Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-06-24
Anothcr Siistahs-tet Us nave No more.
Enrnnuia Prcsa Of resfnrdar anra.


Another Btistnhe-f.et Us nave No more.
Forney's Press, of yesterday, says;
Will the lesson of Great Bethel never be
learned Are we 10 have our gallant sons
and brothers slain BY masked batteries and
murderers in uniform2 Must the soldiers
of the Republic be the victims Of repeated
surprises, and never march upon batteries
except to retreat from them2 The armies
In Virginia should know that they are Ia an
enemyls country, that armed men are prowl-
ing in every thicket, and that every clump
of bushes is apt to be the ambush of maraud-
ers or the covering of a battery. What is the
use Of reckless daring and unhinching brav
cry under the taking fire of cannon which IL
is impossible to silence, and why must lives
be sacrificed without the opportunity to
achieve single result or 70 attempt the
slightest measure of Atonement2
The Engagement at Vienna" as the tele-
graph calls It, is another of the 'mtsakes"
of this wbr. We have before US the official
statement Of Brigadier- General Scheuck,
and, therefore, can speak by the highest mill
itaTy authority. Neatly seven huodred vol
unteers from the State of Ohio leave Alex.
andria in railway train, under the COM
mand Of General Schenck aud Colonel Nc
Cook for the purpose OF taking possession
of the railroad, and holding it. Six compa-
nies of the regiment are stationed at various
points, and with two hundred and seventy
Eve men on board, the train approaches
Vienna, u village ten miles from Alexandria,
wheu suddenly A masked battery opeus fire,
damaging The engine so that the train can
not be reversed, and killing and Woundinp
many OF those on board. Taken by surprise,
peDt up in close cars, and unable to return
ihe IRE or attack the assailants, the soldiers
are compelled 10 fly to the woods for safety,
AZ to retreat along the railroad. The Of
fcial report shows that FIVE soldiers were
killed and six wounded, while ten are miss
ing. Other accounts make the loss greater,
but this is certainly the most favorable, and,
perhaps, the most accurate estimate.
Here we have valuable lives scr6ced, and
many brave men placed in torture aud what
has been gained! Is it possible that a masked
battery can be erected within ten miles of a
large camp, without the fact becoming known
10 single officer? This seems to have been
the case at Vienna. Troops are blindly
rushed through a hostile Couutry, and in a
moment of Sc, ming security the thunder of
cannon echoes among the hills, and the mes
stugels Of death come FROM unseen batteries.
Our own troops might learn lesson from
these very rebels. They seem to know every
movement our forces make, and are properly
prepared 10 meet it, They musthave koo 9n
that our soldiers were coming, or au attack
could not have been so quickly made upon a
running train of cars.
Neate told that "the men behaved coolly
uuder th's-most calling fire which they could
not retu1n," but, alasl what c,n avail cool
ness and bravery under circumstances like
those of Vienna? We should never advance
into an enemy's country without either
knowing that no dagger existed, or being
prepored to meet every exigency, to avoid
every ambush or resent every attack. We
NOUN the fate of these brave soldiers, but if
the lesson of Vienna is only thoroughly
learned, they have bot died in vain.