New Orleans daily crescent., 1861-06-11
Iem OrIeans Dailp Grescaut.
TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE Il, 1861.

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From Our Own Correspondent.
Flies -CdnnoaaAi7g at " Ptq Point''-The Water
lpAch Ahacks he BatteTies-Makes a Good
Shot-GoeS off loith q Lame Leg- official Re
Po't-Orders TO Ao1e-A Rainy Marcls-No
more IdS3p0Tt3
Special TO the New Orleans Crescentl
CAar sntvEEs, June 0, 1861.
M. EdHor-This section Of country literally
swarms with tlieg-the common house-d -dy-which
appear in myriads wherever man shows his face,
unless it be on some broad expanse of water or
other place inaccessible to their tiny wings Their
hosts hover in clouds over the dining tables Of the
hotels and meat stalls in the markets they buzz
up from the leaves under our feet in the woods,
and thrust their inpertinent bills into our faces
when we walk the streets OF the town but chiefly
are they in their glory in this encampment, and
particularly do their countless millions strike us
with wonder when we open oHr eyes in the early
morning and find the canvas roofs and walls Of our
tents black with them. The like Of it, after fall
Of rain, l have never before seen. 1t needs
morning reveille then to the soldier from his
slumbers; the tickling sensations about the ears,
eyes, mouth, nose, ETC., caused by the microscopic
feet and inqulsitiye suckers of an army numerous
as the sands of the sea shore, will awaken d regi-
nlent of men from innocent sleep to wide-awake
profanity more promptly than the near beat of the
alarming drum,' as we here have good reason to
know, from the experience of the last three four
days. Flies are, individually, rather harmless than
otherwise, but collectively they are an nolerable
nulsance-as much SO, almost, as mosquitoes /
trust that in our new encampment, to which we
are about removing, their visits may be as few and
far between as they are along the breezy shores
of Lake Borgne and Pontchartrain. For several
days it has been runored in camp that we were
soon to pull up stakes and repitch our tents at
q Pig Point" on this side the James river, where
it debouches into Hampton Roads, and almost ex-
actly opposite Newport's News, where the enemy
are entrenched in strong force. Early yesterday
morning fancled that could catch, through the
various sounds in encampment, the distant
rumble OF artillery, seemingly so far away that the
direction could no be guessed than if it were
some one striking, heavy blows upon mufiied
drum under ground. Its frequent repetition and
the evidence Of other ears than my own, soon con-
vinced me that | was not deceived, and the first
thing heard on reaching Norfolk was that heavy
cannonadlng had taken place in the direction of
Pig Point. where battery was erected some time
ago, and has since been strengthened and rendered
quite efficient. Later in the day learned the par
tlculars Of this little brush which, like those that
| have preceded It, seems to have resulted in not
much more than waste of powder, much idle
| speculation and some excitement. On the day
| previous, the steamer Water Witch had been sur
| veying and taking soundngs along the Southern
| shore, and yesterday morning, at fifteen minutes
past s. she ran into the mouth of the river, and at
about the distance OF one mile and quarter, as
nearly as could be estimated by the person who
| furnishes the report, commenced firing upon the
| batteries both at Pig Point and Town Point Her
challenge was promptly answered, and after pound
| ing away for nearly an hour, she withdrew beyond
range Of the batteries-to repair damages perhaps
The cannonading could be heard so distinctly in
| Norfolk and on Craney Island that the shots were
counted-seveny nine in all, twenty of which
| were fred by our batteries and fifty-two by the
| Water Witch. An officer in command of battery
on Craney Island witnessed the affair with tele-
scope, and he declares that rcochet ball. the last
one fired from the batteries, struck the steamer
while retiring from the combat, and that he dis.
tinctly noted the fact by the tremendous "list "
she gave as the pouderous missile crashed through
| her oaken ribs. He may Or may not be mistaken
as to that. Craney Island is five OR six miles from
| Pig Point, but she occupied position between
| have brought her quite plainly in view. The
officer of opinion that he might possibly have
pitched shot into her himself with one Of his big
guns, but he thought it would be hardly fair as il
was '' none of his fight"
We received last night, directly from the scene OF
action, an account of the damage inflicted upon the
| batteries, which simply amounted to the disabling
| of one gun and the promiscuous tumbling bout Of
certain quantities of sods, sand, etc, but nebo ody
| hurt. The report which official to Col. Beau
| regard, did not state how the gun was disabled,
but was informed that it was struck in the muZzle
by hostile ball and broken If that shot was not
accidental, it shows very fair artillery practice ;
but in the matter of skill it doubtless much the
same as the one fred by the Yankees at the Aqua
| Creek battery the other day, which took off the
head of an unlucky chicken wandering about on the
beach. The Pig Point gunners declare that. they
struck the steamer certainly three times, and prob
| ably five or six, and that she got away in appa-
rently distress. The number of shots fred was
rather greater according to the report than stated
| by the Craney Island spectator many of them be-
| ing from the steamer.
| The order for portion of our regiment to pro-
| ceed to Pig Point, was received yesterday morn
| ing, and in a few hours the Montgomery Guards
| had struck their tents, and were on the march.
| The Emmett Guards and the four companies of
Light Guards will probably follow to-day and it is
| expected that the remainder of the regiment will
| soon be ordered to join them. We shall have very
| good water privileges when there-the James river
| in front, the Nansemond on our left, and Hampton
| Roads on our right-though those privileges may
| be liable to certain degree of curtament by the
| presence of hostile cruisers.
| Capt Nolan's company must have had very
disagreeable march yesterday, for from about the
time they started the rain poured down in torrents
| until night and tbs prospect this morning seems
to be that the other companies will fare better
but will have to perform the six eight miles
march with muddy, marshy roads under foot, and
pouring skies overhead. The campaigner must ex,
pect many such little Inconvenience, and he soon
| becomes accustomed to and cares nothing for them
| provided he can get enough to eat and dry sleep.
| ing place, which are not always to be had,
Another flag of truce goes down to-day to Old
Point Comfort for the purpose of transferring an
| other lot of non combatants, mainly women and
children, on their way to the North. These are the
last, it is said that will be permitted to co. the
| Government at Richmond will issue no more pass
ports to persons wishing to leave the State.
| G. W. s.