The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-01 00:00:00

PRICE .... . —..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

oneto
r of the
with men
great enbeloraidiwp.'tyPl; manage
l i t,' responded
lessened
the general. Up went the balloon, higher, higher.
i
its huge form
as it wildly mounted into the •
regions of the upper
air it became a speck in the sky. The wind was
taking it in the direction of the enemy's territory.
By this time every staff effieer and hundreds of
others were looking at the moving speck. It is
impossible to describe the anxiety felt and expressed
for the fate of him, the central object of thought, in
that faraway moving Ppeek, every moment becom-
ing less visible. It is seen to move in our direction.
The countenances of our men brighten with baps.
It passes over our heads. Soon it begins to descend
but with a rapidity that arouses renewed appre-
hension. Quickly a squad of cavalry, with Capt.
Locke and Lieut. M'Quade, of the general's staff,
plunge spurs into their horses, and dash away in
the direction of the descending balloon. The rest
of the story is as I received it from the general's
own lips. While the rope was being payed out he
adjusted his glass in readiness for his proposed
view of the enemy's territory. A sudden bound of
the balloon told him in a moment that the rope had
given way. He dropped his glass, heard the call
' Open the valve,' made the response given above,
and set about looking for the valve. He was sensible
of being flighty (the general loves a pun as well as
the next one), but was not at all nervous. He saw
the wind had taken him over the line of the rebel
intrenchments. Having no wish to drop in among
them, he let the valve take care of itself, and pro-
ceeded to take advantage of his position to note the
aspect of rebel objects below. Crowds of soldiers
rushed from the woods, and he heard their shouts
distinctly. Luckily he was above the reach of their
bullets, so he was not afraid on this score. The map
of the country was distinctly discernable. He saw
Yorktown and its works, York river and its wind-
ings, and Norfolk and its smoking chimneys. A "
counter current of air struck the balloon, and its
course was reversed. Its retreat from over rebel-
dom was rapid. He opened the valve, the gas
escaped, and down he came. He could not say how
fast he came down, but it was with a rapidity he
would not care to have repeated. The car struck
the top of a shelter tent—under which luckily no
one happened to be at the time—knocked the tent
into ' pie; and left him enveloped in a mass of col-

lapsed oil silk. He crawled out, and found him-
self in the middle of a camp, not a hundred rods
from General M'Clellan's headquarters. ' I came
mounted, you see,' was his remark to Gen. Burns,
who was about the first man by his side. He gave
the details of his aerial voyage to General Burns,
who seeing the opportunity of getting off a
joke, • could not lose it. ' You are a suspicious
character,' remarked General Burns. ' How se ?'
asked General Porter. 'ln the space of half an
hour you have been taken up by a balloon and ar-
rested by a shelter-tent." And you have come
down safe, I see,' Croke in Captain Locke, before
the laughter at Gen. Burns's duet of puns; ' I came
with this cavalry company to look you up.' I You
ought to have sent flying artillery after me,' re-
joined Gen. Porter."
While the Federals were picking their steps to-
wards the entrenchments at Yorktown the Confe-
derate fleet made a small demonstration, which is
thus described in the .2Veto York Evening Post:—
" Fortress Monroe, April 11.
" The long-expected Merrimac is out last, and
has been lying in full sight of us here all day, look-
ing black and mischievous as possible, but confin-
ing her warlike demonstration to looks. ' Will
she fight ?' everybody asks. Yes,' seems to be
the general reply; wait until the night closes
down on us, and we shall have her at work !'
Thus far not a gun has been fired, except two from
the Rip Raps early this morning, when the Merri-
mac first appeared. I was enjoying my breakfast
in the most comrortable manner on the steamer
Commodore, M'Clellan's flagship, when the signal
of the Merrimac's coming hurried me through the
meal, and I hastened on deck. Far out at the
mouth of James river, just off the short triangle of
Smell's Point, the Merrimac and her companions
were appearing in the hazy atmosphere of the
morning— first their misty outlines, then in more
sharply defined shapes,as they gradually approached
down the channel, dignified, mysterious, and ter-
rible. Further in the rear the faint shadow of
smoke arising from several points indicated the
presence of other vessels, whose timorous approach
so far behind indicated a peaceful character ; pro-
bably small steamers bearing spectators to the
coming fight. It is a way they have at the South.
It was so at Port Royal,when boatloads came down
from Charleston and up from Savannah to see the
Yankees driven back. They saw how the thing
was done there, and I devoutly hope they are to
have a second edition of the same experience herel
On that occasion a vessel bearing the French and
English flags was conspicuous among the fleet of
sightseers, betokening the presence of the Consuls
of the two nations. They have their representatives
here as well. Close along the path by which the
rebels approach are three war steamers, one bearing
the Union jack and two the tricolour of France.
Presuming on their nationality they have ventured
far beyond our pickets, so to speak, and lie in loving
proximity to the rebel vessels, determind to see the
fight at all hazards. A boat has passed between
the two, if my eyes de not deceive me, though from
which the messenger proceeded I cannot tell. In
light of this first beautiful day which has visited
us during the week, thousands of spectators can be
seen gathering on the shore, along the parapets of
the fort, covering the roofs of buildings, crowding
the yards of vessels; everywhere swarming, watch-
ing the progress of events and coolly speculating
on the probabilities. None seem anxious ; few are
much confident. We only watch and wait. But
it is dull, with so little disposition to fight shown
by either side. The Merrimac evidently wants the
Monitor to come further out ; the Monitor is deter-
mined that the Merrimac should venture further
in, and so, like two knights at a tournament, they
measure each other's strength before engaging.
It is an ugly little trap into which the Monitor
would decoy her antagonist before attacking her.
That single turret, with its pair of guns, is no longer
our sole reliance and hope, though I for one believe
them still our main protection, with the addition
perhaps of the yet untried Stevens battery, which
is steaming about. This still retains a little yellow-
coloured cabin, erected temporarily on the after deck,
and looks precisely like a common tugboat, innocent
of war. The Monitor steams leisurely about, her
decks at times covered with men, and again deserted
by all except the look out or two on the top of the
broad tower. She has not gone at any time to-day
half a mile from the shore, and a shot at her as she

lies would send confusion into the fleet of merchant
vessels at her back. But the Merrimac is yet too
far off for that. Thus far the rebels have the laurels
of the day, one of the gunboats having carried off a
couple of brigs and a schooner, which lay too far out
to be protected without a fight, which they were
scarcely worth. As one of them was loaded only
with sutler's stores, the quartermaster is consoled
for her loss; another had hay ; of the third I knoa
nothing. There:has been great commotion among
the shipping here, and they have been flitting to
and fro in search of a safe anchorage. Many of
them have gotten under way, the expected fight not
being supposed to interfere with the movements of
transports. Some have gone out heavily laden with
soldiers for General M'Clellan. If the Merrimac
should successfully follow their track she might in
a few hours avenge Corinth. There is little danger
of this. Had she the hardihood to attempt it she
could scarcely run the gauntlet of our batteries,
gunboats, and forts, and escape alive.
What she may or will do with the Federal flotilla
is not so easily settled. It is certainly a curious
sight for a people to witness on their own shores
who were going to dispute with the great naval
Powers of the world the possession of the high seas !
Another account says, under date of April 12