The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-23 00:00:00

of them uttered a groan, but coolly crawled to the

rear. When Johnson was shot I took his rifle and
cartridges and used them until we retire, During
the fight Colonel Bluna was shot through the arm,
and I was left Lieutenant-Colonel, an i Sentall was
shot through the ear. While loadin a Minie ball
took off the top of the second knuc le of my first
finger, and a second struck me in the breast, the
first brought the blood pretty freely, but the second
striking just upon a Yankee Bible, razor, and bullet
moulds, which I had picked up and stuck in my
pocket, paralyzed my whole side for some time, and
keeled me over, and was much the more painful.
Soon after we were ordered to retire, as our friends
in the rear were firing into us, and had killed
several of our men. This we did, falling back in
beautiful order, and being highly complimented by
General Kershaw. We fell back to the skirt of the
woods from which we had advanced, and the firing
having ceased we threw our pickets upon the battle
ground, and started to bring in our wounded. By
this time night bad closed in, and a heavy rain was
falling. Worn out, the men lay down in the water
and slept until morning, except when awakened by
the cries of some poor wounded fellow, who was
suffering, waiting, watching, and praying for the
appearance of daylight and relief. Thus the night
passed and the morning dawned, and the sun came
out ; but the enemy, under cover of night, had left,
leaving a line of ghastly dead and wounded
Yankees, to mark the spot where the conflict had
raged hottest. In the engagement, out of 300 men,
we lost 100 killed and wounded. The 3d Regiment
lost 150 out of 300, and the 2d and Bth lost heavily.
The enemy fought desperately but unavailingly,
and left the ground strewn with men from the sth
and 6th Vermont and some regiments of regulars,
with which forces our regiments had to contend.
We were employed during the early portion of the
day in burying our dead and caring for the wounded,
and about ten o'clock, being relieved by Stoney/all
Jackson, we marched to the support of Long-
street, who was trying to cut the Federals off from
the river. We pushed on all day, and after a weary
march of 20 miles, by a very circuitous route, over
a rocky road, where my shoes were actually torn off
my feet (I performing the latter part of the march
barefooted), we reached the ground (where our forces
had fought terribly for several hours, and from which
they had finally driven the enemy) about 3 o'clock
a.m., footsore, weary, and exhausted. Moving in
front of Longstreet's lines, our division formed in line
of battle, just as the gray dawn broke in the east,
and discovered to us piles of dead and wounded, who
Were thickly strewn over the field and woods as far
as the eye could reach. Here was where our men
and the enemy had met in the shock of battle, and
where they had fallen thickest, and there we lay
down to rest and wait until we could see sufficiently
well to make another attack. What the reflections
of men were, who, worn out, dispirited, and around
whom lay all,the scenes of carnage which characterise
a battle field under these circumstances, you may
imagine, but I cannot describe. About sunset we
advanced upon what we supposed the enemy's posi-
tion, but not a gun opened upon us. Scores of dead
men, whose glazed and open eyes stared glassily at
the sun, and whose blood stained the grass, showed
where they had been. Dismounted guns, shattered
caissons, dead horses, and mangled limbs and trunks
showed where they had fought, and a line of bag-
gage, knapsacks, coats, guns, &c., showed the direc-
tion in which they had fled, and in that direction we
pursued, marching often through swamps that
seemed almost too thick for a bird to penetrate, and
again across fields and down lanes where we were
almost stifled with dust, and forced to yield to the
power of the sun. At length about 5 o'clock p.m., the
enemy were reported occupying a very strong posi-
tion just in our front, where they had fortified. Our
artillery was ordered out to open on the enemy, and a
brigade of Georgians and Alabamians to support it.
No sooner had our guns opened than they were dis-
mounted, the caissons torn to atoms, and the horses
and men piled and mangled together. Other batte-
ries were ordered out with the same success, and the
few men and horses who were left came dashing
back, panic stricken, and sought refuge in flight.
Then we saw what was coming. Our brigade was
ordered to the front, to support the one already sent
out, and, forming in line, we marched to the skirt
of woods, which separated us from the open ground,
where the enemy had formed to receive us. His
position could not have been better selected. Upon
a hill, about half a mile in our front, were planted
30 nicso suns Liu d 20 light batteries, manned by
United States' regulars, while in front the ground
descended gradually to our position, midway be-
tween which and their batteries was a line of 30,000
of their best troops, who were selected to cover their
gunboats, two miles distant. Wpm this line and
their batteries we advanced. For the first half mile
of the mile and a half we marched the shells burst
around us incessantly. After that, just as we got
into the woods, the gunboats opened upon us with
their broadsides of rifled guns, the shells from which
came hurtling through the woods, crushing and
bursting, and tearing down numbers of the largest
trees in their course. Then came the grape and
canister from the batteries in our front, and soon
the musketry opened, actually sweeping down whole
lines of men in our front and from our own ranks,
and making our path one over dead and dying men.
We passed over four lines of men, who, sent out
before us, were unable to stand the fire, and lay
close to the ground, from which no threats or per-
suasion could move them. Our men trampled them
into the mud like logs, and moved on in an un-
wavering line, perfectly regardless of the numbers
who were falling around them. It was just here that
Arthur Parker, who had been quite sick, said, Boy s,
I am almost done ; but I'll go as close to them as I
can.' Scarcely had he spoken when a ball passed
through his bowels. He did not speak, only pressed
his hand to his side and turned round, w hen a second
ball passed through his head, and he fell dead.
Keedle was shot through below the knee, at the same
time, and Lieut. Burcknight through the head, while
Ebby Butler and Sergeant Miles were both killed
instantaneously by grape-shot passing through
their breasts, and Warren Brooks was struck in the
leg by a ball. But we pushed on until we found
the line we were to support within 600 yards of
the battery, and there we halted under cover of a
hedgerow, and lay down to rest. The line in front
of us, unable to stand up in front of the fire, had
laid down, while the troops in our rear poured
several volleys into us, wounding and killing many
men. Finding the place untenable between friend
and foe, General Kershaw proposed to the General
in our front to charge the battery, and let us sup-
port him. This he refused to do. Kershaw then
offered to charge it with our brigade, if they would
support him after he took it. This they also re-
fused, and, as the Georgians and Louisianians on
our right were moving up, we could not fire with-
out injuring them, and we could do no good where
Were, we were directed to fall back to our
origisalposition and re-form line of battle. I held
our Position with the left wing until the right was
beyond rsna,e,
and
keeping then directed the left to retire,
54ume distance in the rear and falling back
, eery No sooner had our men retired when
here came a portion of the Confederate soldiery,
dc,hing past me
Panic stricken, and huddled
together Presenting elegant marks for
the grape like
h
and sheep,cannonballs 'which cut paths through
' digging, into.
•
a Canister shot tore
of:inf dZer,
shot,
One man in
them and hurled them,
atthe
shoved me on one
manyt
face
with
thehis hmasutde to get out 0
bide ; end just
his head off, and his blood
and brains. As you may suppose, I was not much
On our way
vexed at his impoliteness.
atSit)haattteri:dst
out we
in every direction.
passed over the ground which we travelled in going
in, and found men lying dead
a
Upon reaching the rear we were marched into a fight hay-
skirt of woods to rest for the night, the
ing now closed,
having
morning dawned they were gone again,
and the enemy ceased firing. When
reached James River, and being safely under cover
of their gunboats. Early in the morning
I rode
over the battle ground, our brigade having been
marched up to occupy it, and the sight which was
there presented beggars description. Entering the
field at the point where our artillery had been posted
I came upon numbers of dead and dying horses,
who, with the drivers and gunners, lay in a pile
together, their several dismantled guns, their cais-
sons, fired and blown up by the enemy's balls, all