Newspaper Page Text
THE
VOLUME XXXV.]
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, JUKE
BOlfGHTON, SISBET, BARNES&MOOKE
Publishers and proprietors.
M. HOUCSIITO*’ l editor*
*CT. V
JOH.H .
f:t; C (tanfcbcratt Union
Tt published Weekly, in MiUedgeville, Ga.,
Corner of Hahcock and Wilkinson Sts.,
(opposite L/Ourt House.)
At $10 a year in Advance.
oi;b new TEU:n«.
On and after March 2d,18(H, the Tfttns of Sub-
soriDtion to tho Cou'edernte Union, are I en Dol
i vrs, invaribly in advance. All indebtedness for
iubicripti.nl to tins paper, previous to June 1st, 18M,
u at the rate of Three Dollars per year.
advertising.
Transient.—Two Dollars per square of ten
lines for each insertion. _ . ..
Tributes of respect. Resolutions by Societies, (Obit
uaries exceeding six lines.) Nominations for office.
Communications or Editorial notices for individual
benefit, charged as transient advertising.
LEGAL AnVERTISlMl.
Sheriff's sales, per levy of ten lines, or less, $5 00
“ Mortgage fi fa sales, per square, 10 00
Tax Collector’s Sales, per square, 00
Citations for Letters of Administration, o 00 :
Guardianships *’ j movement, took its position in the line of
Letters af application for dismn. from Admn 8 00 I . t
it ** «• “ Guard n n un
p?ble of duty, he determined on a move
ment by which, while not exposing the
fact of his bloody defeat, he would he en
abled to renew the struggle on open
ground. From the point of conflict on the
Change and Fredericksburg plank track,
an earthen way, known as Brock’s road,
follows the direction along which he would
now seek, naturally, to move. The open
ing of that rout was in fact, one of the ad
vantages which he sought from the attack
on Lee's right. The employment of that
road for his purposes having, however,been
made impossible by the position of the
Confederates at the close of the battle, he
was obliged to adopt in its stead some of
the inferior lines of movement in his rear.
Under cover of his skirmishers he with
drew his right quietly on the evening of
the 7th ; moved it down behind his centre
to the Orange and Fredericksburg plank
road; and, directing it along that track
for some distance eastwardly, dropped it
down by several minor roads still further
to the south. The centre he next broke
into column in the rear of heavy skirmish
ers ; and marched it in the same direction
behind the solid masses of the left. Du
ring the night that wing moved, in like
manner, out of its works ; and soon after
wards followed by the sharpshooters that
l iiad been employed to mask tlje whole
the men who withstood them so fiercely,
quailed before their unflinching firmness ;
and with tli6 loss of a considerable numbei
of prisoners and a large number in killed
and'wounded fled. The South Carolinians
behaved magnificently during the repulse ;
but held their ground as the enemy retired.
The Mississippians sprang over the breast
works in hot pursuit. They had not ad
vanced across the field more than a quar
ter of a mile, when they were driven back
in turn—with the loss of many men and
two stands of colors captured, as was sup
posed at tho time, by the enemy. The
supposition, however, proved to be a mis
take. Having, after separation from their
comrades, found themselves free, they
moved for several miles through the woods
around the enemy’s left; and next day,
to the great rejoicing of the whole brigade,
came back safely ; men and colors ! *
The assault upon- Humphreys was re
peated during.the day several times ; hut
in each instance without any other result
to the assailants than defeat and death.—
Foiled thus in direct attack, Gen. Warren
attempted to carry the position by a
movement against its flank. Law’s brig
ade of Alabamians were accordingly put
purpose
mass came sweeping steidily on; and, absorbing
ts lines ol skirmishers, appeared of a volmnt
sufficient tc overcome all resistance Field's
sharpshooter inserted death in a hundred inci
sions through its solid front; and the lighting flash
.of his artillery cut through its liviug tpaterial in
gashes broad and deep. Halting within two
hundred yards of the works, it retreated: leav
ing many a wretch behind in mortal agony or
iu the mereilul repose ef death. Again and again
during the day the same demonstration was re
lated; and on each occasion with the same re
sult.
.Masses of the enemy appeared collecting rapidly
in the afternoon, on the front of Gen. Rhodes.—
Gordon was at once ordered back to his support
from the rear of Fie.d. Eight or ten lines deep, a
a fierce cannonade. An explosion in its sudden
! less '. it raged trom the tir*t moment of its open
ing. in the full depth #f its fury. The metiHc
peal of the solid shot, the sharp clap and the Hat
crash of the shell rose from side to side with ra
pidity. They seemed to shake the very earth with
their thunders. That terrific storm, while undi
minished in depth, underwent immediately after
its first outburst a change in character; tor the
sharper peals uf shot and shell were succeeded it:
a moment by the duller thuds that hurling for
ward grape and canister, told of a .struggle deep
end into the sternness of clqge quarters.
The suddenness of the thunders with which the
artillery rent the air was not greater than that
with which the deafening storm burst from the in
fantry. The musketry that followed immediately
column of blue coats moved through the forest and ,after the very Hist gur , was so great in volume
hnried its tremendous weight against Doles’ brig- ”trom its opening that it bespoke clearly the pres
ence of large masses of Uien. Rising in a *!• op
ade of Rhodes’division. Dropping its living and
dead offal on all sides, under a well directed fire ol
rifle and gun, it still kept on its way; and by the
heavy pressure from its rear, burst a living torrent
over the works held by Doles. Rearing, like a
mighty river, everything before it it swept surg
ing to the rear of the Confederate position for sev
eral hundred yards, when it struck, with a heavy
recoil, against the rock-like solidity of Gordon’s
front. He had just come up from the left; an J,
charging, cheering as he went, burled back the
heavy masses in a terror as great as if the flash of
his bayonets were the deadly light of the Gorgon’s
eye His fire reserved until the enemy broke, he
poured into him, as he fled, volley after volley
with an aim and rapidity truly murderous. T wen- |
ty minutes having finished this stern work, and
restored the line to its original position, th .t vala
8 00 j
6 00 i
8 00 !
2 00 j
5 00 j
2 00 I
march.
Tbs seene of the battle of the Wilder
ness is situated mainly in Spotsylvania.—
The Court House of that county lies at a
distance from the field of the 6th and 6th
of May of.nine miles in a direction almost
exactly Southeast. The country around
that village consists, to a great extent, of
open fields ; and watered by heads of the
Mattajioney—these called by a strange
conceit, the Mat, the Ta. the Po, the Ny
—present excellent positions for the em
ployment of artillery. The occupation of
mnst be given in a public ga- the village itself offering possession ofa-
jetteAOilaVs'previoustothe day of sale. i leading road to Richmond, became the
Notices tor the sale of personal property must be , fi rgt ob j ect 0 f the new movement; and one
gi Notices k to^The n debtin ft and P crcdBtor8 ofan estate that appeared very easy of accomplish
ing also be punished 40 days. ment, seeing that the only obstacle in the
-y on the morning of the 7th was a
^"cllutfs/r^for l«tten»o*f Administration Guardianship, • horsed ^ ISl ° U
^lii\i^isVraH»n, U Vo n r'dirimi« s io,, | The scouting of the Army of Northern
trom Guardianship,40 days Virginia is. no doubt, a most active and
1 fW “T IC3 '' >ntai 'r °i tl,e
fjr tiir fi'jl Jpnrr of three movth*—forcompellingtitles j highest order can alone explain the. rapidi-
lrom Executors or administrators, where bond lashren ^ with which Lee acts l’n reference to the
*'Publications e vrilTal w nys*be clmtinued accord!, gto j movements of the enemy. Whether the
these,tho legal requirements,unlcssotherwiseordereo. ca valry conflict for the possession of that
* village, of some revelation from scouts or
Appl’n for leave to sell land and negroes,
Ji'otic* to Debtors and Creditors,
tales ot land or negroes, per square,
.. perishable property, 10 days, per sq.
Estray Notices, 30 days,
Foreclosure of Mortgage, per square,
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS.
Sales of Land and Negroes, by Administrators Ex
ecutor- or Guardians, are required by law to be held
on the firs* Tuesday i. the month ; between the hours
ot 10 in the forenoon and three ... the afternoon, at the
Court house in thecounty in winch the property .s
situated.
Notice of these sale:
in on Humphrey’s lett with the uuiu<>»e . ui_ »• , c y ■ ■ 7
of resisting the blow to be struck from that ! JoiithSTnrZTve lu,med,ate lrout t0 bls
direction. The Federal advance came up j Tim movements upon Field’s line during the
brief and bloody as they weie, had thus 1 bac k> however, around that flank, at a short dis
terminated for the day ; vnid saw Lee iu ! tan ? e beJovv his.left, it exposed him from that pari
. part
ot the opposite bank, to the fire of some guns, tak-
in reserve Crossing the works
fjjP When a subscriber finds » cross mark on
bis paper he will know that his subscription has .
expired, or is about to expire, and must be renew- ,
ed if he wishes the paper continued.
rF" We do not send receipts to new subscri- ,
hers. If they receive the paper they may know ,
that we have received the money.
Subscribers wishing their papers changed
angels, may have apprised him of Grant’s
design, the army was directed by Gen.
Lee on the night of the 7th to move rapid
ly towards Spotsylvania Court House.
Major General R. II. Anderson, holding
the right with Longstreet Corps, ordered
forward the division commanded for the
triumphant possession of all the positions j j„g. somewhat
covering the roads running Southwardly 1 they had thrown up during the^iiight'toprotect
from Spotsylvania Court House. In the ! tbe i r front, ins troops sought shelter from the mis-
figlits of the day, as in the race of the night I ®|‘ es of 1 t T h *i batte T crouching on the outer
, 1 r, c j , 1 1 slope. Under cover of the cannonade, the enemv.
previous, the Confederates had thus come : „ot daring an attempt to force the bridge, crossed
off completely victorious. . | the fiver lower down, in full exposure to a well
Lougstreet’s corp^continued to pour in- directed lire from some field pieces that had
to the field during the early part of the j?- en P ,anted on the Confederate left. Having
1 , rpi „ ... c /• . . . driven in the skirmishers pf Wnghi s brigade
day. I he positions of the divisions point-j 0 f Georgians, the Federal column begat, to
ed out by Gen. Anderson, as they came form in line, 011 this side; and, for the moment,
up, were immediately afterwards covered ! war seemed about to subject to another fiery
by a line of breastworks. At daylight, l * ie " e ^P roved metal of Anderson s Divi-
rull, one and unbroken, its blend* d ringing de
clared that the hostile thousands from whom it
swelled up must have met in conflict, hand to
hand. The peals iu quick succession of the ar
tillery, did not drown its voice; Luton it went
distinctly, a flowing roar that rose to Heaven,
like the constant outcry cf a rushing river. Di
vination was not necessary with all those eviden-
ce»to tell me, as I rose from my blanket in the
rear, that, as in the case of our own conflict at In-
kerman, Rn attack prepared with deliberation, iu
close proximity to the Confederate lines, had
moved suddenly from the cover of the- morning
fog.
The field works that protected Ewell’s right
on the morning of the 12th extended through a
wood. They occupied the line of a low ridge;
and, by what appears to me to be grave error. lay
somewhat down its reverse slope. An enemy ap
proaching them could 1101 be seen from some part
of the works until liq had appeared over the rise,
in their immediate front. Retreating from them
ho received, once behind that swell of the ground,
protection from the fire of part of those deleiices.-
1 he course of the breastworks followed that of the
ridge; and accordingly formed at one place, a
salient with an angle so small as to be almost
acute. They consisted of two lines w hich ran one
parallel with the other; and
NUMBER
to those houseless, landh-s warriors of Louisi
ana.
Retween Hays' men on the one side, and Lane’s
on the other, the Federalists had driven all oppo
sition from their path. For a width of a mile
they had swept the works of their defenders;
but, though complete masters within that limit,
were confronted by an in.passible barrier on the
one hand and on the other, roaring through the
gup they had made, their masses formed rapidly
ti'itu the right and from the left, with the view of
turning the line of liajs on that side, and of Lane
2° I/ 18 ’ b y pressure on those officers’
flanks.
exposeu
Apprehension of attack during the night on
the .front of Hays, had led to the transfer to its
support of the line brigade of Pegram. The oth
er brigades of the division under the command of
Gordon—two—were, at the time ot the sssault
upon the salient, half a mile to the left. Spring
ing forward without orders, Gordon moved at
“double .quick” in tho direction of the fire that
had hurst upon the dawn in sudden thunders—-
Rushing into tho fog, lie could see neither friend
nor foe ; but, guide’d by the instincts of a soldier,
stil sped forward rapidly under the biding of the
battle's hoarsest roar. The thick haze into whose
unknown depths he drove on. soon lit its murder
ous terrors, as he closed into the conflict, with
lurid flushes : and. in the next niomeur, flinging
out a sheet of lightning that hurled about" the
ear- of his advancing ranks a very tempest of
j bullets-
j tiordon had come np in column. General R. D-
j Johnston’s Brigade, first upon the field, he threw
: lapidiy into line: and launching it against the
j enemy through .the fog, checked the advance —
j Having arrested, thus at one point, the surging
i r;l "ks ot the foe, he sought to stop him as they
• swept around his r ght. The torrent s.reaming
rapidly in that direction, he was about to be borne
back by the flank, wl en, bringing up bis own
brigade, its firm lino presented to the river-like
rush an additional width of barrier. The living
flood of kederal triumph dashing against it iu
vain, swept still farther around, again threaten
ing the Confederate right with destruction under
a rapid movement upon its flank.
on the morning of the 8th, theSu, and 3d
corps still holding the field of the Wilder-
nes, the former under Ewell, broke into
column, and moving behind the latter—
General Early had, in the meantime, crossed
the Po at a bridge lower down than that iu the
front of the Division of Anderson. With Heth’s
Division and Mahone's superb Brigade, he contin-
n -ii, , j - ued his march on the opposite bank upstream, un
til s—proceeded on its way to the scene til, striking the flank of the Federal flankers he
of the impending conflict. Having arrived I drove them before him without encountering any
on the field, it drew up on Longstreet’s fesistance.^ The thundering of his guns, the shout-
left. Rode's division having drivep back
the enemy in a charge, for a mile, the
whole corps spent the night, after a very
severe march, taking and strengthening its
position.
Hill’s corps, after having covered the
lett of Ewell’s column, moved out of its j ing from the bridge in full retreat.
m wild triumph of his troops, came near and
still nearer to Anderson’s fellows, as they stood
ready for mortal struggle; and those welcome
sounds, as they swelled up from the woods, her
alded the arrival ot a staff officer, who. having
dashed into the stream rode up iu full speed, his
horse’s flanks still dripping with water, to an
nounce to Mai.one that tlie enemy was withdraw-
The Federal masses were seen by Mahone’s ar
tillerists moving across tlie open ground ofheights
on the other side of the Po. Shot and shell were
from one post-office to another must state the j present by Brig. Gen. Kershaw. Wof-
.♦ ford’s brigade broke at once into column ;
and, followed closely up by Briant’s, start
ed with vivacity, at 11 o’clock in the
night, to the support of Fitzhugh Lee —
As these splendid troops began to move,
the spirit with which they appeared to go
forward shot like electricity from ranK to
rank ; and found utterance in a cheer that,
running hack along the forming column
for miles, rang like roll-of musketry from
I front to rear, from the depth of the mid-
{ night forest loud and clear.
The enemy, in his race for Spotsylvama
i Court House, had “a start” ot a few hours.
; Having begun his movement, however,
I from a point opposite our extreme left,
while we began ours from the extreme
right, that advantage must have been very
nearly equaled. There remained to us,
however, no time to spare. We were
obliged to push foT the goal directly. Our
name of the post-office trom which Miey wish it
changed. *
FivrDollnr Bill*.
A* no one will take Confederate Fives of the old
issue from us, %ve are compelled, in self defense,
to announce that we will only receive them at a
discount of 33 1-3.
^—
’’Interesting reading matter will
be found on the 4th page.
be
the
From the Richmond Euqnirer.
Another Interesting Letter.
We have the pleasure of spreading
fore our readers another letter from
eloquent and graphic pen of the correspon
dent of the “London Morning Herald.”—
These letters, we doubt not, will be tend
with deepest interest l.y all our readers ;
and we commend them as giving the most • K li 0r test route lay, unfortunately, through
complete and vivid descriptions of the bat
tles of which they treat, that wo have seen
published.
T Correspondence of the London Herald.]
Richmond, May 2oth, 1864.
{No. 44.J
On the morning of the 7th of May Lee’s
troops lay in line on the field ot their \ic-
tory of the Wilderness. Ewell still on the
left and Hill in the centre,
corps, under the command of Major Gen
eral R. H. Anderson, held tho right.—
Some desultory skimish firing in front
■was the only evidence presented during
the day that we were m presence of tho
enemy. As I passed along the line of bat
tle in a ‘’'ear rather better than that of the
a forest in which accident or design had,
during the day, set the leaves on fire.—
The smoke of the burning continued, still,
to hang in clouds upon the ground, threat
ening the troops, as they went on, with
actual suffocation Heated, blinded,choak-
ing, to a degree almost insupportable, they
bore their suffering patiently ou their
march through those smoking woods for
a distance of seven miles. The ten thous-
Longstreet’s j and Greeks of Xenophon did not, when
they saw the sea, feel more relief than the
thousands of Lee’s men did when they
emerged from that forest—Pandemonium
into the open country and untainted air.
Kershaw, ha\ing reached the high road,
moved forward rapidly. Having ou his
way detached Humphrey’s Mississippians
works. Its leading division—Anderson’s
—commanded for the present by its senior
Brigadier, General Mahoue, was assailed hurried immediately into them as they rushed back
on its march towards Spotsylvania Court hurriedly from Early’s crushing advance. The di-
House, near a place called Shady Grove. '' isiou moved down at once to the bridges; and
Having, after a brief delay, repulsed the : er ? 88ed ’ formed on tfie opposite side in
attack, it moved on, but the whole corps
bivouacked only a short distance in ad
vance of the scene of that passing conflict.
On the morning eFthe 9th, it reached the
field of the approaching battle ; and, taking
ine of battle, parallel with the load by which the
enemy had come—that from Shady Grove.—
Wright’s Georgians, drawn up on Field’s left, res
ted their right on the river; Perrin's Alabamians
came next; then Perry's Floridians, Harris’ Mis
sissippians and Mahone’s Virginians. Heth's
men ts they came up with Early, took position on
its place on the right, proceed rapidly te the left. The enemy had formed in line of battle half
cover its front with a line of field works. ' a mile off - His fr0Ilt - covered by breastworks,
■i i -n„ c i • , . , was further protected by four improvised red iubts.
I he il ness of the Lieutenant Genera The losses of his hurri / d retreat p had been serioU8 .
charged with the command ol that grand and would probably have been even much more
division of Lee’s army had unfitted him so had he not embarrassed the pursuit by setting
for service when I saw him on the field of j bre b eb ' !ld b ' m t° tf* e leafy woods in which he
the Wilderness during the 6th of May.— b * d d ^PP^ d the dead and wounded of his flight-
. .. - Tfie two arrays lay ou the ground they had just
He remained, however, at Ills post, and the taken; and continued to look at each other during
very chafing of his spirit, in impatience of what yet remained of the oay, without demonstra
his prostration, at a moment fraught with ! Honor attack, save only to the extent of occasion-
such great events, appeared to me, as I j al SKy Early in flanking the right of our po-
stood speaking with him, mi Ins ambulance sition, Grant attempted to break it by direct at-
ou the field of the Xy, to have delayed i tack. Night had almost set iu when the heavy
his recovery. G"en. Early, or Kwell's t column that had threatened the left so often du-
i-i i i jc! ring the day burst upon it, at last in terrible ear-
corps, had accordingly been placed,.for ; ne b , iess . Covering the ^ole front ofthedivi-
the time, in command ot (hat or U.ill, at sion, that tremendous attack came under the tire
the approach of the bloody trial which of the brigade on the left of McLaws—Wofford’s
appeared to hang over it on the 9th of' Georgians. General G. T. Anderson’s brigade re-
- r ceived the shock in terrible force; but could be
seen from tfie position of Major General R. H. An-
soldier and somewhat worse than that of! and his own South Carolinians to the left;
the officer, the men showed themselves, for the relief of Fitzhugh I ee, he pressed
in their amusing comments on my appear
ance, to be in excellent spirits.
on with AVofford’s and Brian’s men to
Spotsylvania Oonrt House. Ho 6ucceed-
of the 6th, to those of Wilcox. I
From the headquarters of General Lee | ed in reaching that place in time—about
I nf Cpneral Hill I went, on the even- ! sunrise of the Sth of May—to obtain poc. o£th» detour that thus laid Field open to serious
a oi vre - -- • ** •-*—* -t-* T - *•-- danger. Some cavalry haviug been said to be
threatening the ciossing of the stream, the brig
ades of Harris and of Perrin—both of Ander
son’s division—were sent back with orders to hold
it against all comers. They arrived there at 7
o'clock in the evening. Night had neatly come
Prossirfr nn on: and tbe ^ ^ uetv nothing of the position or force
r ‘o 1 j of the enemy. After consultation with Major
uje) uiu> w _ session of it without filing a shot. In the
found the latter officer engaged with Gen. j meantime, Humphry, iu command of the
Smith, of the Engineers, in an examination j force sent to the left, turned from the road
of the ground with a view to a revision j of KersLaw’s advance at a point known
of the line of field-works. Changes, de- j the Block House, about a mile and a half
c'lded on in ray presence, at some points of * in front of the Court House. _ __ r . _„ J „
those improved defences were immediate- i rapidly, he had arrived at an opportune | General W. H, Lee, of the cavalry—son of the
- * ■ 3 ■---narties ■ moment—on the morning of the 8th — to commander in chief of the army of Northern Vir-
May.
Our position lay in advance of the Po. Before
it flowed the narrow and muddy stream of the Ny.
Our lines wound iu frout, along irregular slopes
ascending from the latter branch of the Mat-ta po
ny, and embracing within them the approaches
Southwardly from Spotsylvania Court House,
swept, on the left, buck to the Po. The enemy’s
army stood partly in rear and partly iu front of the
Ny, and presented to the convexity of our align
ment, I he general plan of a concave curve. The
rainshea of the greater part of our position fell into
the Ny; and the slopis looking down upon that
stream witnessed the heat and buidcn of the bat
tle. The approaches to Lee's works lay partly
through forest, partly through field, but presented
at inauy points excellent positions for artillery,
whilathoseopeu to the enemy fur that pui pose were
generally much inferior. Such, in brief, was the
derson and Major General Field, to hold its
ground as steadily as if it were on a dress parade.
Rapidly and regular.y it threw np cloud after
cloud of smoke, and the flash of its fire burst
along its front every few minutes - in thread-like
flashes.
An angle in the line of the Confederate array—
a salient, as it is termed by Engineers—presented
the weak point of the defence. The breadth of its
tire necessarily contracted, and its sides exposed
to enfilade, that part of th* Confederate line was
held by Gregg’s brigade of Texans. Uncovered
by traverses, his men, after the attacking column
hail swept up within a short distance of the works,
encountered a tire from both front and flank; and,
dually, as the wave of the onslaught surg d over
headlong into their defences, were forced to fall
back before its irresistable weight That they did
parallel with tfie other; and containing between r,,!r"h",7"a Gordon hav-
both, a space sufficiently wide for a line of battle, | p“ r b jM liat hrongilit up his third brigade—
would be described by military engineers as a ii^r* formed it under the command ef Col.
“double sap.” Epaulments were placed in sup- 80n,t ? I,at de, »cl.ed trom the others,
port of the whole at several points of the line:— ; n, n l f i f \ , f . roIlt ,° . Hie enemy s advance.—
and at the salient, sufficient for so many as liven- U ' n (I '‘j , !' erecl a murderous volley
ty guns. A general understanding of the posi- 1 ‘ the dim masses of human life that stood be-
tion maybe obtained from this description, after | „f® a: „ 8br ,°„ uded— ?". t ver ^- very many of them
it has been stated that the sides of the salient,
subject, as they were in the event of an attack,
to enfilade from its apex, were protected for some
distance down the line, with a series of short
traverses.
Gen. J. M. Jones’ brigade occupied the salient.
On the left ct Jones’ men were formed the Stone
wall, under Walker; and next in Older of the
Hue of the battle, the Louisianians under Hays.
1’he right of Jones—who, be it recollected, held
the saiient—rested on the brigade of Steuart —
Such was the distribution ou the morning of the
12th, behind the breastworks of Ewell's right
wing, of the men constituting the division of Gen
eral Edward Johnson. On the right of this di
vision was an unoccupied part of the works about
two hundred yards in length, and further on that
staunch brigade of Wilcox’s division—Lane's,
Jones brigade had sent one of its best regiments,
the 21st Virginia from the salient, to cover the
gap between Steuart and Lane as skirmishers.—
Two others were also sent out of the works in
the same capacity, with the view of protecting the
angle of the position from sudden attack. Bet
three regiments of the brigade remained to de- th . lt hnwnor r. , ,
winding sheeted—in that morning fog. Ipstant-
ly seizing the colors of the centre regiment of hi*
own brigade Gordon spurred forward under a
storm of bullets, ordering a chaige. His men
rushed upon the misty m.ks that they had just
cut gashes through with their dradly ti,e. Their
fury bore down all resistance. The charge bad
become a chase. Huddling the Federalists iu
headlong flight over the breastwoiks that they
had been held during tfie night by Steuait, that
murderous race was continued for half a mile be
yond. Opposition had disappeared before the
pursuit; stilf, however, it held its way in una
bated tury. thartiiig out suddenly* from the fog
upon a Imstile. force in line, Gordon’s demand for
surrender having, iu the confusion of his sudden
ap.pea’ance, obtained i.o reply, the Federalists fell
where they had L ut a moment before stood in
lusty life, a battle airay of dead and dying \
1 bo enemy still In Id the ground he had won on
Steuart‘s left. Gordon falling therefore back,
occupied the works he had carried so gloriously.
His charge bad cost I lie Confederates the services
for a time, of Brigadier General R. D. Johnston.
I hat gallant officer was disabled by a wound,
that is, howr
iu the salient, sixteen had, under an expectation
t utertained during the night of an attack upon
the extreme right, been withdrawn. Such was
the array »nd Mirength of Ewell s right on the
morning of the 12th.
Johnston, informed at three o'clock, A. AL, that
the enemy was massing in his tront, set off in hot
haste for guns to replace those that had been re
moved from bis works during the night.
In the meantime, the signs in the front began
rapidly to take the defiuite form of attack. His
skirmishers came in short notice: and the forest
behind them impressed the senses with the feel-
ing that, wrapt as it was in fog. it. was swarming
with masses of human life. Page’s battalion of
artillery had, in response to the demand of Gen
eral Johnston, come up to the salient in a trot;
but a tremendous column of the enemy, having
ants Colonel McArthur
and Colonel Garrett, both officers of ability, gave
up upon that field tbeir life blood in manly asser
tion of the liberties that have been handed down
to them from our common ancestors of the days
of Kuuueymede. ierrihly, however, were the
Confederate lives lost in that movement, aveng
ed. For a width of threo hundred yards the Fed
eral slain were scattered over a length of three-
quarters of a mile; and, in all the open fields in
cluded in that space, lay in a sickening slaughter.
Four guns that had been taken at the lime of the
enemy's advance w ere, during the charge, recap
tured ; and in the absence ot horses, sent bv man
ual labor for some distance to the rear.
The Federalists continued to hold their ground
in the salient, and along the line of works?to the
leftof that angle, within a short distance of the
ed, unassisted, in making that ready for the work; \
hoarseness and rapidity of its mns-
and, standing at it. heroically alone/continued I that Hie tire^offriend'andfi^* tht>re tia ? a
caom.ler, mto the twliral r.uks. droppod from ,l„ „„ k . ,„d L, “Si
General Johnston had no sooner become aw are be continued w ith glorious constancy to gain
of the exact point of the attack thau he rushed i ground foot by foot. Pressing undera fierce fire,
towards the salient. He was too late. The col- resolutely on, on, on. the struggle was about to
umu that bad burst from the fog upon that weak j become one of hand to hand, when the Fedeial-
point, held it already m possession. The three ists shrunk from that bloody trial. Driven back.
attitude of the two armies when I bivouacked on j not yield in any feebleness of spirit' was attested
the field, the Ny, with Geiieral Ewell and his staff, i a s they retned, with their faces to the foe. by sev-
on the night of the 9th of 5Iay. j eral of their comrades who lay in the trenches.
Field’s division, resting on the Po. held Lee's ' dead or dying under thrusts of the stern bayonet,
left. A main road from Frederiokburg gave the j Stung with humiliation by their repulse, the gal-
enemy access to the rear of that wing of our army, j Unt fellows paused in their retrogression; and
The bridge on which we had crossed the river on
. aur BUUUrh from wildumoM laj on tho Hue
ly shown by stakes; and workiog parties moment
Bet actively at their execution. As 1 j sustain an attack upon the position that
roue on to the left I observed revision j had been for some time held against both
go'mw 0 n at other parts of the line, new j cavalry and infantry by some of Fitzhugh
batteries being planted, epaulments for; Lee’s horse. The defences improvised at
guns W thrown up and other indications ! that point in front of the Court House
that the Confederates were determined to I consisted of a rude barrier of dead trees ;
remain they were. Gen. Ewell, hut, even feeble aj they were, they, still
Gen. Early, and Gen* Johnson, were in | worse, fell short in their extent of the
glowing spirits, and entertained clearly no j breadth of Humphrey’s front _
intention of abandoning the great ad-1 Robertson sand Griffinis division of the
vantages of their present position Every- corps of Gen W arren-the 5th-ad vanc-
tfihg along the front showed that Lee, ed with great spirit upon the. Confederate
J/^Vdoubtless, from his knowledge of j position.^ Ike oeadly marksmanship of
Grant’s character, looked for a renewal of j the Mississippians and South Carolinians
from any intention of in tbeir front, r,hot with terrible truth to
their belt buckles ; but though they drop-
attack ; and, far from auy intention
moving from the field of his bloody tri
umph, awaited its delivery in confident
preparation, on the ground he then occu
pied.
The contest of the Wilderness presented
to Grant on the evening of the 6th, the
ped dead like deer struck down in a herd
still they come on. Volley after volley
swept through their solid mass; but though
finally showing signs of faltering, they
continued to advance until they had ac-
choice of massacre, inaction, or retreat.— , tually crossed the Confederate barrier.—- ^ v „
Two-thirds of his splendid army yetca-iTbe assailants having k*y onet ®cl some of column of five or splines deep. That mighty
army
ginia—the enemy being present ip feree, pickets
were thrown out but a short distance in advance
of the bridge, nnd a regiment placed for their sup
port on a hill to the left of its immediate rear.—
The brigades of Perry, Wright, Perrin and Harris
—all ot Anderson’s division—drew up in a favor
able position foi resisting any direct attempt of
the enemy to obtain possession of the bridge.
Mahone bad but just made bis dispositions when
masses of men were heard moving down to the
opposite bank of the Po. A thundering cheer
from the midnight darkness which reigned around
springing furiously forward drova tfio onomr ja.-i
as fie began to quail hefore the terrible slaughter
along other parts of the line, out their works in a
flight that was followed by their unerring rifles Cr a
quarter of a mile. The losses of Grant in that
repulse of the lOth must have been very severe-
Two brigades of the right wing had been sent
during the day to support Ewell, in anticipation
of the attack repelled so splendidly by Gordon.—
The sun had almost set when that wing of the
Confederate array became, itself, subject of more
or less serious threatening. Two lines of battle
emerged from the woods in front of Wilcox; but
were met by the fire of a heavy Hue of skirmish
ers, and by a thundering cannonade from batter
ies posted advantageously in that officers imme
diate rear. Having contributed its victims to the
carnage of the field that ti reatening advance
broke iuto a retreat. The attack on Field driven
regiments which had been lett in line for its de
fence, had fled before the storming mass, without
firing a shot, Johnston, caught in the rush of
friend and foe. was made prisoner; and was thus
left, by the bad conduct ot some ot bis own men,
to waste his brave spirit ingloriousiy in prison.—
His bravery is of the antique. His conduct as a
geutral offic r was marked by constancy and ad
dress. A gieat favorite with Lieutenant General
Ewell, lie was kuown amongst the rank and file,
iu affectionate recognition ot his courage end ob
stinacy. as “Old Blucher.”
The salient carried and one-half of Jones’ men tbe da ^’ s nc <*e'leJ in driving the enemy from the
killed, wounded or captuied, the enemy poured works that had been occupied during the previous
thiough the Confederate line in immense force.— niglit by a brigade which, until the 12th of May,
The Stonewall Brigade, ou the immediate left of bad lie ^ r >' et yielded to a foe—the Stonewall,
the gap thus opened in the Confederate ranks be- i . V.‘ e Confederate lino had been re-established
came exposed on the right flank. General Wal
ker, its chief, attempted immediately to swing
that wing around ; but while in tlie act, was dis
abled by a very severe wound in the side. Press
ed hotly by the Federal advance, that movement
became then, after even the brief delay consequent
on that accident, impossible. The pressure upon . .
its flank hiving commasiced, many of the men been captured at the time ot the rush into the
torced into disorder Wpro killed, wouuded or cap- ' l' ec f- Through that the IVdcral masses swept
tured : but several of the regiments wheeling into j ou . t between the flank of Gordon of Pegram
position'bebiud t-bo short traverses running back : brigade—on tbe one haqd, and of Ramseur on
from tbeir breastworks, disputed every foot of the | tbc otber * endeavoring, by movements to the right
ground they held with a steadiness worthy of aud t0 the left in conjunction with heavy attack in
their traditions. Colonel Terry, while holding, ! fl 0,,t * t0 P* ve the unrecovered space greater width,
with unflinching firmness, one of those short i 4'hey still protruded from the open interval be-
fronts, received a severe wound. The Stonewall tween the flanks of those officers, and continued
Brigade, however, overborne by the movement I ,0 P ress forward with the vitw of preventing
upon its flank, was finally forced back; and what j tbtdr connection by an intervenng array of bat-
of it was neither captured, wounded nor killed, ' ' f '”’ * J ~ '
they Were not defeat* d. The earthworks being
at tbe moment in their immediate rear, they
bounded to the opposite side, and having thus
placed them in their front, renewed the conflict —
A rush of ail instant brought Kamseur’s fellows
. to this saide of the delences, and, though they
ciouched close to the slopes, uoder enfilade from
trom the guns ot the salient, their musketry rat-
i tied in d*.ep and deadly fire on the enemy that
stood in overwhelming numbers but a few yards
i from their front. Those brave North Carolinians
had thus, in one of the very hottest conflicts of
by Kanseur to the position held during the night
by General J. M. Jones left, it had been restored
by Gordon to the point occupied during the same
time by Jones’ right. The gap originally made
remained, how ever, still in the possession of the
eneoi) , and with it all the gUDs-—with the exemp
tion of the four re taken by Gordon- -that had
found protection behind the battle array of the
brigade that had been in line ou its left—Hays'
Louisianians.
Stenart’s brigade, on the right of the regiments
that had occupied the salient, was taken by the
surging masses of the Federalists in flank. Those
of them who were neither captured, killed nor
wounded, found shelter behind the brigade that
had been in line upon their rignt—Lane’s of Wil-
revealed that the Confederates on this side of that i gainst our left, aud another against oar centre,
river lay in the presence of a host of armed ineu.— ! deepened for a brief time the volume of the skir-'
Picket firing opened immediately in front of tbe j mi S h fire. During tbe weak show of attack made
bridge, but after a while subsiding, the thousands j thus on Ewell’s left, the country lost for a time
that stood on that part of the field confronting j the services of that gallant fellow, Brig. General
each other in deadly array, lay down to take a llays. He received a wound which, though not
back, about the same time, night closed upon the . ^
two armies in a repose that was unbroken, out-I cox’s division. Engaged iu^lront with a heavy
side the line, save by the venemous whirring of I column of the enemy, Lane, on learning of that
bullets from the sleepless sharpshooters. ! miscarriage at the salient, became alarmed for his
The morning of the 11th broke unheralded by i left flank ; and having immediately swung his
the shock of arms. A feeble demonstration a- ( line around almost squarely with its original po-
rramat niir left »../! *— sition, encountered the enemy’s triumphant ad
vance. Charging in fine style, he drove it back
night of peace in the sleep of the battle bivou
ac.
Massing of the enemy in his front appeared to
threaten Field on the morning of tbe Kith with a
serious attack. Gordon, who lay a reserve in
rear of the 2d corps, was ordered up soon after
sunrise to that officer’s support. A heavy cannon
ade from both sides appeared to be the regular pre
face to an advance; aud was followed by the ap
pearance of the enemy coming forward in heavy
at all daugerous, appeared, when I saw him, to
be very painful. With the exception of some
thieatening, tho battle dragged on throughout the
day in the Indian-like warfare, that, daring the
pauses of the heavier collisions, raged, apparent
ly without intermission, outside the opposiug
lines.
On the 12th of May the battl/B field lay, before
dawn, enveloped in a hazy fog. At 4 c’clock in
the morning of that day the hostile lines but at. as
under the sudden bidding of an electric wire, into
after a contest that must have cost it dearly. H
North Carolinians thus won the glory of being
the first to stem the tide of Federal victory ou the
right.
While the Stonewall Brigade fought, and fell
back, that next on its left—Hays’—had time to
swiag round. Col. Monagan, its- senior Colonel
being in command, it confronted the rushing ad
vance to tbe left. Standing behiud a traverse
that extended perpendicularly from the original
position of the brigade, it presented a front as
firm as a ledge of rock. The wave of the enemy’s
triumph surged up to that barrier; but, having
broken upon it in mere spray, left the horor of
tbe arrest of its overthrow on that side of the fie]d
tie. Moving out in tremendous force with tbe ul
timate purpose of driving them still farther apart
and of turning their lines, they were encountered
by the stern front of Battle’s Alabamians of
Rode s Division.^.
Battle met the crushing weight of the advance
unaided. He sought «o insert his line between
Gordon s left—Pegram’s men—and the right of
the brave fellows under Ramseur. Receiving the
shock of the forward movement as a rock hurls
back a wave of the sea, he pressed after the re
coil, foot by foot. Closing iu on it slowly, he suc
ceeded, after a severe struggle, iu pressing it
back into the breastworks of the salient—for a
part, beit recollected, a “double sap”—nnder a
tiro of musketry that exceeded anything I ever
heard in its rapidity and volume. It roired un
ceasingly, a very river of death. Jfrrcing his way
oil with heroic resolution, now straining forward ;
then standing in obstinate resistance; and next,
for-a moment, yielding stubbornly, ss tho mortal
stiuggle swayed from side to side. Battle kept,
with indomitable courage, laboring onward, inch
by inch. Aided by the fireef Ramseur’s men on
the left flank of the i ederaliats, he succeeded fi-
naliy in driving them from a part of tbe works on
that officer's right.
The gap in the Conlederate array had been re
duced to a small extent by Battlo’a left The
other part of his line continued to swing heavily
backwards and forwards as the tide of battle roll-
LConcluded on the fourth p*je.l
