Newbern weekly progress., 1862-04-26

INCAMP. BEFoRE THE TNTRENcHMENTsf .
AT YORKTOWN. W., April. II, 1852
The exciting event of the day has bscna baL
loon reconnoissance by Grnrrsi Fitz John
Porter on q scale of rather larger magnitude
than was intended AZ Eve o'clock in the
morning General Porter took his place in Pro.
fessor loves balloon He supposed the
usual number of ropes were attached 20 it,
whereas there was only one and place in
this. as was afterwards ascertained, had been
burned hy vitrol. used in generating gas.
Taking his seat ia the car. unaccompanied oy
any one, the rope was let out to nearly It's
full lengfh-the length is about nine hundred
ya ds-when suddenly snap went the cord
and up went the balloon. This was an un-
expected part of the programme. The men
below looked up with astonshment, and the
General looked down with equal bewilder-
ment.
"Open the valve" shouted one Of the men
below.
"rll manage it," responded the General.
Up went the balloon, higher, higher. /,
rose with great rap.dity its huge form lessen
I'd as ii wildly mounted into ihe regions OF the
upper air; and it became speck In the sky.
The wipd was taking il in the direction of'the
.n.my's territory. By this time every staff
officer and hundreds Of others were looking a.
the moving speck. Il is impossible TO describe
the anxiety ielt and expressed for the fate OF
him, the central object of thought in that far
away moving sptck, every moment becoming
less visible. It is seen to move in our direc.
tp1; the countenances OF eur men orlghte@
with hope 1t passes over our heads. Soon
it begins to descend, but with rapidity that
arouses renewed apprehension. -
Quickly squad of cavalry, led by Captain
Locke, Lieutenant McQuade, Of the Generals
staff plunge spurs into their horses and dash
Laway in the direction of the descending bal
loon. The rest of the story is as ! received it
from the Generals own lips. While the rope
was being played out he adjusted his glass IN
readiness for his proposed view Of the enemy s
territory. A sudden bound Of the balloon
t. Id him in moment that the rope had given
way. He dropped his glass, heard the call,
"Open the valve" made the response gwen
above. and set about looking for the valve
! He was sensible of being ghty (the General
loves q pun as we'll as the next one), but ~as
not at all nervous He saw the wind had taken
him over the line Of the rebel intrenchmcnts.
Having no wish to drop in among them he
let the valve take care Of itself. and proceeded
to take advantage of his position TO note the
aspect of rebel objects below. Crowds OF
soldiers rushed from the woods, and he heard
their shouts distinctly. Luckily he Was
above the reach of their bullets, SD he wasnot
| afraid on this score The map of the country
was distinctly discernable. lie saw Yorkto~n
and it's works, York river aud its windings,
Norfork- and it's smoking chimneys. Acoun-
ter current of air struck the balloon and its
course was reversed. Its retreat from over
rebeldom was rapid He opened the valve
| the gas escaped. and down he came. Tic
could not say how fast he came down, but |,
was with o rapidity he would not care to have
repeated. The car struck the top OF shelter
tent-under which, luckily, no one happened
to be at the time-knocke ed the tent into pi,
ard left HIM enyelopcd in mass Of collapsed
oil silk.