, 1862-03-24

= The Narrow ASeaPe ut @Amptons
30 It will figure in the history Of this HaE
the narrow escape Of our forces, forts and
deets In Hampton Roads by the adventure of
the Ne1fmae, or Virginia IS the rebels hare
na1aed her, for nothing saved them from cap
>tuFe and destruction but the timely arrival OF
he Mahitor. It Was premeditated plan Of
fhe enemy, long and carefully concerted, and.
nothing but the brave little battezJ prevented
the project from -betng ca1rfea to success. VI
;haTe a3Eea rssned to tAe: fact that 1asd
3nozement of rsbels unaer Gen. Magruder.
E1as apart of The programme We find in the
/ I lafayette {1nd. Journal letter from anom-
[!cer writing. from Newport News on the 1oth,
which well atates this part of the peril. r.
A bali hour after the close Of the naval fsght
our pIckets were driven In, who reported that
: the rebel General Magfuder,s farcea were ad-
VancIpg upon rs from Yorktown. The ttlong
roNn W1s SOUNDED, and every man was quickly
st Ms post. Even these Of the suck who we're
ae!s e Ke1k bad taken ,theiE place in ranks,
anxio9s for the opportunity to meet the en-
;emy ace to- face Gen: Mansfield made q
reconnaissance in front Of the enemy. and
returning. reported that body. Of rebel
cavalry. Mtillery and infantry was thrown
}aenoss 81. the country about two miles out which
:Mclea from Yorktown, which he Suppressed
would attack rs under cover Of the Ifrht.
Accordingly the General ordered three of our:
regiments to advance to a position outside Of
our pickets and lay there until the enemy
he would Iumedi4tely send out large rein .-
torcements. Our regiment and the I'd aud
7th New York were sent back to camp,
where Te were supplied with twenty four
hours ratfons and ordered to be on the alert
Tor the ATTACK, which Gen. Mansfield supposed
would be made about: three o'clock In the
morning. We did so, and Lay every man With
his ACCOMPLISHMENTS on, ready tojump when the
| alarm wss given, but the enemy did not come
to give US battle. After daylight this morning q
schooner came up to our wharf and two men
and EomHn jumped upon the landing and
gave three cheers for JET. Davis Our guard
promptly arrested them and informed them
that they were prisoners Of the edera1 army
This announcement completely dumb bounded
| the party, mho had come over totfh the besisf
,thd1 ne had beea. she1zed out and the seesst
| was loaded xith oysters, pies md
/ sWeet potatoes, all ready to set up shop.
They we're taken before Gen. Mansfield, and
from them he learned all the particulars OF
| the. rebel plan Of attack. The plan was this !:
onine aas ma sSe aS e f eoRe of On ,,,e sunday
the same time Gen. Mclean was to .ad-
! vance upon us with 10, 600 men from 7 Yorktown
while I'd, GOO more from Norfolk were to land
aud an attack made upon us from both sides,
N front and rear, i9 which event nothing could
have saved us. We would all have been
| killed Or taken prisoners We owe our pres
ervation to the Ericsson battery. If it had not
arrived Newport News and every man in that
locality would hare been in the hands Of the
! rebels.
The writer adds what is scarcely entitled to
credence, certainly as far az Captain Ericsson
is concerned, since he Was In New York and
did not 60 out In the Monitor. II may refer
to movement Of the description indicated,
but We doubt it,:
The Monitor, accompanied by two other
floating batteries, that have just arrived, lef!
! for Norfolk tonight, and Ericsson says he will
bring the Menimac back with him or NOT
charge anything for the battery. He says he
/ will shell every rebel battery between here
and Norfolk and return with the internal ma
chine in tow.