, 1864-08-14
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION
At CITY POINT.
Two Ammunition Barses Blown
UI--The Mammoth Ware
house and Government
Wharf DESTROYED.
A TRAIN OF CARS DEuOt-
1AEED-TVFD HUNDRED
WEN AILLEHs AND
WOUNDED.

Correspondence New York T1lsuae.I
City Po1NT, VA, Aug 8, 1851.
Your humble correspondent, with many
otheFs has just come verf near being blotted
cut. In fact, be is not sure that be has not
been, and that this Is now his spirit, from
lorce Of habit and srnse of duty, trying to.
cemmuh icate with YOU But he feels OF his
head ply sical, aud thinks he still has one
is unscathed from head to foot, except lit
tie torn ratment; and lie deyoutly-as Chris
tim OF MohaDmedan ever did-tbanks tod
Tor his delive1auce, He accepts rne awful
csil, sv nearly mud so 1,udly inade. Is i ter
rinle warning OF the uncertainty OF human
life, and that in tile midst Of life we are In
death.
I viii en6eayor to giye some idea of the
terrihle eceuu th t alu about TO record by
INT se1asi:g my oen sensations. will drst,
however, tndeavOe to describe the rel .tive
locality ot things. 60 that you may more
clearly understand whnt I Undertake to re-,
late. In the fret place, then, at the main
steamboat lsnding here, The.e the nail bolt
.1auos, there Ii (wIat's Iuft of it, substantial
new pine ~harf, a third Of ! mile or SO in
le1 eth, along the river.
Back on this. ten or twelve feet from the
edge Of It, run a mammoth new pine Goy-
ernment warehouse, ueutl; the length Of tue
wbart, slons the river, built 10 the mcst sub.
stantial manner, aud which had Just made
note OF Us being over quarter Of mile In
iehGtht sixty feet vide, and twenty y-ilye feet
",scc 110iu a10r to apex, aud Capable OF
Standing the wear aud tear Of war Tor ut
feas: y 4uartsr Of century
BACK OF this warehouse, from the river,
runs the railroad truck along the platform ot
Ihe warehouse, makiug tine transition of
freight from the boats to the railroad trains
simply. through the warehouse. Beyond
the railroad track, from the warehouse, at
the foot Of the hlll upon which the town is
situated, Was new pine ro@, iu which the
Post Otilcr, Adams Express office, and u
Quartermastct office were Kept, and a few
buildings, cccspied as suffers establish
nente, &c while upon the hill, hesiIe the
city OF tents, there were scattered ahout q
dozen or alore substantial ft,ame residences,
occupied huE mostly for various military
IurrOses-
Tie mail boat has been landing about the
middle OF this wharf and warehouse, one Of
Son.e fps mde'e deig 1setiSns tf'aS Of tue wa5e
aud devoted TO fine commissary stores aud
such freight Us 10 usually carried by the nail
bouts, Willie adjoining this section Of the
warehouse above Is another section left as
an open court for the passage Of horses, pas
sengtrs, &c, to and from tue boats.
Just abose this open section, and above
ammunition section Of the warehouse, this
Iuornlrg, lay, next to the whurf, the bIr.e
Major General Meade, loaded with COZ
Gemned stores NAeludfng condemned am
n.nni1ionl; outsldr Of her the ammunition
bsFgeJ +. kehdrick loaded with fixed ali
OF utar her, the J. c. Campbell, loaded with
comlnfssaty stores, with other boats and
,yrssels close around and above aud below.
After mailing ny poor letter this morning
On the 10 O'CLOCK mail ncAt, and looking
afunnd the town an hou1 g so, + took Ill:
ll:so freight tram, 81 Is now my wont, for
the front. here my headquarters aud horse
are. We first went into the only open car
Immediately opposite the ammunition sec
tion Of the warehouse, but along came one
ot the freight agents, and said be was order
ed to close that cur (which had barrels Of
)" "h1sky III ~ as well vs. the rest. Ne cou.
Ecqueutly lad to get On top of the train,
which we frequently do,
walked back Tn the train {up rivcrwaras)
so as to avoid the ctnders AID stuoke ot the
iot omot'Se IN going out T.. precaution which
experience had tan.ht mel, ond sat down un
the walk boGr4 along the top OF the car uud
cou'mcbccd perusin: letter had lust re-
etivcd Irom u fraternal yuuDgster in tue
Prairie State ] bud gotten about half
through this when, the first thing knsw l
did nut know much Of M, thing, 4 stunning
aid dtafenlpE shock, as II Of the terrific ex.
plush Of monster shell near me, and the
concEs6ion OF the air were bending ME iu.
voluntarily over on the deck Of the Cat. rs II
plant btndlhE before the storm, und IL seem.
ed that the conclusion wonld never cease
ringing and sAaying until 1t bred more and
loIe danger.
My fret thought was that an ammunition
car had expludcd just Ahead OF tie one was
Oh, and thnt It would be Of little use to trv
to escape the ITO. N that bud gone up uud
would colne duWn-that Que was about Us
e'fe IN one place as another. But the dread
storm did commence coming do~p, and oh
bow It did rain and luii Iii the terrible In
strnments Of war. We t.lt that We we're iu
The tal ds OF 3 mtrctful Providence, aud thlt
II our tine had come, 1t had come, and there
was no help tor it. We could o,lr shelter
our hru6s will our bats aud our Aanus a. We
z walks d ait.
1t was hut railroad car, but the ammunl-
ton barge J. E. kcndrick. that had explod-
I'd from The carel.se handling If percussion
shtls, or eoinc other kind OF ammunition, 1t
Is su. posed NJ oae that WAs aboard Of the
hnat r. plairs to tell the tale Of her des'ruc-
tiou. The splintcrs that strcw the rlyer-I
Vi the twisted ribs OF ! keel that lie IN The
most ffeqnented part OF the town, on the
bill, two husdr ) srde distant, may be h~rs,
OF they may belong to onc Of her disappeared
sobsurts.
You have read Of eruptions Of yesuyiu5,
sucu as ptileo dt[Cuadueum auQ fof1pGtl4
1uu have sceu. Illustrations Of them In the
books. This must have been such an explo-
sion us ore Of these, except that instead Of
lava and duet aEl nsbee, 1t rained over the
circle Of a mile, In whole packages and by
piece-n1ea1, everything you can Imagine at a
military depot. Entire boxes Of fixed am-
came down among the tents In the
town Il quarter Of mile distant. and SCARCE
Is tent Or house or boat ran be found within
The ciicle vi a mile that Is not ritdled by
shell, sulid shot, Ut small ammunition.
The massive pine wharfiu front Of where
these boats lay, which was bc9ted down mp
on piles and siee2ers Of pine trees, Ia brush
It Lad been made Of the paper I write on,
while the substantial plank Warehouse, with
nIaselve beams, butt ior ut least quarter of
a {. injury, hae been crushed pear1v its entire
length as II It had been 1ady's handbook.
The freight train that was just ready to start
when tie explosion Unopened is shattered in
nt arl esery cur, though not past repair, aud
had (he uniuterestinH satisfaction of seeing
where my re1nains would probably have lain
OIL the heads at the whisky barrels If had
remained In the car first occupied.
The pine board row In which we're the
Post Office, Adams Express office aud
QuartetmBsttr's office, was also crushed by
brought az ainst It, like handbook, hut for
tuuattl., or rather, mfraoulousfy, none Of
it's occupants were seriously Injured The
ueichborint ent]ers, while equally unfortu-
mute in the demolition of their establish
uaents, we're equally fortunate, I understand,
In the eaf.ty Of their persons, with perhaps
ont or t*o exceptions, which will be found
in the sccolupany Ing list Of casualties.
Every frame house in the town Tas Jared
By the concuesion alone to the extent of
having It's insid. pfastering knocked of, be-
side other damages By missiles, &c. Against
the htuscs md other distractions near the
wharf,, and eyen upon the hill, hundreds,
and perhaps thousands, OF broken. twisted,
and splinter+d d muakets, and such debris lay
in drifts. like straw drifted bY the wind, and
al over the ground for at least a quartero OF
mile from the ecene OF the explosion OF the
shell, so.id shot, grape, csnister, musket and
mimic balls, pieces OF shells. nsils, screws,
bolts and bultheade, and fragments of al.
most everythin wooden, iron aud leaden you
can think OF. are strewn and drifted like hail
and chunks Of Ice Immediately after dread
fnl hail storm.
One Of the Sanitary Commission clerks
who has post at the edge Of the water, two
hundred y4r1s above where the explosion
occurred, picked up a wash-baain full fper-
haps dttS or sixty pieces) Of shot AMI pieces
of ehell, that fell within few feet OF him.
Up On the hill, two hundrsd yards from the
seeue Of the explosion. noticed one eh1ttes-
ed mueket, among many others lying around,
stuck muzzle deep into the hard street to the
derth 0f mnre than foot aud 20 tight that