Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1864-06-17
From the Army Of the Potomac, near
Richmond.
Correspondence of the New York Tribune.l
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF Potomac,
Goal Hnrhor Junp 4 "A N m

Correspondence of the New York Tribune.l
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF PoToMAc, }
Coal Hnrbor, June 5,--6 p. m.
No general engagement yesterday and to-day.
No line of battle assaults by either army new
ertheless there has been incessant firing day
and night, now at our point, now at another.
anon ripplng from one end of the line TO the
other, and the casualties have not been incon-
siderable. 1t could not have been otherwise
with the lines so close to each other | have
never before seen such extensive works con-
structed with such magical rapdty, or that
pressed so hard to the enemy's. Nor are they
simply straight ditch and embankment. They
are intricate, zig-zagged lines within lines line
protecting flank Of line, lines built TO eniilade
an opposing line, line within which lies a bat
terry which must keep silent. Some small bat
tery that langcs into the trenches of other lines,
may be, half mile away--a maze and labyrinth
of works within works, and works without
works, each laid out with some definite design
either Of defense or ofiense. Let the necessity
of any one Of these remain unrerceived or neg
lected, and n battle might be lost and All army
imperi'led.
Half an honr ago staff officer rode into the
9th corps headquarters, from Gen. Neil, COM
mandng 81 division, and reported that the en-
emy had opened battery from a position on
the flank Of one Of his advanced lines, which
dropped shells directly and surely into o trench
where lay 1000 men. Gen. Wright re- Med -
AMY compliments 10 Gen. Neil, md say to him
that when inspected the line two hours ago, I
suspected the enemy would plant a battery
there, and | found position on the front Of
the 18th corps, where guns could be placed that
would silence il. | stated the case to General
Smith, and he instantly ordered battery there,
and | think by this time it must be about ready
to open Gen. Neil has only to keep his men
steady few minutes and he wont be troubled
by any more shells from that quarter" The
staff oficer rode rapidly off, and the catter Of
his horses hoois had not died away when
four shOts, some distance to the right, doomed
ir quick succession and Gen. Wright halted in
his measured tread in front of his quarters, lis
tened for another, and remarked "There, that's
from the right quarter-that'll shut up the guns
that are playing the deuce with Neil" And so
it did.
The incident will serve to show the alert Wig
ilance, he Typographical eye, and the prompt
decision which enables lis 10 battle such adroit
generaship as-as that which manages the reb-
els, WHO fairly swarm right over yonder, not
half mile from where / write and who cause
shell 10 drop even in this cloth city, yclept
"Hoadquarters army of the Potomac"
Three miles to the right, where it has become
necessary that Warren should stretch his deci-
mated corps over long line and hold it at all
hazards, else the right flank might be turned,
over 40 solid shot and unexploded shells were
picked up within radius OF 100 yards, EXTEND
ed from a certain oak tree. Beneath that tree
Warren had his headquarters during two field
days, because that particular locality command
ed the best view of the battle-line, and was ca
sest Of access 10 division and brigode comman-
ders.
When saw them they were piled up in the
manner represented by diagrams in the text
hook in Algebra of my school days, where GER
tain theorems for calculating the number in any
given heap, without the labor of counting, were
given-known in schools as "the cannon ball
thooromS." Two men wsro making pXcava-
ton close by-a little too short for grave
little too square cut for rihe-pit 1t proved,
on inquiry, that arrangements were making for
decent and safe interment of the innocent-lo look
ing but ugymeant and ugly meaning things.
| They were taken up tendery and handled with
care, not because they were fashioned so slen-
derly, though some were eight inches in length
by two and half in diameter; nor because
they were young and fair, for nothing was known
as to their age, and they were not fair, but be-
| cause they were percussion shells, and might
resent harsh treatment. Altogether, it was a
Jolly funeral. Gen. Warren looked down into
the grave and smiled, as an unrelenting man
! might smile upon the tomb OF a mortal foe
! Your humble servant insisted as pall-bearer.
Several drums were heard, and several funeral
| noes-buglc notes, hatinS battery that was
| going into position hard by. Several soldiers
discharged their rebel shots toward the grave
where the "varmints" were buried. We buried
them brightly at the height OF noon, the sod
! with shovel turning. and then sat down TO q
merry dinner. We thought, as we narrowed
their lowly beds, and scooped out the dirty hole,
that the foe and the stranger would tread Ger
their heads-and perhaps get blown sky high.
Hard tack, roast beef, sweet potatoes, 600
bushels were found buried in garden, where n
family pretending to be destitute were receiving
army rntions,) and good coffee, the soldiers
make not a bad dinner and are relshed in spite
| Of the fact that yesterday, on this same ground,
crockery and tin ware had scarcely been re-
moved from the rubber blanket, which sufiices
for both table and ,ab.e-cloth, when a shell
plunged through it into The ground. A percus-
sion shell, too, only it didn't happen 10 "per-
| cuss"-l use an army slang.
An old arlllleryman once explained TO me the
distinction between shell and soldier: The
one "percusses," the other "cusses."
All day yesterday wounded officer of New
Hampshire regiment lay some 90 yards in front
Of Gen. Marston's works, unable to crawl in,
and the rebel sharpshooters would suffer none
to go out for him. He had fallen the day be-
fore in the morning assault, and the lines as f.
nally established left him midway between friend
and enemy. One man had been severely wound
ed in Attempting TO reach him. Hard bread
was SHE'D out to him in abundance, but a dozen
canteens were thrown away before one lodged
within his grasp.
Finally, night setting in, opens chance to
| get him off. A zigzag is started from the main
works; men work with zeal and we-directed
muscle, but noiseessly, as though they were the
original managing directors of soft in the still
| ly night" Three hours of such work and the
wounded man is reached; is pulled into the
trench is carried triumphantly back its tack
ing course, and is then received behind cover
with great cheers. The cheers caused vollev,
but the volley is harmless, and the man is saved.
am chagrned that | have been unable TO as.
certain this officers name.
A "Fresnel Lens" such as are placed in the
largest lighthouses, was found buried near a
house in Wrights front last night. This lens
is manufactured only in Paris, and costs from
$4,000 TO $4,000. How it came to be in this
vicinity is a mystery. The most probable hy-
pothesis is that it is part of the plunder OF
some one of the lighthouses which the rebels
have despoiled. The facetious explanation is
that il must have been sent by some ignorant
! oHo;al aNoal Harhnr - ha ~ u,