Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-09-24
Ear the En1piTer.
E,spo1E. Va, Sept. 1S, 1861.

BILE fact. during tEiS cFe''tiu' 7""sb'0 ."
corntry's rights, lhat AS SOON AS any ul'ss'ei,
however slight, hDtpena Ia onr armies, d ger
tain class OF crbskers, VII" unfortunately NJ
fest every reInniunitr, ii'GlG to ioHk honut io'
some one OF, whom they .naly conveniently lay
the blaine; and they very soon ma out that
s1ch n commander was rcEn!ss IN Inc perform
ance Of his dutC--that another had very little
Indictment or iiscrction-thnt one was certainly
. edward and the otber-well, perhaps, events
MIGHT even prove him 4 traitor 10 MS country.
persons such IS these in our midst have been
vcrv busily engaged, since the capture effort
uotIerss IN a.cribing the defeat ni our forces
Mt that iuportsnt station 10 the misconduct
of one Of the noblcst aid most gallant officers
in the seryice of the Confederate States-Cap-
tain Samuel Barron. Day after day have
been waiting to see in the public prints some
v;nd;cat;on IF the conduct Of this noble son Of
Virginia, now an exile froHi all Dc ho!ds Gear,
for tbs sake Of the very inrn VINO uaFe 10 Nitng
n shadow on his fair fame, hat finding that no
such statement has as yet been 'nahe' l nave Te'
solved, even at this late hour, to enocaEor, IN Il
few plain words, to do him the justice TINT his
noble co,duct at Hatteras srsrrred. While do
not intend TO attach any blame to the authori'
tioa or North CaroliIia, nor TO the gentlemen
in command of the post, | can truly say what
every man present during the engagement
mnst say and must feel, too-that Capt. Bar
ron performed the important CURES tnat ac,
volred upon him ms only a brave, ,heauntco
soul like his could do, and the mtco OF praise
even his opponents cannot withhold rom nm
On the evening Of the 2'th Q. august
while the steamer Winst'w, l" which | WAS
then, and am sill attached, %aS III NG%oe'h,
taking in provisions ard col, capt barron,
who. but a few days bcfore bad taken com
mand Of the Naval Fleets If Virginia and
North Carolina, received information rom
Norfolk, Va, that Il convoy OF fleet iIai Sa''cd
from Old Point, and that il was generally sup
nosed uutteras was Us destination, IS IN,
Northern press, for su:uc weeks previous ian
been intiniating that such Il moveInsht Won"
take place. fc immediately gave orders 10
have the steamer in readiness to start ataS
early an hour as possible next morning. 'or
Halieras, and we accordingly left Nrwdcrn ut
half past eight on Wednesday morning, taking
on board about ninety kegs Of powder *'i>' h'I'
cartridges, the principal portion 81 when was
maIo up iuto charges on oar pssiaSf. As We
neared the Inlet, the heavy booming o! cahho"
announced to us that The fort had beer nttech-
ed and at Ais P. M., having anchored on the
bulk heal in the Saun5, &c %crc oo.rctn pI
an officer, who Informed Vs. that Fort Ei"ik
had surrendered abuG. ? O'Clock that day, a''"'
II gallant resistance, ard that the garrison 'iicr"
had spiked the guns ard rctrrated III gooh
order To Fort Hatieras, with The To-. at o''Ii
two lives, tho distance from Clark To I~l1!'cras
bs;ng about seven cighths OF 4 mic. We were
/ atn-,na h. tic, thHf ann1s ~ nUiD NEIL
had been landed on the beach, up above the
forts and any one acquainted with the beach
to the Morti."ard Of the lalc', as far up as
Cape Hat.eTas, ca.i easily perceive i'r" reaa'l!
the Federal troops conid have been landed On
the shore, protected, as They were, ty al saTr
four Of lie ship: outside, and led On by a e"
sncAkius traitors rho infested thn beach, Ci'
p~eciaily rs Fort HatteIas puSseSsed tar G"ul-
vided attention Of these four Stips, pouring 81
inccssant s.rcalI, Of SHOT and shall in;o the
midst uf lis gallant defenders. Cnll. B4rror
having heard and ha!:e7ci The rapport q: ;he
landing Ct tic iyuGp:, as also ilir fd"t Q! Fort
Clark having SURRENDERED Coz wat nf aiii:!u-
milton. volunteered. slth Lierie:an;: Sharp
and Mnrs,iush. and Coz. Bradford, 10 accom-
pany Majrr AH4fcs>, VII" was, ; IhIfE, per
marca.iy attached 20 the garrison, on his rvtirI
into tic fort, and This they did under cor!" q:
night. During tina; long night If s':spaasc,
when every hcart was throbbing With anxiety
as 10 sbo probable fate Of tie f.r!, and hoping
for the long expected breeze from Tic Soalh
east, Capt. Barrur assisted the officers Of Ike
garrison in making all necessary preparations
fur the attack on the E:o-rnw ; and though the
coming dawn filled Ia bring them The hoped
for ~"topsail breez+," which. would have saged
them, and scattered HE SHIPS Of the Yankee
invadera-.huugh Tie wind and waves were
against them, and n (ew IF their own COUNTRY
men had baseiY stopped % bc;ray thetn info
the hulda Of The encn,y-a'!il the gallant lille
band of men t0i!cd %. Gi.wsariediy. and BuTcn
~as among them. ccin:raAd;ng. ertTeatirgg, rn-
couraging, Until endurance had ceased 10 tc o
virtue.
Lieut. Muriangh, the friend and brother 81.
Gcer OF Captain Burton, who was brought On
board Of the Wirsin~ hurii.. tbs engagement,
with 4 severe wound in he !a?: arm, informed
ME that he never saS Il luan possH::c.i OF mere
cool courage thaa animated Captain T.. in TIA:
hour Of peril, and me says also, that the rcsnlil'
ton to surrender the fcrt was the result Of
calm aud serious delibcration, actllated By de.
cidcd feelings OF hnnor and patriotism. The cal
liant Lieutenant, Usn A's". behaved MOS! nObiy
in the engagement will, wlier h" RECEIVERS (r"rl
the effects OF his wound. bear me nut in he
statement o: facts, which thirk GuGl. il
justice to be made.
1t has been said that the Captain Of a British
vessel told somebody, who repeated it tn sul"r
one else, who spike III is to another %I.er:;on,
that Commodore Sirins!;an tai said that Only
three iiundrcd men were lanie1 CT the beachthe
night before Hatteras was taken, and that they
were momentsrily expecting ri attempt on
the part 6 our men 10 rctake Fort Clark The
wise ones Immediately cried out at this, why
didn't Capt. Barron attack. them during the
night. Our Ironns could have readily rerulsed
three hundred mrr.." Granting this report of
Il YsEkrn Commodore to lie true, which IS iii
itself n mailer o? doubt, as the Leading
officers uuder the Lincoln de:potism have
been quito noted OF late, fer the great care
they take 20 %cuncc.l Inc truth from friends
AMI foes; granting nil his to be true, hom wHs
Captain Barron to karw that Commodore
S~tringham had made this very convenient ar
Iaagcment for us 10 take cur own back
again, and Kill 4 few Yankees al tae samr
time. Another report is .hat the fleet ~wsntolf
from the coast during tbs night, thus adding
to tho golden opportunities tba; might have
been improved. had some Of the w!scacrss
hereabout beea in crmmaad; and this i; IS Mt.
surd as it is untrue, fr The SIlsquohdnna and
Cumberland were the only two who changed
their position in the least. 1t is greatly 10 be
lamentcd that thia unfortunate Gfiir, which
has given eur enemies tbs control Of the Caro-.
lima coast, should also Tend 10 darkcn tho fair
farue Of sucn q nun az Capt. Barron. lknow
not On whom the blame Of this defeat should
resi-; I only knew, what every one who wit
messed the engagement must feel, and that is,
that Capt. Barron is as brave as he is honora.
bic, and TINT in his conduct at Hatterac: nc
was octuated by 4 strict sense Of duty alone.
Hoping that this statement Of facts, when I
have e~rdeayored 10 render rs brief as possible,
will prove satisfactory to yourselves and your
readers, am, very respectfully,
Your ohcdicnt servant,
PATRICK McCARIcE.
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