New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-09-24

that could be done would be 10 erect counterv.,
mounting come Of our heaviest guns upon them. IA
,ueJ uaer cover Of their fire. successful advance
might De made. The present position of The ,uo
armies Is one Of much interest 10 an engineer snd
ais many problems upon the board that would
| ie9u ,n macn skill and hard study 10 solve.
WIG armies are 50 close to each other Il II not
surprising that come small sallies should be- made orcs
siouai'y, simar 10 those brilliant sorties 40 ,n
curing tne (rimean war, brave dssbing man cali.
for Few volunteers and goes out on a soo9,no 49,
dinoh. ne learns by reconnaissance Of party Of Inc
enemy, and endeavors by a SURPRISE or rapid eha,Ss
to capture them, which he possibly can do with H.
oss Of one or two men. The history Of all WAR shvs
this practice to De common, and they serve to enyen
the dull routine o. camp garrison duty. In our war
these small skirmshes furnish tie groundwork for The
kilograms which appear in daily papers, received
ia majority of cases from Yankee sources Last
night took place near the Chain Bridge IN which
ore of our Captains Lieutenant and private were
taken prisoners and two priyates killed. Ihave not
learned the full history of the affair but you will IN
doubtedly have report of it in the Geographic dis
patches from Washington sooner than can get il to
you by mail
The pIckets still keep firing on each othsr but thus
far but little mas been accomplished on either side
There seems 10 be number Of amateur fighters the
Yankee line-fanatica Abolitionsts, who cone out
from Washington, bringing sporting rifles Of long
range, and spend the day in cracking at out pckets
whenever they come IN sight. believe that we have
lost but two as yet, Notwithstanding May thousand
Mimic balls have been aimed at every person who
comes within tbousana yards of their ney On SUM-
day, young man belonging TO one of the Tennessee
regiments was his while passing from one post to
auother, and was severely wounded ia the side. The
bal struck one OF the ribs shattered II, and passed
outward He viii recover. About the same time
spent ball struck another Of our pckets 10 the thick
leather, but did not enter the flesh The blow caused
some swelling Of the te0t and ankle. These are all
the late casualties Munsons Hill.
The weather to-day has been stormy and disaorec-
able although but little rain has fallen. Ii il rare
circumstance to have three pleasant days in succession.
ON
DIRECT FROM YIRGIHA.-We are again 10 posses-
sion OF from Loudoun County, Virginia, through
the same hitherto proven trustworthy, and
we learn that no Confederate troops IN any numbers
greater than small scouting parties anywhere along
the line of the Potomac from Leesburg mp TO Sir Johns
Run; and moreover that notwithstanding some alarm
on one SIDE and some wstful looks in that direction
from the other there has been no force of any conse
quenee along the route referred since the battle of
Manassas.
From scents across the river as well as from other
sources Of direct formation, It is quite certain that
great scarcity exists everywhere 10 that direction Of
the oemmonest articles in daily use especially sugar
salt and things usually deemed indispensable BY fsm-
lies. Our informant stated that woman came over
to the troops Of Gen. Bankss column recently with
quantity OF butter and offered it for salt and begged
bard 20 be allowed to carry back with her. Tho
officer was compelled to refuse her the privilege of
ryng supplies Of that kind into Virginia, although
offered send and remove her family to the land
of plenty on this SIDE
Col. Geary, our informant stated, has in custody
still the Rev. W. III. Wilson, arrested charge u
completely with the Rebels and he stated further rut
the proofs against him were accommodating
baltimore American, Sept %