meritorious conduct in the late fight, and to display the fact that, although these regiments were not sufferers in the late engagement at Williamsburgh, having been detached by Gen. Heintzelman to guard the left flank, by their steady and imposing attitude, they contributed to the success of those more immediately engaged. And I assure you, sir, that with such material, commanded by such sterling officers, nothing but success can crown our efforts when the occasion requires. I have the honor to enclose the report of Gen. D. B. Birney, who commanded the noble brigade, of which these two regiments form a part. Gen. Birney commands two New-York and two Maine regiments. them now. Had I had the full information I Major-General Commanding. ORDER OF BRIG.-GENERAL COUCH. HEADQUARTERS COUCH'S DIVISION, GENERAL ORDER No. 37. } The Brigadier-General Commanding desires to express his thanks to the division for the heroic courage and fortitude displayed by them at the battle of Williamsburgh, Va., on the fifth inst. It is peculiarly appropriate, after having rendered justice to the regiments and Colonels, to bring Gens. Jameson and Berry to the especial Gen. Peck, with his brigade, consisting of the attention of yourself and citizens at home, who Sixty-second New-York, Ninety-third Pennsyllook to them for noble deeds, to illustrate their vania, One Hundred and Second Pennsylvania, annals; and I am proud to state that they have Fifty-fifth New-York, and Ninety-eighth Pennamply filled the full meed of anticipated distinc-sylvania, had the good fortune to be in advance: and arriving on the battle-ground at a critical time, won a reputation greatly to be envied. tion. Gen. Berry, charged with the left wing of our line of battle, evinced a courage that might have Gen. Devens, with his brigade, hurried forbeen expected of him, (when, as Colonel of the ward. The Second Rhode Island and Seventh Fourth regiment of Maine volunteers, he nearly Massachusetts were pushed to support Gen. Peck saved the day at Bull Run,) and also a genius for at a trying period of the fight, and were faithful The Tenth Massachusetts was war and a pertinacity in the fight that proved to their trust. him fit for high command. - for he was most sent to the right to support Gen. Hancock, and severely assailed on the left, and had most dif- did good service. The General Commanding ficult rifle-pits and abattis to face and carry. deeply regrets the absence at Warwick of the Thirty-sixth New-York. Gen. Jameson, who commands the First bri- Brigadier-General Commanding Third Division CAMP, 19 MILES FROM WILLIAMSBURGH, Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: Graham's brigade came up too late to share in the glory of the fight, but not too late to assure the Division-General that they were ready for any duty which soldiers could be asked to perform. Friends! we have gained the confidence of our country; let us in future battles, as in the last, show that we can face our rebel foes, and whip them, too. By order of Brigadier-General COUCH. Captain, A.A.G. NEW-YORK "EVENING POST" NARRATIVE. YORKTOWN, VA., May 8, 1862. Amazed by the proportions and strength of the rebel fortifications at Yorktown, the Northern public could hardly have expected that at a point so near as Williamsburgh our army would encounter works of the same elaborate and formidable character, and meet a stout and protracted resistance on the part of the retreating enemy. The march to Williamsburgh, which began at an early hour on Sunday, the fourth instant, was made with much caution, and yet with a rapidity which quite astonished the fleeing foe. prisoners, taken at one point and another upon the road, all expressed the greatest surprise at our hasty advance, "never dreaming," as one remarked to me, "that we would so soon venture beyond Yorktown." The The weather has been dry for some days, and the roads were in tolerably fair condition. The want of infantry, after a sharp and unprofitable skirmish. He had imprudently approached the very works of the enemy, and charged them with repulse, with the loss of a gun and a dozen wounded men. His troops fell back to the old church before referred to, and that building was made a hospital for his injured as well as for those of Emory's command. Here, too, our pri soners, some score or more, were detained, and a bevy of contrabands of all shades, who had come to our lines during the day, with their ef fects upon their backs, were halted for the night. fields were barren until three or four miles beyond Yorktown, where there were signs of cultivation and many acres of thrifty wheat. The houses were, with searcely an exception, aban-out any adequate support, and the result was a doned. White flags a plea for protection were floating from some of them; and in one instance, where a mother and her little ones remained, each waved a white handkerchief in a manner so touching and plaintive that the stoutest hearts in our ranks were affected by the sight. I made a request for a cup of cold water, which was promptly supplied, my excuse for tarrying a moment at this house. Both mother and children were trembling at the sight of our armed hosts, but the good woman assured me that her trust was in the Lord, and she knew that he would protect her. The father had fled; two or three negro servants remained, but were in great trepidation. The buildings and fences were well preserved, and in the garden were pretty flowers, the first I had seen on the march. Yet to an inquiry for luncheon the mother replied that she had nothing in the house but a little hominy, and that it had long been impossible to procure a supply of provisions. She earnestly deprecated the war; and well she might, for her little household had felt its terrors most keenly. While the surgeons were busy in the church, the venerable walls of which were soon crimsoned with blood, the prisoners and contrabands were quartered around blazing fires. The former were several of them officers of intelligence - one a graduate of Yale College, another a well-known New-Orleans merchant. They bore their capture with considerable equanimity, while the contrabands were as merry and loquacious as though they had reached the goal of their highest ambition. "From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, During the night Hooker's and Smith's divisions pressed forward to their respective destinations on the left and right, in front of the enemy's works The corps d'armée of Heintzelman and Keyes at Williamsburgh. Slowly but steadily they had first moved forward, the divisions of Hooker marched by the old church, with its surroundand Smith taking the lead, the former by the road ing fires. At midnight it began to rain, and the from Yorktown and the latter by a road from darkness, before oppressive, became absolutely Warwick Court-House, which joined the Wil-impenetrable. As the companies filed by, they liamsburgh road at the Cheesecoke Church, an were at once lost to view, and speedily the moist antiquated building used by the "Oldside Bap- ened earth began to quiver under the tramp of tists," erected in colonial times, and some six the troops. Far away to the left Hooker's men miles from Yorktown. Here again the divisions approached the enemy's position, while to the cenparted, Hooker going to the left and Smith ad-tre and right Smith's division formed in front of vancing to the right. Of course both were pre-his forts. ceded by cavalry and artillery, and on the afternoon of Sunday, at a distance of not more than two or three miles from the church, there were two considerable skirmishes. In the first of these, to the left, Gen. Emory was in command, A dark, dreary morning, with torrents of rain, and had with him Gilson's battery, detachments found the contending armies face to face. Flushed of the First and Sixth regular cavalry, including with their repulse of Stoneman, the rebels early the McClellan dragoons, under Major. Barker, and began to advance their pickets on the left, and as the Third Pennsylvania cavalry, Col. Averill. quickly the determined Hooker drove them back. Meeting the enemy's cavalry, they were thorough- Bramhall's and Smith's batteries, both from Newly routed by one of Gilson's guns, which he fired York, were soon in action, but their progress was himself with rare coolness and precision, and a thwarted by the condition of the roads. The charge of the dragoons and the Third Pennsylva- former was eventually lost, after a gallant defence, nia cavalry, a volunteer regiment, which, under the horses being unable to move the guns. It the control of the accomplished and fearless was retaken on Tuesday. Throughout the morn Averill, is fitted to render most efficient service. ing Hooker struggled manfully against the rain, On the right, at Whittaker's mill, Gen. Stoneman, the mud, and the rebels, who appeared on the chief of cavalry, with three batteries and portions left in great strength. Gen. Heintzelman was on of the First and Sixth regular cavalry, also Farns- the field much of the time, and pronounces the worth's Eighth Illinois cavalry, captured a fine contest extremely severe; other experienced offitwelve-pounder gun, which had been moved from cers represent it as terrible beyond precedent. an earthwork and drawn to the edge of the pond. Grover's, Patterson's, and Sickles's brigades were Here also Frank Lee, a captain in the Thirty- battled with a fury, under odds, and with a second Virginia infantry, was made prisoner. slaughter which had well-nigh exhausted and A couple of miles further on, and beyond Whit-driven them from the field, after the artillery had taker's house, which subsequently became the headquarters of our generals, Stoneman was met by a strong force of the enemy, and fell back, for withdrawn, but for the timely arrival, at two o'clock, of Kearney's division, consisting of the brigades of Berry, Birney, and Jameson. These good troops, though weary with long and rapid marching, under the sturdy lead of Heintzelman, were not long in turning the tide in our favor, though it cost them, especially the Scott LifeGuard and Mozart regiments of New-York, a heavy outlay of life. Troops of less experience and hardihood would have flinched where these faced the music with a stubbornness which must have surprised the enemy. Meantime Smith's division was doing nobly on the right and centre. Hancock's brigade, composed of the Fifth Wisconsin, Forty-third NewYork, Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, and Sixth Maine regiments, was on the extreme right, while Brooks's Vermont brigade occupied the centre, and both bore the heat of battle most nobly. Every few moments couriers brought tidings of the steadiness of these fine brigades, and our expectation that they would do themselves great honor during the day was by no means disappointed. Everywhere the enemy found them stern and determined combatants, and worthy their exalted reputation. At headquarters, Whittaker's house, a sightly locality opposite the centre of our lines, between which and the enemy's works there was a narrow Wood, Gens. Sumner, Keyes, and Heintzelman were in frequent consultation. The former, though few troops of his corps were upon the field, by virtue of his rank was in command. The active duties of the day were, however, performed by Keyes and Heintzelman, who were indefatigable, and by their clear comprehension of the exigencies of the contest added, if possible, to their excellent fame as commanders. The Union army boasts of no better soldiers than these two gallant and popular men. Whatever of unnecessary delay there may have been in bringing forth reenforcements during the day, it cannot be attributed to them. so long and faithfully served his country, reached the plateau to the rear of headquarters. Couch's division also appeared. Now, too, the artillery and cavalry held in reserve drew near to the scene of action, and prepared for an immediate engagement. Several additional batteries were sent forward. Ayres was throwing his screeching missiles far into the enemy's ranks, and Mott opened an "infernal fire" on the centre, while far on the right and left the din of our guns was incessant, the tumult of battle loud and furious. Yet messengers, their steeds "Bloody with spurring, fiery-red with haste," flew to headquarters with the report that on our left the desperate enemy was again pressing us in, while from the right Hancock sent for reënforcements without delay. The sombre clouds, dispensing their copious waters upon the marshaled armies, were not darker than our prospects now appeared; but the arrival of additional armies, their careful placing and strength, and the knowledge that the main body of our force could not be far behind, inspired fresh confidence in our ranks. The battle waged savagely. Men never fought more doggedly. Death was never met with more of genuine heroism. The vacancies in the lines were speedily filled, the enemy was met shot for shot and gun for gun. The army of the Potomac, long drilled, long in waiting, eager to avenge the slaughter and repulse at Bull Run and Ball's Bluff, knew no such word as fail. When the firing was the most terrific, and the anxiety the most intense, there came from the rear of our ranks a sound which seemed for the moment to subdue the roar even of the artillery. All eyes and ears were turned to discover its origin, which proved to be the approach of Gen. McClellan and staff. Throughout the day he had been momentarily expected, and his opporAt four o'clock in the afternoon the battle was tune coming was hailed with long and enthusiat its height. The scene from headquarters at astic cheering. Regiment after regiment, as he that time was exciting and imposing beyond de- was quickly recognised, gave utterance to a welscription. Skirting the woods to the left, to the come of which Napoleon might have been proud. right, and before us, forming a half-circle two or Arriving at headquarters, he without disthree miles in extent, were thousands of our in-mounting from his horse - held a brief consulfantry men, pouring a steady fire into the dense forests, where the enemy was steadily advancing. From my horse I could see the smoke of the muskets gracefully curling among the tall trees and hear the crackling reports, which at every moment announced the severity of our attack, and brought forth the prompt response of the confederates; and now for the first time the rebel artillery began to be effective in the centre of our lines. The hissing shells were thrown nearer, and with greater precision, and even burst beyond headquarters, to the consternation of some of the youthful aids-de-camps who had never been under fire, and to the greater alarm of the women and children yet remaining in the house. Now, also, our own reserves were coming up. Gen. Keyes had, in person, driven back a mile or two and urged them forward. Casey's division, headed by that venerable officer, who has tation with Gen. Keyes, and approving his course, and especially his order for reënforcements to Gen. Hancock, joined him in a ride throughout our lines. His appearance was everywhere the signal for an outburst of the wildest applause. He wore a plain blue coat, and had his cap enveloped in a glazed covering. The rapidity of his ride to the field had well spattered him with mud, and the drenching rain had penetrated his every garment. He, however, showed no signs of fatigue, and it was not until he had in person familiarized himself with the entire field, and by critical observation studied the exact position of the enemy, that he accepted the shelter of a room which had been reserved for him at headquarters. Thus matters stood at nightfall, when word came that Gen. Hancock had met the enemy in a bayonet charge and thoroughly routed him, taking possession of all the works on the right of our lines, and handsomely flanking the rebel forces on their left, a result Gen. Keyes had been hoping for since noon, and which he thought likely, as it proved, to greatly annoy and alarm the enemy. This masterly movement, crowned with such complete success, elated our troops, and was hailed at headquarters as a harbinger of early victory. Words of warm congratulation were sent to the dashing Pennsylvanian by the Commanding General, and the reënforcements, advanced by order of Gen. Keyes, soon reached the fortifications, placing the holding of them beyond all question, and insuring the spirited Hancock a quiet night. as by a tomahawk. Brave fellows who a few hours before had stood erect and strong, were bent and exhausted, and as pale and haggard as though long in hospital. From hearts which at noon, or later, had beaten high and responsive to the dictates of a lively and courageous patriotism, the warm life-blood was rapidly oozing, and covered with a blanket or sheet many a cold body awaited the grave. Ah! how much of the vain glory of war vanishes before the carnage of the battle-field! How much of its stern and unpoetic reality is found in the hospital! What faithful messengers of pain and death are the shot and the shell! During the day a number of prisoners had In the centre and to the left our troops rested fallen into our hands, and some deserters had on their arms. Wet, weary and hungry, with come to our lines. These were confined for the many depressing obstacles to overcome, they night in an outbuilding near to headquarters. were nevertheless ready and even clamorous for Those who conversed with them found them an advance. Neither the darkness nor the damp-mainly ignorant and disconsolate. All admitted ness chilled their buoyant spirits, and in their the strength and excellence of our army, but eagerness to defend the old flag they quite forgot none could give any good reason for the abandonthe risks and dangers of their bivouacs. Through- ment of Yorktown, which they concurred in proout the long night it required all the authority of nouncing the best fortified place in Virginia. The the officers to keep them from dashing pell-mell prisoners were chiefly from North-Carolina, and into the enemy's lines, and everywhere discom- professed to have been in Virginia but a few fiting him, at the point of the bayonet, after the weeks. They were unable, or failed, to give us thrilling example of Hancock. much information of the position of the enemy at Williamsburgh. Indeed, during the day our generals had attained no satisfactory intelligence, save from the ingenious contrabands, scores of whom hovered about headquarters, and imparted, in their curious way, all they could of the rebel movements. Gen. Keyes had frequent interviews with them, and it was by a comparison of their stories that he gained the knowledge of the country to the right of the enemy's lines, whereby Gen. Hancock was enabled to undertake the flanking movement and his brilliant charge, which turned the day in our favor. Gen. Keyes remarked that he had never been deceived by the contrabands, and I am convinced that they are generally truthful and well disposed, though often too ignorant to intelligently impart what they know. By four o'clock in the afternoon the large barn adjacent to headquarters, which had been prepared for the reception of our wounded, began to be filled with the victims of the deperate conflict, chiefly brought in from the right and centre of our lines, Gen. Hooker's division being too far away. The arrangements of the rude hospital were tolerably good, and the surgeons worked actively and well. By nine o'clock the wounds of upwards of one hundred sufferers had been carefully dressed, and after that hour few if any were brought in the darkness, the storm, and condition of the fields and woods making it impracticable. I have frequently seen the torn victims of war, and witnessed with admiration heroic endurance, but never have I seen such patience under dreadful agony as that now displayed by our bleeding volunteers. With barely an exception they stood their tortures without a murmur, and while undergoing delicate and painful amputations, give utterance to little if any complaint. With the morning of Tuesday the sunshine came, and the air was clear and bracing. Though everything was wet and soppy, and the mud almost fathomless, all felt that if the fight had to be continued it would be under much better cirThe wounds were mostly from musketry, and cumstances than on the previous day. But the spoke well for the accuracy of the enemy's fire. silence of the night had been generally interpretThe suffering of the men was aggravated by the ed to indicate the withdrawal of the enemy, and sorry condition of their clothes, which, on the there was no surprise when a messenger from straggling march and in the dripping woods, had Gen. Hooker announced that all the forts on the become as wet as though soaked in the sea. It left had been abandoned and were possessed by would seem to be proper that, besides surgical him, and when from Gen. Hancock we learned instruments and medicines, the hospitals should that the foe was nowhere in sight. be provided with fresh clothing, that the poor fellows, wounded under such circumstances, may be made comfortable, rather than from necessity left in a condition which, even under ordinary circumstances, would be very unpleasant. Of shell wounds there were several shocking cases. A man lost both legs, one had his arms broken like pipe-stems, and another was scalped The news created much discussion as to the plan of the enemy, if he had any, and all who had tarried at headquarters were out at an early hour eager for the developments of the day. I was amused to see the Count de Paris struggling through the mud to the corn-crib, bag in hand, to procure feed for his horse, and Col. Astor giving directions as to the grooming of his fine ani mal, which had stood in the rain all night, while he warmly denounced the adhesive character of the "sacred soil." killed by a round shot. Here and there pools of clotted blood showed where the dead and dying soldiers had lain, and the bodies of a number re musket, a coat, a sword on the ground, indicated the hasty withdrawal of its owner, and his determination to suffer no impediment in his flight. In the hospital the wounded were compara-mained as they had fallen. Ever and anon a tively comfortable, and I thought the occasion a good one to secure their names, but red tape would not permit it. The doctors feared I would disturb the patients, and so, by their own neglect and their interference with others, many an anxious parent is kept in painful suspense, tremulously awaiting a report which, whether favorable or not, would at least be a source of relief to thousands. At nine o'clock General McClellan and staff left headquarters for the battle-field. It was my privilege to accompany the party. Going to the right, we soon reached the scene of Hancock's brave exploits, and examined the formidable works which had fallen into his hands, and the obstacles he had so nobly overcome on the previous afternoon. The enemy had evidently thought him an easy prey, and a man with less resolution and deliberate courage would have fallen back, at least until reenforcements came up; but not so Gen. Hancock. Waiting until the rebel brigade with which he had been contesting the ground, inch by inch, left its shelter, and on the open field, a broad and beautiful expanse, undertook to advance rapidly upon him, he had recourse to the bayonet, and led the splendid charge which must forever be honorably associated with his name. It was a marvellous encounter, and our men speak highly of the bearing of the foe. The field was literally strewn with the dead and dying, and it is believed that the enemy nowhere suffered so severely. His force is said to have consisted of North-Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia troops. Already our troops had begun the solemn work of burying the rebel dead on the right. The bodies had, many of them, been gathered from the field, and conveyed to different points where pits had been dug for their reception. I halted at several of these to look at the mangled remains. Death had found the unfortunate victims in various attitudes. One was in the act of raising his gun to fire, and had stiffened in the same position another was opening his cartridge-box and had died in the attempt - a third was evidently retreating, and had fallen with his back to our advance-a fourth clasped his hands to his pistol and so received the fatal shot. The wounds were even more singular and repulsive than I had noticed in our hospital. Several were shot in the mouth, some through the face. By the bursting of a shell, one had his head blown off, another had his back fairly broken, and still another had his heart torn to pieces. Already the blackness of corruption darkened many of the faces, and it seemed imperatively necessary that the bodies should be put under the earth as speedily as possible. The barns, fences, and trees near the battlefield were sadly injured, and even the brute creation had suffered in the conflict, for at one point I saw the remains of a young colt which had been The wheat, which had grown to the height of a foot in most of the fields where the severest fighting took place, was of course sadly trampled, and it is doubtful whether the liberal infusion of human blood which the earth received will be sufficient to restore the crop to a vigorous growth. As there was no rebel cavalry or artillery engaged at this part of the field, few dead horses were to be seen. Here and there one, probably the property of a colonel or a major, was stretched in death, or lingering in a miserable existence, from which it were a kindness to relieve it by a welldirected shot. The forts on the right, taking Fort Page as the centre-piece of the works, were shrewdly located and admirably built, but poorly defended. One or more of them had not been used to any extent. Rifle-pits were abundant, and are more popular with the rebel engineers than with ours. They were, however, considerably exposed and used to little purpose. The forts were not unlike those of our construction near Washington, and were, as we learned from the contrabands and prisoners, built, like those at Yorktown, by the negroes, under the superintendence of overseers, some of whom, according to the contrabands, were cruel task-masters. Mention was made of one, who continually lashed the poor blacks, repeating a hundred times a day: "Not a spadeful of earth shall be wasted." Most of the contrabands have worked upon the fortifications, and one cause of their rejoicing at the arrival of our army is, that they will no longer, in all probability, have to labor so severely, and in a line for which they are not especially fitted and certainly have no taste. Passing on to the centre fort, called Fort Page, we found it occupied by Neal's (late Birney's) Twenty-third Pennsylvania regiment, which, having come up in the night, with Graham's brigade, of Casey's division, as a reserve to Gen. Hancock, had early scoured the field. The great fort was much damaged by our artillery fire. Only a siege-gun remained in it. Several broken caissons and some ammunition had been left. The trees around were many of them splintered by our shells, and the barracks on the Williamsburgh side were more or less shattered. Our men were exploring them, finding bacon, flour, and hominy, garments, muskets, and filth. The barracks, like all on the road from Yorktown, were better built and altogether more substantial than those occupied by our troops during the winter. Indeed, they were quite commodious and comfortable houses. A drive to the left afforded an opportunity to examine the ground upon which Hooker had made his desperate stand, and performed, if not so brilliant, as heroic service as Hancock. At one o'clock in the morning the eagle-eyed Gen. Jame |