The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-09-30
New York, Monday, September 30. 1851
THE SITUATION.

inc whole line Of the rebel army immedi.
ately in front of Washington has fallen
oack' nor could their exact position be
ascertained yesterday. Munson's and Upton,s
Hills, and Falls Church have been abon.
doned, and are.now occupied by the Union troops.
The position of the rebels at these points appears
to have been not very formidable There were
no signs found of guns having been mounted: their
defences were simply rifep pits, nor were there any
evidences Of tents having been there, or any other
protection except rudely constructed sheds.
Another unfortunate error the part of two d.
visions Of the Union troops occurred on the adj.
vance of General Smiths force from Chain Bridge
to Falls Church. During the darkness of the
night the Philadelphia regiment of Colonel Owens
mistaking Captain Motifs battery, General Bakers
California regiment and two other regiments for a
body OF the rebels, opened tremendous volley
upon them, killing and wounding several. The
California regiment returned the fire with terrible
effect. The guns of Motifs battery were then or
dered to load with canister, and were about to
pour q deadly volley upon Colonel Owens
men, when the mistake was discovered. in time to
avert a terrible slaughter.
ills very much to be regretted and condemned,
II 1t be true as stated that the Union troops, who
took possession Of Falls Church. have wantonly
destroyed private property to the value OF thirty or
forty thousand dollars
"a
1t is believed by military authorities at Washing
ton that the withdrawal of the rebels is ordy q
eint OF q retreat for the purpose of leading our
army into an ambuscade, just as they did at Bull
run, but General Mcclellan has too much sagacity
to be caught in that trap.
The old spirit which characterized our navy in
the War of 1872 has manifested itself on four or
i've different occasions during the present war,
and on not one perhaps more prominently than in
the cutting out Of the privateer Judith from under
the guns of the Pensacola Navy Yard now in pos
session OF the rebels, before daylight on the morn
ing OF the l4th inst, by boat expedition from the
steam frigate Colorado. The several occasions we
alude to in which the gallantry and daring of our
sailors recall the spirit which animated the navy in
former times are the cutting out of rebel ship in
one of the ports of Florida by Capt. T. Danah Shaw,
OF the steam gunboat Montgomery; the lombard
ment of Galveston, by Captain Alden, in the gun.
poat South Carolina; the destruction of the rebel
forts on Ship Island, by Commander Porter. in the
steam frigate Powhatan; the recent capture of the
Hatteras forts, by Commodore Stringham and Gene
raj Butler, and lastly the boarding and destruction
OF the privateer Judith, at Pensacola. We gave
full account of the latter affair yesterday, and
publish further details to-day The record speaks
for ITSELF In the ability with which this
project was designed, and the GOODNESS and
bravery by which it was successfully carried out
1t Ia almost without parallel With seventy-tive
men and Officers, in three boats from the Colora-
do, the gallant assailants boarded aud set on
fire the rebel privateer lying at the dock in front
of the Navy Yard at Pensacola, under the guns of
the forts, and succeeded in their hazardous enter
prise with the loss of only three killed and fifteen
wounded. The guns from the prvateer poured
balls thickly upon them, but they cambered to her
decks, and after severe hand to hand fight, van
pushed the crew, destroyed the vessel and returned
to the frgate with the loss above stated The orr
ginal intention of the expedition was to surprise
the rebel garrison ut the Navy Yard as well as TO
cut out the privateer, but the approach of the
boats being discovered by the sentinel on board the
Judith, the whole power of their attack was neces
sarily concentrated upon her.
In connection with this brilliant affair we would
refer to a letter which we publish to-day from
Captain Vogdes, one Of the officers at Fort Pickens
to Captain Baily, of the Colorado, in which he
states that "contraband" deserter from Pensa-
cola brings information that the utmost discomfort
exists among the rebels there's that they are pinine
for peace at any price, and that over two hundred
Of the troops have deserted within few days past
Captain Vogdes expresses the opinion--and it is
curious az coming from that isolated quarter-that
the rebels around Washington do not mean to al.
tack McClelan's army, and that they have only a
curtain of troops along the line there to con.
ceal the withdrawal Of their material and the
main body of their army to Richmond He states
further that the Colorado expedition killed thirty
Of the rebels on the morning Of the l4th.