, 1864-08-15
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION
AT'CITY POINT.
Two Ammunition Barges Blown
Ut--The Mammoth Ware
house and Government
Wharf pestroyed.
A TR AIN OF CARS DEMOL-
I6HED-TWO HUNDRED
MEN KILLED AND
WOUNDED,

=
out In fact, he is not sure that he has not
oeeD, and that this Is now his spirit, from a
torce OF habit and sense Of duty, trying to
communicate with you. But he feels Of his
bead ply sical, aud thinks he still has one
lttspngh little shaky,. perhapsl and that be
ts unscathed from head to foot, except lit
tle torn rainent; and he devoutly-aa Chris
tian or Mohammedan evsr dtd-tbanks God
tor bis deliTerance. He accepts the awful
call, so nearly and so loudly made, as ter
life, and that in the midst Of life We are in
death.
lwlll en6eayor TO give some idea Of the
terrible Ecenc That | am about to record by
trtt relating nay own sensations. I will drst,
however, endeayor to describe the relative
clearly unders, ana what uLdertske to re.
late In the first place, then, at the main
ste eamboat 1anding here, where the n,at1 boat
1anoe, there Is {What's left Of I'll a substantial
new pine wharf, third OF mile or go in
length, along the river.
edge of 1t, ran mammoth nen pine Coy
ernment warehouse, neati, the length Of the
Wbsrf, along the river, built ia the most sub.
stantial manner, and which I had just made
note OF as being over quarter OFFS milo in
length, SIXTY feet wide, and twenty-five feet
high from floor to apex, and capable Of
standing the wear aud tear Of war for at
least quarter Of u century.
Back OF this warehouse, from the river,
runs tie railroad track along the platform Of
the warehouse, making the transition Of
freight from tue boats to the railroad tralus
the railroad track, from the warehouse, at
the foot Of the bill upon which the town ia
Situated; WIS a new pine row, in which the
Post 0fi1ce,i Adams' Express office, and a
QuaEtermastet Office were kept, and few
od buildings, occupied as sutlers' establish
SH1$a {e~ Nrk II l.
city Of tents, there wore scattered about d
dozen or more substantial frame residences,
occupied now mostly, for various military
lie ma1l boat has been landing about the
middle Of this wharf and warehouse, one Of
honse being fitted up into offices
and devoted to fine commissary. stores and
such f1e}ght rs ls usually carried by the mall
boats, while adjoining this section Of the
warehouse above is another section left as
an open court ior ~ t1o passage Of horses pas
Just above this open section, and above
where the mail boats landed, opposite an
ammunition, section OF the warehouse, this
mornirg, lay, next to. the wharf. the barge
Major General Meade, loaded, with con-
barge j. Z. Kendrick, loaded With fixed am-
munition tor. distribution, and outside OF
or near her, the ]. c. Campbell, load ID with
commissary stores, with other boats and
vessels close around and above and below.
After mailing al ny poor Letter this morning
around the town M hour or so, tools the
ll:30 freight tram, as is now my wont, for
| the front, where my headquarters aud horse
are. We first went into the only open car
immediately opposite the ammunition sec
''on Of the warehouse, but along came one
IT the freight agente, nnd eaid be was order
ed to close that car (which had barrels Of
whiEky In it} as well as the rest. Ne con-
scquently lad to get on top Of the train,
| which VIC frequently do.
| walked back On the train (up riverwards)
SO Us to avoid the ciuders and smoke OF the
locomotive In going out q precautioh which
experience had Taught mel, and sat down on
commenced perusfng letter had just re-
cefTed from fraterna1 youngster In the
Prairie State I Ind gotten about half
through this when, the first thing knew I
did not know much Of any thing: 4 stunning
and deafenlpg shock, as If Of the terrific ex.
plosicn Of q monster shell near me, and the
conclusion OF the air were bending me In
voluntarily over on the deck OF the car, Us u
plant bending before the storm; aud 1t SEEM
ed that the conclusion would never cease
ringing and snayiDg until 1t bred more and
J. My tirsf thought was that an ammunition
car had exploded Just ahead OF the ono was
oD, and that 1t would be of little use to FRY
to escape the storm that had gone up and
would come doWn-that one was about Us
stfe in one place as another. But the dread
storm did commence coming down, and Oh +!
how it did rain and hail slI tho terrible in
struments Of war, We felt that we we're Ia
the bands Of Hercifu1 Providence, and that
II our time had ZONE, 1t had coE4e, aud there
was no help for 1t. We could only shelter
our heads With our hnts and our hands as we
walked aft.
It vas not q railroad chr, but the ammunt-
tiq0 barge ]. E. keudrick. TINT had explod-
ed from the careless handling OF percussion
shells, or some other kind Of ammunition. 1t
Is Eripoeed- No one that was aboard ofthe
ton. The splintcrs that strew the river
may be hers or they may not. The section
Of the twisted ribs Of keel that lie In the
most frcquented part OF the town, on tue
bill, two hundred yards distant, may be h4rs,
or they may belong to ono Of her disappeared
| Consorts.
You have read OF cruptions Of vesuvius,
such as buried Herculaneum aud PompelL
| You have seen illustrations Of them In the
books. This must havebeen such an e1plo-
sion as one Of these, except That instead OF
circle Of q mile, in whole packages aud By
p!ece-meal, everything You can fmsgine at .
military depot. Entire boxes Of flied n
munition came down among the tents in the
town quarter Of mile distant. and ecarce-
II tent or house or boat can be found within
the circle OF mile that is not riddlsd By
ehcl, solid shot, or small ammunition.
The mnssiVc pine wharf In front Of where
these boats lay, Wrich was belted down up
on piles snd sleepers Of PINE trees, is brush
ed asite for about third Of its length, as II
It had been made Of the paper I write on,
while the substantial plank warehouse, with
hE0 1Isf1 1o1c ~ ~
century, has been crushed nearly its entire
length as If 1t had been led.'s handbook.
The freight train that was Just ready to start
when the explosion happened Is shattered In
nearly every car, though not past repair, and
had the uninteresting satisfaction of seeing
on the heads If the whisky barrels If I had
remained In the car first occupied.
The pine board row in which were thc
Post. Office, Adams Express office aud a
Quartermaster's Office, was also crushed By
the concussion md the heavier forces
brought against 1t, like a band-box, but for.
tunately, or rather, miraoulously, none oil
neiehboring suffers, while. equally unfortu.
nate in the demolition Of their establish.
mente, we're equally fortunate, I understand,
In the safety Of their persons, With perhaps
one ortwo exceptions, which will be found
In the accompany Ing list of casualties.
|
BY the .concnssion alone to the extent oi
having tts inside plastering knocked Off, be-
side other damages BY missiles, &c. Against
the hCuBes and other distinctions near the
wharf, and even upon the hill, hundreds,
and perhaps thousands, OF brokR n. twisted,
and splinterrd muskets. and sucf debris lay
in drifte, like straw drifted by the wind, and
all over the ground for ut least quartero of q
! mile from the scene of the. explosion OF the
shell, solid shot, grape, canister. musket and
mimic balls pieces Of shells. nails, screws,
bolts and bolthesds, and fragments Of al.
most eyerythin wooden, iron aud leadan ron
can think OF, are strewn aud drifted like hail
and chunks Of Ice Immediately after a dread.
full hail storm.
One Of the Sanitary Commission clerkf
who has post at the edge Of the water, two
hundred yards above where the explosior
baps fifty or sixty pieces) Of shot and pieces
of shell, that fell within few feet OF him
Up on the hill, two hundred yards from the
sce1e Of the explosion. I noticed one shatter
| ed musket, among many others lying around
stuck muzzle deep into the hard street to the
depth Of more than q foot, and so tight thai
it conld not be pulled out by any one man
This was near where the twisted section Of &
boat KEEL lay. Every where are seen thu
rents, dents, deep abr4sions and SCARED fur
rows Of the iron and leaden storm. Thf
thoueandth part cannot be told.
And now for the casualties. How many
were blown In atoms into the river, from
the Kend1ick, never to be haard Of, is moi
known. Probably they will not exceed {
dozen or 50. The captain Of the Kendrick Il
safe, having been absent at the time Of thk
explosion, on another boat The other boats
entirely destroyed aud sunk were the Gen
Meade and the J. G Campbell. Captain l.
Bailey Of the Meade, of. Somerset county
Md, and his steward, VIM Coleman, (col
o1ed) Of Washington City, all the persons on
board, are both safe, the former somewhat
bruised. Of the fate of the crew of the