The National tribune., 1908-03-12

from 9,00efto gI& 900 men,. >'rs 49, o
Suffolk 5fprme,i vast intrenched
camp, -eonStsting,of redoubts and 1unets
connected br a continuous belt of about
10 miles iHnlenssh. Notwithstanding its
extent, this belt, was-,easily defended,
about six miles 9f it being protected by
water courses. AT the north it was
bordered blythe deep waters of the Nan;
semond; at'the West, by a considerable
tributary Rowing from the right side OF
this river; iat the northeast. by the large
i stream called 1ericho Creek At the
southeast the Belt had been extended
beyond this STREAM In order to com
mand the 'isthintis which separates ii
from the Dismaf Swamp. This isthmus
was. MOREOVER. ,iptersected by, the dis
charging cHannGfewhich carries the, wa
ters of the swamp into the Nansemond.
At the south double line, of works
supplied the absence of natural obsta-
cles. But Peck had not only to defend
the space comprised between the river
and the swamp. Below Suffolk the
! Nansemond pursues its winding course
| for distance of four miles in a straight
| line, or. say, about eight miles by fol-
| lowing its !sinuqus course, as far as a
promontory called Hits Point. where
4 the stream, receiving the waters of a
river called the Western Branch, from
the west, forms q vast estuary. which
| takes the name of Lower Nansemond.
| rms estuary was too broad for the
IConfederates to think of crossing it.
But bar of small depth off Hits Point
prevents large vessels from reaching the
Upper Nansemond. Between Suffolk
and Norfolk this river, narrow and tor
tuous. bordered by dense forests and
fed by marshy streams, was very diff
cult TO defend, and seemed to invite
| Lohgstreet to force passage. He had
| the bridge equipage necessary for this
operation. and his numerical superiority
enabled him to undertake it.
| Being convinced that HilrS demon
strationS had succeeded in weakening
| Peck and deceiving him in regard to
his Intentions he wished to take advan-
tage of his strength in order to carry
the works of Suffolk by surprise. 1t
was rich prey. well calculated to
tempt the sllilful lieutenant of Lee, who.
Invested for the first time with ean in
dependent com:nand, was burning with
desire to SignaliZe himself by brilliant
exploit. Besides the strong garrison,
which, driven into its .intrenchments,
would be reduced to capitulate. Suffolk
contained large number of heavy
guns, all kinds of provisions and, among
| other things, more than so miles of
rails for railroads. Once master of this
point. Norfolk, with its arsenal. so in
| dispenSable 10 the fleet which block
.
On April IL the troops We're on the
march along the roads which, coming.
| from the west and south, conversed at
| Suffolk, while Hood, following that of
South Quay, captured the advance posts
of the cavalry which Peck had sent out
as a reconnaissance in the direction Of
the Blackwater.
| Suffolk Iuvested. -a
| On April 13, about noon, the Con-
federate columns moving Simultaneous
| ly, appeared on both sides of the Nam
semond Anderson's and Pickett's Di-
visions marching up from the south
struck ut Fort Dix and the works on
! the Somerton road, driving our light
batteries bacl< into their works. Hood,
| following the Roanoke SRailroads' de-
ipioyed ealong4 the streams in front of
! the Union pbsiefbh. while French led
his diVisioT along the feft bank ofHtfic
Narfserfi o dJIireetPy toward Suffolk.
For 'oncess Lees noted Confederate
leaders metce cenefnies worthy of Them
'Gen. Peck had intrusted the ever-re-
liable Getty-and-his division from the
Ninth Corps witHithe care of the weak
est part of his lihe, that extending from
Suffolk along the 3Nansemond to Hills
Point. Peck, with his own division,
occupied the rest of the line, with his
| cavalry out at South Mills to cover the
road which basses around Dismal
Swamp and. goes on to Norfolk Ad-
| miral Lee, lin command at Newport
News. sent TO the assistance of Peck
| two of his vessels, which were light
enough to get across the Nansemond
Shadows. Thus the navy was repre-.
sented by two vessels below the bar of
Hllrs Point and six above, with four
more coming to their assistance.
These metamorphosed merchant YES
sells were all 100 light for serious work.
| their frames pnnI1 har cta the
| discharge of their own small artillery
but as they were commanded by two
energetic young officers, Lieuts. Cush-
! ing and Lamson, they were able to give
an exceedingly good account of them
Selves This was likely to be the case
wherever Lieut.. Gushing was present
we shall hear of him in the future as
the daring destroyer of the Albemarlc
and the brilliant leader of expeditions
around Fort Fisher a-.s. -.-.f
Gen. Peck had his works in a com
plete stale and everything ready for
the battle. The firm countenance which
he presented to the onrusning columns
soon convinced Longstreet that his idea
of a surprise and of taking the works
by Il dash must be abandoned His
recent experience with Federal troops
rushing hopelessly against earthwOrks
was too fresh to make him entertain
any illusions as to what Hood and
FIeHtH HiiBHt 90 against tnOSe which
he saw rise before him filled with we'll
disciplined infantry. He therefore at
once modified his plans. assigning An
derson and Pickett to occupy the at
tention of the Federal soldiers along
the right bank of the Nansemond, while
Hood and French were to attempt to
| force a passage below Hills Point
This could only be possible after he
had driven off the vessels, and then
| it would be entirely practicable. since
| Getty had but 1000 men to guard eight
miles of line. Therefore, his first work
! must be to get rid of these vessels He
| Immediately sent back to Petersburg
for heavy guns. and began the secret
construction of heavy works in which
massed his field artillery in the woods.
so as to come to the assistance of the
heavy guns at the right time, and kept
a portion of his troops south of Suffolk
engaged in noisy demonstrations against
that part of the Union line, in order to
| distract the attention of the defenders.
1t seemed as if the heavy guns would
make short work of the lght-built riv-
er craft, and Longstreet's men worked
| with such energy that he had his heavy
batteries ready to open on April a.
The Fight With the Vessels
The little fiotilla was engaged in pa
| trolling the 5Tiver when one of these
| batteries suddenly opened upon it, The
smaller vessels ran the gauntlet sue
cessfully andt reached the lower Nanse-
| mond. The Mount Washington, which
was much larger, received several shots
which wrecked hep machinery, and she