bursting
shells, and conflagration painted fiery terrors on the
sky.

"In the battle of Savage's the rebels fired into
our hospitals repeatedly, although admonished by
the customary red flag, and afterwards by a
white flag. Deaf to all appeals for forbear-
ance, they continued to hurl messengers of death
among those already past their vengeance, and the
wounded were compelled to lie immovably, and re-
ceive the quietus to their sufferings from the hands
that had already maimed them. A few had limped
away from the hospitals, but were shot down when-
ever they were discovered by the bloodthirsty foe.
"The battle of Savage's was much heavier than
that of Peach Orchard. We lost, in addition to our
wounded—all of whom fell into the possession of
the enemy—from 700 to 1,000 men, the greater
part of whom were killed and wounded. Most of
the wounded and all of the killed were left behind,
as we had no means of transportation for them, and
the exigencies of the army would not allow of delay
in waiting the tardy movements of the wounded.
The enemy lost severely, and several of his caissons
were blown up by the effectiveness of our firing.
During the several parts of the action we took not
less than 500 prisoners, but were compelled to let
them go for the same reason that operated in the
case of our wounded.

" The weary but still resolute soldiers received
orders at midnight to fall back rapidly from Savage's
across White Oak Swamp. The enemy was making
furtive attempts to over-reach them in this respect,
and it was likely to become a tight race between
the rebels and Unionists as to which should first cross
the creek and gain the high grounds on the other
side. If they should be more speedy, and
succeed in placing the swamp between ourselves
and them, our retreat would be almost inevit-
ably cut off, and almost the whole army butchered
or surrendered. Although every soldier and
officer felt this dreadful alternative so close, no
one acted otherwise than as a Northerner and
a man. There was no murmuring, no flinch-
ing, no undue hastening, only the subdued talk
of soldiers comparing opinions, the steady tramp
of battalions, and now and then the grit-
ting of teeth, or the hard drawing of a breath
to indicate the bitterness in the hearts of all.
Had some lost spirit supplied the torch, there was
the requisite fire in the whole army to rush head-
long upon immolation at Richmond, and end the
campaign with honour if not with consummation.
At dawn all had reached the swamp and the enemy
was coming on behind.
" The enemy followed us hard toward White Oak
Swamp, the faithful fellows of Heintzelman, Sum-
ner, and Franklin protecting our laggard baggage
and artillery. These, indeed, were compelled to
keep in line of battle across the country along the
whole extent of the retreat, for the enemy was for
ever endeavouring to turn us upon the right and
the left. Notwithstanding this our march exhi-
bited no symptom of haste or fear. The trains went
on duly but not riotously, and when finally the last
waggon and cannon went plashing through the
creek, our teams whitened all the hills on the
southern side, and the weary soldiers, having torn
up the bridge, laid themselves down to rest. It was
now 8 o'clock on Monday; a day arid, dusty, and
closer than the panting but indomitable Northerners
could well endure. Many of them were hungry;
the water in the swamp was such that the stomach
turned at it with loathing, and the wounded hob-
bled here and there with dry eyes that seemed to
plead for drink. White Oak Creek runs through a
belt of swamp timber, precisely as the Chickaho-
miny flows through its encompassing morass. The
creek is not more than four or six feet deep, and
had been made passable by the Engineers Brigade,
who built a good corduroy bridge across it. A strip
of bottom land lies on both sides of the swamp, and
on the north side a steep hill, crowned with a farm
house, formerly the head-quarters of General Casey,
had been encircled by our own troops with a line
of rifle pits. An abattis also stretched across the
bottom land. Beyond the stream the country was
rising, and two farm-houses lay opposite each other
at a little distance, where some of our officers
stopped to rest and refresh.
" Beyond the most eastern house ran a small
creek, supported by a thick wood. This was the
right of our new line of battle, where General Han-
cock was posted with his brigade, consisting of the
sth Wisconsin, 6th Maine, 43d New York, and
49th Pennsylvannia. Generals Brooks and David-
son lay close in to Hancock, and the batteries of
the division were commanded by Captain Ayres,
formerly of Sherman's battery. Generals Sumner,
Heintzelman, Porter, and in fact the whole of the
aomy, excepting the corps of Keyes and an im-
mense number of stragglers that had pushed or.
towards the James and could not be rallied in time
to be of service, extended the line of battle upwards
of four miles to the loft, bordering the whole dis-
tance upon the swamp, with batteries ranged upon
every commanding hilt and a strong picket situ-
ated at Charles City Cross-roads, where it was
shrewdly expected the enemy would attempt to
come out in force from Richmond.

" Hancock's position was a strong one, and it
would have taken a strong enemy to dislodge him.
The fire commenced at this point on Monday, when
the bridge that the engineers had constructed for
the passage of our army, having subserved its pur-
pose, was removed from White Oak Creek. Pre-
viously the railroad bridge had been burned, the
culverts blown up, and a lot of superfluous ammu-
nition and cumbrous baggage run by train into the
Chickahominy.

"He appeared on White Oak Swamp in great
force, and directly opened from some 20 masked
batteries that blew up several of Captain Mott's
caissons, dismounted his pieces, and raised a hub-
bub generally among teamsters, waggoners, can-
noniers, and infantry. The 20th New York at this
time made their celebrated stampede, for which
next day the Provost Guard, by order of General
M'Clellan, picked them up and took them to head-
quarters like so many culprits.
"However, very soon our light batteries recovered
themselves and vigorously responded to the enemy,
who was soon at a perceptible disadvantage, as Ur
accuracy and effect were concerned. Our infantry,
too, fell in line, ready to support the batteries or
meet halfway any attempt of the rebel infantry to
push across the creek. Thus the battle progressed
till late in the afternoon with serious loss to both
sides—more wounds from cannon shot perhaps re-
suiting than at any other time in any battle. The
rebels made some desperate efforts to cross the creek,
but General Smith brought his men up to close
quarters with them whenever they dared the con.
to, and although in each case some of our best and
sig, beloved soldiers bit the dust there were no
the infantro
8 of holdfing off. The canon fire was incessant
here, souse
_the deepest and closest of the war, and
cannonading
fire extended along whole columns.
"The
with fearful eft:eating had continued several hours
our baggage and artillery
teams. We had, 4"g
the swamp however, prevented the enemy from
.to pierce its fastnesses at
unanvolir front, and fondly hoped
he would be
Point of
any
thatny crossing
other r
our Tight se
Charles
appearance
1 ft. That this hope
was ill founded was soon justrnedh
iiinesgareat force ,t
bout four miles es City Cross-
roads,from White Oak
south, and about a
of the
Swamp. due s mile and c
halk or
Tunes River at Turkey
two miles from I
whicheneniy
Island
lvanetd direct from 14
Bend. He had it( Richmond
first under command f the
eight brigades, the 0 re-
doubtable General H.
A. Wise, and when dis-
covered at the Cross-roads was endeavouring to
work quietly down the river road between „,,r
trains, our wounded, and the army. Two hours pre-
vious such an attempt might have been successful,
when utter ruin and confusion would have ensued_
Porter and Keyes were ordered up to repel these
new corners, the troops of the former still suffering
from the battle of Friday in so great a degree that
many regiments had no drganisation atall, and many
brigades scarcely a regimental organisation. A t

five o'clock they engaged the enemy, hidden by
woods and the swelling of hills, and the firing from
musketry and field batteries was soon intense. The
rebels did fatal execution among us, and some of our
most valuable officers fell here, wounded and dying.
The reports of ordnance had now been heard so
many days that such chaos seemed the normal con-
dition of nature, and painfully the battle went on.
It was scarcely an enthusiastic fight, for all the ro-
mance of battle had worn off by reason of its mono-
tony. The men fought well, however, though half-
dead with heat, thirst, and weariness. Some broke
for the river and plunged in the cold water for an
instant ; then, emerging, rushed back to the fray
and fought like lions.

" Fresh troops and superior numbers seemed
bearing the tide of battle against us at five o'clock,
and the fate of the army hung trembling in the sun-
set, when a new advocate—half of God, half of man
—came to our relief.

"About five o'clock in the afternoon the gunboats 1
Galena, Aroostook, and Jacob Bell opened from i
Turkey Island Bend, in the James River, with shot
and shell from their immense rifled guns. The pre-
vious roar of field artillery seemed as faint es the
rattle of musketry in our comparison with these
monsters of ordnance, that literally shook the water
l las
nseemed
considerable
dbeer sup.ahle
apnlidedswtraitihnedeigthhe a
eight
interval elapsed between the shock of the report and
the subsequent explosion of the shells, They fired
second iair.
Thefuses, shells
e
about three times a minute, frequently a broadside
at a time, and the immense hull of the Galena
careened as she delivered her complement of iron
and flame. The first few shots went wide, but the
man in the Galena's topmast look-out signalled the
proper elevation to the guns, and soon they threw
among the serried rebels on the hill their ponderous
obligations, that cut down whole ranks, spreading
confusion, desolation, and dismay. The fire went
on with the same fatal effects, making music to
the ears of our tired men and consternation among
the exultant and bloodthirsty traitors. They, already
confident of concluding their wurk, and driving us
into the James, began to reel and grow uneasy.
Their fire perceptibly slackened ; their ranks seemed
slow to close up when the naval thunder had torn
them apart ; disaffection and disappointment had
already seized them, and every deep tocsin from the
Galena added its impetus to the prevailing dread.
" Signals were given to the Galena to cease firing
while a charge which had been determined upon by
Heintzelman was made, the Galena having already
hauled off. This was done by consecutively placed
signal officers all the way from the point of battle
to the banks of the James river. -When the thunder
lulled and the great ship rested after her labours
Heintzelman made a little appeal to his generals,
telling them that in the dash about to be made their
confidence and courage might not only save the
army, but do something toward avenging the great
number of loyal men who had fallen in the several
fatal encounters.

" The soldiers, poor, heroic, jaded fellows, respon-
ded with a spirit that must have come from hnngry
hearts, and soon the grand corps of Heintzelman
was in line, with the gaunt, gray figure of its com-
mander galloping down its columns. The enemy an-
ticipated some such dash, for they directed their fire
upon this part of the line, if possible more concen-
tratedly than ever. Then Heintzelman passed down
the order, and like the surging of a sea long ern,
bosomed in a plain the column moved, slowly, cer-
tainly, vigorously belching fire and ball at every
step ; but never halting until they came su close to
the rebels that they might have helloed the names
of each, man to man, across the little interval. The
latter came up bravely to the offered combat ; but
there was a destructiveness in our fire and a vehe-
mence in our tread that they could not withstand.
The fiery brigade of Meagher edged up gallantly
on the right, using the musket right soldierly; and
General Sickles' Excelsior Brigade, already fearfully
cut up, went into the action like a battalion of
fresh veterans. The brigade of Hooker was ably
lead by that distinguished officer ; and Gen. Kear-
ney seemed übiquitous, as he screamed his orders
here and there, always urging his men on to the
foe. The brigade of Gen. Grover, including some
Massachusetts regiments, behaved finely here, but
the whole corps was a unit, and Heintzelman was
its genius. Pushing steadily ahead, defying all
efforts of the enemy to break or turn its line, the
corps had at last the satisfaction of seeing the
enemy break and fly in confusion to the swamp,
totally dispirited and repulsed. We took in this
engagement over 2,000 prisoners, but as our object
had been gained in covering our advance to the
James River, it was not deemed of sufficient im-
portance in view of the risk to be encountered in
holding possession of them through the night. A
large number of these prisoners, however, remain in
our hands, and will serve in some sort to console us
for the loss of very many of our own.

" The battle of White] Oak Swamp was scarcely
second to that of Gaines Hill in point of losses of
life, wounded and prisoners. We undoubtedly suf-
fered less than the enemy, who was literally but-
chered, but our loss is nevertheless enormous.
We lost all of Mott's battery but a single
gun, the whole of Randall's battery, one
gun, we believe, of Captain Ayres', and several
others in various parts of the field. We could not
have lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners, less
than 2,500 men, and our loss may reach twice that
amount. But we gained our point, and made the
James River, despite all the enemy's attempts to cut
us off therefrom. In failing to do this he suffered
the retreat, whereas in the pitch of battle we beat
him back with immense loss, and so crippled that
he was either unable or unwilling to fire a gun next
day. The gun boats Aroostook and Galena are
entitle to the most unbounded credit. They came
into action just at the right time, and did first-rate
service.

"In addition to the loss of our field batteries
reported, we also lost several of the large siege guns
that had reached the army only a few days before
the action of Friday. A number of them were
spiked, however, and rendered useless for all time
to come."

" WASHINGTON, JULY 4.

" The latest advices received at the War Depart-
ment from General M'Clellan's army are dated nine
o'clock this morning, up to which time there had
been no fighting since Tuesday.
" General Dix reports the arrival to-day, at
Fortress Monroe, of 553 rebel prisoners, being a
part of those taken during the late battles. Among
them are several colonels and majors.
" General Dix has ordered away all civilians from
Fortress Monroe, and no persons will be permitted
to pass to that point of the army of the Potomac ex-
cept those connected with the military or naval
service."

The following account is taken from the Rich-
mond W Tag, June 27 :
" Yesterday afternoon an engagement opened a
few miles north-east of the city, which we have
no reason to doubt is the beginning of the great
conflict that is to decide the fate of this capital, and
perhaps of the Confederacy itself. The can-
nonading, till an hour or more after dark was
quick and heavy, exceeding in rapidity and
volume that at Seven Pines. Not a word from the
field has reached the city. The reason probably
is, that the attack was made and the fight waged on
the enemy's rear. The city is confident and calm.
Information came to hand last night that the attack
was made by General A. P. Hill's division on the
enemy's position near the Meadow Bridge, about
3 o'clock. The enemy recoiled, leaving a battery,
as is reported, in the hands of our troops. Retreat-
ing about two miles, the enemy made a stand in
their entrenchments at Mechanicsville, and offered
vigorous resistance for two or three hours, but they
could not stand the impetuous onsetof our victorious
troops, and again broke and made for the main body
of NlTlellan's army, leaving three batteries to their
pursuers. Darkness put an end to the chase. We
have no reports of casualties. The battle opens
glerinusly.
May this morning's sun be our sun of
Austerlitz:'

vrt (From the Richmond Whig, June 28.)
po:sesseatlnrae Nvt
oi hmopu.atr
impart
the
oourde
informationrears we expected to
01.
this
morning
the operEitions yesterday in front of this city. The es exclude all reporters from the lines of the
army and afford no intelligence to the press, though
the whole country is ahnostbreathless with anxiety
authoriti

to know what is transpiring, though a battle has
been raging nearly all day within hearing. We only I
know that the fight was resumed before day on the
other side of the Chickahominy, near :Mechanics-
ville, and that by night the enemy had been driven
southward down the Chickahominy, a distance of
three or four miles. The firing, whenever they stood
their ground, was heavy; but this generally was not
for long periods. Their falling back was, for the
most part, orderly, and they succeeded in getting
off most of their artillery, as well as the greater part
of their dead and wounded. Some six or eight
pieces of artillery were wrested from them, and the
usual amount of small arms, knapsacks, overcoats,
were found strewn along the line of retreat.
They evidently seek to avoid a general engagement,
whether with the hope of reinforcements or with the
view of drawing us on to their strongest positions,
or from sheer cowardice it is impo,sible to say.

" Our forces engaged yesterday were divisions
under command of Stonewall Jackson, Longstreet,
and the two Hills. Our scanty information does
not enable us to say whether the forces on this
side of the Chickahominy were engaged yesterday.
The casualties are not believed to be heavy, though
quite a number of wounded have been brought to
this city. To-day (Saturday) will probably witness
a general and decisive battle. We have no fear of
the result."

TEE MYSTERIOUS MURDER IN

GLASGOW.

DISCOVERY OF THE STOLEN WEARING APPAREL,
AND FURTHER DISCLOSURES.
(From the North British Daily Hail.)
Another day of anxious and persevering effort
has been spent by the authorities in the endeavour
to piece together the disjointed facts in their pos-
session which bear upon this perplexing and diffi-
cult inquiry, and to obtain such farther information
as may conduct, by a distinct road, to a conclusive
inference. It cannot be said that their sagacious
and indefatigable labours have been attended by
any signal success ; they have not lighted upon any
commanding incident of such a nature as by itself
to put the stamp of certainty upon current suspi-
cions ; but a multitude of minute circumstances have
transpired tlae whole set and drift of which bear
very strongly against the female prisoner, while
leaving the position of the old man Fleming
perfectly unaffected. As against her, there is
evidence, the amount and force of which is con-
stantly growing, to show that she was in the
house on the night of the murder, and to connect
her with the things that have been missed from it
—both those belonging to the Flemings and those
belonging to the deceased woma.. As against him,
there is only the inherent improbabilities of his
story as told from the first, aggravated by the cir-
cumstance of his continuing to deny that he even
knows the woman. So much of the facts as has been
permitted to ooze out has sufficed to work a great
change in public feeling. The unreasoning rage
which rushed at once to a condemnation of the old
man has largely subsided, and tbere are few who do
not anticipate the likelihood of his release, or are
unprepared to hail it with gratib.cation.
The evidence which tends t 9 show that Mrs.
M‘Lachlan was in the house on the night of the
murder is two-fold. There is first the bloody foot-
print left on the floor. The mark was that of a naked
toot. It appeared in three places—on a piece of
wax-cloth laid down over stole, on a carpet, and
on a bit of wooden flooring. 'The last was the one
cut out and preserved. An accurate tracing of it
was made by an artist. The experiments which we
mentioned yesterday as having been conducted with
the view of obtaining the means of comparison be-
tween it and an impress of the same kind from the
foot of the female prisoner, have been renewed and
verified. She was made first to dip her foot in blood,
then to press it on wax-cloth, on a piece of thick
wool, and on the bare flooring. All this, it may be
mentioned, she did, as she does everything she is
asked, with the most pliant obedience. The result
was that the tracing of the last imprint corresponds
with the utmost exactness to that found in the house
at Sandyford-place. The other piece of evidence also
carries great circumstantial weight. Before leaving
her own house on Friday evening, she borrowed a
bottle from her neighbour, Mrs. Campbell. The
one given her was of a peculiar shape. A bottle,
which Mrs. Campbell pronounces exceedingly like
it, though she declines to say that it is actually the
one, has been found in the house at Sandyford-
place, smelling as if it had recently contained rum.
Of course the conjecture is that she had purchased
some of that liquor on her way from her own house
to Fleming's ; and the best efforts of the police will
now be directed to ascertaining whether any pub-
lican served her on the evening in question. On
the other hand, we have to reiterate, in contradic-
tion to current rumour, that the marks on her fin-
gers are not such as to show any participation in a
violent struggle. Meanwhile a great degree of
interest has been created by the evidence which
tends to connect her with the articles supposed to
have been stolen from the house. They have been
recovered, and the manner of their recovery is not
the least curious part of this strange and intricate
affairs.

It is already well known that the unfortune
woman Jessie M'lntosh's husband, Jas. M'Lachlan,
is a native of Greenock_ He is the second youngest
son of the deceased Jas. M'Lachlan, who was in the
spirit trade, and was latterly a broker, and was well
known in these two capacities in the Vennel, near
to the foot of Cowgate, as an industrious man, for a
period of 30 years. He reared a large family, and
three of his daughters are married and still reside
in Greenock. The eldest of these is the wife of
Mr. William Reid, who keeps the Greenbank
Washing Green, at Drumfrochar-road. James,
their brother, is a most exemplary and well-doing
young man, who was bred to the sea, was some
time in Australia, and has been gradually rising in
the esteem of his employers by dint of his own
perseverance and good conduct. His sisters—or
rather half-sisters, for they are the children of his
father's first wife—do not appear to have held much
communication with their now unhappy sister-in-
law, Jessie M'lntosh. Two of them speak of her as
one who seemed to think herself a little above them
in station ; and all of them concur in saying that they
always thought her a sober woman, although fro m
some appearances they had misgivings as to her thrift,
and have been at a loss to account for her being in
difficulties, as she occupied a house or rather only a
portion of a house, rather below than above one in
her station. With Mrs. Reid, however, she seemed
to have been more in communication, and this may
have led to what we are about to narrate, which
has had so great an effect upon the elucidation of
the whole affair. James M'Lachlan, the husband
of the female prisoner, called yesterday at the
police-office, and informed them that he had some-
thing
important to tell the detectives in charge of
the mysterious case. After hearing what he had to
say, a sheriff officer proceeded to the South-Western
Railway Station, in Bridge-street, where he re-
ceived a small tin box, which had been sent from
Greenock,
addressed—" Air. Thomson, County-
buildings, Glasgow." This box contained clothing
which belonged to the deceased woman Macpher-
son, which was stolen from Sandyford-place on the
night of the murder, viz.:-1 black watered silk
plainy sskeipr
at ,rsometime worn
skirt,
aanndd
lining
gooding o
ut con-ufl
silk dress, or skirt, of a cinnamon chang-
ingEidd;kirteiirsnt; dress,
iense;dlwbiltahckbsliulke
qpuolikltaed;
Ibl
aceokl ousirl,kwvelvet oc
oflaoku,ncl
silk; 1 drab cloth cloak, large size, with plaits and
tassels on back; 1 black harness plaid, colour ori-
ginally green but dyed black; a brown paletot,
made from a shepherd tartan plaid, which had been
dyed brown. It seems that after the female pri-
soner came from Hamilton on Monday or Tuesday
week, she had gone to the 14
,ridge-street Station on
the following Wednesday, and having previously
enclosed the contents of the bundle which she took
from the leather box in krs. Chassell's house in
Hamilton in a small tin box, she sent in by the
South-Western Railway to Ayr, addressed—" Mrs.
Darnley, Ayr, to lie till called for." It was ac-
cordingly duly delivered at the station in Ayi,
where it lay till Friday, when it was sent back by
some one, and received here by James M'Lachlan,
the prisoner's husband, who paid for it at the
station in the usual wav, and took it away. The
box was then taker. to Mr. Reid's house at Green.

ock on the afternoon of Friday last by James
M'Lachlan, the husband, himself, and it still con-
tained the missing clothing of the deceased Jessie
Macpherson. It is said that the prisoner, Jessie
M'Lachlan, stated to her husband that she had had
these clothes in her possession for a week before the
murder for the purpose of having them altered,
and only urged her husband to convey them to
Greenock to be out of the way, lest the Possession
of them might excite suspicion against her of being
concerned in the murder, which she disavowed. The
box lay at Mr. Reid's up till yesterday morning.
On Tuesday night James M'Lachlan, the husband,
arrived at Greenock by the 10 o'clock train from
Glasgow, and proceeded to the house of his brother-
in-law, where the box and contents were. He was
in a state of great agitation of mind, distracted be-
tween a feeling of affection and pity for his wife
on the one hand, and a sense of duty on the other.
He knew the eagerness with which the detectives
were on the search for the missing clothes, and if
he was not the means of placing them where they
were, he knew at all events that they were there,
and also knew the importance their discovery would
have in sending the grave charge farther home in
the direction of his unhappy wife. After passing
a night of agonising suspense, he rose with a deter-
mination to proceed direct to Glasgow and deliver
up the box and its contents to the criminal authori-
ties. Accordingly, he quitted Mr. Reid's house
yesterday morning, taking the box along with him,
and was understood to leave by the 8.45 train.
When the husband left Greenock yesterday morn-
ing a porter conveyed the box to the railway.
When the above information got wind in Greenock
yesterday afternoon Captain Newnham, superinten-
dent of police, proceeded immediately to Glasgow,
with the view of ascertaining whether James
M‘Lachlan had carried out his intention of deliver-
ing up the box and clothes to the criminal authori-
ties in the city, which, as stated above, he did, and
thus saved the authorities a great amount of labour.
As it was, however, Inspector Smith spent the
whole day making a thorough search of Hamilton,
where it was supposed the clothing might have been
found. Diligent search will now continue to be
made for the missing portion of the prisoner's own
clothing which she must have disposed of in some
way, as the recovery of it would doubtless throw
some light on the matter.
Between eleven and twelve o'clock yesterday,
both prisoners were brought down from the North
Prison to the County Buildings, for further ex-
amination, before Sheriff Strathern. As early as
ten o'clock, numbers of individuals had con-
gregated in Brunswick-street, so that when the
cabs in which the unfortunate persons were
conveyed drew up, a crowd rushed round
them, eager to get a momentary glance of the pri-
soners, making it somewhat difficult for them to get
into the buildings. The old man appeared to retain
his coolness and quietude ; but the female presented
a most pitiable appearance—haggard and emaciated
in the extreme—and a marked contrast to her con-
dition even when she was apprehended on Sunday.
Old Fleming was first examined, and, we under-
stand, still adhered to his first declaration, that he
knew nothing about the matter more than hearing
the screams, and that so far from having given Mrs.
M'Lachlan the silver plate, as she affirmed, he never
saw her before to his knowledge. However that
may be accounted for, it is in contradiction of the
fact that he lived with his son while she was a ser-
vant in the house. Of course a married woman
would undergo a considerable change in four years,
and prisoner's memory may have failed during that
time. Mrs. M‘Lachlan likewise made a declaration,
but we have not ascertained its purport. The re-
sult of the investigations in the case, up to this
point, is understood to be favourable to the male
prisoner, but very unfavourable to the woman. The
crowd hovered about the front of the County Build-
ings the whole day, and this being observed by the
authorities, a stratagem was fallen upon to deprive
them of at least a part of their promised gratifica-
tion. Between four and five o'clock a cab was sud-
denly driven up to the side door at Brunswick-
street, which was at once surrounded by a mob.
While all eyes were intently fixed upon this door-
way, a cab was silently driven up to the front door,
where old Fleming was waiting, and at once en-
tered, and the cab drove off without scarcely any
one seeing him. The crowd soon after discovered
that they had been " sold," as only Mrs. M'Lachlan
left by that door. Amongst their number circulated
freely for some time during the day, one whose
presence, had they known of it, would have satis-
fied their thirst for sight-seeing equally well, per-
haps—that was James M`Lachlan, the husband of
the prisoner, who, having unburdened his conscience
by giving up the clothing, felt at ease to roam
amongst the crowd, doubtless hearing some criti-
cism not at all pleasant to his ears, in regard to
this unhappy affair, with which he himself was so
intimately connected.
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Sheriff Strathern, and
Mr. Gemmel, Procurator-Fiscal, proceeded to Edin-
burgh, and had a consultation, at six o'clock, with
Crown counsel, in the Crown agent's office there,
regarding the case. Old Mr. Fleming having now
been in custody eight days, it becomes necessary
that it be decided whether he is to be committed
for trial or liberated. The learned Sheriff and Mr.
Gemmel returned to town last night, but we under-
stand counsel have taken time to consider the
matters laid before them. It is expected, however,
that au answer will be received to-day.

LIBERATION OF MR. FLEMING, AND
COMMITTAL OF MRS. NPLACHLAN.

The result of the consultation with the Solicitor•
General last night has been received this morning
by Mr. Sheriff Strathern. Old Mr. Fleming has
been set at liberty; and Mrs. M'Lachlan, the
female prisoner, has been committed for trial on a
charge of murder and theft.

711 E SERIOUS CASE OF WHOLESALE

POISONING: