STUART’S RIDE AROUND MCCLELLAN.

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DUEL BETWEEN A ONION CAVAI.HYMAN AND A CONFEDERATE TROOPER.

Several personal encounters took place (lining Stuart’sraid. The one depicted here is described in J. S. C. Ab-bott’s “History of the Civil War,” and Colonel Estvan,a Prussian serving with the Confederates, is given asauthority for some of the details. The Union cavalry-

man is described as a German. After a desperate figlitwith sabers, which was witnessed by the Confederate’scomrades, and during which both men were severelycut, the Confederate drew a revolver and shot his op-ponent.— Editors.

leading to the ford. We therefore tried it therefor two long hours. The 9th Cavalry made thetrial. After repeated efforts to swim the horsesover we gave up, for we had crossed over onlyseventy-five men and horses in two hours. Whilewe were trying to reach the opposite hank Stuartcame up, and, finding crossing at this point imprac-ticable, rode off to find another farther down theriver. At a point about one mile below, known asForge Bridge, he succeeded in throwing across onebranch of the river a bridge strong enough to bearthe artillery, and upon which the men, havingbeen dismounted, could walk. Here the approachon our side was higher up stream than the pointat which we would come out on the other side.So the horses were formed into a column offours, pushed into the water, and, swimming downstream, they easily landed on the other side.After a few horses had been crossed in thismanner we found no difficulty, the others fol-lowing on quite readily. The column was nowupon an island formed by the two branches of theChickahominy, and to reach the mainland it wasnecessary to cross the other branch of that river.

This was, however, accomplished, but with somedifficulty. The ford at this crossing was at thattime very deep, and the river out of its banksand overflowing the flats to the depth of abouttwo feet for at least a half-mile. At this placethe limber to a caisson stuck fast in the mud, andwe left it.

O11 leaving the river, General Stuart directedme to take charge of the rear-guard, and, when allhad crossed, to burn the bridge. In accordance■with these orders, I directed the men to collectpiles of fence rails, heap them on the bridge,and set them afire. By my orders the horses hadbeen led some distance back from the river intothe brush, where they were concealed from view.The men were lounging about on the groundwhen the bridge fell in. I was seated under a treeon the bank of the river, and at the moment thatthe hissing of the burning timbers of the bridgelet me know that it had fallen into the water, arifle-shot rang out from the other side, and thewhistling bullet cut off a small limb over my head,which fell into my lap. The shot was probablyfired by some scout who had been following us,