Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-07-11

The SHOOTING ATvArR OF THE TwRNrY-sEc-
OSD REGIMENT, N. Y. v, AT THE BALTIMORE
srArToS-Bat, rnoy.ans FuHy Eyon,Tated -On
the evening Of the 10th June, on the passage Of
this regiment through Baltimore, a discharge Of
the Ere arms Of q portion Of the command was
had. which resulted In the death Of one OF their
own men, private Edward Bridge, Of Pottersville,
Warren county, N. y and the wonnding of two
citizens. A court Of inquiry was held the next
day, and the depositions of some fourteen wit
nesses taken, by which IL appears the firing took
place In consequence Of supposed order having
been given to the men TO discharge the pieces be-
fore entering the cars. Various contradictory re-
pors Of this accident having gone out, some of
them 20 the injury Of the regiment, We per-
Initted to publish the following testimony in the
case:
Captain R. E. Mccoy, Company B wa, first
ment duly reached Baltimore sunday evening,
June 30, about ek O'Clock p. m. The line was
duly formed, and the regiment marched down
through the city to the Washington depot pre-
ceded by the baud, who were playing martial
airs. The regiment reached the depot without
disturbance. / was at the head of my company.
The position Of the company was on the extreme
let. Just before reaching the depot, there Is a
platform, which we assembled by two three
steps. The next | heard was shot towards the
right OF the regiment. This was almost immedi-
ately followed by general discharge, az 1t ap-
peared to me, along the whole of the line NV
company was outside Of the depot. They had no
no orders to ere. When they commenced firing,
ofncer., with drawn swords, to stop the firing.
Should think half my company had discharged
their pieces. Their firing almost imme d ately
ceased; They discharged their pieces in the air:
The whole occupied from two to five minutes. l
Immediately caused inquiry to be made Of nv
men Of the occasion Of the fire. and the universal
reply was that they supposed the order was to Are
In the air. and discharge their muskets before en-
tering the cars. None Of my men Were injured,
and know Of one injured by the FIRE Of nv
rlen. musket was discharged from my com
mand after entering the depot, but could not
hnd out who he was 1t was dark, except within
the depot
Capt Benjamin Mosber. Company G, being
duly sworn, says: The position Of my company
10 the ninth In the line nv command were about
70 enter the depot when the firing commenced
The nrst disch barge was made by my orderly fall
Ing down; he was within fifteen or twenty feet
OF the entrance; he stumbled over an elevation
and fell full length PROSTATE on the platform; |
was within few feet Of him my company was
carrying arm at a right shoulder shift as my or
derby fell his gun was brought down to the plat
form and discharged itself; itwounded citizen.
young man apparently from sixteen to twenty
years old, in the foot, who was within twenty
feet Of me he hobbled of; we then passed along
some distance In the depot before | heard another
discharge, when they commenced dischargIng to
the right Of the line, within the build my then
there was general firing took place to the right
and left; | ordered my men to cease firing, but
two or three Of my company discharged their
guns; there was order given to fire, neither by
myself or ofncers; i made inquiry why my men
except the ones spoken Of above and the shots that
went up In the air.
Ensign Robert Rice Com pany D, being duly
sworn, says: The position OF my company Go. D.
10 the third In line. The firing took place about
ten o'clock first heard one gun to the ieft outside
Of the building; then two or three guns then
there appeared To be general discharge. I lef,
my place and ran down the line three or four rods
TO see the occasion Of the firing. NY company
were at a halt front and order arms Company
stood next TO ours. Along about the middle Of
Company i a general discharge Was going on
and private Edward Bridge was shot and fell
against me He fell down and fell over him
He was almost instantly killed. was blinded
by the discharge was within step of him as
he was shot There were orders given for
firing. then returned to my men and gave
ordersto cease firing then CURED of my men
why they nred, and they SAID they thought there
was an order for a discharge before entering the
cars.
The remaining testI mony presents but few new
facts, except to the effect that various pistol shots
We're fred from the bystanders towards the reyi-
ment, which, however, did not appear TO do any
damage. The court made a report 10 Col Phelps
embracing the facts and testimony In the case
who sent 10 forward ~ Gen. Mansfield, with the
accompanying report:
Headquarters T,osn.y- second Regiment,
Washington, July 2, 1861.
Sill have the honor TO report that on the pas
sage Of my regiment though the city Of Balti-
more on the evening Of June Both, an indiscrimi-
nate firing took place among portion Of my
command, which resulted in the death Of private
wounding OF private Palmer. l Immediately
ordered court Of Inquiry into the case, consist
Ing Of Major Butler, (who is temporarily attached
TO my command Capt whitman and Lieut..
Airing. l herewith transmit their proceedings
II il matter Of painful regre; that the casualty
was the result Of the ca.elessness OF their own
men, who fred without orders-and in IA, had
had arms In their hands but two days
i have also 10 report that one bystaIdrf was
wounded In the foot, and another, a German had
his arm shattered by chance shot. The roof OF
thA ais hl,y IrS.,
shots
The undersigned respectfully requests that the
inquiry be continued at Baltimore, for the pur-
pose OF ascertaining the exact damage that has
been done, In order that recompense may be
made by the Regiment.
WALTER PHELPS, Jr., Col. Comdg
ELIMINATION OF FEMALE DEPARTMENT FIRST
DIsIRIcT SCHOOL The school under the charge
Of Miss Mary p. Middleton was examined on
Tuesday last by the Boaru Of Trustees, In the
presence Of a large audience, cons sting Of the
friends Of the pupils, teachers Of other schools
former pupils Of the school, and friends OF ed uca-
ton. The classes were subjected TO d critical ex-
animation In their various Studies consisting OF
reading, orthography, arithmetic, (mental and
written, } geography, grammar, parsing, rhetoric,
rules Of com position, philosop ply, familiar sci
ence, history, and vocal music, and acquitted
themselves with honor At the close Of the ex-
animation of the CLASSES In parsing, Mr. NJ. Ii
Miller, Of second district, took oecas on TO COM
plimentthe teacher and pills OH the very decid ID
Improvement tney ndu made since the last annual
examination. The fst class in arithmetic solved
with ease three very difficult Problems la the rule
Of compound proportion. which they had never
seen before, and " hich had puzzled the brain Of
more than one OF the trustees. Tie exercises were
interpreted with some good singing by the pu-
pills. The exercises concluded with the reading
Of the compositions Of two Of tue pupils, Misses
L. B. Allan and + Middleton, (who are about to
withdraw which were creditab ls to the heads
and hearts Of the authors At the close of the ex-
ercises, the pupils were addressed In compli mem
tzry terms by Mayor Berret Among the visitors
present were Anthony Hyde, Esq, president of
common council, Georgetown, DIR. Barbarin,
guardian of Georgetown public schools, Geo. J .
Abbott, former secretary To the board of trustees
Rev. DIR Hall, Mrs Farqubar, teacher Of Gorge
town school, Miss Millun, Miss Lowe, and others
Of our own city.
SAVE YouR SHOTS FOR THE ENEMY Mr. Jas.
Robey, and his neig hbor, Mr.. Gardine two we'll
known and respectable farmers across the Eastern
Branch, state to US that they and Others in that
vicinity are exposed to constant danger from the
practice shots with ball-cartridge Of parties OF
Of soldiers firing across the branch from Poplar
Hill near the Anacostia bridge. This Is of
daily occurrence; but Tuesday last a whole
regiment was practicing there with this repre-
hensible carelessness. On that day the balls raned
like hail on the premises Of the complainant and