The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-08 00:00:00

n Guildhall-yard and K I
ing-street, to receive the Lord sovs, added to BWe epstak
Mayor on his return from Westminster. miles,

The procession, on its return, will be joined by the am-
bassadors, her Majesty's ministers of state, the nobility,
judges, members of Parliament, and other persons of dis-
tinction, invited to the banquet at Guildhall.

Age st lb
Old I3en Roe .. a 11 0
Quecnsferry .. 6 10 10
The Dane • . 5 10 10
Bantum .., 5 'lO 10
Lord Lovel 6 10 7
Goldsmith .. a 10 5
Yorkshire Grey .. a 10 5
Romeo .. a 10 4
Fairplay' a 10 4
Beads or Tails .. a 10 4
Johnny 6 10 41
Premier .. a 10 0
Castanetto .. 5 10 0

)s of 5 sovs each. About thrP•

11 °Al'
Dunboyne :gl3tr
a. .9
Lincoln Ib
.. a 9 12
Pine Apple .. a 9 10
Black Roso .. 6 9 10
Chester .. a 9 7
Marmion .. •.a 9 7
British Workman.. 5 9 7
Corona .. 4 9 7
Farmer from Kerry 4 9 7
Friar of Apshall .. a 9 4
Evelyn .. a 9 4
Mary Ann.. .. 6 9 4
Physician .. G 1 12

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

THE FEDERAL DEFEAT AT LEESBURG.
LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY.
The Inman steamship Etna has arrived, with
advices from New York to the 26th ult.

A correspondent of the New York Yribune sup-
plies the following succinct account of the disaster
to the Federal forces at Edward's Ferry;--
"Late on Sunday night (I note all as it is told
m.e by trustworthy witnesses of what passed) de-
tachments of the Massachusetts 15th and 20th Re-
giments were sent from the Maryland side of the
Upper Potomac to Harrison's (or Swan's) Island,
four miles above Edward's Ferry, with orders to
stand in readiness to cross to Virginia at sudden
notice. It was understood that Quartermaster
Howe, of the 15th Massachusetts, had been over
with a scouting party, and had reported that a
small rebel camp lay within easy capturing dis-
tance of the shore, and the impression then was
that the expedition was to carry out this purpose.
However this might be, at about midnight 300 of
the 15th Regiment, 'under Colonel Devens, were
sent over from the island, with 100 of the 20th,
under Colonel Lee, as a reserve force. The means
of crossing were shockingly inadequate. Three
boats only were employed—one capable of holding
16 persons; the other two holding but four or five
each. There is no question but that better trans-
ports could have been obtained at the expense of
very slight trouble. The canal, close by, was filled
with boats which could have been transferred to
the river with comparatively little difficulty, since
communication is furnished by a lock close at hand.
However, the crossing was, after a time effected,
and during the early morning the little body of the
15th were moving cautiously towards Leesburg, but,
not finding what was expected, withdrew toward
the river bank and waited for further orders. No
sign of the enemy was given until about nine o'clock,
when part of what is supposed to have been a Mis-
sissippi regiment appeared, and immediately engaged
our advance. By one musket discharge of the rebels
at this time, some dozen of Company H,lsth Regi-
ment, were seriously wounded, and three were killed.
The enemy, however, were for a short time driven
back, but being powerfully reinforced, they in turn
became the assailants and thrust the 15th Regiment
men back on the reserve of the 20th. All this fight-
ing took place within a very limited extent of
ground, and lasted about half an hour. Colonel Lee
sent a note to General Stone, saying 'Devens has
fallen back on me, We intend to fight.' Probably
in consequence of this intelligence, 300 additional
men of the 15th were sent over from the island as
reinforcements. Nothing serious occurred, although
skirthishes were ventured upon from time to time,
until two o'clock in the afternoon, when Colonel
Baker crossed with a part of his California Regi-
ment, further detachmeit of the Massachusetts 20th,
a company or two of Colonel Coggswell's Tammany
Regiment, and a small selection from the Pennsyl-
vania 29th. Colonel Baker at once assumed com-
mand, and disposed his forces for battle. The ground
was not favourable for our men, and, so far as I can
learn, was, in every strategic consideration, an un-
fortunate one. It was an open field, at the summit
of the steep acclivity which forms the Virginian
shore at this point. In case of a defeat—as it
afterwards proved—no possibility of successful
retreat existed. The field, which' occupied alto-
gether some 12 or 15 acres, extended back 'for a
very short distance, and was on three sides bor-
dered by thick woods. In the woods on the right
hand the men of the Massachusetts 15th, some 600
in number, were placed. At the right of the open
space stood the 300 men of the Massachusetts
20th. At the left were the men of the California
regiment, while the Tammany troops held the rear
of the centre. One rifled cannon of Vaughan's Rhode
Island Battery was stationed in front of the left
wing, and two mountain howitzers of Rickett's bat-
tery in front of the right. (These pieces were lost
during the engagement.) Our entire force num- '
bered about 1,800 men. Towards 3 o'clock the
rebels, without coming into view, suddenly opened
a severe fire of muskets from the woods facing our
line. The cannoniers and artillery horses attached
to the field pieces were almost all shot down at this
opening discharge, and the infantry suffered heavily.
Our men responded with vigour, but it was appa-
rent that the odds in numbers, as well as in position,
were vastly in favour of the rebels. The working
of our guns was soon interrupted, and not more than
half-a-dozen rounds were fired during the four
hours' contest that ensued. For the last two or
three rounds Col. Lee carried up the ammunition
with his own hands, All this time our men had but
occasional glimpses of the enemy, and were except-
ing the detachments of the sth Massachusetts, con-
tinually exposedto the view of their opponents. The
fire of musketry upon them was almost incessant,
but artillery the rebels did not use, from beginning
to end. The slaughter which we know to have
resulted seems all the more remarkable in view of
this fact. It is probable that the rebels were-fami-
liar with the ground, and knew precisely where to
direct their volleys, and that the pluck which our
men—certainly the Massachusetts men—showed in
returning to the same spot of action again and again.
only brought certain and renewed destruction upon
them. I am assured that as each new line was
formed the rebel volleys would seem to meet them,
and separate them, as if by lightning stroke, into !
broken and scattered groups. No line could
stand before their concentrated sre, and thecini,
possibility of discovering them, sheltered as they
were by thick woods, rendered our troops' efforts
at retaliation perfectly futile. Beyond all doubt,
our force was prodigiously outnumbered. Mak-
ing every allowance for the exaggerated con
jectures which participants in an action like this
are apt to make, it seems probable that the odds on
the rebel side were as three to one. They might
have been larger, and certainly the almost univer-
sal opinion is that they were. For more than an
hour this work continued before our disasters ap-
peared to become overwhelming. A little after
four o'clock Colonel Baker was shot, apparently in
the chest or stomach. He was standing in advance
of his left endeavouring to rally a company of Penn-
sylvania skirmishers. He fell heavily forward, but
immediately raised himself upon his hands and
knees, and afterwards, with an effort to his feet.
Ho stood erect only for an instant, and, without
uttering a word, fell again motionless. It is pro-
bable that he received another shot at the moment
of rising. I am told that the only wonder is that
Colonel Baker did not fall earlier, so daringly did
he expose himself at all moments during the action.
Towards six o'clock the case was so utterly hope-
less, and the impossibility of retreat so evident,
that, in spite of the unshrinking determination of
the little remainder of our troops, the leading
officers counselled a surrender. Colonel Lee, after
consultation, determined, for the sake of averting
needless slaughter, to give up himself and his men.
But, even after this intention had been communi-
cated, the detachment of the 20th rallied a number
of times and fired steady volleys. It would appear
that even at this late period, if a resolute bayonet-
charge had been ordered, the field might have been
saved, for to the last moment the courage of our
troops was undiminished, But the orders became
irregular, the intentions :of the leading officers
penned divided, and a little after six o'clock the re-

maining contestants withdrew down the precipitous
river bank, and endeavoured to recross to the island.
Here the general organisation of our force was
quite abandoned ; each company acted separately.
The officers and men who could swim started, half
naked, over the river, and the boats were kept for
a while for the wounded. This, however, lasted
but a little time. Presently all order was lost.
A large flatboat was sunk by overcrowding, and
scorces of men perished, some by drowning and some
by the fire of the rebels, who now crowded the
high bank, and poured au incessant fire upon the
scattering fugitives. The river channel was thick
with dead and dying bodies, but the bearing of the
survivors was strangely quiet—the immobility, per-
haps, of desperate hopelessness. Hundreds pro-
bably were here sacrificed. The number of prisoners
taken was very large. Parts of the 15th Massa-

chusetts and some of the Tammany Regiment
pushed down the river as far as Edward's Ferry,
and there forded; while a portion of the 20th and
some of the Californian Regiment marched up for a
mile until they, came upon a small stranded boat,
by means of which they succeeded in slowly cross-
ing. It is generally estimated that nearly, if not
quite, one-half of our force engaged were killed,
wounded, or captured."

The appearance of the routed men was distress-
ing; many of them were nearly naked, some had
on nothing but overcoats, some only a pair of
pants, and but few with shoes ; nost of them were
without arms or ammunition.

The official report states the Federal loss in
killed, wounded, and missing at 680.
The Confederates had thrown up a road fort near
Leesburg. On the 23d Generals M'Clellan and
Banks took a survey of the country in the neigh-
bourhood of Leesburg. His movements are re-
ported as follows :
"About 4 p,m. the rebels showed themselves in
force upon the hill, about two miles and a half
to wards Leesburg, where they have thrown up
a dirt fort. It was soon found that they had
two regiments there, and at the same time a
large force was reported advancing on our left,
on the left of Goose Creek, from the direction
of Fairfax Court House. Our force was again
prepared to receive them. Generals M'Clellan
awl Banks, who had just arrived, took up a posi-
tion on the high bluff on this side. From there we
could see the whole country before us, for two or
three miles back, and some eight up and down the
country. Our batteries were ranged along the hill,
and General M'Clellan on foot, with a large marine
glass, watched the whole field. Every moment he
was issuing orders to one battery to watch that road
and that field, and to be ready to fire as soon as the
word was given. A large force of infantry were
called up and marched to the river, some of them
upon the double quick. Several batteries were
taken down, and a fleet of canal boats were run out
from the canal into the river to cross the men in.
Every 15 minutes messengers would come over and
report from our pickets, and it soon became evident
that we should not be attacked before morning, and
the enemy were only drawing up their reinforce-
ments in order to surround our little force, and
either take all prisoners, or else enact the Conrad's
Ferry disaster over again. About 6 p.m. orders
were issued to have the troops all brought back,
and those who had embarked to go over were un-
loaded and returned to their camps. Then corn- j
menced the work of bringing them back safely. It
was done by canal boats. They would be loaded
and then poled across, landing half a mile below
the point from where they started. All reached
here at 4 p.m., and the appearance of some of them
was painful indeed. They had stood in line of battle
from 12 to 14 hours without moving, and without
water or food. They had no sleep for two days and
nights, and were nearly exhausted. Some dragged
their muskets along by the end, and seemed to sleep
as they walked along: The Minnesota First was
the nearest exhausted of any, but we heard no
grumbling. All seemed thankful to have got over
safe; not a man was injured in the recrossing nor any
baggage lost—everything came over safe. Generals
Gorman and Stone personally superintended the
crossing, and were the last to leave. Gen. Gorman
has been in the saddle for two days and nights.
About daylight a squad of four or five men came
running down to the shore, and with our glasses
were seen to be our men, who found themselves
left, and were afraid they were lost. A boat was
sent over after them. The rebels had not found
out that we had retired, or at least had not made
their appearance then. About nine o'clock their
cavalry scouts were seen ranging along the oppo-
site hills, but did not approach nearer than a mile,
and none were seen on the fort."

All the Federal troops at Edward's Ferry and
Harrison Island had crossed to the Maryland side.
The New York Tribune speaks as follows of the
demoralisation which exists in the Federal army:—
" While the Confederate traitors are sending
mission after mission to Europe to entreat, conjure,
implore Louis Napoleon, Palmerston, somebody,
anybody, to interpose in their behalf, and thus
secure unlimited supplies of slaveholding gratitude
and cotton, their real allies are close at hand and
very formidable—nay, they have effected a lodg-
ment in the very camps of the Union armies. Their
names are Drunkenness and Rapine ; and they have
done, and are doing, more harm to the Union cause
than all its declared enemies from Fort Lafayette
to Matamoras. Those enemies aro malignant and
crafty ; they avoid a fair and equal meeting with
the Unionists, but deal deadly blows when by sur-
prise and superior local knowledge they catch
us at a disadvantage ; but their ally, Rum,
always has ns at a disadvantage, for he knows
our weak points by instinct, and glides by our
pickets and sentinels like a magician who has the
power of rendering himself invisible at will. In vain
are general orders issued forbidding his approach;
how can they be enforced when Rum is hail-fellow
with officers as well as privates, and welcomed in the
colonel's marquee as well as by the soldier's bivouac?
Some days are inclement—then the soldier likes
to fortify himself against cold and wet by insidious
treacherous liquor ; others are fine, calling for
long marches or fatiguing work in felling trees or
digging trenches, and the soldier wants to be braced
up with grog. If the duty is severe, he must drink
if he can get it, and if he has a playspell, how can
he enjoy it without his toddy ? So the soldier
drinks, and at best squanders the pay that should
be sent to his needy family, while he sometimes be-
comes maddened by liquor, and acts like a very
demon. Let us give an example :—A regiment on
the Potomac was recently ordered on a march of 15
or 20 miles. It made five or six miles the first after-
noon, and encamped. Next morning at roll-call
o one knew what had
i
nearly 100 were missing. N
become of them. Anxious nquiry and search at
length discovered them at a low drinking-house a
mile or more from their camp, where they had first
got drunk, then quarrelled, and proceeded to out-
rages, whereof the net result was one man killed,
several horses and hogs either killed or so mutilated
as to bs worthless, &c. That regiment had to be
ordered back and another sent in its stead, while
Uncle Sam has a bill of 500 to 1,000 dols. to pay for
ruined property, and has lost one, if not two, soldiers.
And this is a fair specimen of Rum's doings in the
army. Of course all do not so drink, nor half, nor
perhaps a quarter ; but enough do to effect a fright-
ful amount of evil and render the life of a good com-
mander one of painful anxiety and sorrow. Liquor
has, up to this hour, done the Union army more
harm than any 50 regiments in the rebel armies.
The twin ally of treason is rapine, whether it take
the form of plunder or that of wanton destruction.
The track of an army is too apt to be marked by
desolation, but it'need not be by wicked waste and
crime. We hear much of the devastation committed
by rebel forces on their march through Missouri
and Kentucky, and it is doubtless all true.n
On the devastation committed by our Tut
soldiers our reports are generally silent;

ki .4 ti .-'') \3- vi
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4 1.0;4034:q- , --,;.!
this does not alter the -c' Af-'-'l,:t.' . iiti
—brigade halts for the nigh -'44lC7i A
t
a mile of valuble fences to makqs firObigh,
fuel is at hand that is of little value. Often pigpens
and outhouses are sacrificed to the flames ; even
doors are wrenched from their hinges and piled on
Ifto ainhsouuresethbee coveteddeserted_a
warmth
itmt whwelilthmthaeyleast trouble.
otfheaslltanthcahtest Unionists--it be, even by
mayn in:Oints•ii—list oenttheetedcoaunlsdertef
the
stripped
bivouac or the march, and often wanton damage
and ruin are added to a spoliation. Finally, the
'premises look too bad to leave as a witness against
the marauders; so some bold, reckless, villain applies
the torch, and next morning sees nothing but a
wreck of chimney and heap of blackened ruins to
tell that a dwelling stood there but yesterday.
Next night may witness a kindred spectacle further
on, aggravated, perhaps, by shameful insults to
women and ruffianly abuse of their protectors. And
thus thousands who were friendly to the Union
cause, or at the worst indifferent, are rapidly trans-
formed into frenzied, implacable enemies. Persona 1
outrages on the defenceless, we rejoice to believe,
have been very rare on either side, but they are not
absolutely unknown ; while rapine, prompted by
intoxication, is far too common. Commanders will
not believe it; everything is made tide and fair-
seeming when the word is passed that they are
coming; but that matters little. Ride across the
Potomac from Washington, and you will see the
ruins of goodly dwellings—many of them those of
stanch Unionists—that were in good preservation
when the rebels last left them a few weeks ago;
you will see farms stripped of fences and sub-
jected to general devastation ; you will see many
things, but no pigs or chickens; and we are
privately assured that wholesale plundering has
marked the track of two divisions of Gene-
ral Fremont's army in the heart of Missouri.
Of course, the commanders of those divisions
are ignorant of the ravage ; but there is no con-
solation in that fact to the plundered, beggared citi-
zens, who welcome an army of liberators and pro-
tectors only to find them general robbers: The
Secessionists have more, excuse ror this, for they
must rob to live. The Unionists have generally pay
and.rations, and ought to be scrupulously just in all
their works and ways."

A letter dated Hampton Roads, October 22, gives
particulars of the expeditionary force :--
"The fleet that sailed yesterday (Monday) morn-
ing consists of 18 transports, the Atlantic, Baltic,
Vanderbilt, Ariel, Daniel Webster, Coatzacoalcos,
Ocean Queen, Illinois, Empire City, Ericsson,
Roanoke, and Marion, all large ocean steamers, and
the Parkersburg, Winfield Scott, Pensacola, Ben.
De Ford, Belvidere and Philadelphia, steamers of
another class, but adapted for such a trade as that
by sea between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Four
of the transports carry horses and army waggons,
the others are loaded with troops, including two
regiments from New Hampshire, the 3d and 4th ;
four from New York, the 46th, 47th, 48th, and 79th,
the last now about 500 strong; two from Maine, the
Bth and 9th ; two from Connecticut, the 6th and 7th ;
one from Pennsylvania, the 50th ; and one from
Michigan, the Bth. All these but one, it will be
noticed, are from the Eastern or Middle States, as
is eminently suitable in a coast expedition. At
Fortress Monroe they will be joined by two steamers,
the Ca Hawba and Star of the South, carrying the
Rhode Island 2d, and the Mechanics' or Engineer
Regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel Kerrel, the latter
sometimes known as the ' Mud Sill' Regiment ; two
transports, the Oriental and Matanzas, carrying
1,000 contraband negroes, received at or near For-
tress Monroe, and six transports, the Locust, the
Potomac, the Golden Eagle, the Ocean Express, the
Zero's Coffin, and the Great Republic, carrying stores.
So that the military portion of the fleet' will consist
of 18 vessels carrying 14 regiments and one battery,
and 12 carrying stores, contraband and otherwise.
The battery is Sherman's well-known one of six
guns, and 140 men. Besides this, however, a num-
ber of heavy siege guns are taken, a corps of Sap-
pers and Engineers belonging to the regular army,
large supplies of camp equipage, a body of masons
and carpenters, quantities of brick, mortar, and
large stones, and in fact a complete fitting out of
an expedition about to land on a hostile coast, in the
face, perhaps of powerful batteries, and to intrench
itself on that coast with a view to making its
lodgment the base of important and future opera-
tions. The negroes are principally for digging
intrenchments, and will, for the first time, consti-
tute an important arm of offence in the hands of a
National army ; as the example of using that arm
has been so frequently set us by our opponents,
they will nbt be surprised to learn that we have at
last chosen to avail ourselves of the example, and at
the same time a significant suggestion will be
afforded them of the furtive use that could be made
of the weapon during the war, A thousand of
these contraband articles scattered in the Southern
interior from the point d'appui afforded by the pro-
posed movement, would do more damage to our
enemies than a hundred thousand cannonballs. We
have too long abstained from availing ourselves of
the means placed so obviously within our grasp ;
perhaps the very natural apprehensions that the
present brandishing of it will awaken in our
Southern brethren,' may incite in them an appre-
ciation of our previous forbearance as well as a
wholesome dread of our future determination. A
large quantity of surf-boats is taken with the ex-
pedition, whose completeness in all matters of
ordnance :stores, ammunition, and appurtenances
seems admirable. It will be under the command of
Brigadier- General T. W. Sherman, whose services
to his country are too recent and too brilliant to
bear more than a statement of this fact that he was
the leader of Sherman's Battery at the battle of
Bull's Run. He has now relinquished his battery to
Captain Hamilton, but it is to accompany him
on this precious enterprise. Brigadier-General Eg.
bert T. Viele of New York, Stevens (late Governor)
of Oregon, and Wright; recently a Major of United
States Engineers,are all attached to the expedition,
each having command of a brigade ; all are gradu-
ates of the West Point Academy, and have served
with honour in the United States service. The Now
Hampshire 3d Regiment i$ quartered here ; they
seem a set of cleanly hardy men, superior to the ma-
terial of many regiments. The number of hymns
they know is wonderful—all Methodist ; but I can-
not observe that they swear any less than other
soldiers. Flanders is not the only place in the
world where the armies find that practice indis-
pensable."
[ San Francisco, California, is now in telegraphic
from
communication
the
Atlanticw i with Cape pe Race, t
o
the
Pacific coast, across
the wires stretch-
ingoo The next westward ex-
tisheeswtihmoaleteNd American Continent. The distance
tension of the line will be by the way of Behring's
Straits to the mouth of the Amoor river, to which
point the Russian Government is already construct-
ing a line, commencing at Moscow:
The horses and mules at Washington had been
reduced to short allowance of forage, the railway
not being capable of conveying it in sufficient quan-
tities and the Potomac being closed.
The crew of the privateer Savannah were under
trial at the United States Circuit Court.
A letter from. Key West states that the Southern
Commissioners had landed at Cardenas from the
Confederate steamer Theodora.

The steamship North Star had arrived at New
York with the Californian mails and 1,026,332 dols.
From New Grenada we learn that Antioquia and
Santander were in arms against Mosquera. The
convention known as the Guardia Murillo Treaty
passed the Legislature of the State of Panama on
the 14th ult., and it was confidently expected the
Governor would approved the same on the follow-
ing day. This treaty virtually acknowledges thu
Government of Mosquera,in consideration of liberal
concessions to the State of Panama. But if the
Constituent Convention which is to meet soon in.
Bogota, :does not approve this arrangement (aria
n not
be paid in cash. All the monks and nuns in Bogota
property probably it will not), the whole affair will amount
to nothing.
The Panama Star and Herald of the 10th ult.
says Mosquera has decreed an issue of 500,000
dole. in Treasury notes to pay off citizens who hold
•
oeblaliigrnesdatgoariencsetivthe het Government.
notes,
but
utFotrheeiigr
claimsers ai•e
;illhave been turned out, and their
confis-
cated by Mosquera, which, it is
great dissatisfaction." Said, has caused