The New York herald., 1862-02-19
GENERAL MANsFIELD's DIVISION.
OUR NEWPORT NEWS CORRESPONDENCE

CAMP BUTLER, NEWPORT NEws, Feb Ia 1867.
The Wounded 1y the Explosion Tuesday last doing soe
Board Of Inquiry into the Cause of the Erplosion-FT
in the direction of Norfolk, dc.
Bowman and Paty the two men Of the Twenty ninth
Massachusetts, regiment who dangerously wound
cd by the explosion Of the Sawyer gun the 11h inst
are still lying in prscarious condition; yet, with tho
kind they receiving from the brigade surgeon
DR. Josiah Curtis, and the regimsnta surgeon, DIR. Or
lando Brown, there fair hopes of their recovery
Those who were less severely wounded all doing well
and entirely out Of danger The board OF inquiry nst
tuted by order of General Mansfield consists of Leute
nant Colonel Nauman and First Lieutenant Sanger o
The First artillery and Captain Gaebel Of Company A,
Seventh regiment New York Volunteers They are
working necessarily, early and late, collecting all he
evidence they can get and their report will doubt be
a very interesting and valuable one
Last night between ten and eleven CLOCK large fire
was seen in the direction Of Norfolk lasted Tor
y an hour, at times blazing up with great briancy If
the night had been dark should better have been
able 70 form some idea Of its exact whereabouts.
CAMP BUTLER NEWPORT NEws, Va, Feb IT, 1852.
Report of the Board Instit1ted to Examine Into the Cause
that Led to the Bursting of the Sawyer Gun-They Con-
denim the Gun-Recove,y Of the Wownded-Ne,cs from
Yorktosn'-An Application to Gen. Aasruder tor Leave
of Absence, dec.
The board of inquiry instituted by General Mansfield
70 examine into the that led explosion Of
the Sawyer gun on the 1lth inst. have finished their
hbors. AS the question Of unusual interest and
importance, give the report in full
Proceedings Of . Board of Inspection and Investga
tlon convened at Camp Butler Va, pursuant to the fol-
lowing ORDER
SPECIAL oRDER-NO IA.
HEADQUARTERS, CAMP BUTLER, Va, Feb. IL, 1862.
-oard Of Inspection and Investigation will be held
to days ut ten O'Clock NJ for the purpose Of examn
ing into the cause Of the bursting Of the "Sawyer gum
last evening. They will entor into every particular rea
tive to the same, and report as TO charge shot, loading,
strength OF gun, elevation &C., &C., and will report
the casualties as to the number Of killed aud wounded
and their names
Detail for the Board
Lieutenant Colonel George Nauman, commanding ar
tiory; Captain +. A. H. Gaebel, Company A. Seventh
New York Volunteers; Lieutenant J. Prentss Sanger,
commanding light artillery.
The junior member lieutenant Sanger) will record the
proceedings Of the Board
BY command. Brig Gen. MANSFIELD.
CLARENCE II. DYER. Assistant Adjutant General.
CAMP BUTLER, NEWPORT NEWS, Va, Feb. 10, 1862.
The Board met in compliance with the foregoing orders,
all the members being present. Tho Board was occu
pied in its labors the 12th 18th and 14th Of February
1862 both at Newport News and Fortress Monroe After
the most minute inspection and Investigation the Board
reports as follows
l. That the cartridge used when the gun burst was
received from the Ordnance Department at Fortress
Monroe, ready prepared for the service of the Sawyer
gum and was supposed to contain the usual charge of
nve and one half pounds, it so iuv0iced but
upon weighing several Of those received here the Board
fnd that the cartridges contained six (6) pounds This
CHARGE in the opinion Of the Board and Of the ordnance
oncer at Fortress Monroe who has experimened with
the gun, should not have caused any unusual strain.
q The prCectile was an elongated percussion she'll the
mventiCn oil Mr. Sawyer and constructed for the
Of the gun Il IL 1anged and is coated with an alloy
chiefly Of lead; when untitled, in which condition
1red at tho time Of the bursting Of the gum its weight
forty three pounds Tho Board Of opinion that all
Hanged proectes unsafe and uncertain in their
use than those with expanding the that
the former are liable to become wedged and
OverDtrotnng.
8. The utmost caution observed in the loading Of
the piece, and all the details that are necessary to its
proper management were carefully executed.
The appearance OF the fracture Indicates that tho
metal Of the gun was Of good quality but that the gun
was not strong enough for the service to which Il
liable and ikcy to be subjected.
8. The gun was fred at an angle Of twenty nine de-
grees, which was not its extreme elevation.
9. The Board are Of opinion, from all the circum-
stances incident TO the explosion and the previous history
OF the Sawyer gun that II cannot be considered SAFE
This gun had only been fred hundred and frtyons
times; and, whom the apparent weight OF mctal IL
sdered and the slight charge used this small number OF
discharges should not have caused to BURST And the
In consequence Of the weakness Of the enforce
and that red cast iron cannon, from which fred
such heavy nsnged proectiies should be more strongly
In conclusion the Board states that this gun bore no
marks whatever, either OF number, inspectors name,
weight. date &c. &C., and but express their
prise that It placed in position for actual service
nring with such an important omission; and In the
opinion OF the Board the life OF the should not
be placed in jeopardy BY the reception into service Of
rifed cannon which have not been duly tested, and
marked in evidence Of that fact And they also OF
one concerned in the management and firing Of the gun
The following Is list of the casualties which were
caused BY the bursting Of k9s!S sas gun
Charles E. Jones, Company I, Twenty ninth regiment
Massachusetts Volunteers
James W. sheppard, Company B, Twenty ninth regi.
ment Massachusetts Volunteers.
Wounded.
Lieutenant John Smith, Company Twenty ninth regi-
Maoo l.a
the carriage-not considered dangerous
John E. Hall Company +, samc regiment badly burned
W. II. Bowman Company 1, same regiment: skull
badly bruised.
Seth W. Patty, Company E, Same regiment; three ribs
fractured.
George Sullivan, Company f, same regiment.
The Board. having no further business before it,
adjourned sinedic.
GEO. NAUAiAN, Lieut. Col LIST artillery.
FIR. A. H. GAEBEI., Capt. 7th N. Y. Vols.
J. rRENTIS5 SANGER, 1st. Lieut.. 1st artillery.
II is with sincere pleasure that enabled to state
that William Bowman and Seth W. Patty, the two men
who most seriously wounccd Tuesday last, are
in fair way Of recovery. Bowman commences to show
signs Of increased consciousness and being of strong
constitution there good hopes OF his victory over Nj
Death in this match. Patty has been considered out o
danger for several days past All the other wounded are
doing we'll.
young negro boy escaped from Yorktown On Friday
last He reports that tho force there reduced to seven
regiments-about cnethrd Of what it be- There
are now two Virginia regiments Louisiana one Ala
bama Georgia, one Fl0rids and North Carolina
(thc Fifth cncamped there. Thrco werks ago gun
bursted killing ten men and wounding two.
Captain Arts, Of Company X, Second regiment New
York Volunteers, while on scout Big Bethel on
Wednesday last found the following letter which deem
Of Sufficient interest 10 COPY
YORKTOWN, August =, 1861
GeneralJ. b. MAGRrDKn3-
Sm-Though in seeming disregard Of Special Order No
163 feel constrained by sense Of duty my family
10 make application for lsavs Of absence for reasons
which shall proceed TO assign - briefly possible.
You to scme extent aware Of the circumstances
under which ordered by you TO this post on the
27th May last. Sufcc TO say that for nearly two
weeks preceding my arrival was in command Of a small
and badly equipped volunteer force in the county Of
Elizabeth City, within less than three mos of an enemy
OF more than ten times my numerical strength, and
immessurably superior in all the equipments Of war
with pickes in sight OF each other and nccss
sary much absorbed in my public duties leave
little thought for my own private Affairs. BY sudden
advance Of the enemy was compelled 20 leave my home
at few hours notice without even chance Of securing
my papers, which Of great value me- forced TO
entrust my wife and five children, without seeing
them 10 the Of the only servant had at my com.
,l<ot hair eaoh has fhovr