The weekly sun., 1862-03-01
again his ,ycs oOn,rsc.es. and b,O4n, Wild q, II

The forms o. the law having been compiled with
the criminal In An excited and raahsr indistinct
manner said, "A man has W die bui once, | feel
thAt have . clear conscience. They have been
bent upon convicting me. That man Who could
get up In open cour, and tell Jury, " you con
vet this man, I I'll bc the FIRST " sign petition
10 save his life, and grI him convicted, and then
60 10 the Executive " get bin nH,t' Inn)uts the
= n,ence, has no honor, aNd he TO- dont care
what people cay, N an ~ho viii do anything -
promote lis own 'ud- n matter w'i1i iney are'
A cl ak was then thrown over GOri1n, n thh-
drink " whishey Wa given him, and prect td,d ~
the L. \. Marshal AMI his Deputy, he wa' carried
out D. tie place OF execution. lie was closely al
tended by the ministers, who only lefs bis eide
when he was placed under the Alta n'o'e. Toe
gallows wNa new one, ~ arranged that the VIC
Tn should be suddenly drawn up by the cutNn.
" rope and droppinC of an iron weight OF 25Q
pounds, inside close wooden box, where AJJt
Ae eyeCut onor.
Gordon's faoe ~ he was plsced under the beair..
depicted the gre,tes Agony and terror, and I'M
eyes med H. diate atd roll II iusatity threat
eued TIA rain. Tue rope ass arranged or his
neck 10y Nj. lsea -, duting which Gordon asked u
his friends would bc ,'lo svi o. see hi n de. Tue
Marsbal rtplt-t ,es, v they present 81.
lsaacs then ~ ked hun b. he thought he cuutt statd
acne. lie Ha.l Ne tuou. ht he ou.d t.t D.sCs
'hp wa pthb over hs hsre, lis cios, taken yn,
evi sing Ills pnnnei arms, AMI a. retrci a
e. uTle e. PAGES 'rom him Ile stsgger Il, s''ytd
Navk and iorth A. II about g. ftl', the sigma wa
given, md a. dt.i "tuud" sIuudod instie q .
rN's touer's lpN, his To oiy ierKel up ~ .
height Of alut feet aud th, re swung 10 and no
Exactly At quarter past tse.vr o'clock he was
suspended At the end uf tSo minutes there v ~
ss'gh tvtch fthe hands In FUR minutes thc>
began to hlackcn, and a, the same time the legs
were slowly spread apart. and allowed to fsI bAck
together This was his ony sign o'uf'
The motion " the legs tina dcctTs thought was
resulting from a nervous action cauAel 10y the
S,rychnine, not from the hanging. Tue death MA
remark ably easy. Dr Rimbsrk WIS In attend ,noe
and At the end of fifteen minutes. when tho hndy
was e, down ~ within two feet VI the ground, y
him " make al examination, reported that he could
detect mo- ptlsatinn ur uthsr signs of life. Thirty
minutes wer. however allowed, "to make assurance
doubly sure" and then the bndy Sas Let down on q
canvas stretcher, and carried into lsrge apart
meut " tie prisun. Here number ~ doctors
first eNaminei the body. then jI-y, crpaunclt ID
~ Coroner Rsnney, held AN inquest aud returned
ver1ct IN accuidauce with the act,, aud the hody
was psc,d in q rough cofhn inr the friends NJ the
teccasci, Who will take II in charge. The neck
was not broken, and q ero was scarcely any per.
ceptihle dacolpration ~ the face.
Thus persisted the first 81 ve-plrste, duly cnnyic-
tel oi tie crime, within the lat hriy years.
The Expedition to Fiorsnce-Uow our Guh-
boat Fleet was Recc,ysd on the rcuno.-ce
River
The first complete account that has boon
givon Of the Federal expedition up tho Tonnoa-
zoe River from Fort Henry to Florence, ALI
bama, We find IN the Cln,iHnaU Go:shc q
Monday
On tho 9TH nstani, soon after the surrender
Of Fort llerry Commodore Fcpto gave crders
TO CAPTAIN y. l. phclps, of the Concstogs, to
proceed up tho I,nnossoo River, in command
ola diyHon consisting ot the Taylor, uLdof
tho commshd &c Lieutenant Gwir, the Ioxing-
ton, under command of Lieutenant Sh'ks. and
hit own vcs'el. After ds'k Of tho Pamo day,
the Hoiilla arrived AZ tho railroad crossing %
miles above Fort Henry, and dosroyoi a large
Am, uut Oi camp equipu,e Ana dOnot Ivy the
fleeing r,hels The draw of tho bridge wa
found clos,d d, and tho machinery Ter working IL
disablei. About mile and half above the
bridge wero several rebol tranjport stegmora,
making g1od head way up the stream. Captain
Phelps ordered squad of mon to open the
draw. This was done in about an hour
| Tho Tay lor being tho slowes' ot thu gunboats,
| Lieutenant Gwin landed force 20 destroy a
portion OF the railroad track and to secure such
military atoros az could bo found: while Cap.
| tain Pnolps and Lieutenant Shirks, with the
G, nuoroga and Lexington, followed tho fugitive
rebels with great speed. In five hours the con.
nestogs suocociod in forcing the robcl' TO ah.u-
don aud burn three Of their boats loaded with
military stores. The first ono Hred by the
| robeis (the Samuel Orr) had on board qian'
| tity oi eubnnrino batteries, which very aoor
| exploded. Tho second ono was frei;htcd
with powder csnuon, grape balls, g.
| Fearing an explosion irom the fire.
| roAts (thcre we've two Of them close togethor)
| Captain Phelps had stopped at a distance ot ~ .
| tn us,nd ylras hut sven tho skylights o. tho
| federal boats were broken by the concussior
| the light upper deck was raised bodily door
| were forced open, and lock. and 'astenings ev-
| rywhero broken. Tho whole river for halt d
| mile round was completely broken up by tht
| f.llirg Fragments, and tho showers Of shot anl
halle. The house Of repu od Union man wa
| blown to pieces. II IN uspected ihero was some
such design, in landing the boats in front Of the
doomed house. Tho Lexington having fallen
| a-torn, and wi bout a pilot on board, Cap ain
Phelps concluded to wait for both Of tho boats
to,OIne up.
They all prooot ded mp the river. Lieutenant
| & win had destroyed some OF the trcstlo work Al
| tho end of the bridge, burning also alot Of camp
| equipage. J. N. Brown. formerly a liouton All
| In tho federal navy, now OF the Cortederates
had fled with such precipitation as to leave hi'
| papers behind him. Lieut.. Gwin got'posssssior
| of these. They consisted Of an oilisiL history
| Of the rebel floating preparations on tie Missi'
| Hppi, Cumberland and Tef ness-e. Lieut.. Brow
II sppeats had charge OF the construction Of th'
rebel gunboats.
| At night on the 7th, the no,illa arrived AT
| landing in Hardin county, Tennassoo, know
| as CorrO Gordo, whore thoy found tho steamer
| Eastport being converted into a rebel gunboat
| Armed boats crews were i'm Dedistely sont OF
| board. On reaching her, II was found that sh,
| had beed scutted, and the tecIion pi pes broken
These leaks were sOon stopped. number o
L fiuo tnOtB were Hrol al lno Io1oIhl DONb, Dut
couple Of we'll directed she Is dispersed thu
rebels.
On examination, Captain Phelps found ths
there were large quantities of lumbor prepared
for filing up the Eastport that tho vessel IL
self, two hundred and eighty foot In longth
| WAS in excellent condition, and already hal
finished. A considerable qnantity Of the iror
| plating was lying on the bank, and everything
| at hand 10 complete her. Lieutenant Gwin 70
| NAMED with the Taylor 10 guard tho prize, tim
Der, &c, while tho other boats proceeded up tn,
| river.
Soon aGter daylight on the 9Th, they passeC
| Easrport, Mississippi, and at Chick asaw iurtbs
up near the state line, seized the steamers Sall
Wood and Muscle, tho former laid up and th
latter frtighted with iron, destined for Rich
IN nd, for rebel use.
ARRIVAL AT FLORENCE, ALA.
The flotlla proceeded up the river, ente-lnl
| tho state Of Alabama, and ascending TO tlorenc
| At the foot of tho muscle shoals. Ga coming il
| sight OF tho town Of Florence, three steamer
| we're discovered by our men, but they werp i'm
| med stely set on fire by the rebels. Some shot
were fired from the opposite side Of the river be
| low force was landed and considerable
| quantities of supplies marked Fort Henry wer,
| ecured from the burning wrecks SJmo hA,
| been loaded ard stored. Oar lOllla took pos
session of as much Of these stores as they could
| bring away, and destroyed the remainder. A
large quantity OF iron plating, evidently intend,
| cd for EastpCrt, was found here also.
| A deputation Of the citizens OF Florence
waited upon Captain Phelps, desiring that the )
| might los made able 70 duiet the fears of thet