PHILIPPI. 



PIG POINT. 



581 



PHILIPPI is the capital of Barbour County, 

 Virginia. It is situated on Tygart's Valley 

 Ithvr, about 210 miles N. W. from Richmond. 

 The first serious encounter of the war took place 

 here. A camp of Confederate troops in the neigh- 

 borhood were completely surprised by Union 

 troops, consisting of Virginia and Indiana 

 Volunteers under Cols. Kelly and Dumont, and 

 both under the command of Brigadier-Gen. 

 Morris. On the morning of the 2d of June, 

 five regiments, formed in two divisions, left 

 Grafton, Virginia, for an attack on this Confed- 

 erate force. The first division consisted of the 

 First Virginia, part of the Sixteenth Ohio, 

 and the Indiana Seventh, under Col. Kelly ; 

 the other consisted of the Indiana Ninth, 

 and the Ohio Fourteenth, accompanied by Col. 

 Lander, formerly engaged against the Western 

 Indians. The division under CoL Kelly moved 

 east ward by railroad to Thornton, five miles from 

 Grafton, and thence marched to Philippi, a dis- 

 tance of twenty-two miles. The Indiana Ninth, 

 uniting at Webster with the Fourteenth Ohio, 

 forming the second division, pushed on to Philip- 

 pi, twelve miles distant, on foot. The march of 

 both divisions was performed on the night of the 

 2d, through rain and mud. The division under 

 Col. Dumont arrived on the hill across the river 

 from and below Philippi early on the morn- 

 ing of the 3d. They at once planted two 

 pieces of artillery on the brow of the hill, and 

 prepared to open on the enemy as soon as four 

 o'clock should arrive. This division was to 

 attack the enemy in front, while the other, 

 under Col. Kelly, made an attack in the rear ; 

 but the darkness of the night and the violence 

 of the rain so impeded the march as to render 

 it impossible for the division to arrive before 

 Philippi at the appointed hour. The artillery of 

 the division, under Col. Lander, opened fire soon 

 after four o'clock, when the enemy began to re- 

 tire at once, leaving their camp behind. At 

 this moment Col. Kelly, with the division, came 

 up across the river, and below the camp. At 

 the same time CoL Dumonfs force rushing down 

 the hill and over the bridge to unite in the at- 

 tack, the retreat of the enemy became a com- 

 plete rout, and he fled, leaving seven hundred 

 stand of arms, a number of horses, and all his 

 camp equipage and provision. The loss on both 

 sides was small. Among the badly wounded was 

 Col. Kelly ; he, however, subsequently recovered 

 from the wound. The town was occupied by 

 the Federal force. 



PEERS. A pier recently erected at South- 

 port. Lancashire, England, by Mr. EL Hooper, 

 has been described to the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers. It was constructed at right angles 

 to the line of promenade facing the sea, on an 

 extensive tract of sand reaching to low water, 

 a distance of nearly one mile. Its length was 

 1,200 yards, and the breadth of the footway 15 

 feet. At the seashore there was an oblong 

 platform. 100 feet long by 32 feet wide, at right 

 angles to the line of footway. The superstruc- 

 ture was supported upon piers, each consisting 



of 3 cast-iron columns, and each column was 

 in 3 lengths. The lowest length, or pile prop- 

 er, was sunk into the sand to the depth of 7 

 feet or 9 feet. These piles were provided at 

 their bases with circular discs, 18 inches diame- 

 ter, to form a bearing surface. A gas tube was 

 passed down the inside of each pile, and was 

 forced 4 inches into the sand : when a con- 

 nection was made with the Water Company's 

 mains, a pressure of water of about 50 Ibs. to 

 the inch was obtained, which was found suffi- 

 cient to remove the sand from under the discs. 

 There were cutters on the under side of the 

 discs, so that, on an alternating motion being 

 given to the. pile, the sand was loosened. 

 After the pressure of water had been removed 

 about 5 minutes, the piles settled down to so 

 firm a bearing, that, when tested with a load 

 of 12 tons each, no signs of settlement could be 

 perceived. The upper lengths of the columns 

 had cast-iron bearing-plates, for receiving the 

 ends of the longitudinal lattice girders, each 50 

 feet long and 3 feet deep. The centre row of 

 girders having double the duty of the outside 

 ones, top and bottom plates were added. The 

 weight of wrought-iron work in each bay 

 was 4 tons 5 cwt., and of cast-iron work 1 

 ton 17 cwt. The second bay from the shore 

 was tested by a load of 35 tons, equally distrib- 

 uted, when the mean deflection of the 3 gird- 

 ers, in 24 hours, was 14 inch, and there was a 

 permanent set of half an inch on the load 

 being removed. 



The advantages claimed for this mode of con- 

 struction were : 1. Economy in first cost, es- 

 pecially in sinking the piles, which did not 

 amount, to more than 4$d. per foot. 2. The 

 small surface exposed to the action of wind and 

 waves. 3. Similarity of parts, thus reducing 

 the cost to a minimum. 4. The expeditious 

 manner of obtaining a solid foundation an im- 

 portant matter in tidal work. Two hundred 

 and thirty-seven piles were thus sunk in six 

 weeks. 



The estimated cost of the pier and approaches 

 was 10,400Z. The work had been completed 

 for 9,619Z., being at the rate of TZ. 15*. 9d. per 

 lineal yard. 



PIG POINT is a projection or point of land 

 on the James River, nearly opposite Newport 

 News, in Virginia. A Confederate battery was 

 located here to guard the entrance of the river, 

 which was attacked by the steam cutter Harriet 

 Lane, on the 5th of June. The cutter was pro- 

 ceeding up the river to reconnoitre and look 

 out for batteries. She soon observed a large 

 and heavy one planted upon the point, and 

 about five miles distant from Newport News. 

 The cutter opened fire, which was briskly re- 

 turned by the batteries, for nearly a half hour. 

 It was found that but one gun of the cutter 

 could reach the battery, the guns of which 

 being heavier easily reached the former, and 

 several shot struck her. These were supposed 

 to come from a rifled 32-pounder. Several 

 shells were thrown into the battery by the gun 



