, 1864-07-23
THE WAR In VIRGINIA.
FROM GEN. BUTLER'S HEADQUARTERS
Correspondence New York Tfiounc.]
GEsERA1 BurIyn's HEADQUARTERS,


Correspondence New York Tfibunc.]
GEsERA1 BurLEn's HEADQUARTERS,
July II, 1Sti-10- p. n.
The army gunhoat Parke, Capt. Fitch, IT,
irg off HeIr1ug Greek, 4 little above Cnafles
City Court House, noticed an unusual stir N
to come down to the river, creep along the
bank in the skirt Of the woods, stop to peer
about--one of them WIS seen to gaze through
q field glasH-then disappear. Now, Capt.
Fitch Is u man Of almost feminine curiosity,
thong ii all his other qualities are Of the man
quarter astoBished him much as Robinson,
stlrnamcd Crusoe, was astonishsd when be
discovered trucks of human feet on the
Island Juan, surnamed Fernandez, only his
establishment had no element OF terror. with
tbs view of aetorm!ning the meaning Of the
five armed men. So there were fifty rebels
there, and they shot OF ht%party and wound
ed one man. They shot at the rebels, and
tue Irebe]s wentlaway at Ionce, standing on
no particular order Of going. Capt Fitch
blyouacked on shore, and in the early morn
ipg-this morning sent out scouts. Ills curl
oslty was not yet satisfied. One Of them made
n{dIecovery. Drawn up nmong the bushes on
the, bank Of Herring Creek were two light
boate, which had been cartEd from Richmond
In the boats were twelve torpedocs Of the
sa1ne class which have once or twice eK-
Iloded beneath our vessels and shattered
them. Each contained 150 OF more pounds
Of powder; with anchors and grapples and
percussion apparatus, which would cause
over. It was evidently the purpose OF the
rebel party to plant them Ia the river last
night, and had they succeeded in doing 30
they could scarcely have failed to cause dis
aster-a1l of which has been frustrated By
the vigilance aud promptness Of the army
r. m
who has since been commended by Gen. Gra.
ham, the commander of all the army gun
bouts. These should be distinguished from
the vessels OF the navy, which are command
ed BY Acting Rear Admiral Lee.
Benjamin franklin sent kite sRyward,
and brought down lightning. Benjamin
Franklin Butler sends kites skyward, and
drops down among the rebels Huttering hun.
dreds Of copies Of the Presidents Amnesty
Proclamation. The Ingenuity Of the device
i great In either case, but tie latter dag Ben
jamin has more praiseworthy purpose to
serve. He achieves patriotic end as sue
cesstu1ly as the original Benjamin did phi
loeophical one. The first fruits were reaped
to- day, viz: A numbe7 Of deserters WHO,
! on examination, declared that they were in-
hit Kim down from q big kite thot scaoted
over Whar We War"
1 was permitted to listen to Gen. But1er's
examination TO-DAY Of large number Of
prisoners, deserters, and refugees. The Cen
eral, believe, is noted among the legal fra.
| of witnesses. His skill and training we're
apparent In that speciality to-day. Such re-
| lentaess and successful questioning for truth
| never beheld before jury. 1t was "as
| good as a play" and gave me nav idea Of
| the acnteness md go111ke dlyin2tion Of tue
this terribly searching scrutiny was q reiu-
gee from Richmond. '.sle down, sir,'' said
aWm. Je6ers.'f Then followed hundred
| questions in rnpid succession and logical
order-logical, though it REQUIRED ali my
Mr. JefIers was finally eorne5ed. At first be
was "gentlemsn.'' Then he modified his
statement; he was u "epeculator." 70:
modification. and he was a "sportiog man.
And then, Observation-Disclosures
tssy sn eRnanag me Ss And na Y
became clear that he was but lately out Of
the penitentiaIy, he said: "You've got II
down pretty fine-I may as well cave "-then
he told the whole truth, and think nothing
but the truth. Two other individuals Of the
same nk, who had come through with him,
fully astonished at the selfreyelations he was
made to make. All had been living upon
their wits, bad been conscripted q dozen
times, had bribed themselves Of, until some
| weeks ago, when even T10H5and 10ll01s
Confederate money, failed to secure immu
nifty, md then concealed themselves, and Of
last had paid $500 to be piloted through thei!
lines, having first taken an oath not to revea!
the name Of their pilot. However, General
Butler has the name Of the pilot, who, it ap,
peared, works for gain, and not for love o1
The Union-a truitor to fellow-trafsors.
Next in order were the deserters and pris
anets.
Before their examination was over, I had
1sarned to distinguish one class from tne
other before they stated whether they can't
over voluntarily OF had been nahbed. Tht
| deserte1s we're Intelligent, the prisoners tal
otherwise, Tor it Ia only your FOOLS that are
: taken On pick ct, as rule. The latter kne1
nothing, and General Butler soon dismissed
them, as do now. Bnt the former wer
worth more. They each confirmed the state
ment have before made, that the rebel sol
: diers are told that thoee who desert are
once forced into our armies. Nevertheless
they do not quite believe 1t, aud it Ia sub
5ect Of constant and earnest discussion
among them, for they represent that nearl
all would eagerly Improve any chance Of e.
Gaping from further tighting. Ihey were es
amined separately, and were Intelligent
: i11iterate, and gave clear, straightforward
J ! answers. and all had been decided to com
over by ths Amnesty Proclamation, which
Ike the quality Of mercy which Is not strait
i ed. droppeth 10 the rebels like the gent1
, rain droppcth, not from clouds but tro'
I kites.
I TV-----9Z f~{ur1n.