Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-08-26

cheeks Of the veterans who nestle In the
trenches OF carelessly loll upon the ground
behind the breastworks.
All Is quiS aIong the line; the skirmishers
in their PMS, Enusket in hand, keep u sharp
lookout, bat de not ire, as the enemy seems
indisposed to Greak the stiffness that all
day has existed. Not musket crack have
L heard to-day, and were 1t not for an oc-
casional report from our cannon, and the
rumbling of passing army wagon, one
would alomst think we were at home in
some cOzy forest of Sunday afternoon.
THE SIEGE.
No material change has taken place
in the line since last writing. Indeed,
as far As I can learn, every regiment
is in the same position. The 23rd Corps
| is across the Sandtown Road and with
in three fourths Of mile Of the rail-
way but unable TO intercept the passage
of trains by its artillery. Picket firing
in the daytime has become almost obsolete,
and at night the men persist in keeping
one another awake, and rendering the
night hideous by their rapid exchange Of
shO,s; artillery officers follow suit, and fro
at random in the direction of the city
firing building occasionally, and creating
a general alarm among the few women
and children who remain.
There has, for several days, been truce
upon the right between the pickets who
are close together, and able TO JOIN in con-
Versation. Our soldiers treat them very
civIlly and the courtesy is returned. Both
partiej are SO honorable that they viii
never violate the truce, andwhen the time
comes for ending it, both sides seek their
holes, and at once, brisk fusilade is be-
gun between men who, perhaps a moment
before, were exchanging coffee and tobacco
and clAsping each other hands. Severalin-
stances Of honor on both sides have been
stated to me. One day last week the rebel
picket officer came up, and, cursing the
pickets, ordered them TO keep up the
firing. They informed him that they
were having truce. "D-n your truce"
said he, 'open cn the seOundrels' They
all hesitated, when the officer seized gun
and fired upon our men. The rebels in
stantly sprung up, and, holding up both
hands, to show their innoc .nee, * :laimed,
Hold on. Yanks, it wasn't US, it Was the
Major; now get into your pits, as he says
we must open IRE"
Another Of many instances. Three re-
bels, being assured that they would be per-
mitted to return, came over to exchange
or swap" as they call it, and while nego-
tiations were pending, picket officer
came down, ordered she truce broken, and
would not permit the rebels to RETURN
They,were sent to brigade hsad9uarters by
sergeant, who explained the Gircumstan-
ces to the brigade commander, who, while
he was no party to the truce, gave them
permission to return to their own lines or
their choice of remaining. After some
consultation, and being assured that they
| would be treated as deserters from the
enemy, they voluntarily elected not to re-
turn.
Among the many notifications and
new features of warfare that have besn
introduced during the present struggle,
the one most noticeable, and one most
revolutioniZing in its tendency, is the prac-
tice, becoming su universal on both sides
of intrenohing and fortifying. To one
study, it Is perfectly astonishing to notice
how skillfuf all the line officers, and even
the privates have become in laying out
and constructing defensive works. For
| merly, no works were attempted until
regular engineer officers could survey and
stake out the grounds; and then pioueer
parties and regular fatigue parties would
do the work. Fhis required days and
sometimes weeks, to construct anything
like efficient defences. Now, every officer
and man is an engineer and every reg-
ment and company has its pioneer par
ty. Ifa command halts in line for thirty
minutes, good defensive works are con-
structed, If a company is sent out on pick
ct, the inevitable pick and apada go with
them, as certainly AS the musket; and with
in few minutes frem the time the post Is
assigned, the picket Is well intrenchel. If
one army moves to attack the other, the
army that IS on the defensive, viii con-
struct good protecting works, while the at
tacking army is deploying and getting
ready to assault. The result is that the at
tacking party on either side, always en-
counters efficient bresstworks, that more
than double the fighting strength of the
party being attacked. open field fighting
has almost passed into history. 1t only
ocoars now when the party attacked
either surprised or fanlIed.