, 1865-04-13
FROM KlC1fNlOND.
Fer1Is-an E1cftements OF 4 Voyage
Ut hhe JamcN-SccQeH ana Gnc{.itntn
sAlOng the River
1CofrcepOndence nf fl1n n Y n4,v.,1

l.
'Along the River
Correspondence of the N. 7. Ttmes.]
Ill., :, RICHMOND. "a april ~
Inc ln7 irat1on Of the scene and this SCOPE
o. me theme befole us are far beyond the
iee Die descriptive poWers Of the pen Of your
correspondent. No brilliant rhetoric, no
vivid word painting. no oratorlcal eloquencc
can portray the sublimity and immcnsity Of
The great victory. 1t Is almost beyond tile
power OF the human mind to Comprehend its
extent, and when you begin to descend to
ea1 de,ail, IT, task Is simply appalling In It's
htsd defenslye1y and operated from offensive.
y With success, thirty ni7e nan.s long from,
.fank to J'ark, thoroughly Jorti throuqiout Us
entire !cngth! Think Of the cities captured,
Of the Notifications stormed and taken, with
.heir hundreds OF guns, great and smali, Of
beyond the possibility Of computation, Of
ire terrible BATTLES, and the overwhelming
defeat and rout of the chief army Of the re-
bell,on, Of the prisoners captured, counted
by he tens Of thousands of the terrified
n'ght OF the arch-traitor and his few dcspeE-
Abraham Lincoln into 'treason's fallen capI-
tal. Let every lover Of hla country depict
the vast EcCne in his own Imagination. for
weids to htly describe it fall altogether.
can assure yon that tie Davigation OF the
tortuous channel OF The james thence to
>~>-AAAA9
snd supposed tozpedoes, was an exceedingly
delicate task. and full Of excitement. Our
pilot knew the channel Of old, but he knew
not the waslike devices Of the enemy.
We we're, however, very fortunate, and the
MnIproaeh o. to the silly, especially d uring the
of.tse lotensest interest, tor over these va.
tiers The Union flag had never. before loated
during the war. When we leave Dutch Car
and that famous canal, whi:h looks as though
II might have bet washed out by bltlow,
we at once enter upon the lines held by the
ent my. Hewlett House Battery, famous for
Its determined resistance to our engineering
ope' 'ations On. the nurth' side of tue river,
stands abandoned and gloomy, with its twelve
large guns still In the emb:asures, but aIl ST.
lent as we steamed rapidly By. Another long
anu ,a1e eartn"o.k appears on the LEFT bank
1ectly upon the mouth Of the canal. This.
tto. like Il rest, is abandoned, with It's arma.
ment unimpalred. We, next pass the wreck
Of the rcea gnuboat, blown up BY our bat
ter'es during the effort made to run through i
our fleet some months ago.
The It point Of interest Is Fort Brady.
On the north bank Of the river, and the left
Of the position Of CUR Army OF the James.
what strikes one as very remarkable here is |
the iact that owing to tho intricate windiugs
q the James, there are two rebel batteries,
HoWlett House and another, absolutely ID |
the rear Of this former position Of our army.
Fort brady is the point where Gen. Gibb5n |
opened On the refreshing rebel rams, Had !
there been larger guns at his disposal. the |
range is SO good that they would have stood |
poor chance Of escape.
We are now fairly In that part Of the river |
held folely By the rebels, and a ledge Of |
tue channels and distractions is absolutely |
necessary to q safe voyages The gunboat |
Monticello Is therefore h.iled, and on asking |
ior on Information, PILOT who has been up aud
Gown Is rendered With much pollteness. The
distractions sunk By our own fleet are soon
passed, likew1ee the feet Of monitors, and
tie next object which greets the vision IL
gaily dresstd tug, with O guasd OF marines.
hs.tDE ~ p n TOW Admiral Porter's barge, with
complacenuy seated in the stern sheets, #
looks very much like q picnic. Following
shott distance alter ia the Presidents 1ay-
Ship. the River Queen. Not far behind is Tic
beautiful steel Eunboat Bat, e1-blockade run
neE' now Eendal convoy to distinguished
navy. 1he River Queen, which took the
t1essdent up The river, proceeded no farther
nan the tbstructions at Dta1ry's Bluff, We
a1c sotn abreast Of this historic fortifIcatiop,
nc tageF eyes scan closely Its formidable
walls aud Positions.
Here IL the cA.er line of distinctions sunk
y the sahels eurly in the war, and located q.
hey are, directly under the guns Of Fort
Jat1:nE, snhjectlng every approaching thing
Q a terrible plunging fire, it il readily al.
hllted 1bat 1his WAS The impossible barrier
Q lhe naral advance On Richmond. The
trer here is ycty narrow, and the movement
I large vessels attended wi,h much danger.
be obstructions were p1Accd directly across
he liver, ard filled 1t completely, with the
RECEPTION OF gap Of fifty or sixty feet, lsfs, ,
'r The passage ct the rebel fleet and flag-oc- + {
ruec boate. They consist Of the huIls Of two
etwen Richmond and New York, fhe
heel tl-houses, fAst crumbling to decay, still !
&C above the water, aud present the appear-
Dse of melancholy ruin.
we pass 80 hurr;edly under the guns OF Fort
airing, that we have no good Opportunity
'oks very strong, and On the north side it
a one or two s1llalt outlying works on its h
ank. Our naval companions tell us that It b
q acasema:ed fortitlcatlon, and with its sur n
,undtpg field worke, all parts Of the work it. d
IL, mounts not less than forty guns. All Il
,esc. like hundreds more, are our tropbtes. =
1thout blemish or injure.
Not far above Fort Darling lies the wreck 4
one Of the famous rebel fleet In the James, a
'c lIon.clad Virginia. Whether she has g
:en blown up or simply scuttled ano sunk -
n1ot 40 be ascertalned from looking at her as 1
ID lies. She sank In deep water, and ia CO. Q
sncd over on her side, leaving portion OF II
II oveihang visible over the watei-]ine. OF e
e other iron-c1ad, the Richmond, We end b
trace. | a,
In the imme date yisinity of Fort Darling ~ ~
E pass Though very substantial bridge -
Ith d dlaw. used BY Lee for the speedy :.
nnsfcr cf 1qoops 1rum the north to tho 8,
nth SIDE Of the James. Ere reaching Rich G.
end nc pass two more Of the same kind, p
ough hardly SO well built % The first, bus Al
demonstrating that Lee had no pontoon il
idges across the James auywhcFe-proba- n
y because the rapid current rendered them O,
lsaie, and probably, too, because be had not a,
y pontoons to spare, when something else | tc
onld answer just as well. ~
We have now steamed safely by all oh :, =,
ructions and chances OF torpedocs, and the %
.1y pa d.nable trepidation which we felt
v.ew OF cur possible danger, gives Way TO At
feeling that just now is moment in our p'
res. the Significance, importance and sub c,
mtg Of which cannot be Justly appreciated. u.
le city Of Richmond is In view. The spires
'intfpg hearenward the smoke still rising ct
'm the confagration's awful ruin, and tile tn
ars and Stripes floating from hundred h,
use tops aud masthends, all form Z picture N
subl,me;y grand and inspiring, that the II
man mind is simply lost IN mute contem- II
atiLn. IL
In few moments we land ut the Rockets. Il
d brisE walk Of mile and halc brincs
to the spottswood House, where we find ST.
nner md q comfortable room, amid hun> ri
eds ol loyal guests. l.. l.. CRouNsE.. co