, 1862-02-19
THE STOBMING BIZ THE LAND
FORCES.
THE FIGHT AND THE
SURRENDER.
Iu<.ide elt@ Of the B:ettlG--
G=a1antry Of Or1l-
Troops, Etc

great interest, had the time to give them.
Flrst, let nc try to give description Of the
deferses, ,tor without some such attempt, all the
features Of the battle field viii not he under
stood.
The current Of the Cumberland river at
Dover runs nearly North, but Immediately ut
the town rs you ascend the stream, it leads
towards the East, net IAN abrupt bend but
gentle curve. The banks On the West side are
quite elevated, bnt the hills are cut By numcr-
ous rayines. The Hills arc about one hundred
feet high, just such elevations as arc to be seen
in Egypt or along the Ohio. About ono half
mile below or North Of the town, there
is round knob cleared, and planted
with corn the past season. It is fully
enc hundred feet high, and the ascent
on TIC: north side is Very stcep-too steep
to be plowed. It Was covered With forest,
which was cleared when the work of cntrenc]l-
ing began There the rebels set up their bat
tcrics for the defense of the river.
Before describing these, I 1nay shy that there
arc three separate wor1s-the water batteries,
the fort, aud the rear linc Of cntrenehmcnts
Commencing with the water batteries, low
down, close upon the bank, you sec, as you
stand in front fthenl, what appears to he
hole in the side Of the hill Upon
examination you find it to contain one 12S-
pound rifled gun from the Treaegar works at
Richmond, and TWO 3oepound howitzcrs. The
zi1lcd gun is i fair piece Of workmanship, and
as1Efyou run your eye along the sights, you
can easily imagine that it will send
~ 1,nn S3o,,-, Aim s+-oo.,, = mil, ora ~
ha1fto the distant level, plump into any boat
1t is in an admirable position.
Right above it commences trench which
is dug TO the side Of the hill, Or rather which
rurs up it in diagonal, rs if an attempt was
being made to construct q road. The li1 is
so steep that III ten reds distance there is
room fcF eight 322-poundcrs. At the upper
end Of the trench is a second 12S-ponnder.
Standing at any gun, you can sec that all
can be brought to bear upon any object
down tlle river; that gunboat approaching
can be r'ked from stem to stern, aud that shot
can be poured straight into her bows, point
blank from the lower guns, and upon her
decks, plurging fire from the big gun at the
top ct the trench. The cmbankment is well
constructed and from the nature Of the ground
it is almost q c1semate. a shot striking be-
low or above would do no damage.
Now, transferring yourself to 4 g11nboat,
you would sec that it would be next to an I'M
possibility to reach the big gun at the upper
end Of this trench, for, turn your bows head
On to avoid the shot, you would still be raked
by some Of the rebel guns. This was the river
dcfense, and most admirable defense it was
almost impregnablc, as NC found, in the at
tempt to bombard it
Ascending the crest Of the ridge, you see
Fort Donclson-enc1osing about 5 or acres
an t1l.hanknent with Z ditch outside. The
ditch is narrow and the embankment thin
It has 4 vast number Of angles nearly fifty, I
should judge-tle most irregular thing imag-
inal'1r. Its like never was before constructed.
4 little creek TUES III rear Of the hill, and on
It's southern side, q spring bubbles from the
sroubd, which supplied the surrounding camp
with water At the northwest angle, cur.
lain extended to tho southwest, running along
ridge Of land, conforming to the undulatione
and variations Of the ground, to creek whicl,
e1np!its into the river above the town Of Do
ycr- 1t is simply breastwork with sha1low
Glitch Inside. 1t Tuns through forest all the
way. Still farther to tue rear, is second
ridge upon which the rtbc1s erected rifle pits
near the creek, in rear Of the town, and pro
tcctin. the road which comes In from tlt
! southwest Oh 4 river line-simrly breast
| work.
| It will be seen that the line was very cxten
siye, and 1t needed but glance to see thai
/ f3,nrn htsT TTY:t
the force they had there was too much grouni
to look after. 4 more skillfn1 engineer woult
hayt selected commanding points on th'
ridge aud thus concentrated strength. Tht
creek defended the south side, although whe1
they found it convenient to leaye the place
1t Was in the way. With this view, VIC ars
ready to look at the operations.
After the capture Of Fort Henry, Genera
Grant Us soon IS possible moved across th
twelve mile strip Of land between the river
and invested The place by throwing McClc1
nand's division upon the right, at the creek
extending his pickcts down to the river bt
yond. General Wallace occupied the centre
While General Smith closed up all comuun
cation with the outside world on the Eort1
t Our forces occupied a range Of hills a1no:
one mile distant from the cnemy's outt
works-e3enera1 Grants headquarters bein
between Smiths and WalIacc's command
, | The rebels still had communication Wit
GasksyiHe by the river, and daily receive
reiutorcemcnts and supplies by steamers.
r Paesing over al The skirmishing Of Tueedz
and Wednesday, We briefly notice the gunbo
, | nglt.