Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-04-19

From the correspondence Of the \. Y.
Evening Post, under date Of April 9Th,
we take the following, in relation to the
position occupied By our forces at York
town
My letter of yesterday gave an account
Of our advance to this point, a mile and
half from Yorktown The position occu,
pied 10y our 70 ceS is also mile and a half
! from York river, to which stream our pick.
cts extend
a few National gunboa's were in sight
on the river this morning, but the heavy
! 80 Founders of the rebels are rather TOO
formidable for them as yet. Our seige guns
are now coming in, but the bad condition
| of the roads ctardS the movements of oar
artillery.
Our camps lie just back of the forest,
which bideS us imperiCctly from the obser-
yatiou Of the enemy. The lines are so near
together that the rebel shells often fall
among our tents. Our upper battery is
situated in an opcniag in the woods, aud is
plainly in sight OF the rebel works SO near
them, in fact, that the shells tear up the
ground and have killed our horses at mur.
| ueIO OuS RUE. lhO vi OuI Lutll III luC DuL'
terry have been allied, and three wounded.
Gen Mcclellan passed the whole of yes,
terday in the advanced camp, and it was
supposed his presence indicated and imme-
diute attack upon the enemy, but to-day
| there are no signs Of action, and the rebels
are as silent as mice.
Gen. Porter is in command Of the ad-
vance guard of the army, and has the whole
direction of affairs. Mcclellan has his
headquarters three miles IN our rear, and
Gen Selgwick is with him in command OF
the reserves. Gen Porter, who has the
| kcenness of hawk, is never at rest. lie
trusts uobody'S eye or impression but his
own and exposes himself in the most dan.
gerous place while experimenting the pre-
parations for the siege. While reconnoter-
ing the rebel works, a cannon shot killed
the horse of one of his aids, and more than
one shell burst before or behind him. He
was three times up in ballon yesterday,
once from a point near York river, careful.
! ly reconnoit cring the position of the rebels.
Gen. McClellen made his whole sojourn in
camp with Gen. Porter, and has confded
to him the execution Of his plans
Not the least remarkable among the in
cidents Of The seige is he defiance cast
back and forth hy tie opposing armies in
the stirring notes of the military bands. In
the soft Wight Of these lovely Spring days
the bands Of the rebel regiments saucly play
the air of Dixie" and the lines are so close
together that the music is distinctly heard
in our camp while we send back the gori'
Gus strains Of the "Star Spangled banner,
and drown the cheers of the enemy with
shouts that find ringing echo in the woods
Our troops are eager TO set upon the enc
my, aud are full Of confidence and enthnsi
assn.
The country hereabouts is almost leVe
plain, ,skirted by heavy forests, but sparsely
inhabited. 1t produces large quantities o
corn aud wheat, some tobacco, and al
abundance of peaches, but other fruits arr
scarce The wood is chiefly hard pine
and a large proportion OF the forest i
swampy, but when cleared up and drained
the land dries and makes an excellent whea
region.
The people are mostly large land owners
and apparently wealthy, possessing fin,
mansions, and beautiful sites and grounds
On the james river the dwellings hayI
, been burned for distance Of several miles
. but on the York river, and in the mmedi
! ate vicinity of our camp, they are still stand
ing, hastily forsaken by their owners, with
! out an attempt 10 remove any other prop
q erty than private papers In many instan
ces, an abundance of provisions and liv
!. stock have been found upon the premises
Occasionally negro is left behind, and sti
m ore rarely, few whites Of the pOore
class. Those latter are all arrant Secession
. lists.
On the afternoon of the 9Th, some pich
i cts of the 4th Michigan, observed an unnsI
I al stir inside the enemy's works, and soon
! carriage appeared with some distiDguishe
i personage in it, to which all attention wa
> directed, accompanied by general rus
and cheering, during which our picket
\ took the opportunity to rush up TO th
, enemy's enclosure aud drive off lis head {
beef cattle, arriving safe in camp
!. A deserter, wounded while coming il
} and now in our hospital, says our sharI
shooters are the principle terror of the rel
O els, having picked off very large nnmbt
n OF their gunners-killed TO in all an
wounded nearly 200. lie states that the
D. lost lS 10 the fight on Saturday, aud 8
/, wounded. Seven Of our men were woun
ed yesterday.