from Newport News, and the same distance from Hampton, where, also, a church was used as the headquarters of their cavalry, thus literally putting "holy things to an unholy use." The Union-loving, or, at least, Union-respecting citizens, were continually robbed-slaves were impressed to work upon their fortifications, and all that forethought could suggest was recklessly accomplished.

Determined to put a stop to these forays, General Butler organized an expedition for the purpose of surprising the rebels at Little Bethel, giving to the officers commanding discretionary powers, as no positive information could be obtained with regard to their defences or forces.

General Pierce, of Massachusetts, who had the command at Hampton, was instructed to detach Colonels Duryea and Townsend's New York regiments, and Colonel Phelps, commanding at Newport News, was also commanded to start an equal force, about an hour later, to make a demonstration in front. One regiment from each command was directed to repair to a point about one mile from Little Bethel, and there await further orders. Should the design prove successful, they were, when directed, to follow close upon the enemy, drive them into their entrenchments at Big Bethel and attack them.

A naval brigade-a new volunteer organization, stationed at Hampton Roads, had been exercised in the management of scows, with capacity for carrying about one hundred and thirty men, besides those at the oars, and when the night came settling down in darkness, they set out, with muffled oars, passed the mouth of Hampton river, and silently proceeded up the stream. Moored at the hither shore of Hampton, at midnight they awaited the time when the blow was to be struck.

Three companies of Duryea's New York Fifth, under the command of Captain Kilpatrick, crossed and went forward on the Bethel road, followed soon after by the remainder of the regiment, and Colonel Townsend's New York Third. One hour later, five companies, each of the Vermont First and Massachusetts Fourth, under Lieutenant-Colonel Washburne; six companies of the New York Seventh, Colonel Bendix, and a squad of regulars, with three small field pieces under Lieutenant Greble, moved forward from Newport News.

At about one o'clock, A. M., the three companies under Captain Kilpatrick reached New Market Bridge-at about three o'clock they were joined by the main body and started for Little Bethel. The pickets of the enemy were surprised, the officer in command captured, and the Union forces, flushed with success, were pushing forward, when the sound of heavy firing in their rear checked them.

Meantime, the force from Newport News came up the road from that

place, and took the road from Hampton to Bethel, not far behind the Fifth; but they left at the junction of the roads, under Colonel Bendix, a rear guard of one hundred and seventy men and one field-piece, with the order to hold this position at all hazards, where they were to be joined by Colonel Townsend's regiment from Hampton. Almost immediately after, the Third New York regiment came up the Hampton road. It was still dark, and their colors could not be seen. Their approach also was over a ridge, and as General Pierce and staff, and Colonel Townsend and staff, in a body, rode in front of their troops, and without any advance guard thrown out, as customary, to reconnoitre, they appeared from Colonel Bendix's position to be a troop of cavalry. It was known that the Federal force had no cavalry, and the fire of this rear guard was poured into the advancing body, at the distance of a quarter of a mile. But the road in which the Third was marching was a little below the level of the land along the edge, and was bordered on either side by fences, forming a partial cover, and rendering the fire comparatively harmless. Fifteen men, however, were wounded and two killed. The Third then fell back and formed upon a hill, and the force again moved in the following order: Colonel Duryea with the New York Fifth; Lieutenant-Colonel Washburne with the companies from Newport News, and Greble's battery; Colonel Townsend, with the New York Third; Colonel Allen, with the New York First; and Colonel Carr, with the New York Second.

The advance was made with great rapidity and fearlessness, and soon the lurid flames of Little Bethel shot upwards in the murky air, and lighted up the country far and wide. Great Bethel was reached next, and our troops received their first intimation of the location of the enemy that was pouring hissing shot upon them from a masked battery. But they were not to be stayed by the iron rain. Steadily, unflinchingly, though death was threatening them every instant, they marched on and gained a position within two hundred yards of the enemy's works. For two hours the whirl and clash and roar of the battle was terrific. Every soldier fought as if upon his individual efforts rested the chances of the day. Charge after charge of the greatest gallantry was made by the infantry against their invisible foemen, and though suffering terribly from the deadly fire, still pouring fiercely upon them, no one thought of retreat. At length, however, General Pierce deemed the exposure too great, and the chances of success too small to warrant a more persistent struggle, and the troops were withdrawn in good order. Where all fought so nobly, it would be simply invidious to particularize. But one brave heart there was called home from amid the smoke and tumult of battle that cannot be forgotten. THEODORE WINTHROP, Major, and formerly of the New York Seventh, there gave his life for

his country--his blood as an offering of sacrifice. A gentleman and scholar as well as a soldier-rich in the rare gifts of genius, he had earned fame in literature before he found that glorious death upon the battle field. He had been one of the foremost to press forward in the hour of his country's need, and breathed his last, nobly struggling for her honor, with wild battle notes ringing in his ear, and the starry flag waving unconquered above him.

Lieutenant Greble, also, an officer of great promise of coolness, energy and discretion, won for himself a deathless name and a soldier's grave in this battle. Many others, too, of whom fame will not always be silent, men of noble hearts and fearless courage, hallowed the cause with their blood, and when the records of a nation's jewels shall have been perfected, will be found side by side with the hero-author of Great Bethel.

THE AMBUSOADE AT VIENNA, Va.

JUNE 17, 1861.

Information that an attempt would be made to destroy the bridges on the Loudon and Hampshire railway, between Alexandria and Vienna, having been conveyed to General McDowell, he dispatched the First Ohio regiment, Colonel McCook, under the direction of Brigadier-General Schenck, to guard the road.

The train of seven cars, backed out by a locomotive, left Alexandria about noon, and proceeded on its way, dropping detachments all along the road, and meeting with no interruptions until entering a straight line near Vienna. Then a man stepped out upon the road and waved his hand, beckoning the train to stop, and warned them "for God's sake not to go on," as they were dead men if they proceeded; that there was a battery and strong force of the enemy ahead.

The officer in front of the Federal troops paused a moment with his hand on his forehead, as if turning the matter over in his mind, and then beckoned to the engineer to go on.

They proceeded a short distance, when a battery on the high ground, to the right of the road leading to Vienna, opened fire upon the train, and poured well-aimed and rapid discharges into the compact body of Federal soldiery. Some four hundred passengers, troops and laborers, were on the train, and many of them were necessarily on the platforms and the tender. The fire of the enemy, which seemed to be more especially directed in the start to disabling the engine, was particularly destructive amongst the men huddled upon the tender.

A number were killed and wounded here upon the first discharge.

A destructive fire was also poured upon the troops as they leaped from the cars. The engine was struck by a six-pound shot upon a wheel-box, and next upon the cylinder of the engine, which it fractured. The engineer, finding that his engine was in danger, detached it (with one car) from the train, and started back to Alexandria.

Fearful, indeed, was the effect of this deadly storm of fire and iron hail upon the soldiers, helplessly confined, closely packed in the cars. The slaughter intended for them was a species of murder, for, like sheep in the shambles, they were completely in the power of their enemies. Vain was the strong arm, vain was courage and heroism then. Vain the good cause and the longing for victory, or, at least, a soldier's death. Confined within narrow limits, and crowded upon each other, the deadly shot was poured in upon them. It was an hour in which the stoutest heart might have trembled, and yet the men of the North met the iron death manfully. Taken completely by surprise, suffering under every disadvantage, they yet made a good stand. With desperate courage they leaped from the riddled cars and coolly formed into line.

Finding the enemy's batteries strongly posted and supported by cavalry and infantry, they could not hope to carry them until reinforced, and withdrew to the cover of a neighboring wood, carrying with them, however, their dead and wounded.

The enemy's force, estimated at 1,000 to 1,200 strong, had evidently moved down from Fairfax Court-House the preceding night.

Ayre Hill, where the batteries were stationed, is a very commanding point, and is, perhaps, the highest ground in Fairfax County. The purpose of the enemy was evidently to get the cars with the Federal troops on the straight line of the road before opening their murderous fire. There were three six-pound guns in the battery.

The Ohio companies behaved with much credit in their unpleasant position, and General Schenck, particularly, displayed perfect coolness and self-possession. There had been undoubtedly a lack of forethought in neglecting to send scouts in advance, as the country is favorable to such reconnoitering; but when once in the difficulty, both men and officers acted bravely.

They kept undisputed possession of the point where they had posted themselves, the enemy not deeming it prudent to follow up the attack, but contented themselves with burning the cars, although, with greatly superior numbers, they might easily have captured the entire Federal force. A loss of eight killed and twelve wounded on the part of the Federalists was the sequel to the sad and disastrous transaction, and when the Sixty-ninth New York advanced to Vienna the next day, no trace could be found of the enemy. The place was deserted, and silence reigned where the little band of men had been so nearly sacrificed.

REVIEW AT WASHINGTON.

A few days before the army of the Potomac was to make its advance, thirty thousand new troops passed through Washington, and were reviewed by the President and his Cabinet. A stand had been erected in front of the White House, in full view of Jackson's monument, on which Lincoln, Seward, Chase, and other members of the Cabinet sat while these troops passed them in review. Eloquent speeches were made, and the most unbounded confidence expressed in the soldiers' ability to win a glorious victory over the enemy whenever they should meet him in the open field.

The troops listened with interest, and answered these glowing predictions with enthusiastic shouts, as they passed away from the parade ground and marched in solid columns across the Long Bridge that spans the Potomac, there to share a destiny far different to the promised glory, on the battle field of Manassas.

Another imposing ceremony was witnessed in Washington on the afternoon of the review. A flag was to be raised on a staff near the Treasury Department, and this was a kind of work that Lincoln loved to accomplish with his own hands; so he moved with his Cabinet down to the point of operation..

A platform had been erected at the foot of the flag-staff, and when the President took his place upon it, thousands and thousands of loyal citizens gathered around to see the glorious bunting hoisted in mid air.

It was an imposing sight when the President's tall figure appeared standing in the midst of his councilors, with the halyards in his hands, ready to send the stars and stripes aloft. With his hand uplifted and his face raised toward the sky, he ran the flag up, and saw it catch the wind and float slowly out between him and the blue sky. He stood looking at it a moment, then turned his bright, earnest eyes upon the uplifted faces of the crowd. "My friends," he said, in a clear, full voice, "it is an easy thing for me to run this flag up to the top of the staff, but it will take the whole nation to keep it there."

A shout rang up from the multitude, one of those wild, impulsive echoes of a thousand hearts, which bespeak the enthusiasm of untried strength. It seemed an easy thing to the people, with the tramp of those twenty thousand new troops in their ears, to keep thousands of star-spangled banners skyward; but before many days had passed, the rush of fugitive feet, as they fled along those very pavements, proved how prophetic that simple speech of President Lincoln's was.

But even then the armies on the opposite banks of the Potomac were mustering in force, for it had been decided that an advance should be made and a battle fought, which it was hoped would decide a war