Year: 1861

HG63S and ChdTdCIeTlSIlCS-L1OW i'0

 Appears iH Camp, &'c.

 The following from the correspondence of the New Orleans Picayune, will be read with especial interest at this time, when the place and man form the theme with every tongue:

 This place still continues the headquarters of the army of the Potomac. By nature the position is one of the strongest that could have been found in the whole State. About half way between the Eastern spur ct the Blue Ridge and the Potomac. below Alexandria, it commands the whole country between so per fectIy that there is scarcely possibility Of its being turned The right wing stretches of towards the headquarters of the Occoquan, through a wooded country which is easily made impossible by the felling Of trees. The left is rolling table land, easily command from the successive elevations, till yoU reach a country so rough and SO rugged that 1t is a defence to itself The key to the whole posi- tion, in fact, is precisely that point which Gen. Beauregard chose for his centre, and which he has so strongly fortified that, in the opinion of military men, 5000 men could there hold 10000 at bay.

 The position, in fact, is fortified, in part, by nature herself It is a succession of hills, nearly equi-distant from each other, in front of which is rayine so deep and so thickly wooded that it is impossible only at two points. and those through gOrges which fifty men can defend against a Whole.army. l. was at one of these points that the Washington Artillery were at first encamped, and though only half the battalion was then there, and we had only one company of infantry to sup port us, we slept as soundly under the protec- tion of our guns as if we had been in fort of the amplest dimensions.

 Of the Notifications superadded here by to thoCa Of pa iG of course, not proper for me to speak. The gen eral reader, in fact. will have sufficiently precise idea of them by conCeiving a line oE forts some two miles in extent, zigzag in form with angles, salients, bastions, casemates, and everything that properly belongs to works of this kind.8

 The strength and advantages of this posi- tion at Manassas are very much increased by the fact that fourteen miles further on Is a position of similar formation, while the coun- try between is admirably adapted to the sub sistence and intrenchment of troops it num- bers as large as they can be easily manpyred on the real battlefield, Water is good and abundant; forage as is everywhere found in the rich farming districts of Virginia, and the communications with all parts of the country Here, overlooking an extensive plain, wa tered by mountain streams which ultimately find their way to the Potomac, and divided into verdant fields of wheat and oats and corn pasture and meadow, are the headquarters ot the advanced forces of the army of the Pot0- mac. They are South Carolinians, Lonisian- ians, Alabamians, Mississippians a}d Virgin. ians, for the most part. Never have l seen a 1 finer body of men-men who were more obe- dient to discipline or breathed more se.S- sacrificing patriotism.

 l As might be expected from the skill with which he has chosen his position and the system with which he encamps his men, Gen 1 Beauregard is very popular here. doubt j l Napoleon himself had more the undivided con 1 fdence of his army By nature, as also from 1 a wise policy, he is very reticent. Not an in.

 dividual here knows his plans or single move

 of a regiment before it is made, and then only 1 the Colonel and his men know where 1t goes 1 There is not man here who can give any l thing like a satisfactory answer how many men he has or where his exact lines are. For l the distance of fourteen miles around, you ser 1 tents everywhere, and from them you car

 make rough estimate of his men, but how

 many more are encamped on the bv-roadz 1 and in the forests none can tell The new comer from what he sees at first glance. puts | down the number at about 90 900 men; those

 who have been here longest estimate his force at 4G 000, to 50,000, and some even at 60 COG

 strong. And there is the same discrepancy as to the quantity of his artillery. So close

 does the General keep his affairs to himself l his left hand hardly knows what his right l hand doeth; and so jealous is he of his pre- rOgative of a commanding officer, that 1 yeri- | " believe, if he suspected his coat of any ac- quaintance with the plans revolving within l him, he would cast it from him.

 The Generals headGuarters is a little farm house, about fifteen feet by twenty, fronting

 on one of the roads that lead 10 Alexandria,

 The ground floor is divided into two rooms.

 The front one is filled with desks, at which

 clerks sit writing, or engaged in a business of

 varied character. The back one appear 8 to i be used for a store room and kitchen. Above, | the same division continues, and the front

 room is the Generals apartment. It is about l fifteen feet long by ten wide, and hung with maps of the State and country around. In the

 centre is a plain pine table, on which lie, neatly folded up, what the visitor would nat

 urally take to be plans, specifications, surveys, 1 geometrical drawings, &c., and by their side

 military reports. Everything has the air of neatness, coolness and mathematical calcula-

 tion. Of course there is nothing in the room

 but what pertains to the office, and to most eyes it would appear somewhat bare; bnt

 what there is, is arranged with so much taste, that the general impression IS by no means unpleasant.

 The General is in his room the greater part of the day, apparently occupied with his plans and reports. Then hour after hour he sits alone by his neat little pine table, maps, plans and specifications before him, and large open windows open behind and around him, at first sight the cold calculating, unsympathIzing mathematician. Every now and then an aid enters with report or message, which is delivered in military style, deliberately exam ined in silence, the corresponding order promptly written out or delivered in as few