The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-09-18

IRON OUR OWN CORRESPONDENCE

| soa's Hill e.etnsrais-A Li,fie Skirmish-- TAe
ksgfat Ayssiler, DEcs-Fairfan.
~ FAiRFAx C. H., Sept. II, 1861
| The view from Munson' 8 Hill Is at this time
one of the most interesting, and wlthal the
| most picturesque of any have sedn in Amer
| lea. Tho broad expanse OF country that
| stretches out before you the succession Of
| hill and valley AZ far as eye can reach a
| foreground of green fields dotted with white
| farm houses beyond it a valley covered with
pastures and woodland pa tches in the dis
| tanca the Potomac glistening in the sunshine ;
| the white sails that dot Its bosom the Mary
| land HILLS beyond, and standing out boldly
| from all the reSt-the point OF sight In the
| picturs~-the dome of the Capitol in Washing
| Ton On every side one sees nothing but OBJ
| lects OF interest or beauty. On the left Is
| Heights. From here we trace the Potomac
down BY the roofs of the buildings. past the
| ponderous dome, by the city, the maynard
until 1t bursts into full view just above Alex
andria. Below this Is a hill from which the
woods have been recently burned, disclosing
several elegant residences, a camp Of some
four or five thousand men and fine Geld
| fort, built with bastiOns, and upon which
| some heavy guns are being mounted Rising
| from the crest OF the hill above this, Shoot
er's Hill believe,l is the tower of the Alexan-
which the 'Stars and Stripes makes some
| feeble attempt to wave. Still lower down
| can be seen the flag on Fort Ellsworth ;
and then the eye glances along the hor-
= III,
only short distance to cur right In
| the intervening valley several other Of the
Federal defences can be distin guished but
l know very little of their nature In the
woods and along the distant hilisides fires
are smouidering, from which the smoke rises
gracefully and floats away to join the cumu-
| lus clouds that sail slowly across the sky.
| Add to all this the fact that You are within
| eight hundred yards Of the pickets of the
| enemy. who keep up continual fire with
| their long range rifles. and that there are oc-
| casionai opportunities OF hearing a MIME ball
| extreme pro liability that the long guns on the
| opposite fort may send a shell at you, and
| some Idea can be formed Of the interest that
| is attached TO this place.
| hlunson's hill is not much Ia itself 1t is
| small, barren, less than two hundred feet in
| height, and about the shape Of half an
orange. A few small oaks are standing upon
its top. but beyond this there are no signs Of
| vegetation. Without referring to the mill
| tary defences Of the place, which encircle its
head like crown, pass to the rear, where
| the shelters for tho men are placed with the
| regularity Of tiles upon roof. These shell.
! tiers are ON simple plan and rude construe-
| ton. l will give you the modes operandi of
| making them; Drive two forksd stakes In To
| the ground few feet apart, place q pole
cross these two. lay rails from this pole to
| the ground, and then cover with pine boug CHS
An armful OF straw few pine bran cbes
| will serve as a floor. and then you have a
| house, If not As comfortable as a hotel, quite
|
| boots and spurs on, and who sleep with ewes
| and ears open. In the eacieatS, upon the crest
| of the hill. are the headqua rters OF the post
| q little hut facing the west, with fewer rails
| less pine boughs, and less straw than any
upon the hillside. At its entrance Is a by
| table, and scattered around are two chairs,
| a few boxes, large rocks and q stump or two
for the accommodation of visitors A field
glass hangs upon Il tree and the table is orna.
mented by cavalry sabre and n pa of spurs
Headquarters does not boast Of much ele-
| gance, brt II yop are content with soldiers
fare, and wish TO meet few gallant manly
| chtyalric fellows, and be met with true cour
| tesy and hearty welcome, there is the place
| for you.
The Alexandria and Leesburg urnpike
runs around and partly over The hill, and
then sweeps eastward into the valley TO-
| wards Bailey's Cross Roads. Just AZ the foot
| OF the hill Is the residence of Munson, tthe
former owner, earn ami other houses.
| MunsOn and his family have taken refuge
with their Yankee friends, having followed
| in company with many of his neigh bors. the
| ioFtnnes OF the " grand army The legacy
he has left has been put to useful plSspose
and will, perhaps, still do us good service us
| it has done here tOfOre
To the right, about two miles distant is
| Masons Hill, the largest and most impor-
| t;lnt Of all this line, which, as | have pre-
| yiously stated, is admirably calculated for
| making defence against the advance OF the
eneIny and which 10 fortified IN ill if be-
comes rs imprernable as any position can be
! made. Il i exactly opposite the fort on
| shooters Eill, aud Is, / think within range
OF the heavy guns, although no serious dam
! age could be done with them. The hill is
| covered by 3 beautiful OAK grove In I'M edge
| of which Is the residence Of Mr.. Mason from
whom IL takes its name. From this point
| WASH ncton is plainly visible, and with u
| good pair OF glasses many of it's familiar
| spots can be distinguished. One can look
! down upon Munsons and Halls hills, and II
| can bescen ct glance that this protects them
| both and that guns here could be used to as
| sst in the defence OF them. in rendering
| them untenabie should fortune place the enc
my in the positions now held BY us The
| view from this hill is very much finer than
| from Mnnson's 5, but on account Of the dis
lance, some mar less distinct and the outline
! less sharply defined. 1t would be a hard
| task to criticise either or TO institute INV
| comparison between them.
| Leaving my hospitable quarters with the
| Washington Artillery, a party of US rode over
| to Townsville, where the light took place q
| few days ago, III order to make q topograp phi
| cal survey of the field. There are now no
| relics of the fight, and few evidences that any
| unusual disturbances had taken place We
| found a party Of our pickcts ut the cross roads
| busily engaged in chatting with two pretty
| young ladies, who had walked some distance
| 10 bring them Il nice dinner and a can OF but
| termilk Inc picke.s sprung 10 the saddle on
| our approach. and halted us some yarGs
| away, but upon giving the coun tersgn
| We We're allowed to come up The alarm
| caused the little rebel hearts to beat rapidl '
| for moment, but whom assured We were
| friends We We're cordially welcomed and
| were In terested by remarks and crit icism upon
the character and habits of the Yankee off,
| GERS who have frequently visi ted their house
| in search of Secessionists. Bright eyes are
| dangerous TO roaming soldiers SO We tore
| ourselves away and turned into the fields.
| While there we found one or Two Of the pro-
| iectilee fired from the enemy's battery, but
| could find none of the shells that had ex-
| ploded. One only had the back part torn off,
but both pieces went into the ground to-
L oath iry all en- =
| lodged in field immediately in front Of our
posi- ton.
| While speaking of this skirmish AN Incl.
dent connected with IL comes to my mi nd
| Notwithstanding the assertions of the enemy
| that they had accomplished their object and
! were returning, 1t was evident our m en- came
| upon the by surprise and that the first sh OF
thrown INTO their midst was what Mr.. Rich
ard Surveller would call Il 'fstaggelern 1t
| Hancock, who was among the advanced
| pickets, knew nothing OF their pres encs until
he found himself prisoner, and to his ut ter
| establishment surrounded by 1.-The Secession
| lists" He delivered up his sword with some
reluctance, and with q sOrrowful expression,
but when he handed over his sash, his feel
ines We're too powerful to be subdued.-
| There, said this patriotic man, There goes
| nine dashed dollars" and he turned his head
| to prevent further contemp lation OF such
| sacrifice OF property.
1t twas late in the evening when we reached
| Fairfax, after an easy ride of eight miles over
| the road that passes through Vienna. The
| moon was shining brightly In the sky, and
| it's beams falling through the grand old trees
count changed the road with "dusk and
! bright like the mosaic floors OF Damascus
| The lovely night, the soft September air slie
| old associations connected with the place,
and the fresh incidents OIL the past few mon tbs
crowded upon the memory and etfectnally
| prevented any labor. Sitting upon the bal
| cony of our hotel we dreamed half the nigh
| away over our cigars, the blue smoke of
| which, curling around our heads formed the
web and woof Of many splendid t.ncies. The
Germans have saying that II is tho true tes,
| OF friendship TO be able 10 sit In another s