The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-07-02

ments-The Results u she Achieve ment.
TO the Editors Of the Dfspatch What has
days Of exaggeration, when every little Skin
mish IL magnifed In to battle, 10 that so lit
tie has been thought Of the repeated attacks
upon, and, in particular, the three days ter
rife cannonade Of, the little card bag battery
at Game Point, Aqua Greek. For 80 glorious
result, with such means Of ress lance TO the
attacking force, l know nothing to be COM
pared TO 1t.
The main cause. perhaps, Of this under
valuation, ito use mercantile phrase, } may be
attributed to the unsatisfa tory official report,
which gave brief account, as Of nothing ex-
traordinaTy, of what was indeed glorious
victory.
happened to be at the Greek on the even
ing when the first attack was made bv a single
steamer, since ascertained to be the Freeborn.
This attack, as heard an officer say, was evil
IDENTIFY only designed TO get the range of our
guns, as only about a dozen shots were ex-
changed. One of the enemy's rified shells
passed through the redop bt and exploded in
the officers quarters, beneath the Captains
bed, and demolished everything in the apart
ment. BY the fragment of another shell, one
man was slightly wounded in the hand. This
was the only casualty.
1t was taken for gran ted that another attack
would be made. l went the folio wing day to
the Point, but everything was quiet, except
ing that our boys were busy streng thening
their redoubt, by throwing up additional
quantities of sand in front. The next day
(Friday) again rode over after breakfast, an
had no sooner reached the range of hills
which overlook the point, than 1 saw that
something interesting was about to take place.
In addition to the Freeborn, there were two
other armed steamers, one of them, however,
a small tug, which were evidently preparing
for an attack. Soon after 10 O'Clock they APP
preached and opened fire. which was steadily
returned by our battery OF two guns.
In about half an hour after the action be-
gan, the Purcell battery, of four small riff ed
w a haVht w
stood and opened upon the enemy, and some
of its shot must have struck him, for he i'm
mediate!y returned it's fire, and did so from
time to time while the fig hit lasted.
In the mean time the shot were flying into
and the shell were bursting over our little
battery on the point, and several times we
thought that it was destroyed; but when
our fears had grown almost to Ger tainties, the
boom of the gun would tell that our defend
ers maintained their post. About half past l
the enemy withdrew. Our men Were Who'll.
ly unhurt; what injury the enemy sustained
we could not tell but 1t must have been con-
siderable, as he was repea teddy struck.
Soon after the fight, one of the steamers
went up the river; II was supposed to procure
assistance, and the supposition proved cor
rect. On Saturday morning a large three
masted steamer. which proved to be the
Pawnee, mounting IA heavy guns, had joined
the squadron OF the day before and ali were
evidently preparing for an attack. The man
uer IN which our men had mainta tanned their
post the day before satisfied me that they
would do their best but l regarded their an
Inhalation as certain when / looked upon the
Overwhelming force arrayed against them.
Owing, it was said, to the small amount of
ammunition, the Purcell battery was not this
day brought into action, but one of the guns
was placed in the Game Point battery. Only
think-two large and one small ritied gun,
looking like Il g. FOUNDER, against four steam
ers, one with IA guns. heavier than those in
the battery, and the others carrying rs many
in the aggregate-some of them rified ones
Just before the first shot was fired the
building at the extremity Of the wharf was
set on fire and the bridge leading to it blown up
by the defenders. Between IL and II the battle
began, and continued for five mortal hours;
and when the cannonade and the conflagra-
tion were at their height, the grandest spec ia
Gle was exhibited which l have ever seen or
expect to see, and l wish that every lover of
the sublime could have been there. The in
cessan' flashes through n sheet of fame the
eddying smoke, and the hiss and whiZ of ball
and shell hurting and bursting in the air, with
the loud reports reverberating among the hills,
made us, as have said, tremble for the little
band which was literally girdled with fire.
But there was flag staff beside the re-
doubt, and our hearts were cheered as, from
time TO time, through the lifting smoke, we
saw that our flag was triumphantly waving.
"Poor fellows!' we exclaimed, again and
again, as a shell burst apparen tlv in the very
midst OF the battery; but, in a moment, the
report of gun would tell that 'ough at
least, were left to defend it.
The enemy hauled off, leaving partially
dem oil shed sand bank, with its defenders nm
scathed behind it. His loss must have been
severe as evinced by the number of times he
was struck and the pTecipit aton of his re-
treat-a retreat which received q salute of
three cheers and parting shot from the little
garrison.
For the disparity of force, and the q uan tlty
of ammunition expended by the enemy in ga
brief Il space of time, the defence of Game
Point consider unparalleled in the annals OF
modern warfare.
To sum up the injury known to have been
sustained by the enemy, the Anacosta was so
mach injured that the carpen tiers who survey
ed her pronounce that she cannot be repaired.
The Pawnee is admitted to have been eight
times struck-one of them Il rakirg shot,
which dsmounted two Of her guns The
freeborn took up twenty one dead bodies -
Among them, il is reported that of the I'd
Lieutenant of the Pawnee--and there were
upwards of fifty wounded--among them, the
Commander of the latter vessel.
The results of the achievement cannot be
two highly estimated. Had the battery been
sileGced, Gen. Scott, in pursuance of his
plan, would have fortified the railroad, taken
possession of Fredericksburg, therefrom take
the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, cut of
the comm unicatiOn between our Northern
army and marched with his hordes directly
upon the Capital. AN EYs-WIrEBss.
THE READ SHE'LL IN THE FIaHT AT BETHEL
From late accounts of this spirited combat, it
appears that the rifle shells invented by our
townsman, DR.. Read, rendered efficient aid
in disconfiting the invaders of the Old Do
miGion.
The Howitzer Battery, under Col Magru.
der, did good ser vice; but the prominent place
is assigned to Parrot gun, firing the Read
shells, which were PURCHASED last year by the
Military commissioners of Virginia
These shells, it seems, were fired with much
precision, and exploded with such fatal effects
in the ranks of the enemy as to render the
working of the hostile artillery almost impos
sible
The PARROT guns, prudently provided by
Virginia, were cast iron six pou sders, manu-
factured and rified expressly for firing the
Read shells. We do not wonder that they
should have made their mark at Bethel, as
we have just ms pected table Of prac tice with
one of these same guns at West Point, last
summer, shO wing that a she'll weighing nine
and a half pounds, fired with only one pound
at Is deg. elevation, and at IS deg. elevation
struck three miles and q half from the gun.
II such results can be attained with the
Read shells from small field pieces, weighing
but nine hundred pounds, what may we not
expect when our ten-inch Columbiads aud
heavy Dahlgren guns are ri1led and furnished
with similar projectiles as they readily may
be by our Southern foundries a--Tuscaloosa
Observer.
A SLAP AT GEN. McCLELLAH.-The Wash.
ington correspondent of the New York Tri-
bune thus hits at Major General Mcclellan:
Kentucky comes within the angle of INCL
dence. The train of peace makers, bearing
palms and singing pastorals, with the venera-
BILE bell wether, Mr.. Crittenden, in the van, Is
hailed by flourish of trumpets from the lips
of Major General Mcclellan. He has con-
Guided an enduring truce. When Gen. Harvey
was bated into II similar trap in Missouri, it
was supposed no other General would be i'm
mediately led into a pitfa!l: but we are to
live and learn with each diurnai paving ont
of our mortal coil. When Gen. Mcclellan
telegraphed to Washington some weeks ago
for permission TO bny fifty dollars worth of
pine lumber for canp-ehapel, there were
many who believed that he would WELD the
sword Of the spirit with more muscle than the
carnal WEAPON Of Amps 4 10 iS MAMMA turG