Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-06-04
Ths scene of the Impending Battle.

The situation Of both the opposing aR,
nies In Virginia Is such, at the latest I'D. |
vices, that battle may be considered i'm |
mineEt. In view Of t1is fact brief topo- !
graphical description Of the battle field |
may not be uninteresting. Both armies
sre now IN Hanover county, with the
North Anna On the north, and the Chicks-
hominy on the south. Lees army, as 10
announced in official dispatches from Gen.
rRnt, is On the MechanicsVille road south
Of the Folopotonion river, one Of the tribu
iaries Of the Paumunkey, and between
that stream and Hswe's shop, with his right
resting on Shady Grove.
The surface Of Hanover county is hilly,
and he soil sandy, but there are few nat
ursl impediments to the operations Of an
army. Hanover Court House, the county
Seat, is memorable ss the scene Of Patrick
| Henry's early career, and as the birthplace
Of Henry Clay. The object Of Lee will be
preserve the rebel capital from the sd-
vance Of General Grant, and for this res-
son be has selected field which covers all
the highways leading into Richmond
General Grant seems inclined to give his
enemy no opportunity to move norIhWsrd,
4 and therefore has ordered the destruction
Of the bridges over Little and the North
Anna rivers.
Lees left-sssuming that he faces to the
south-is protected by the Chiokshominy.
The road from HsnovertoWn crosses this
stream at Meohsnicsville, which is on
| turnpike FIVE miles northWest Of hichmsnd.
There is another road just in toe rear Of
this, which also leads to the rebel capital.
In moving down these roads General
Grant will encounter the lines of Lees ar
my, and the situstion is SO contracted that
there is little probability Of another flank
movement being successful.
II the Chickshomiuy is intended by Lee
as the last line of defense, the position has
been we'll chosen. The stream itself is Pc
culiarly adapted to the defensive warfare.
The river is q small one, and flows slug
gishly. Il divides itself into half doIen
streamlets, running into and out Of aanh
ofbar az -@aISLl. Tn6se Wster courses 90
oupY a space about seventy yards in width.
Immense trees grew up out Of the water,
and the entire stream is covered by q
thick woods. Il is q remarkable instance
of river running through and watering q
long strip Of woods.
From each side of the WOODLAND a fat
surface extends for about half q mile
This is nearly always overfoWed, and be-
comes an impossible morsss. 1t is only
when the water IN the river is very low
that men can safely walk upon the ground
bordering it. On these fat surfaces there
is rot solitary tree. They are bare, and
anything moving upon them can easily be
discerned. From The borders Of these plains
huge hills, in some cases two and three
hundred feet high, abruptly rise. They
are covered with thick woods, and are 80
steep that wagons cannot be hauled direct
ly up their face.
The few roads 60 down them diagonslly
to the bridges, across the swamp and riV-
err. This Chickahominy valley, one Of the
strongest in America, is the outer defense
of Richmond. From the tops Of hills on
the one side, the distance varies from g
mile to mile and half Tn ordinary
twelve pound rife Napoleon gun car just
about throw shell from one hilltop to
the other. From the Fredericksburg rail-
road crossing down to New Bridge dis
tance of eight miles, the Confederate works
ere all along the hill on its southern bor-
| der.