New-York daily tribune., 1861-05-30
FROM COL. ELLswoaTHs REGIMENT.
L-,,e, Communicate for rhe rrihsn,. /

ALEXANDRIA, May 25, 1861.
DEAR BROTHER: received your letter a stort time
ago and on reading It I determined that ! would
comply with your request Of not answering II until I
had either taken Secession smelt eunpowder. AZ
have done both of these no IL the a,e for writing.
inclosed yon will ind piece Of red cotton; take Il 10
mother, and tell her is part Of 9 Secession dag.
Bnt | am going on TOO fast.
On the afternoon Of the 23d our arms and num-
tons Of were distributed among us, and we were
Ia 20 and suppers tx every thing up psck ouf
kpapsackr, and carry only q blInket with M. VI
course We wers all asionnCed; various we're tbe rn.
mors. At nine cl' were marshaled 10 line of
battle, and the Colonel addressed ne;
Boys doubt you .urprs+d hearing my order, Ss
n readiness DoDru' tic- bat ~ii cap am ali e ir
an slowed Yesterday lor-":an assef, sod ns' s'Ys
the qui vent 70 U~u. Msnsosd The ComDsLdcr
b. you'd 10, ao q. 20 have tIs I, of he S.
which h. volunteer fesiep. la fo' iae
I. .. az :, tho sei Il e .,i.h 90 to your vu IL
ooSn and .As oo r- ~, oeo's .sen b- Doe. w., s S
place Destination act a. meh do n>tains 70 sh.m. We
met the enemy ih you vel ss soldiers ars
tina, YOU viii tst h,n sh .iodns'. until they force Joe
violeoce 10 feet want 20 Ill them with tSdne~'
60 TO your tent, and DO as l tell you
We all did Ms lie told us At 10 clock in the morn.
ing OF the 18th We We're roa.eJ, and amid pfoiVd"d
silence, each walking as II he were trcadine on
eggs, we reached tue beach, where iour stesmooau
tbree-,he Mount Vernon, Baltimore, and james Gay
and Were soon sailing tie Potomac for AeAsndriss
As reached the pont of land opp site the ,1y We
could distinct hear the i,.s OF the seniDels, All
we'll All = well;" but all wrong. About bn
time We began To have little li.ht aud then could
zee the sen,iuels standing like sIaluer, uaashAet wA
terror. As nesred TIE dock, teing ~ yet go yarW
from It. boat ,om the UuiI.d States steamer fawnee
was lowered lTUln the deck abd quickly reached uS
Scuddins ahead under the vev pulls OF sou men,
sie kept up with us, ami we touched the dock Vac
yet alou.sid-. Tue sentiner mmediaely eseledt thef
pieces at us and fired. The bOals crew answered. 10
an instant 800 ihes brought 10 bear on lnc seu
tin.ls. lt WAS bat Tor mouent, aud the h'e d
ten n en- were IN imminent danger.
H. an instant the guard-hou-e door flew open, ana
MI officer advanced aayiDg white nag; DC oii ~ ~
finch. l thought each step wodld DO bis Last hs
troved to be Uni ell States OFF, er from The Ps"Dee,
snd announced 10 that tie rebels had promisd W
eyacuae in hree hour; that the time was near! up'
The Colot el immediately osdered US " hnd. .oa
pany T., being the banner con- taDy, we're tDe ris. "
reach the shore where formed iuto line, exPeus4
each moment to be attacked. We coul not under'n1
why the sen,inels bad been allowed to remain ~
guard and II they were, why they WEI,
permitted to lire as With imPuniy' ~.
/ know ia that my rife lsvied, and Que
wouli have been kicking the bucket II BAD ns
been for ,he officer who came oo OF the guaranone'
as lie was Immediately between me aud my s~us. .hs
How these sentiGels did run One 10 particular VIZ
wa, standing behind pile of lumber, and could hys
zee n, nniil We hsd touched the do T. immed'.eT
tptneJ his baek came 10 a carry arms, set out ~ lui
s,e,d apd fred Ia the air. 1hese are the boas'ee
southern CIiyalry. lnriead oi one OF thea, oehs
,o,,si tc eve of u.s. I'll bet my pils-by the by h -
very lcw-bat our regiment viii thrash iow" insne
81, IN h,ur. You need not thi. am Doassing, i1
the sequel will chow more OIL
On anr dra wing up Into lice Of battle, the Colone'
ord ,ed us tr w ou ,c,t and prevent the tsi"s rom
,i,her going ia or out. Then we had nice wyh.
lwben say We l mean our companyl-tore up soou,
six blocks OF railroad, laced 'ealincs, &c Aocu.
oclock ore Of our scouts came Ia and repor 90 o
Of he enemy forming abort quarter OF mie ai''N
Wa r.t Of on .rot and soon re,cted the psae. ~
order tha, You should understand IL better, wih
il In New York View coming ny Second A'enasSS
and ne we reached Foar eenth street, on our ~
toward kirst avenue, we Jaw line OF esnnons W
pared TO sweep be street; our len, BODY OK cav
nv lust mounted their swords drawn, and pr.Parns,
it were 10 demolirh us nind, We Were only sxu'
four meu) tell you felt somewhat icknsh, v' "a
never let on not usn Of US finchtd; we tdrhse
our left 10 attack he cavalry, and emen per ,os
to myself, good by, Charlie, l hope in ss ,;i;ys
we'll safe and sound, sn bour hence. Hs* ,we
fact, thought was gouer; bat am as goou g .,ss
dead men vet Involuntaiily, 10 n were, every ,Hs
cooked bis gun, and we were prepared 10 mse'
worsf int then an officer came paiioping Up - ~.
the Ar illery, aud asked vino We were. ne ss
ordered ,hs cavalry % throw down their sna' "rSs
would shoot. Guess who he ar iIl'ry wer I.,AI
Rhode Island ARTILLERY. We iumediateiy sofIsS Sr.
the cavalry who gave up their arms and eosses ~
Thsrs were IS horses and AZ men-buIiy fs
Hrss capsuIe in Sses~ion 8sass ! Conpssy