Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-08-15

lDerCQSslOQ SQellSY OF 6Ouo OluGI hluu Ol
ammunition, it is supposed. No one that
was aboard of the boat remains to tell the
| tale of her destruction. The splinters that
| strew the river may be hers or they may
not. The section of the twisted ribs of a
keel that lie in the most frequented part OF
the town, on the bill, two hundred yards
distant, may be hers, or they may belong
| to one of her disappeared consorts.
You have read of eruptions of Vesuvius,
such as buried Herculaneum and Pompeii.
| You have seen illustrations of them in the
books. This must have been such an
explosion as one of these, except that in
stead of lava and dust and ashes, 1t rained
over the circle of a mile, in whole pack
ages and by piece. meal, everything you
can imagine at q military depot Entire
boxes of fixed ammunition came down
among the tents in the town quarter of
mile distant, and scarcely tent or house
or boat can be found within the circle of
mile that is not riddled by shell, solid
shot, or small ammunition.
The massive pine wharf in front of
where these boats lay, which was bolted
down upon piles and sleepers of pine
trees, is brushed aside for about third of
its length, as if it had been made of the
paper l write on, while the substantial
plank warehouse, with massive beams,
built for at least quarter of a century,
has been crushed nearly its entire length
as if it had been lady'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 where my remains would prob
ably have lain on the heads of the whisky
barrels if had remained in the car l first
occupied.
The pine board row in which were the
Post. Office, Adams express Office, and a
Quartermaster's office, was also crushed by
the conclusion and the heavier forces
brought against it, like band-boX, but
fortunately, or rather miraculously, none
of it's occupants were seriously injured
The neighboring suttlers, while equally
unfortunate in the demolition of their estab-
lishments, were equally fortunate, under
stand, in the safety of their persons, with
perhaps one or two exceptions, which will
be found in the accompanying list OF cas-
ualties.
Every frame house in the town was
Jared by the coucussion alone to the ex-
tent of having its inside plastering knocked
off, beside other damages by missiles &c.
Against the houses and other distractions
near the wharf, and even upon the hill,
hundreds and perhaps thousands Of bro
ken, twisted and splintered muskets and
such debris lay in drifts like straw drifted
by the wind and all over the ground for
at least quarter of a mile from the scene
of the explosion the shell, solid shot, grape,
canister, musket and minnie balls, pieces
of shells, nails, screws, bolts and bolt
heads, and fragments OF almost everything
wooden, iron and leaden you can think or
are strewu and drifted like hail and chunks
;ronad;otaly altar drRadful hail
storm.
One of the Sanitary Commission clerks
who has a post at the edge of the water
two hundred yards above where the ex-
plosion occurred, picked up a wash-b ba-
sin full (perhaps fifty or sixty pieces of
shot and pieces of shell, that fell within
few feet of him. Up on the hill, two hun
dred yards from the scene of explosion,
noticed one shattered musket, among
many others lying around stuck muzzle
first into the hard street to the depth of
more than foot, and so tight that 1t
could not be pulled out by any one man.
This was near where the twisted section
of a'boat keel lay. Everywhere are seen
the rents, dents, deep abTasions and scar~
red burrows ofthe iron and leaden storm.
The thousandth part cannot be told.
And now for the causualties. How
many were blown in atoms into the river,
from the Kendrick, never to be heard
of, is not known. Probably they will
not exceed dozen or so. The captain of
the Kendrick is safe, having been alb
sent at the time of the explosion, on an~
other boat. The other boats entirely de-
stroyed and sunk were the Gen. Meade
and the j. @. Campbell. Capt L. Baily
of the Meade of Somerset County, Md,
and his steward, VIM. Coleman (cOlored)
of Washington City. all the persons on
board, are both safe, the former some-
what bruised. OF the fate of the crew of
the Campbell have as yet heard nothing.
The dead and wounded taken out OF the
ruins of the wharf and warehouse will be
found in the appended list of causuali-
ties,
So with the killed and wounded on the
railroad train. l only saw one man dead
on the train-SolomOn Leonard, 18th
New York. Poor fellow! He was a
convalescent just going to the front. Sew
| eral others ofthese were wounded by be~
| ing blown off the cars and otherwise.
The unfortunates of the Kendrick, most
" colored. laborers, it is supposed, were
not blown into the river. Hands and
feet and scalps of colored men were rain
ed about the town. saw several, and
heard of more.
One sight was particularly unpleasant.
Up in the most frequented part OF the
town, where the part of the. boat hulk lay,
there was an object like the entrails of a
beef rolled over in the dust. 1t was rec
ognizable as human by n hand and a
foot being attached. l noticed one noble
horse wounded as if bY long w Whitworth
solid shot coming down through his back.
Oh, how pitiably he groaned and throed'
when a soldier put his cruel, death~deal'
ing musket to his head. Other generous
steeds shared the iron storm, and many a