, 1863-10-15

Details Of the Recent Expedition
Under Gen. Wistar.
ITS ORSECT AND TIE RESULT.


Correspondence to the N. 7. Herald.1
oE Board U. 8. GuNBopAr CoMMoDoRE',
Nouns, EAST RIVER Va, Oct. 8, 1s53- 7
AN EXPEDITION AGAINST TEE ENEMY. =
Another raiciug expedition is now IN pro
gress against the enemy, as you may judge kJ
the locatton OF your correspondent at tho
p1esen. tine. This affair WAS kept so very
secret that not many knew even Of its stars-
fnE, and 1t y Us not until after ne were fli-ly
u1de1 way That /. despite my greatest eff lrts,
could learn cur destination.
TIE TRoors EMPLOYED.
left Norfolk III transports en- the Sd Instant,
the whole affair Of their ansporta,ien being.
70 ekilfuily and secretly man.ged that, A.
though the moyement Was made In broad day.
light, none but those especially Interested
would have noticed what was trauspiflpg.
The rendezvous Of both the land acd naval
forces was In the vicinity cf Gloucester Point,
aid thither all repaired without delay.
~ 5 TIE LAND FORCE
Of Col. 8. p Spear, whose dashing exploits
have made tis name terror to the enemy,
assisted BY one negro regiment 900 strong,
ard sn sections Of artillery, the whole under
command Of B!tgadicr General Wistar, com-
ma1 diIg poEt at Yorktown.
THE NAVAL FORCE,
under command cf Commodore J. q. Gil1is,
Of the York River flotilla, consisted of the
following .gnhbrats: Commodore Jones,
g eSn fo,t1 tina s Gsre s;spp9g st0ns .sI
reinforced b. the following army gunooats:
Gen. Jesup, Smith Briggs Vest End, G ?.
Smith and Flora Temple. These latter boat.
were hay clad, If the expression may be al
lowed-1tat is to say, their machinery and
guInern we1e projected from the shareshoot-
ers IT the enemy By the bulrarks Of hay bales,
frd d$05r In frr hA rF NJ
le1able points,
TIE START
Of the lard forces was made at q. m, on the
5th, The direction taken being that Of Gioa-
cestfr Court House. The naval portion Of the
expedition did not move on 30 early. At 8 T.
n, however, the Jones showed her Signals
for the sta1t, and ,w1thin ten minutes thure..
eftes The whole heet Was heading down tns
York River, the. Jones loading, closely fol-
loved By the Stepping Stune aud the rest of
the rayal force. the army gunboats bringing
up tie rear.
:. az. TIE OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION
wss now for the first time di.closed. Al
had surmieed, the cavalry nrd iufAntzy we're
making their Way towards Matthew'S Court
House, Va, where 1t WIS stated that force
of 1ebels had lately been located. Through
the medium OF deserter5 and scouts, this
force ct the enemy was traced in their jour
ncJ from the tine they crossed the PamuukY
River Until they reached the Court House,
whence their design waB evidenuy 20 60 of
Gil II whattEer little site Itsus might PROMISE
them profit. It was apparently d 1epstision
on the part ct the enemy Of tie daring Tan-
ture which resulted In thu capture Of tbs gan-
tosts Satellite and Reliance, a short time
tince Eo it was determined that tho aHair
ehon1d be litped In the bud.
AT MOB JACK BAT
tie whole fleet came to, and received In
httnc1ions Is TO their cou1se, and the pties
zach Individual boat WAS to perform III CO.
olerat on with the Wand futces. The various
stiealnal running parallsl to ths line Of
mach Of our mnd furccs-tha PIankatank,
East River, &c.-uere ) to be patroled by the
grnboetr, and Nillia,us' Whaif, On the latter
river, a. to be held By two OF our Vaastls
p.o.tet1ng that point and the transport Ma
pie Leaf, which Was sent there for the purpose
If bringing off onr cavalry should they be hard
pressed alter having passed Matthews Court
Hou.e. The Jones and Putnam took the
latter duty, and arrived at Williams Wharf
on the morning Of the 9Th. The other gun
hoale, both navy and amy, took the Piauka-
talk, RapI ahannock md North RIVERS under
their charge. -