iest, intended to act with Captain Dabney's large rifles, Captain Milledge having found it impracticable to get sufficiently early into position.

The casualties we suffered were as follows:

At one of Captain Dabney's large guns, by an exploding shell of the enemy, 1 man was killed and 2 wounded and 3 horses slightly injured; in Captain R. C. M. Page's battery, by their own carelessness from their own fire, 3 men wounded, and at one of Lieutenant Thurmond's guns, by its overturning in the road, 2 men wounded-in all, 1 killed and 7 wounded.

To amount of injury inflicted upon the enemy we could not accurately estimate, though from the known range of our guns, the care taken in adjusting them, and the great number of objects at which to direct fire, less than serious damage could scarcely have resulted. Statements apparently reliable have also reached us, derived from admissions of the enemy, that more than twenty of their vessels were considerably injured and 30 or 40 men and 50 horses killed. How near this is to the truth we cannot judge.

Every officer behaved well and nearly every man, and the entire enterprise was really a signal success. Rarely had difficulty been overcome on so large a scale, under so much risk, with so little to regret. This, while to be gratefully attributed to the favor of Divine Providence, should also be credited to the exemplary conduct of the officers and men engaged. Colonel Brown, Lieutenant colonels Cutts and Coleman, and Major Nelson, who directed the operations of their respective commands; the company officers, who skillfully seconded their efforts; the medical and other members of my staff, and the men who with persistent care and courage did the work, are well entitled to praise for what was achieved.

By dawn August 1 our whole command was far enough back to take a few hour's rest, well earned and much needed. When thus sufficiently refreshed to march again we moved, in compliance with orders from yourself, to the neighborhood of Petersburg, where, awaiting another opportunity, we have since remained.

W. N. PENDLETON,

Brigadier-General and Chief of Artillery.

Brigadier General S. G. FRENCH, Commanding Expedition.

AUGUST 3, 1862. -Reconnaissance on south side of the James River and skirmish at Sycamore Church, Va.

REPORTS.

Numbers 1. - Colonel William W. Averell, Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanding First Cavalry Brigade.

Numbers 2. - Major General D. H. HILL, C. S. Army.

Numbers 1. Report of Colonel William W. Averell,

Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanding First Cavalry Brigade.

HEADQUARTERS FIRST CAVALRY BRIGADE,
Westover, Va., August 9, 1862.

GENERAL: Pursuant to verbal orders, received on the 2nd instant from the general commanding the army, I proceeded across the James River,