The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-14 00:00:00

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE EUROPA.
LIVERPOOL, SUNDAY.
The Royal Mail steamship Europa, Captain An-
derson, which left Boston on the 2d, and Halifax
on the night of the 3d, arrived here at 11 25 this

morning.
The New Jerk, Herald of the 30th ult. gives
the following summary of the situation of affairs :
" The whole line of the rebel army immediately
in front of Washington has fallen back, nor could
their exact position be ascertained yesterday. Mun-
son's and Upton's Hills and Falls Church have been
abandoned, and are now occupied by the Union
troops. The position of the rebels at these points
appears to have been not very formidable. There
were no signs of guns having been mounted ; their
defences were simply rifle pits ; nor were there any
evidences of any tents having been there, or any
other protection except rudely constructed sheds.
" Another unfortunate error on the part of two
divisions of the Union troops occurred on the ad-
vance of General Smith from Chain Bridge to Fall's
Church. During the darkness of the night the
Philadelphia regiment of Colonel Owens mistaking
Captain Mott's battery, General Barker's California
regiment, and two other regiments for a body of
the rebels, opened a tremendous volley upon them,
killing and wounding several. The California regi-
ment returned the fire with terrible effect. The
guns of Matt's battery were then ordered to load
with canister, and were about to pour a deadly
volley upon Colonel Owen's men when the mistake
was discovered in time to avert a terrible slaughter.
" It is much to be regretted and condemned if it
be true as stated, that the Union troops, who took
pitossession of Fall's Church, have wantonly de-
stroyed private property to the value of thirty or
forty thousand dollars.
"It is believed by military authorities at Washing-
ton that the withdrawal of the rebels is only a feint
of a retreat, for the purpose of leading our army
into an ambuscade, just as they did at Bull's Run ;
but Gen. M'Clellan has too much sagacity to be
caught in that trap.
" The old spirit which characterised our navy in
the war of 1812 has manifested itself on four or
five occasions during the present war ; and on not
one, perhaps, more prominent than in the cutting
out of the privateer Judith from under the guns of
the Pensacola Navy Yard, now in possession of the
rebels, before daylight on the morning of the 14th,
by a boat expedition from the steam frigate Colo-
rado. The several occasions we allude to, in which
the gallantry and daring of our sailors recall the
spirit which animated the navy in former times,
are the cutting out of a rebel ship in one of the ports
of Florida ; by Captain T. Banan bnaw, of the
steam gunboat Montgomery; the bombardment of
Galveston, by Captain Alden, in the gunboat
South Carolina ; the destruction of the rebel forts
on Ship Island, by Commander Porter, in the steam
frigate Powhattan ; the recent capture of the Hatteras
Forts by Commodore Stringham and General Butler;
and lastly, the boarding and destruction of the
privateer Judith, at Pensacola. The records speaks
for itself. In the ability with which this project
was designed, and the coolness and bravery by
which it was successfully carried out, it is almost
without parallel. With seventy-five men and
officers in three boats from the Colorado, the gallant
assailants boarded and set on fire the rebel priva-
teer lying at the dock in front of the navy yard
at Pensacola, under the guns of the fort, and
succeeded in their hazardous enterprise with the
loss of only three killed and 15 wounded. The
guns from the privateer poured balls quickly upon
them, but they clambered to her decks, and after
a severe hand to hand fight vanquished the
crew, destroyed the vessel, and returned to the
frigate with the loss above stated. The original
intention of the expedition was to surprise
the rebel garrison at the navy-yard, as well
as to cut out the privateer, but the approach of the
boats being discovered by the sentinel on board the
Judith, the whole power of their attack was neces-
sarily concentrated upon her. In connection with
this brilliant affair, we would refer to a letter from
Captain Vogdes, one of the officers at Fort Pickens,
to Capt. Baily, of the Colorado, in which he states
that a " contraband" deserter from Pensacola
brings information that the utmost discontent
exists among the rebels there ; that they are pining
for peace at any price; and that over 200 of the
troops have deserted within a few days past. Capt.
Vogdes expresses the opinion—and it is curious as
coming from that isolated quarter— that the rebels
around Washington do not mean to attack M'Clel-
lan's army, and that they have only a curtain of
troops along the line there to conceal the withdrawal
of their material and the main body of their army
to Richmond. He states further that the Colorado
expedition killed 30 of the rebels on the morning ,
of the 14th.

"A special despatch from Washington states that
the Washington Star of the evening of the Ist inst.
has positive information that the main body of the
rebels, the previous evening, in a position stretch-
ing from Fairfax Court House back to Manassas,
and from a point near Occoquan Creek to the right,
extending many miles in the direction of Leesburg.
Their force could not be less than 100,000 men.
" It is believed that a large part of the rebel force
in Virginia has been sent to Kentucky by railroad,
via Nashville."

The Boston journals publish the following des-
patch from Washington, dated on the evening of
the Ist inst.:—" There has been no change in the
position of the Federal troops on the Virginia side
since yesterday. The rebel pickets still
occupy the lower end of the village of Fall's
Church on the line of the railroad. The troops of
neither army are in possession of Lewinsville.
Our pickets extend only to Langley from Chain
Bridge. Langley and Lewinsville are orrly three
miles apart. A reconnaissance was made to-day to
Pohick Church and vicinity, about 12 miles from
Alexandria to the left of Springfield Station. The
rebel encampments were found entirely deserted,
and nothing indicated their presence in that neigh-
' bourhood. A ' contraband' came into our lines
this morning, and was taken to the headquarters
of General APDowell, at Upton's Hill. He stated
that he was the servant of the surgeon of the 15th
Georgia regiment, which was encamped, together
with two other regiments, four miles fi.orn. Falls
Church, on the road loading to Fairfax Court
House. He also said there are no rebel troops
there excepting those just mentioned, neither
were there any fortifications this side of
the Fairfax Court House. He gave as a
reason for the precipitate retreat of the rebel

„,.
army, that they were fearful of a flank move-
ment by the Federal army from the direction of
Lewinsville, that he heard his master, the surgeon,
say, on Thursday last, that the fortifications on the
river below Washington were very extensive, and
that Beauregard had given orders to close the na-
vigation of the Potomac to our vessels. Informa-
tion received to-night from Gen. Bank's column,
represents all quiet on the line of the Upper
Potomac.”

It was reported at Cairo, Illinois, that the Con-
federate General Polk, with 20,000 men, had taken
possession of Mansfield, Kentucky. Everything
was quiet at Cairo and Paducah. t

General Price's official report, giving a some-
what detailed account of the battle of Lexington,
has been received. The following are the closing
paragraphs :—" Our entire loss in this series
of engagements amounts to 29 killed, and
72 wounded. The enemy's loss was much
greater. The visible fruits of this almost bloodless
victory are great. About 3,500 prisoners, among
whom aro Colonels Mulligan, Marshall, Peabody,
Whiiigrover, Major Van Horn, and 118 other com-
missioned officers ; five pieces of artillery and two
mortars, over 33,000 stand of infantry arms, a large
number of sabres, about 750 horses, many sets of
cavalry equipments, waggons, teams, ammunition,
more than 100,000 dols. worth of commissary stores,
and a large amount of other property. In addition
to all this, I obtained the restoration of the great
seal of the State and the public records which had
been stolen from their proper custodian, and about
900,000 dols. in money, of which the bank at this
place had been robbed, and which I have caused to
be returned to it."

General Anderson had telegraphed to Cincinnati
for reinforcements, having received advice of tho
advance of a considerable Confederate force into
Kentucky.
Thirteen Federal schooners had left Fort Monroe
for Hatteras inlet.

The Confederate batteries seriously impede the
navigation of the Potomac.

A St. Louis telegram reports that the chief of the
Cherokee nation bad finally succumbed to the seces-
sion pressure. On the 20th August he called his
council together and sent in a message recommend-
ing the severance of their connection with the United
States and an alliance with the Southern Confederacy-
The council approved the recommendation, and
appointed commissioners to make a treaty of alliance
with tho Southern Government. The Confederate
commissioner had assumed the payment of the an-
nuities hitherto received by the Cherokees from the
United States governments. The Creeks had
raised 1,000 men for service in the Confederate
army, and the Cherokees formed a home guard
1,200 strong.
The officer in command at Key West had issued a
notification that all citizens of Key West who re-
fused to take the oath of allegiance would be
arrested and sent to New York as prisoners of war.
Foreigners who did not wish to take the oath were
ordered to leave. Over fifty had already departed.
Her Majesty's sloop of war Challenger arrived at
Key West on the 19th ult. Some little ill-feeling
seems to have been caused to the United States offi-
cials by Commodore Dunlop and Captain Kennedy,
of the Challenger, erecting a target for the exercise
of the men at the guns, within 1,000 yards of the
fortifications of Fort Taylor. Over two hundred
solid shots and small shells were said to have been
fired at the target. The practice continued three
hours.

The British barque 'Hiawatha has been con
demned as a lawful prize.
The Bohemian has arrived ont.
(Latest by Telegraph, via Halifax.)
NEW YORK, OCT. 3.
General Wool has been surprised by Genera]
Mansfield at Fortress Monroe.

A large naval expedition is being fitted out here.
The Fulton has arrived out.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Cotton firm. Provisions dull. Stocks firm.
New York Central, 74. i; Illinois, 661-; Erie, 241 ;
Exchange, 1071.