The New York Herald Newspaper, April 12, 1862, Page 3

THE SIEGE NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, OW , APRIL 12, 1862—TRIPLE SHEET. OF YORKT 3 nae N IN 1781. The Defences of Lord Cornwallis and the Lines and Works of the Besieging American and French Forces: Under General Was YORK and GLOUCESTER 7IR GINIA;z. s sh INVESTMENT. WATERS SON ENGI Chapter ——————E— ——— oo tade both by, the army and Davy to relieve him, and that the Fai fleet of twenty-three sail of the line would fai) ghent the Sth of October; informing Lord Gornvallig, at the same vime, that Admiral Digby ‘with Ypree more ships of the line, bad just arrived at Randy Hook. On the night after the receipt ‘Wernwattin withdrew bis army within tho works of the town, in full expectation of being able to held oth the posts of York and Glowcostor unt)! the promot welief arrived. The works abandoned by tho British troops wereoooupied the next day by detachments from ‘the combined army For the security of Yorktown the British had erected (#00 the plan) a battery, No. 1, of two six-poun one howttrer; No. 2, a battery of three eighteen orm, No. 3,a battery of four eighteen-ponndere and five nino-pounders; No. 4,a battery of five eighteen-pound. ers and two six:pounders; No, 5, a battery of ono eightoon-pounder and threo uine pounders, No. 6, a bat tory of 006 eighteon-pounder and four nine pounde NO 7,8 ¥ Of two cighteen-pounders and two twolve-pounders; No. 8, a battery of two oighteon pounders and one nine pounder; No. 0,4 battery of two wighteon-poundess and two Ssrrolye-poundors, No, 10, 4 battery of three cightcen-pounders, two twelve-pound core, one six pounder and one mortar, No, 11, a battery of one twenty-four-pounder and two nine pounders; No. 12, a battery of two twelve-pounders.and two howitzers; No. 18, a battery of two cighteen-pounders and one twelve-pounder; No, 14, a battery of five nine-pounders On the Gloucester side thore were erected No. 15,0 bat tory of ten eighteen. poundars and one twelve pounder; No. 16, two batteries of cight guns of different” calibre, No. 17 was part of tho British shipping. As soon as the British had quitted their catward pow! tion (see the plan) a, and the combined forces had taken possession of the ground from which the British had re. tired, the town became regularly invested, and tho com dined army in the-samo night began to break ground, tho French making their approaches on the right of it and the Americans on the left, The first parallel was thrown up during the night of the 6th of October (8). On the oth of October opened an American battery of three oigh teon-pounders, three twenty-four-ponnders, two howit- yore and two mortars (c). On the 10th, opened another Amoriean battery of four cignteen-pounders (d) and a bomb battery of four mortars (¢). On the Oth, also opened d French battery of four twolve- pounders and gix- . | mortars (7) ries, consisting of sixteen pieces of eighteen and twenty four-pounders (9), and at night opened a French bomb and Count Rochambeau--Interesting and Suggestive Our First Great War for the Union. — On the 10th, openod three French batte battery of six mortars (a). On the night of the 1ith, part of the second parnile) was thrown wp by ® detach- ment from both armies (i). Inthe meantime the garri fon did everything in their power to interrupt the be siegors in their work, by Opening new embragores for qune, and keoping wp & constant fire with all the howit yers‘and small mortars they could man; aud time the logs of men sustained by the com was more considerable than at any other por!¢ the wioge, They wore particularly annoyed a npoded in their approaches by two redoubts, advanced about three hundred yards in front of the Britieh (k and t ‘These they resolved to assault, and, to excite a epirit of ‘emulation, the reduction of the one was com tted Lo the Ainericans (Xe), and the other to the French (1). ‘Theat tompt was made on tho night of the boat army stances succected; and, by the unwe Jabor hestegers, both redouble were inotuded in their sex parailel before the morning (m). fn the recond the Fronch had three batteries of pixteon pioces « oightegn and twenty-four pounders (n), ThOrY wan alge loon, @ forty-four guoahip (18), ond WO traneporba, Lerma Of gavitulation oF aHtomPting KM geonpe, Pho Piel. whar the British laid, gE ral pocesé Laboretery Quar a Fronch bomb battery designed for ten mortars (0). 1 the redoubt (4), the Americans opened on the 15th with | one howitzer, and on the 17th, in the morning, with | eightcen-pounder®, and in the redoubt (/) with two mor tare. An American battery of four sighteon-pounders | opened on the morning of the 17th (p), and another in the second parallel of soven eighteen-pounders, three twenty-four: pounders, howitzers and mortars, bad opened on the 16th (q). At the time Of tho British quitting their outward posi tion, tho logion cavalry aud mounted infantry under the Duke do Lauzen, with a body of Virginia militia, com- by Generai Weldon, passed over the river to rout of the British worke, maude Gloucester, took a and kept that p fu ckaded ae to cut off all communication con it and the ¢ The whote | wart the command of General de Cho | The bes.ege ept up an incessant cannonade, and tho | continued discharge of shot and shells in a few days | domaged the unfinished works of the besiaged on the loft of the @ the fine that were mounted on | | thom, end eceagioned the loee of a great number of mon. q : fea Gen KNOX'S en The ehelle reached ue ships in the harbor, eo that the coe \ OD r} ili 2, v teat & Wgh a 99 0 4 GaterOMs ume” ay tang il ' were burned, The British troops having been weakonod by sickness, as well as by the fire of the bosiegers, Lord Cornwallis could not venture to ronke fo large sorties as to hope from them much sue- coess; but foreseeing that the British works on the lett, already balf ruinod, could not stand long, an atterppt to retard the opening of the batteries of the second parallel of the besiegers became necoswary. Lord Cornwallis, therefore, ordered a sortie of three hundred and fifty men, unde direction of Colonel Abercrombie, This olachmont sallie” forth before daybreak of the 16th of ccober, forced the redoubts that covered the batterier, piked tome cannon, and, after killing and wonnding out one bundred of the French troops, who had the tof th of the trenches, returned within ty pee, Bat hie action yielded little ad. wore again ered fit for ser ‘ening the whole battery and pa els wore nearly complete At Uhis time the works of the besioged wore #0 da. magod that they scarcely could show & single gun on that side of the works attacked by the Americans, Lord Cornwallis, therefore, had no hope left but trom eftering He de termined to attempt the latter, on the Gloucegter side of the river, where de Choisy commanded and Jay with w body of troops at some distance from the worke. The’ Britis commander resolved to attack de Choisy beforey break of day with hie whole force, and, after defeating” him, to proceed to the upper country, leaving his fw re, route uncertain until be came opposite to the fords of th great rivers, where he intonded suddenly to turn off te is way through Maryland, Pennsylvania and the Jo nd join the British Com- mander-in-Chief at New York, Accordingly ‘donts were prepared to receive tho troops in the night and to trans- port them to Gloucestor Point. After one whole embarka- tion had crossed a violent storm of wihd and rain dis~ porsed the boats employed on this business, and from, trated tho whole scheme, In this divided state of the fritien force the Amertionn batteries opened at break of day. but the boats returned goon afterwards and braugit back the troops that had been carried over tn the night w aennge between York and Gloucester being exposed to the Ainerican fire With the failure of Uhis scheme tho lari hopo of tho pritieh army expire! ‘Their works were tumbling into ruin; Bot A gun covld De fired from them, Langer Ke! the northward, to force