, 1862-05-15
BATTLE. OF WILLIAMSBURG,
Strong Position Of the Rebels
DESpERATEF FIGHTING ON
BOTH SIDES.
Federal loss Z, 2,5e0--R Rebel loss 5 900
KERoIsM OF THE MICHIGAN BOYS,
Blunders of Gen. Sumner.


IConcspondence ofthe New York Tzibune1
WILLIAMSBURG, Va, May 10, 1852.
Brads should instantly send corps Of pho.
toeTapherE here, to take the actual likeness Of
the vastlunette Of forest-trec cheraz- -ae. fr;ss,
in which over q, 600 Of the rebels, In ambush,
and under the protection Of rear line Of
forts, Of vast strength, with heaTy cannon in
position, awaited the advance Of the Union
troops. For no description With the pen, no
painting with words, no use oy artist OF pen
ell or brush, can POSSIBLY convey even an ap-
Droxiuately accurate idea Of Of the nature Of
The ground, which tue rebels first picked
ont, and then ingeniously prepared with
axes, welded By slaves, and directed BY
the denscly thickcted and wooded pens in
which BraddocI was defeated and ST. Clair
lost his army and his reputation, can prepare
the mind for the realization Of the difficulties
of the rebel defenses before Williamsburg
Standing upon the parapets Of Fort Magruder
"a FASHIONED work as Large Is Fortress MOI
roe, with wide noat, flied with water, and
having sweep Of the plains at every point of
the compass-ana, looking towards York
town, you see horse-shoe-shaped sweep Of
forest, mile and more around-you see it
fringed on the inside with gigantic abattis Of
1auen timber, against which the eyes fair1y
ache, in their sweep Of mile and more Of
look-you see for part Of the way, beginning
at the end nearest to Williamsburg, = deep,
wide rayine, obstructed but little By stumps.
and having hard bottom, and you say Instant
II ttthere reserves, could be held secu1e from
the fire Of q million rifles n-yon look to the
left and you see upon the plain one fort,
two forts, three forts-forts away to damned
up body Of water, bounded next an impossible
rayinc-swamp by high and narrow mill-dam,
commanded By Z battery overlooking it, and
and the passage Of which #onld be labor
that the warriors that crossed the bridge Of
Lodi would have been swept from like chatf.
Sumner, who ranks Heintzelman in the date Of
his commission, had in his pocket an order
from Mcclellan, which in its substance and
effect was to halt on the left Heinztzelnan
carried written order to go straight up the
Yorktown road to Williansburg-whicA
would have brought him on the right. Night
fall carried our troops up to the rear Of the
enemy, and brought Sumner past his proper
position, the left and on to the right, and
into dense, wet wood, TINT not man in the
army Ind ever entered, or knew anything
about Where were the enemy? How
many were they. Beyond there, in the dark,
were their Entertainments? What .uas there
disastrously against? Military questions all
4 close-coElng storm wholly obscurcd the
sky. On my night ride TO the front so dark
~as it that the better sight Of my horse only
eayed me from trampling the fallen soldiers
who lined the road for miles Diverted into
wagons, ! was, repeatedly, almost swept from
the saddle BY the unseen branches Of trees.
Yet in such darkness, and In such ignorance
Of his ground, and such ignorance Of his foe,
Sumner was stumbling around iu the forest,
where his 50, coo men were waiting for day-
light to enable them to find the rebel rear,
which they hao been ordered to attack the
evening gbetore-stumbling around to find his
way back to Adams's house, his headquarters
stumbling till nearly daydawn-whle one
Of his divisions, 10000 strong, lay down
among tue trees, oursing the mismanagement
which had ordered them to march without q
mouthfnl of food ia their haversacks, and an
other division, also 10000 strong, wratlfully
thought OF their kuapsacks, which they had
been ordered to leave behind in their camp,
and exhausted ingenuity in avoiding the moist
1re Of the swampy ground. Before daylight
heavy down-pour Of cold rain set in from
the northeast.
Nonday-A chill northeast rain storm was
in full sweep over the country. Sumner did
not commence the attack which he had spent
the night before in wandering through the
forest to m3ke, but he commenced 4 confer
Ence- Heintzeiman earnestly advised q re-
connoissanee. It was ordered. While in
progress from east to west. the officers con
duc1ing It sent back word that on the cncmy's
extreme left were two unoccupied forts, part
williamsburg Negroes accidentally at head-
quarters, Offered to guide us TO them by a
road which was in part mill dam. Sumner
intinated that he should wait till the recon-
noissancess was finished before he acted. On
u intzelman's suggestion that ia the mean
time the enemy might occupy these forts,
Hancock Was ordered to pour his troops
into them. This laid the Foundation
of the victory of Williamsburg. Freed
now at headquarters, and alarmed
by the heaviness Of the battery firing
from HeoEers division, Heiutzelmau
Instantly went to the nearest practicable road
TO hls position, and about o'clock found the
gallant General sorely pressed and in grea,
danger: Hooker inquired for the reinforce
nents he had sent for, by path through tht
woods only a mile long-sent to Heintzelmar
tor. His written message was received AMI
read By Sumner coon after Hetutzelman 1ef
headquarters. HeintzclInau Instantly sen
two orderlies with nnother message to Sum
ner for portion Of his 80, ,000-sent two, s.
that If one was killed the other coul
the rear to hurry up the march Of the brigade
doundezing through the mud. Officer after Off
Ger lie sent to the reaT, on this painfully an4iou
mlsslon-f!u he was frequently wholly alon
On the field, I told yesterday how he encou1
aged the troops-how he rallied and led bac
broken companies-how he gathered the trae
ments Of two bands Of music, and while await
ing the the coming OF the re-enforcemepts fror
Sumner On his right OF from out of the nu
u The rear, animated the dropping courage 9
44ooAIA eouluuupEEtN and alnoSt QTef-Mas
tered men. With Yankee Doodlen aud tn
*sstar spangled Banner'' To the repeate
messages he sent to Sumner for aid, he:got 4
reply whatever. At $ o. clock, and not before
Sunner ordered Hancock to the front
Betore 3, Berry had come up With hi
brigade, and saved us from the most 7fnmneu
Bull Run.
The thousands who unnecessarily wea
mourning in the North and West, for our viz
fery at Williamsburg will now understand III
causes Of the terrible mortality which accom-
panied the demonstration Of our superiority
these barbariaDs. To further elucidate them
regard the plan OF the field, and see where ii
Yorktown road comes upon the corn6eld, d
Iecty in front OF the Fashioned Fort Magr1
dc DER. That Was our direct line to williamsburg
The swampy woods on both sides are mi
deep, the ahattis Of fallen trees about 500 fe'
deep; beyond that were rifle pits away arouu
the horseshoe shaped p1ain; beyond the
were batteries of living artillery; then N
gr1der, beyond ali, yomititG shell, canists
and grape III that mile depth of thick wood
Heintzleman aud Hooker, and their bray
comrades, fought the principal part Of tt
battle. It vas principally there, that in Il
long struggle from eight O'Clock in the mon
ing till two O'Clock in the afternoon, S,0{
men held their Own against p 1000. But tt
battle ragged with desperate courage on the ede
Of the woods, in front Of the abattis, in the il
ternh abattis itself, and through it, up to Il
17fie pits and beyond them and finally with II
nmph into ono Of the forts. The only grouu
on which We could use artillery was q gma
angie OF the corn field, where the road d
ooucncs upon the plain, and which our /,
fantry had cleaned CT the rebels to admit
our gunners wading with their pieces into D
s!tlou. No sooner were these unlfmbere
than men and horses began to fa1l-the recc
OF the guns Eoon buried them almost to Il
hubs in the soft ea1th-doxn went more mi
and more horses-the enemy made q dash
The batteries and they were lost. The assis
ance HelntZelman received from Kearne5
division, enabled him to do what he hsd yai
~ tried and hoped to CO, all day-to attack
flank. The 3Sth and 40th New 7 York chare
through the abattia upon the -;fe-pits q
threw the rebels out With their beyonets
double quick BeHJ's charge at the sal
time, all along the front, settled Part Of t
dispute between the North aud the Sout
The rebels were whipped.
The Williamsburg battle was, indeed, rs
have said, an infantry fight Very much of
ketrbutt to musuet butt After Bcrry's b
gaze came up, and after Ward aud Riley l
the 3Sth and 40th New York into the rifle-pi
6TanlDg at the time with the savaqe TAFT,
dcma!ione, the battle was purely hand i
hand conflict Is soon rs we cot them whf
we could reach them, the question Of the ca
pa1atiye manhood OF Northern and Southe
men received q speedy solution. iSirtv-th
Te1els lay in heap in one section of the rit
pi:s-fury and the outlay Of the last and b,
powers Of their savage natures set with ir
hardness By death upon their coarse and b
tai 1nces. Not corpse OF Union man =
near them.
On both sides tho fighting Was ten tin
fe.fT Aro+o cnf pY,11