The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1864-08-12
The Explosion at City Point.

Great Destructiou OF life aud Properly.
Wdshinoton, Aug. ia letter trum City Point,
latod August 10Th. ssys:
AbpJt II o'clock Yesterday, = noise resen bling
he explosion Of mag IL.a was heard at tho
headquarters Of tie Army Of the Potomac, and
many uirmscs were indulgcd in 10 the dirc hon
from which it came. and its cause. During the a.
Hrnoon wori came dat losi losdei with sinmu.
pition had exploded at City Point, csus NJ . right
fil loss Of life and gres, destruction n property.
0I the correspondent OF the Associated Press reach
Ing the scene cf the disaster, n spectacle pre-
sentcd TO him utterly indcsrribable Builiings hal
teen demolished, tents thrown down. and horses
killed In every direction. Tue lctot building, Just
completed, was a mas % ruins while the
ground, for hundreds II yards WAS
srsd with property Of every description
The dead and wounded had been oxtrcat.d
nom the ruins aud carried some distance back, the
s,rIner for burial and the latter to be sent W the
hospitals. A boat loaded with ammunition OF va
rou kinds WAS being unloaded by tho negroes Of
tho Qusrtermaster's II cportmcnt, nearly hundrcd
IN number and the only theory advanced ss to the
sause Of the calsrnity, Is that = shell mus have
heen dropped by one o. them, thus communicating
thirty seconds, witnesses say, and the shock Was
tlt for long distance On the side o' the road IN
'front.' Of the landing, were located number Il otS
ess sod storee, among them tie Post Ofice and
Adsu,s' Express Once, which were Almost utterIy
thrown down, The large number Of person. occupy
ing them nniysculousy escaped with hit Sigh,
sSxusos. IN the rear Of this IS steep hsnk covered
With Yer q on its summit and oocup.e coehy b. the
nolosod Isborers and their families. shells and
dot Al every kind struck this bank ia pcrfec,
blower, while the ground in the vicinity is scSsal
y covered with all kinds oi stores. A large mum.
her Of Old saddles and pieces Of harness among
tho debris. A boA loaded with stores lying along
sds snosher one, Was torn to pieces, large por
don oi II being raised completely ont Of the water
sDd thrown through the store-house ON the dock
Captain Benedict and Captain Am,s Of the Corninis
sary Department. were Iva H. building nj the lime
and were buried beneath the riius. After coIsd
cradle labor they were extIica,ed from their PERIL
Gus situsuon, neither OF them being fatally
injured, though .'ood deal bglisel. A
number Of b,iies OF colored persons hsv,
been found besides those above mentioned, Al,
tlcre are sixteen in tl.e Poet Hospital, wbile other
ere scattered Ia different localities. Twenty -lv
eoorcd men. more OF less wounded. were taken /,
the Colored Genera. Hoepl.sl, where several ampr
n tons were Jerioru,,i. I've shells ps ssc,i tlruue
the Sanitary Commission bout but fortunately Il
enc on It was Injured. l. Ia believed ths, man,
s.,dies were blown into the river, which will nevc
a. rccovcrcI. Cant. schuyler, Proves, Marsha
wDo was sttius ou the top oi the bans oi the ver
under II ~, was lifted up and thrown distance q
TN or twelve iec,, roeeivns 2 shower OF snuil
around him, but strange to ss., esnspol without
ucrs,ch. The loss Of property is not known, but
vill prove 10 be very large. The Goth New Yor
volunteers lose killed and IL wounded. The boz
LSwis caught ire, when swreking tug ran sshor'
nd attending her hose, threw SIX streams on Ii
ire. putting out the fsmee. and thus saving larg
unount Of ammunition.
sEooSp pIsrAron.
wasAtn1ton, Lug. Il-i0 +. Mo MAJ Ger
Dx. New York A dispatch from Gen. Grant, Ju
received, reports the Casualties by tho explosion
the ammunition barge at CAY Pint, on the 9Th,
sollovs; Kued-Twelyc enlisted mcn two cit
1ens temployecs! one citizen Cnot employed
the Goyernmont and thirty eight co'ored labo
srr. Wounde,i--ThIee commissono oticeTs fo'
splirted men, fifteen citizens employees ~
irhty-ix eolored lsborers. BESIDES those' the
vore eighteen others wounded, soldiers and on
urs not belonging about the wharf. The DANA
10 ths property wss large but have noa The rnes'
. reporting II, The names Of he Saueo y