, 1861-07-11
BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL.


Two weeks since, we published, in our news
summary, paragraph stating that fight had
taken place at Great Bethel, in which the Fed
eraI forces were repulsei AID driven back. 81
low we give a detailed account of the ALTAR, as
We find it in the San Francisco HFGm:-
FORTRESS MoHGoE June 9th.
Gen. Butler, having learned that tic rebels
were fnrtiiyinS a camp With strong batteries at
Great Bethel, I.inc miles from Hampton, on the
Yorktown road, he deemed it nec,s sSary 10 dis
,0dg, them. Accordingly, movements were made
aaL night from Fortress MOnrO. and Newport
NJ ws About Hddnight Coz. Duryea's XouavcS
and Col. Tuwnscnd's Albany regiment crossed
the river at Hampton, by means Of sX large
battrauX manned by the Naval Brigade, aud
toOk up the line Of march, The former was
some two miles in advance Of the other at
the 81 ne time CulOnel BendX, Sixth regiment,
and detaChmcntS Of Vermont and Massachusetts
Regiments, at Newport moved forward To form a
junction with the Regiments & ON Fortress Mon
roe at Little Bethel, about halfway between
Hampton and Great Bethel. The Zouavos passed
I.ttlc Bethel about o'clock in the morning
Col. Bendix's Regiment arrived aud took position
at the intersection OF the roads Not under
standing the s;gual, the German rrgi lent, in
the darkucsS ui the night, fired upon Col. TOWN.
sands cOium b., marching in close order and I'D
~ Lieut.. Batter, sOn and Aid.de-Camp OF Gel.
Butter, with two pieces Of artillery. Other aC'
counts say that Col. lOwns,hds regiment fired
| first At oil events the tire Oi the Albany rcgi-
mcnt was harmless, wiIiic that Oi the German was
fatal, killing Uuc uaaR and seriously wuunIng two
or thrs others, wh 0th,r SIC ht casualties. Ii
/ Albany regiment, being back Of the German,
! discovered from tne announcements left on the
: Ii l. lin al fb4ip I'll i.ls
! hey had, in tMc meantime fired nine rounds Ol
small arms and held PisCe. The ZOuaveS,
hear ng the firing, turned aud also fired on the
| Albany rvglneHt.
| At day OIeaS, Col. An,n's and Col. Carr's
/ regiments mO,cG from the rear Of the fortress to
/ support The main body. The mistake at Little
! Bethel hIyHg been aScrTla!ncd, tlc build.
/ ings were bunsd and M4jur aud two prOmi.
ncnt StcvSsiOnlSis 'aNpn prisoners. The LODPs
then advanced Un Great B,ihe., but their three
small pisces Of artillery were unable to cope
with tn, heavy riHsd cannon Of the enemy.
! The rebel battery was mpletey masked. No
men col,i be SvyR--ou,y the flashes OF the guns
rhcre were no less than 1000 men behind the
! batteries oE the rebels. \ well concerted move
mrnt might have secured the position, but Brig.
zen. Pierce, who commanded the expedition,
app Irs to have lost his presence If miad, ard
thr Troy regiment slOpd for one hour exposed
10 calling lire, wncn an order To retreat was al
last gwen. Lieut.. CREDIBLE OF the L. >. army
was struck by a cannon ball and instantly killed.
lie had spiked II, gun and was calamity en-
dcayurug 10 Withdraw his command. Capt. q.
". Wilson, Of the Troy regiment, after the order
10 retreat was given, took possession Of the gun
aud brought it off the field with the corpse Of
the Lieutenant. Bath were brought 10 For.
lr.Ss Monroe ,hs evening. There are about
twenty-five killed and one uunircd Of the Fed
eral troops wounded ,ieut Batter deserves
great credit for bringing of the killed and
Wounded; several Of the latter are now in the
huSpi al here. Great indignation is manifested
against Brig. Gen. Pierce.
Ii is not known how many were killed or
wounded in the unfortunate collision Of the
Federal troops previous to marching on Great
Bethel Tbs loss was, however, considerable
The iIe ol our troops on the masked battery
did apparently very little eXrcut on our artillery
b.iug comp d Of small field pieces and hOwit-
zcrs saiilSt tie rtied canon OF tie TeOels. lhe
attack lasted but half an hour ',hen a retreat
was sounded and executed in good order. The
troops throughout this yinG affair behaved well.
The estimHted nuinber killed was about 30 and
100 wounded. Major Winthrop, aid to Gen
Butler, and Lieut. Col! Grinnel pf the New Yorl;
lst Regiment are missing. Among the killed is
Lieut.. CREDIBLE OF the u. 5. Artillery; be was
struck Oh the right side OF the forehead by a
riiiel cannon, waieh tore away the upper part Oi
his head.