The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1861-05-22
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An Interesting Letter.

ANoAPoLIs, Saturday, MAY IS, 1861

ASoAPOLIs, saturday, May l6, 1901.
DEAR SISTER Since news III this age Of light,
ming travels with such cclerity. hasten to an
tcipate the medium Of newspaper report, and
give you the outlines of the first action in which
Company q, Thirteenth Regiment of BROOKLYN,
has been engaged, and from which We have but
just unsung our knapsacks.
On Thursday morning us we were strewn
around the floor. in q variety OF positions not
laid down in any eytan. back Oh grace, Lieut.
Woodward, to whom the command fell in the
absence of Capt. Thorne, entered the room an
called for fifty volunteers for secret mission.
Instantly t g whole company rose en- rnasse, and
in their rush to pack knapsacks and secure theig
election, bones were at 4 greater discount tkan
broken gl&ss. The Zouavo drill was no possible
comparison. One half Of cho company stood on
their heads to arrange equipments and any IN
diyidual who could co1scieAtiousy call one NJ
ticle that he wore his own was l. singular o1-
ceptiou. In TRUTH the ranks were full instant
| ly, ard tie required number selected, to the in.
tense disappoinmens OF the remainder and
aiter q short inspection we were marched On
board the propeller Woodward, (singular coin
cidenco, by the way, that wo were carried or
| the Wood.card. by the cunmand OF Q Wood
| ward, attended by two Elk pounders beiongln
to the Eighth Regiment battery. The day was
magnificent; not @ cloud in the horizon, and
under the ef'ulgence Of the suElght, which
| danced joyous!y over the beautiful Severn, VIC
| departed. 1t was soon understood that the ser
vice upon which he had started, was TO recap
turc d lght-ship which some few weeks ago had
been taken from its lnvor:ngs and hidden by the
Secassionists II WIS carried from " Smith s
| Point "a point where the Potomac c1npties
into the Chesapeake, and tho expedition which
started y fortnight ago from this place (and
| aL,St \ 2r~t1V 1VaE fC.,r
same service, but was not able to discover tho
whereabouts of this particular vessel. Wo
steamed maiestically into tho Chesapeake. and
with song and mirth charmed away the golden
| hours. At night chose the ships boat for
's bunk" and under iho Gtar srangled canopy
Of heaven slept as lover Of the Union should
always sleep, and Was esWaLoncd cold DIS a frog
out Of d secession nghCmaro, in which was
about being shot QUO Of g mortar from Mont
eomery to JApan--,o find that he steamer had
passed into the Wishcomc River, and had halt
ed near the supposed place Of the stolen ships
anchorage.
The commander Of the expedition, Capt.
Flusser, Of the United States Navy, had ur
dered one Of the launches which we brought
with us to be manned, and had started with his
men on voyage OF discovery. Opposite on
the shore stood IL fair sized farm house, end it
its inmates. Men and women, hall dressed
rushed from their beds, and travelled for the
woods adjacent, at {. gals which would have
made G,ldersicovc weep with envy to have
| witnessed. One Of tho T +. VS. jumped from
| his buggy, and, leaving his horse and carriage
to the sender mercies OF the Union devils de-
parted under head Of eteam tina, would have
secured the everlasting reputation Oh q Mississ-
ippi steamer. In all directions figures We're seen
running toward tho intszier, and it was evident
| tha5 the country WAS a5out to be notified ot our
advent. After IN hour, the Captain returned
with the intelligence tia, the vessel was conceal
ed in one of tho tortu0ns windings OF Mill
Greek y small tributary Of the Wighcomlc
- IL is not safe to venture lnso the creek witch
the steamer" said some one In authority. We
must and shall co. was tho reply OF Capt
| F FlUssER, and noticed thag we went. After IL
lew hours spent IN winding cautiously around
the snaky coils Of the creek, we cspled IL gang
of negroes at work on the brink, who quietly,
but with intense sgufcance, pointed aliead.an
after u few anxious moments the Mecca Of our
pilgrimage lay before US. Theirs was the little
stolen craft, quietly awaiting our coming. In Ii
few moments we were lying alongside, and the
sailors boarded with stag like leaps but tndlng
10 guard, after peerlnS INTO every nook, they
weighed anchor and comlneuced to Veer her out.
Up 10 this time no hostile demonstration had
been made, and, save the qAlet gathering CT a
few farmers on the shore, no lng!maslon Was
given of an enemy. But as the steamer round
ed, and the guns no longer commanded the
shore, q yoIley Was poured INTO US from behind
trees and the thick underground on the banks.
Our en- tire rec was under arms Oh deck, and
the balls whlstled musically about our cars,
(though bellevo that no one recoliects the pre-
cis, tune J and buried themselves IN the wheel
house or elsewhere One landed suspieiously
near Lieut.. " oodward, whose size ANA pronli-
ncnt position made him o delightful target;
but. by the intervention OF Mars, or some other
benign influence, the Lieutenant has the ball in
his rocket At present, instead of in his dn
phragm- safe, probably in either place. bat he
prefers the pocket. Then came our turn, and
at the order " Fire g series OF leaden arga-
men,s swee,ly danced upon the morning air.
Of course each man that VIC fired at died,
and in some instances repeated the decGaac by
nnr,icular request and have yet to find the
man in our ranks whose car WAS not precisely
2l-2 inches from the largest sized ball ever
moulded. Seriously, though no one was injur-
ed on board the firing WAS brisk for II few mo
mcnts, and considering the exposed position of
our men. ami the lact-which we subsequently,
sscertaned-that our opponents were the Ian
caster Grays, a force stationed over that dis
trjct il was wonderful. The lookout reported
that there were upwards OF thirty in sight.