New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-06-25

were going to etie, and mistook our order for Ne ~
ihinary to some flank m,vement, " to some decov.
Out whon they saw our ambuhnces and beheld an,
men Geein to sconr tie ground for dead, they knew
tne luck ara with fresh cheers returned 10 the a.
eanlf! Had the iaial oder of retreat bean withheN
FIVE minutes more, we sho, II have been able now N
say That notwithstanding al the d-asers and discour.
agenens OF the day, aithstaning reooepts of thu
assailiDg columns had fought bloiy batre with each
other we had carried the epemys works in the face of
Of murdsrous fe, and won a Wet ry worthy OF the
Oldest veterans. Such, however, are the chances of
the bait field, and uch the facility with which his.
tory can change ite fare!
T. The loss If this action is attributed 20 the misman-
aPement of Bril-. Gen. fierce; but 1t is nevertheless
true that he is not ;loe 10 blame. talked with him
for half AN hour on this subject, ano am convinced
thai though he may have no genins for military mat
tiers, he is not ut all defcsn ia personal courage. He
contends that lie ob-yed his orders TO the letter and
vodiates his siknal for retreat, by declaring that he
had taken the vote OF every G. lionel the ground be-
fore proclaniing IT, Til, however, does not much
help bis case. General. should be made OF q stuff
which can6ot OILY obey orders, but exrricate them
selves from exigen les aIsed BY orders which miscar
ry But The fiat of mi forum. has gone forth against
him, and IL matters not ii zen Pierce were brave
Cesar and able Napoleon, hi soldiers have st
confidence III hin, aud Il virtually dead in biz pro-
fessioD. Such is g. inrxorable law Of war. He,
therefore nay well esi Tor bis usefulne, is gone
Asfo the collision with took place between the
regiments Of Col. Townsend aid Col Bendix, have
Townsend was 10 blame. He the only commander
who moved forward H. tie night wi'hont first turning
ont skirDishers TO feel The way but heexcused binsef
on The groud that TIE Zolaves were on the rosd not
very far ahead. Bat they were ahead beyond the
road which To make bis junction with the Ger
mans, and therefore, rhs oversight very serious
one. BeGdix acted naturally by opening fire. and an
glad TO learn tia, the Albany boys after returning that
ire by volley, did conprvIs. themselves oy their
act OF falling back They discoy cred 1T that moment,
they firing their fends and they ut once gave
way. Some writers untLiukngly report they ram bat
they bad 10 choice being, as they were the first to
discover the mistake. An oppo itc course would have
resulted in the decimaii,n Of both regiments Az for
Col. Townsend lie acted 10 the battle which ensued
with ii anal gaaniry, IA il seemed TO many a. no
endeavoriug to expose s life TO extra perils by
way Of atoniDg In SORT for the error OF the morn
ing. =
The expedition sgsiu't Big Bethel was mainly plan.
ned by Major Whit rop, who started from New York
private in "tne Seventh" That regiment returning
home he enlisted under Gen. Butter his brilliant
talents writer brar~d by strong seated sense, com.
mended him that sbrewd observer for the post Of
Military Secretary. II WA at the diane,-tabIe the
young Secretary Chen or developed bis ideas about
Inc taking OF Biz Bethel and there il but little doubt
that the chagTin for it's failure made lin throw away
biz he. He found the dearest TO the trenches OF
the enemy pierced by bullet through the breast
| of hundred which he had provoked during most
the d BY bis comrsder being TOO fac forward for the
search. Cativated by his h-rosm, the sympathizing
envy took him up ienderly Lid bis sword across his
breast and buried bin with soldiers honor. 10 his
desk be left second nsta nent Of lie epghtly sketch
OF the campayD for the All ntic Monthly marked at
the close, Ito be continued" Alas
Perhaps the most REGULAR feature OF the Big Bethel
affair is the incougrniry Of the reports made by tho
various officers engaged. One OF the colonies says,
Alter having been expos TO n mErderOus IRE for
an hour and half, / ordered my men," &c. He
regiment had 10 all, tr0 ted and sbout bslf dozen
! wouucedi Another saye about this time isco
| NJ the .ueSf from heir md
deployed directly in front of the batteries" The
enemy had not two thousand men in ALL and Of
course not Of his men showed himself outside Of
the batteries until in re,r.at Another officer
who had sent PORTION OF bis men around piece of
wood TO reunite with tie renal Ter of the regiment nj
another part of tue field misoOk the bayonets Of his
quad when seen glaDcing through the trees and
| fell back TO report that the enemy were making a
flank movement. In short, the whole affair." from the
! uoneut of tee stHpid collision bet ween tie Albany
| troops aud the &c mans, was budget Of blunder,
and nothing but The bulicg courage OF our pre-.
ven'ed us from suffering total rout. As IL was, oar
entire killed aud wounded in the action 1T Big Bethel
was -, the enemy suffering nearly much we and
saying his batteries only ttrough the fact that We did
not know we had already caItnred them.
We returned from ii lie by road which took n
past join Ty leTs Summer resdence or chateau; but
found Il 10 De shabby tube of brown painted wood.
with few angles, of the Hoboken style of architect
ure, TO il. Being filled with the Germans Of
Max Webers Regiment, IL seemed " lie appropriately
doing duty lager beer saloon. The furniture Of
the parors and the upper all untouched aud
scrupuously respected, but the boys occupied the 'front.'
| garden and slept among u G flowers
! On al sides He went .ong found myself hailed
By name often by those whom l could not recognize
under their short crop bronzed skim and bizarre aitife
Coed WILL however, wss the stouudng feature OF toe
salu,aion aud hat but brought along the false So.
purtenance by which Jack outdrnk the giant, might
have taken back with me 10 The fortress any green
| quantity OF Bourbon.
While at Old Point Comfort rave found the
atmosphere afflicted, at Washington, with rumora
cf constantly Impending battles and there has scarcely
been an hour in which have not been told that ten'
Butler intended start that very night or the follow
ing morning. ut the latest with force sorleientiy
imposing wipe out the di.as'erst Big Bethel. -,
also did we for two DAYS dwell under the report tbss
the enemy were landing large oc.y OF trOops o.
point bu, few miles ho,thwart Of Newport Sewsi
but this L, proved falicy The only incident 10
the way of war that has happened on this peninsula,
| during my stay, attack upon three companies
near Newpor, Ness, who were engaged ID mas ing
| raid upon cattle for the camp. Secession party
fred upon them from ambush, and wounded three,
but the rebels then off and our people succeeded
in bringing in theic spoil. There are In all sooGs
1900 men situated at tlis quarters number whEn
| must be increa ed by 1000 more, ere Gen. Butler
can carry out the task allotted TO bin Those that are
here are being made more and more effective every
day. and Gen. Butler negects DO means 10 forward me
great purposes lie as IN view. lie KEEPS everybody
around him. within reach of his control as busy az
himself and the activity exhibited in each depart.
nent is really enough 10 suggest 10 the
the idea that some special 4ledion Is really on ioot'
In due time such expeditions will be made out ING
next one of any magnitude will doubtless DO direeteo
by tue General in person. In the meantime enormous
quantities Of provisions and material OF war are BEN
landed here and Fortress Monroe will soon be soie 70
assume her Part VI the great bases OF Imposing
! forward movements
| was asked Yesterday, by gentleman who |" exc
ceedngIy FESTIVE ut the slow progress Of our army,
| when iLonpht a great battle wonld take place.