The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1862-05-06
EVACUATION OF YORKTOWN.
ooNTINUEp FROM THIRD PAGE.

eiaves have been constantly employed prhtilaAy ~ -
sUrthcations the immediate vicinity Of Yorktown ana
the at Gloucester These have been
BY the effective rebel force seven thousand men
which General Magruder had under his ccmms,Id.
mey were composed chiefly Of Virginia, George Ala
hama and Louisiana troops.
he fortdcations which were employed ~ the British
- resist forces when Was agton besieged
~ place are very uncomfortable compared With the i'm
nsnss dsfsnces which the rebels hay constructed The
9ncent works hardly DO reco.x they have been
aa>sred and Improved 90 much. The spot which the
Ain defencss stand admirably adapted by nature for
defence That connected fertilization. with its
salsent angles, Of which spoke in former
sster which ,hesr heaviest guns mounted is
q once beautifu and wonderful work. The ditch 10
deep but dry the parapet Is lofty and would be difficult
- scale. This WORK, with water battery below
nacds the river the Yorktown side. Running toward
sAe right Of the rebel lines thero long brcastwork
sss psrcedfor guns, but having In front ditch Of the
same depth that before the fort. This breastwork
elegant redoubt Of considerable magnitude
and another the description connects
another redoubt beyond still further TO the left On this
sedcubt there had been mounted q number or colum-
biads and Dahlgren naval guns, with one siege
Acwitzer. Il is occupied by the Fortieth
New York regiment, whose banners streaming
from the walls In front Of these works there an inn
nense area OF open ground which is completely COM
nsnded by their guns. Trees which standing a
gear ago by rebels 70 give free
range 10 their artillery Deep gorges and raynes are
inside and about these fortincatons This natural ad-
vantage furnished good for their troops against
artillery FIRE, and rendered the position difficult to as
sanh. To the left Of the Yorktown roadthe enemy's
rgas you approach tho town. other Notifications had
been constructed. On the line Of the Warwick road
few hundred yards from the Yorktown turnpike there
h small ravine An inconsiderable stream has been
made 10 increase the extent Of swamp in front
~ the works at this point This is ncar the
spot Lord CORVALLIS surrendered to Wash
ington and the British laid down their arms
Further to the right Of the enemys line along course
q tho Warwick river there other earhworks which
have not yet had an opportunity to examine
This morning General Smith, on left wing Of our army
advanced and took possession Of the works his front
which have been abandoned by the enemy. General
keyes has just ordered the occupation Of the works
n Lees MIL The remainder Of the corps all readi.
to make next onward movement toward Rich
nond Whether the rebels have abandoned their whole
line u works the Warwick river has not yet beeen
ashnely ascerained but appears probable that they
have. For some days movements Of important
character their part the left have been antica
I'd by us; yet the intelligence of conraband who came
m yesterday with the positive that they had
gone thought suspicious because he state
ents in reference 10 their position that knew to be
untrue.
To again to the works the York river sur
rounding the town. When arrived inside the for,
We found that tents were left standing with bedding
articles OF luxury in them On the canvass and sides OF
the nuts carcatures Of Union soldiers Many Of the
cut in different places Four large trucks for
carrying heavy guns stood the dock with an i'm
naense quantity u lumber.
The magazines constructed in the most careful
manner. This fort had been occupied by the first bat
TALON New Orleans artillery, the Eighth and Thirteth
Alabama regiments the Tenth and Fourteenth louisiana
rsgnsnts and the Thirteenth and Forty fifth Georgia
regiments These troops were ordered to report at
Towards Grove four miles from Richmond and left the
fort at midnight guard was left which at last
retired IN the greatest haste.
The rst gun this large work. mounted the left,
looking towards the river, eght-inch columbad
md next in their order were mounted q nne-nch Dahl
Grsen ten inch columbiad, three nineincn nahgreen
guns. Directly underneath, in the battery there
four eight columbiads and an old forty
pound earronade. On the large work above, besides
uhoss have already mentioned there WERE just about
shs brow Of hill, thirty-twopounder sego guns
three thirty-two FOUNDER ship guns taken from the
Norfolk Navy Yard, three eightnch columbiads in ono
position and four in another. All these guns command
the river To the right Of the battery and bearing
On the open space Of land which have described
sbsrs 10 . thirty two FOUNDER ship gun, and then
mounted On barbettc carriage, long twenty -four.
FOUNDER seacoast gun. The next was q thirty two.
Founder, and close by another eight inch coumbiad
0tl farther 70 the right, bearing the land, were
thrtytwopounders twenty -four FOUNDERS and an eight
tnch columbiad After good forty two FOUNDER there
were four old ship carronades, which were little else
shaa useless. There were other pieces Of ordnance
Of smaller calbre, the works farther to the
right Several Of the guns spiked, several had
burst, the fragments being scattered around in the
FORTS and few had been dismountsd probably by our
shots saw one which appeared as II it had been
knocked clean over.
THE REBEL ARMY.
When the Union troops advanced a month ago and n.
vested the snemys position General Nsgruder was in
command OF Yorktown with some seven thousand ave
hundred eight thousand Our appearance put tbs
rebe General and his southern supporters into the great
state Of trepidaon. Reinforcenents were immedi
a,ey sent for and they kept arriving until three DAYS
the Of sometimes more and sometimes less
than Eve thousand day, until one time only few
says ago they had about hundred aoasund men along
Their whole line from right 10 left and on The
peninsula. These kept at work nnakng
abe fortihcaicns stronger. General Johnston himself
and the greater portion Of his army were here To 10
within few days the rebels intended 10 give battle
here. Finding however that the heavy prsectlcs which
Ne bad thrown over we're terribly destructive and
bayng 70 believe that the batteries we're bua
ing would when they should open compel them to
surrender joined with other equally suggestive circum
stances, satisfied the rebel generals that their position
would speedily he untenabe and the best policy FOR
them to pursue to evacuate It seems that they
dreaded our ganboats quite much as our bat
ssr'es and our regiments. have reliable infcrma
Son that they calculated greatly upon assistance
from the Merrimac. An order was Issued seven
eAys ago requiring the Merrimac 20 report 10
General Johnston Immediately at Yorktown. but tho
nsrrmsc had well founded fears OF the Monitor and she
aid not attempt to comply with the requ ements or tho
order. There was rumor tho rebel Campo thar the
Merrimac had been blown up by an Internal machine
apd also another that she had been bsrned ~
the Point By liquid nrs Statements were made 10 tho
rebel soldiers that the Monitor had BEEN taken tina,
jackson had and defeated Banks and that Al cor,n
oaxd al rfta