, 1864-05-12
EFe0E1 JAMES E1yEH.
What Eutlcrss Forces Bfd-UIs POSI-
t1on-NaEaI Matters.


AT TUE FRoNT, Friday Night, Aay 6, 1891.
With Gen. Butter and his staff, WAS prs.slesod
this afternoon to ride along our lines. Tho army
had advanced on the Petersburgh road, =. distance
Of about eight rniles, where 1t will remain for the
night. Its left flank is protected By gunboats In
James. From Gen. Smiths headquarters, it is
easy to See the spires OF Petcraburgh, and the gen
eral impression Is TINT there will he no great In
Areport, abundantly verified, has come to ne. Of
q rad mtshap On thu james River. The gun host
Commodore Jones'. volunteer Lieutenant Wade
clock this afternoon, seven miles below Fort Dar-
ling, By torpedo. About f!ty lives were lost and
Lieut.. Wade was seriously. II not. mozt:lty wound
Cd Ay statement 9i tns occurrence Il hon an eye
boats. WAS fishing In thu river for toEpedocs, when
exploded beneath her, directly anlfdehips, with
amothered sound The boat Wss crushed like a
piece Of paper, aud huge fragments Of the wreck
were lifted high In ar. Tne executive otleer OF the
Jones retained his foothod upon piece Of the deck
Ind as rare tnatance OF coo:ntas IN such sudden
tol and ehot dead rebe on the bank Of the river,
who had exploded the dabolfe contrita2ce By
neana or : galv nc batte:J. This remarkable L.
Ths inventor of lie torpedoes Is Lieut.. Hunter
the United Sfalss. The gsisauic battery was c.p-
m aqna 70 s9t to- 9as ,Ss +:
cups instead Of exploding the other torpedoes. the
wires leading to which will now ,be flshcd tor aud
the torpedoes s3plodsd- This occurred aoous two
Yaneins further until the other tofpeloes can ba
rendered harmless. The Com. Jones wss q ferry
boat, with battery Of one 1o9Poander Patrott and
three a-iach guns on banrd. Tbs boat, battery and
This morning the enemy paid us their eonnplt-
nenta, both on the riyc- :ad la:t. About ten
Richmond on the north bank Of tho river, and
popped away at the naval vessels. which were fish
irg for torpedoes near Turkey Bend The ANAL
Il known a. 4 "pasleboard'' boat. was soae dis
tance in advance Of tho others. Tee second shot
from the rebel battery exploded the gunbosrs boil
ed overheard and svam to the opposite bank Of the
river, where they found shelter until the other
boats came up and drove the impertinent rebels
Away, The men report that the explosion Of the
boiler injured no one On board. and that all the Of
fceFs Of the boat wnre taken prisoners. Admiral
Leo kept up vigorous sheltug Of the woods for
Tie ixht on shore began about the samo time as
tbs affair on the Jauaes River. Anticipating the
attack, plan was formed BY our side, hsyint; ths
Richmond Railroad 70 destroy It. Fire btigsdes
were detailed to push forward and seize the road
& The 70 oa 1as, the
1oh 1oth corps. lie ID brigade, 1st dl7islon, Colonel
ed h @ins n,,fon aS Rsr tSe Z
commanding, and Col. Dsuke's brigade, Sd diTi.
sion, we're detailed, and Gen. Burnham's and Gen.
Msrstons prlEades. from The 18Th army corps,
Gen. Brooks command. The column LEFT the for
t1ctSIons at about ten O'Clock. Gen. B1ruham's
hE'gsae havtng tbe lnsntIy ad3anee' % GnassdonEs
Ion we he sd j. III hs
c.lamn on tho right advanced to tho railroad near
Cbtrtsr Station. The day being excessively warm
1tsecmed TO me almost Impossible That any fight
two he r,,f1 fha t7ft Hn
But the rebels did not allow tho heat to trouble
them, and br II o'clock a. n, having received
their artillery during the night, they opened fire
pc:nt Whence t1ey had been driven Last evening.
Our replied ep!endtdJ, and In shcrt tltne ths
engagement on the left and center became general.
boff from Petersburg and Richmond, which pris-
ouess told US brought down rclnforcements. They
slto eaid that Gen. Beaurtgsrd had come up rom
then commanding the forces In front. Wh1is the
Jeff and centre were engaged. for the most part 10
artillery practice, the right column, consisting OF
18th New fofk, hurried forward upon road 1esd.
ing to the Petersbureh Rat1road near Chester Sta
tIon, where also r. the junction Of the Port Walt
bali road. Here thcy eet bridge on fire and de-
stryed the track for some distance. but being
aasagely pressed By the enemy. the order was given
to retire. The damage to the road. believe, Is
tinued viii unwavering igor on boih aIdes antii4
O'clock when the rebels were reported to ba fall
Ing back. Amer following them some distance an
order WIS given for our troops to retErn to the lne
held In the morning..
Toe catualtIes Of the DIV have been unfblo to
lesru. Our loss il reported, however, not to hare
been very serious. lfost Of the wounds arc from
fragments Of shells. Twelve or fifteen officers are
reported to hare been killed or wounded
The position Of our forces here il considered i'm
pregnahle. II we cannot get out OF the Penlnsuls
which confirms u.s. it is eertain that the rebels
not Get IN. The natural detenees oE the place are
perfect leaving little to be done In tho way Of en-
t1encifng, and The gunboats are depended on to
keep the river open to Hampton Roads>