The national Republican., 1861-06-29
INTERESTING FROM ALEXAN-
:. Hd 5s,soq DRIA! ea. "a lot ~
FROM FORT PICKENS!ss- !s-,,
WILSON'S zOuAyEs THERE BY THIS TINE
TIE REBEL SIEGE PROBABLY
o.. La!5siC. ha RAISED spse l.ivssss So

TIE REBEL SIEGE PROBABLY t-
|, .s bs!asi,cs hA RAISED isp liy1sss sen
F,sBHs sAI ~
THE MATTHIAS POINT AFFAIR. y
AN ACCOUNT or oSE or THE MEN IN THE ACTION.
/ On Wednesday evening Captain Ward sent
up 70 the PasOrss for two ,bosts crews consist
ing ofttweuty.two men, who were immediately
sent down under the command Of Lieutenant
Chaplin. They proceeded down the river 10
Nanjemoy, where they expected to fnd the
Frseborn, but discovered that she was further
down. They then anchored until morning,
and ss daylight proceeded down TO Matthias
Point and found the Freeborp about four miles
below, snd immediately proceeded and reported
I, Captain Ward. -ic5rs t5H ga I sru1! b
The csptsin told Lieutenant Chaplin his plan
Of erecting battery, which was regarded BY
Lieutenant Chaplin as Of. doubtful utility,
but he was wiling to cooperate with Captain
Ward. ~ipi,sa-' fnBs '-.1t aag Z SIT
The boats we're then manned, two by The
Pascnee's men and one by the men Of the Free.
born, under Captain Ward. One of the PaV-
nees boats,, under Lieutenant Chaplin, took
the lead, and after they had landed the crews,
drove in the rebel pickets for some distance,
until they saw large body of secession troops,
numbering some six or eight hundred, on which
they retreated and came down aud reported to
Captain Ward. The captain then told Lieut..
Chaplin that he would go on board the ship
and give them 9 few shell, at the same time or.
dered the Pdrnee's boats to haul out in the
stream. few shell were then fred, and Lieut..
Chaplin was then ordered to land, which he
Immediately did, and proceeded at once TO
erect the battery, working until Eve o'clock in
the afternoon. a.-.s .......- ... ,e r....
At this hour signal was made for them to
return, but before they took to the boats, they
covered the battery with brush. At this time
the fire commenced, and the boats hauled out
leaving Lieutenant Chaplain and one or two
others on thesshore, who, however, swan out to
the boats after the men had all been counted.
W. J. Best, the gunner, was shot on shore,
when he took to the water, and was afterwards
struck three times-in the breast, leg, hand, and
arm; companion then took hold of him and
swan with him to the boat. He was brought
up in the PaOnee, and it was found necessary
to smputate his leg. oil" -.. .a'.. 10. ai-.
Jack Williams, coxswain, was shot in the
thigh. A.. ..-. ~ .--. .r -. .
Two Of the Ffeeborn's men were also wound
ed, one being the gunner. b.. -.aa %.
: After the boats had started from the beach,
several shell were fred from the Freeborn, sev.
eral Of which were seen to fall and explode at
the precise spot where the shots appeared TO
come from, and must have done some dam.
age, as the FIRE immediately ceased, notwith.
standing the boats we're still in range Of their
FIRE. o. ...t. ~ .-r4-.ri rra.. ...sf ..I-r .r q
The contraband " belonging TO Col. Hooe,
who brought down the white Gag, and gave no.
tice of the presence of the rebels, ran down to
them on the beach, immediately on the crew
reporting to Captain Ward. E,ulst ...a
1t is thought that Captain Ward, if he had
not been wounded, could have easily driven the
rebels of, as the few shell thrown among them
seemed to scatter them. The fact of the cap.
tain being killed, no doubt threw his crew into
disorder, or they mistook the character Of the
enemy and ceased firing. -
The remains of Captain Ward will be taken
to the cars this morning and sent to New York,
where will they be inferred. The marine corps
and delegations Of the sailors of the Freedom
and Paaones will act as the escort. .-...l W.
Lieut.. Gen. Scott last night received the fol.
lowing report --,st '.slslE
mo .r- CUMBERLAND, June ~, 1861.
To Maj. Gen. MCCLELLAN; .., .'' rg -s4s
l have been accustomed to sending my
mounted pickets, thirteen men in all, to diff
ferent posts along several approaches to Gum
berland. Finding it next to impossible to get
reliable information of the army, yesterday !
directed the whole thirteen to get If possible, to
Frankfort, a town midway between this place
and Romney, and see if there were rebel troops
there. They went within quarter of mile
of the place, and found it full of cavalry. Re-
turning, they overlook forty lone horsemen, and
at once charged upon them, routing and driving
them back more than q mile, killing eight of
them and securing seventeen horses. Corporal
Hayes, in command Of my men, was despe'
rately wounded with sabre cuts and bullets.
Taking him back, they halted about an hour,
and were then attacked by the enemy, who
were reinforced to about ssventy-fve men. The
attack was SO sudden that they abandoned
their horses, and crossed to q small island at
the mouth of Patterson creek. The charge
was bold and confident yet twenty-three fell