New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-10-03
THE WAR FOR THE union.
BROW WASHINGTON.

OF T'rap-Ssan We be C"uEh' AGAIN.
HIsm Gun Special Correspondents
WAsuNoroS, Sept. 30, lSoi'
A reconnaissance in force was made yes'eiu'y =;
Gen. Kearneys brigade consisting OF he ISL ~ ~"
and 4th New.Jersey Regiments, inihh'ry' "'yoi
Hexamer's battery Of Fix brass guns RON iioOoNei'
and CoupanvG Of Col. Young's Ken5ncky 'a'"ir!''
TIE o,psditiop was under the immediate command
of Gen Kearpey in person, and Ia one 81 Tie mos
,n,or,ant that mas vet been made by our forces on
,I;. Id of the Potomac The direction taken was
,t,s;oht ont on tho Little River Turnpike generasiy
Known as tie Old Fairfax Road . 10 the very fool
Of Ma,nus Hill, leaving MunsOns iii about three
Cuor,sr OF mile 10 the right As a reconnaissance
II WAS NOS valuable ~ it thoroughly demonstrated
,besey sct nature Of the works On Masoas HID, and
that The works supposed to have been erected on
EdsalPs Hill exist yet only in possible conemPa-
son, aud gave our engineering officers such thor
ough and accurate knowledge Of tue fact Of the
conntry as cannot ia TO be OF the greatest yare in
stratelcal operations hereafter. Asafoasing PARTY,
II was also most successful aud ;hc brigade s.now
the richer by several hundred bushels Of unthrshcd
wheat q most acceptable quantity of hay, and raw
70 be estimated only by scores Of tuns.
For several days the rebels have been busf'y en-
and hay, the proceeds OF boun,ifnl harvest o. one
Of the most extensive farms in this section They
lave been plainly disccrnible at this work ~ our
glasses from Outposts, and 1t was rather s''dly
resolved 70 pat q etop 10 il. 1t was also Determined
10 gave The expedition twOfold character, ans .ake
tia accommodating force at the same time !; fould
Bel as a f5raging party. The Sd New-Jers! ''eS-
msni, infantry with train of 80 four-horse .,5uF
were detailed 70 capture, load, and draw on e for
age, which consisted, for the most pat, Of uute.hed
wheat, which had been bound and s,acksG Fiere
were, however, a few tuns Of hay. The q ,es-
1neut, infantry, was Immediately supporter: - yha
rear by The I'd Regiment, infantry; the cay 81 had
the extreme left while the LIST and fth RED .cs Of
infantry were 70 IocecI 70 the right on The >t5ns
Hill road; and that having the right Of iAEfS mn
wero 10 guard against any RANKING - nn
and 20 take care Of whatever force H3,f: he
sent from the camps at Mason's or ~ ., ms
Hill the Battery, subdyided into sections ~: adj
yantageously posted in such positions mean rks
OF the roads as might give them the best fac for
imuediateiy attending 10 any attacked or ei - at
tocking point. The column, which Left Foi, : yior
sarly in the morning. was in position in ab.vf. wo
hours, and the forage party at procccdc1- Dad
and draw away tho grain They were uns- fed
in their labors aud succeeded in transpoItiE. the
vicinity of Foft Taylor about $50 immense 70 5rse
,paoon-Ioads of grain and hay. number iisbe
nsnsions which mad been deserted by their '''IeTs
also welded some valuable and acceptable Ills II
p,ovisions and other things. The foragDg fe,aTe o.
Tie trip was not more encouraging, however, thar
the reconnaissance
Early in the day, Capt. SddODs and Quar-, mas
ter Harbur OF the 4th New-Jorsey Regimen. with
smen, ascended Mason's Hill, entered the inasnch.
1nenis AMI made a thorough and eminently salts.
factory examination of the ear,hworks there thrown
up Al that time the works appeared TO be entirely
deserted, bat in about lalf an hour a regiment o
Rebels appeared, before whom men retired, not
however. ill they had obtained all the information
thew desired. The earthwork on Masons Hill is q
the most fmsy unsnbst 1ntial and indefeuibie char
acter. 1t is simply a long em6ankment, two aud q
half or three feet high, thrown straight the
brow of the hill, with 10 bastions, angles or pre-
tence of substantially. There is no ditch on the
outsde but there is a slight ditch, shallow that il
is scarcely more than gutter, the inside; as i
that eminent engineer, Gen. Gideon Pillow, haC
personally blundered over the woIs. There are nc
guns there whatever, there have been two bras.
pieces, if not more but these have been removed.
A negro boy, about 90 years old, who was taken
near MasOns Hin by our men, says that the Rebel.
had intelligence Of our intended movement which
had however, been overrated in importance by their
own fears. They had got the idea that they were to
be attacked by 1000 men. The negro also says
that NunsOns iill was also deserted BY tie Rebels
who have retired 10 their stronger positions, hoping
doubtless that they viii be followed. Certain It il
that not only weIethe solorsawarc Of our approach
but the Inhabitants Of the frln-houses all along tie
Fairfax road lad taken the alarm had removed their
more portable properly and late las. night fed 70 the
congenal South. One woman, who occupied pleas
ant little bick cottage at the junction OF the Fairfax
ind Mason roAds, last night removed gone of her
effects. and this morning, early, she fred her house
and fed The cottage and all that it contained were
utterly destroyed
Those families who pluck mp the courage to re-
main and look after their property tell unyarying
story Of the means used by the Rebels to figten the
inhabitants. They arc told that or army IL coming
20 rob them Of their PROF ory 10 treat their persons
with every barbarous ndgnity, to parcel ont their
farms among our soldiers, or leave the land
desert and waste behind as. BY these
stories cattle, horses, aud other Saluables
that can DO made available TO the JEFF. Davis sol
diers are secured from many Whose devotion 10 the
Secession cause would render the employment Of aL-
sOlute force to obtain their goods unpopular with
their own soldiers, and i other instances they de-
Eroy their property outright rather than have Il fail
into the hands Of our troops.
While our advanced skir1nisheIs were carefully
feeling their way along the low underground that
skirts the foot of Mason's Hill they were fired an h.