The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-27 00:00:00

THE BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO.

(From the Liverpool Albton.)
The following incidents occurred during the san-
guinary battle of Murfreesboro :—Behind the wo3ds
concealing our foremost lines, and to tha left of
those which lie on the left of the turnpike, an open

and slightly elevated ground extended to the river.
This formed the key to our entire position, and it
was here that the greater portion of the waggons

were parked for safety. On the left some corn fields
extended to the rivor, and on the other side of the
stream rose a low, wooded hill. The ground upon
the right was a succession of dense cedar thickets,

open spaces where the rocks came to the surface and
nothing could grow, belts of tolerable timber, and

small, irregular-shaped fields. The pike and rail-
road ran near each other. In the elevated open

apace which formed the key to our position, from a
point where our line of battle crossed both, a dis-
tance-post on the railroad indicates that it is just
twenty-nine miles to Nashville. A number of
houses were situated in different parts of the field,
but none of them, except the brick building of which
the inside was burned out the day before, played

any important part. The sun had not yet iisen on
Wednesday morning when the firing commenced
upon the right. The first Missouri battery, Capt.
Esscock, and the Ist Illinois, Capt. Houghtain,
shelled the rebels out of a point of woods in front of
Sheridan's division, which now slightly advanced.

The enemy threw himself upon Sheridan with terri
ble energy, but was thrice repulsed. Again he ad

vanced with larger numbers and greater despera-
ti m than before, and S heridan's men were compelled

'or a moment to give ground. It was only a mo-

ment, however. The brave and noble Sill, assisted

by other daring officers, soon rallied the retiring
troops. The flashing banner of the stars once more
advanced, and although Sill purchased the victory
with his life, the rebels were repulsed and driven
from this quarter of the field. It was a few minutes
after eight when this occurred, and at the same
time the sun broke forth through some cold-
looking clouds, and flashed a clear bright light over
the field. There had not elapsed even time to re-
move the body of the dead General Sill, when all
attention was directed to the extreme right.
'Three divisions of the enemy, APCown's, Clai-
borne's, and Cheatham's, had advanced in massive
columns and charged impetuously upon Johnson
and Davis. A portion of the infantry in Johnson's
division immediately broke, almost, indeed, before
they had taken their arms from the stack, and one
of the batteries,Edgarton's, before it fired the third
round. Poor Edgarton ! It was not his fault. A
truer, better, braver, young man is seldom found
than he. It was his greatest ambition to take part
in a battle; and I remember well how often and how
earnestly he deplored that separation from the old
Third Division which prevented him from taking
part in the battle of Perrysville. His hour came at
last. It found him ready ; but those on whom he
had a right to rely to give him timely notice of the
enemy's arrival failed to do so, and ere his guns
could be loaded and discharged three times the rebel
bayonets had swept away his men, and he himself
fell wounded and bleeding into the hands of the
foe. The gallant and earnest Captain Simonson
fought like a hero as he is, and brought off all but
two of his guns. Captain Goodspeed strenuously
endeavoured, after firing several rounds, to save his
cannon, but could only succeed in getting away
with two of them. General Kirk, of Illinois, com-
manding one of the brigades in Johnson's division,
was severely wounded while endeavouring to rally
his regiments. The enemy succeeded in getting the
right flank completely hemmed in. A large num-
ber of offcers of every grade were shot down while
standing almost at the muzzles of the rebel muskets.
The brigades and regiments rushed upon one another
in disgraceful disorder, and the rout of the division
became irretrievable. I suppose I shall raise a
storm about my head for saying so, but I can't, from
all that I have heard, come to any other conclusion
than that the right wing of our army was com-
pletely surprised, and that, too, under circumstances
which should have rendered it particularly careful
and v:gilant. Whether General INl‘Cook or General
Johnson is to blame for this, impartial investigation
will hereafter determine. At present the sentiment
of the entire army is extremely hostile to both, and
I imagine it will not be many days before there
are important changes in the leadership of the
14th Army Corps. Brigade after brigade, bat-
tery after battery, from Palmer's, Negley's,
and Rosen eran z's divisions were sent into
the midst of the thickets to check the pro-
gress of the foe and rally the fugitives, but all in
turn were either crushed by
the flying crowds,
broken by the impetuosity of the foe, and pat to
confused flight, or compelled to retire and extricate
themselves in the best manner that seemed
kto ff
cedar
The history of the combat in these dar
thickets will never be known.
even the whole of his regiment, al
No
Illidatijiocoounled willsee
c.wr ear t to th
their i rf 01l
trust.n'ht
ever be able to tellw _wohporot,heedyrc
bravest, and they h
I know there was some cowardice displayed, but I
know, too, that there was shown by many offlui s
and regiments as lofty a heroism as that which dis-
tinguished and immortalised the followers of God-
frey or
nthpeiteCindf;dbeuspt,eirnatsepsitteruogfghleesrowishmich marked
and devo-
tion,
every -
l in'in
fresh advance of the foe, in spite of awful
sacrifice of life on tue part of the officers and soldiers
of the Union army, the rebels still steadily pushed
forward and came nearer to the turnpike. Nearly