, 1865-02-02
THE NAVAL FIGHT AT CITY
POINT.


Lines with his Sron-Cla<is.
4 correspondent Of tho N. I. 7sme' giycs
detailed account Of Lees recent attempt to
ccnd his frcn-cleds down Tic river and break
our lines, opposite bermuda Hundreds, from
which We extract the following:
The rarty-I accompanied consisted Of Maj.
Gen, ingalls,, Col, Porter, Of Gsants statf,
Col. pudne and Captain Benyard. Of the En-
rineer5 Lieut.. French, Of the Eighth Iegq-
iar Infantry. en- Gen. Ingalls, stan, and capt-
Phillips so1nmandn 5ae colSes oSH :,rs,nh1ej ~ I'D
though the horribly tenacious ntud-of: 9.
consistency, / believe, to be found only i, \4r~
cinia--auti up the steep bank On set.stanQs
the signal station. known here IS 4ata "O:GH's
nest" and rerchea at o, place. called Irent's
tsaordluary bend In tho riYe- vs.,,,c,, ~
Dutch Gap Canal was lRts1'1' I'D to ohviate % ~ II
did not take us long u climb to tho tan ton ~ s
th's ingenious en Stsh's s4rc Of huge logs braccd
together, aV ta.. at the base and toTcriur
scme 15! isrt in the dir.
lae me we'll repaid the trouble Of climb.
~! Below us, stretched Ont Us distinctly
Us map. lay the winding river, our vessels
Of var silently nursing heir dormant thua-
der. the distinctions We had placed In the
river: and which the rebels would pass IL they
vessels Gu curlipc lazily above tha distant &c :.ec
tcps; oCr' relieving picke&s moving, like lit
TIC enmcts, ACROSS lle broad opcA plain op-
rosite; The wreck Of tic rebel yess:l we de-
s1royea this morning and away In the blue
distance, just where earth and sky seem to
meet, the tnpcrirg spires uf Richmond itself.
It was picture Of Surprising beauty. Inl-
mcdiatcly at our feet lay The very spot at the
occurrences Of last night and this morning,
and VIC therefore had every opportunity for
forming clear conception Of them.
The iact is, that Gen. Lee, last night. made
desperate attempt to farce our lines oppo-.
ste Bermuda Hundred, and while thus en-
engipg us, to push Ills war boats down the
liver, even to City Point, where, doubtless. hc
could inQict 6eme temporary annoyance +
he succeeded in reaching it, but without any
possible advantage to himself; indeed, to tho
inevitable destruction Of any large vessels qt-
tempting 50 foo1hardY all expedition. Of
what occurred among our troops, have not
yet sufficient Information, beyond believing
that the enemy gained no advantage; the
enormous strength Of our dt1enses, and the
darkness Of the night, .:is:..!ns eueeess On
their part impossible. The furious Cannon
solved itself, therefore, into uo.hiDg moro
than TINT artillery duel SO common on simi'
lar occasions.
From the 4'Crov'a Nest" Gen. ingalls,, be-
fore returning to our vessel, paid visit to
Captain Parker, on board the monitor 0non,
daga, where NO the effect Of shot Just
hurled at her from the rebel oaLter;.s one Of
them cxco1iating tho surface Of O portlun If
her deck armor, and one or two harmless lu-
dentatIons on her tus1ct, that caused her no
more annoyance than 4 dimple does on the
check of Woman proud Of 'er beauty.
1T was not till the night was tar advanced
that the signals Of "dauger" came to tho
Onoudaea, which had already beat its men to
quarters, Judging that something important
was going on, bnt not understanding what.
The night xas dark, and q dull, cold, misty
1ain cnreloped cFery!hing. Presently came
the signal that three rebel ifon-clads were
coming down Tho river. jaud then, shortly at'
ter, that one had actually Passed our obstruc-
tions, Immediately above the signal station
at Trcnt's Keach Matters were no'E looking
serious, even to our fleet, and were certainly
uals into the state Of excitement so visible in
City Point this morning, as soon as the facts
began to be ru1norcd among them. Our bat
tcrics along the river had, In the mean time,
bctn paying full attention to the rebel craft
| ,as they came down; SO TINT it WAS, altogeth-
er, most desperately daring attempt on their
The 0nondaga, finding that in her then po-
| sition she could not inllict as much punish
mtnt on the enemy Us she was capable Of
| doing, fell down little lower in the river, in
| he hope Of drawing the yet unseen enemy
to I1ay etectualiy on them. There she wait
ID but, strange TO say, tile rebel, atter psss-
| ing the obstructions, stalL where she VAS,
| instead Of coming further down. esnnot
understand why she should have done this.
still less how, In her position at that time,
our batteries did not succeed inblo"ins her
to petditlon, unless It be the darkness OF the
night. Bet give tue facts, just as Treceived
| them from those who ought to know. As
| coon as dawn began@1o chow the position Of
| things, the 0nondaga agaiu moved up and
| discharged only fire or SIX shots ut her enc
my, when the latter turned tail and went up
the river, rcpassing our distinctions. Some
soy this was Iebcl iroil-clad, Others that 1t
| was only tender with one gun, which she
! neyer fired. think the latt0r mcrc correct,
| Judging frcn what I saw Of the wreck
tht0ugh very excellent glass. -;
noise was heard, which all knew could not be
the booming OF cannon, as it even shook the
windows ut City Point. It Was the death
knel] Of this during little boat, which cx-
| ploded above our distinctions. How she
came to her end nobody seeins to know
she was some powdes-l,oat sncakiug up tohcr
work Of destruction when discovered, and
blown to atoms hy lucky shell from one Of
our land batteries. Indeed, with tho excep-
ticn Of the OnoEdagn, none Of onr gunboats
stem to haze taken any part in the proceed
inge. The rebel craft themselves did not fire,
ana the Whole thing was done by the land
batteries on both sides. How well tho rebel
batteries had replied to tho attack from our
Sawyer's battery, close to tile signal station,
was clearly seen in the large .ccsp holes ol
mud newly tossed abontin cycry direction at
Our fret. by their shells.
The ques1iaa Is. WAS this simply recon.
noissance on the cart uf- he enemy ua1 do
they. mean to followi It up, after having ycA
tu1cd SO far and Tctu1nea: There Is much to
n l.. rs, In
that If they did not succeed tho first time,
they will not in second attempt; and I
think could give good reasons for saying
this, lit were proper to do SO. 1 am sorry
to have to add that we had seven men wound
ed--onlF two seyere|y-on board the Massa-
soft, which was some distance behind The
Oncndaga.
The Amendatory Enrolment Brll.
Tie following is the bill introduced by Mf.
Wilson in the Senate on the eth ult., in I'D
iition to the several acts for enrolling and
calling out the national forces, and for other
purposes:
1eM saacteR1y the Staate a,sd Houfe Of Rep
t6F1Tets assembled, That from and after the pas
sage of this act persons enrolled and liable to be
dIefed may be accepted ia substitutes ior drafted
Sea- And1e u further enacted, That no per-
eon toW1ng military zs1sice shall be exempted from
| l12t1Nay u perform tQe 91n1e On account OF fur.
ntshtng substitute for the navy, nnlcss the sub
rollnent by which the principal is enrolled and IL
| accepted by said board oI enrolment
SEC. 3. and De 1t further enacted, Th1t any rc-
! crCiti1E sGent, Eubstitute broker, or other per
/ Eon, WHO shall enlist, or cocse to be en-
listed. ~ volunteer OF substitute, anS insane
persou, convict, o. person charged NTH crime, OF
peraon condition OF insoxication, OF icscrter
: 10 be such, OF who shall def,aua or deprive my
volunteer or substitute Of any portion Ur the
Statc local, OF United States bounty to which he
may be entitled, shall, upon conviction by any
courtmattial or military cumn1lssion. be fined MOI
exceeding one thousand dollars, o. imprisoned moi
exceeding two years, o. hoth. At tho discretion q
| SEC. i. And BE- It. further eNacftd. That any OIL
J Ger who ellall muster INTO the military or nava
teErice Of the United States any descrt:r from salt
service, or insane person, convict, or persol
/ charged With crime, Ct person in ! condition 0
f1tcxicatfon knowiny him to be- such, ehatl, upo1
conviction by any court martial Of military I'll CON
| the Unltcd State6.
SEC. s. 4dH1 Be itjurthfr enacted, That a1l Stat
, and local bouatles hereafter to be paid 10 an,
volunteer or substitute upon entry into the Mill
taly or naynl service Of the United States shall b.
raid IN instal',uents as foltoTa: One:th1rd al tt
Tine OF the muster into service OF such voluntcc
or substitute; one-tl1d st the expiration Of bal
The term Of service, and onc-:hird at the c1pira
tlon Of the term Of such service, unless soonei
discharged by reason of wounds rceelTed in battle
And IN casc Of Ills death while tn service
The Eeaidue OF his bounty unpaid shall be paid +
his widow, II he shall have left widow; II not
to bis children, o., 1there be none to his naotaef
II ehc bo a widow.
1f taf 4f4r