Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-12-02

!. Capts f A Capron and " I Burke. and r..
S Hoffman, al of tt,e first artillery, and Capt
{ J w Andersen and 1t r Easily, both Of the
I'd nfaEtiY--hve officers of great merit-fel
/ gallantly before this work.
The capture. Of the eneny's citadel was
the fourth great achievement of our arms in
the same day.
It has been stated that. some two hours Il Il
half before, Pierre, followed CLOSELY by the
volunteer brigad~--both under the command
Of Brig Gen ShieIds-had been detached to
our left to turn the enem.'s works--to pre-.
veit the escape Of tie karrisons and to OPP
pose the extension Of the enemy's numerous
Icorps, ilcm the rear, upon and around oar
left
Considering the inferior numbers of the 2
brigades, the objects OF the movement were
| difficult to accomplish Hence the reinforce
mens (,he rifles, &c. sent forward q littse II.
| e..
| In a winding march Of q mile round to the
I right, this tempora1'y division found itself on
| the edge ut am open wet meadow, nea! the
road from San Antonio to the capital. and in
the presence OF some four thousand of the
enemy's infantry, little in rear of 'Churubus,
CO. on that road Establishing tie right at
strong building, Shields extended his lef,,par
ale to the road. to ouf.nk the enemy TO-
wards the capital. But the enemy extending
his right. supported by 5 90 cavalry, more
pidiy (being favored by better ground3 in the
same direction, Shields concentrated the d-
| vision abort hamlet. and determined to at
tack in front. The battle wan long, hot and
varied; but ultimately success crowned the
zeal and gallsntry of our troops, ably direct
ed by their distinguished commander, Brig
Gen Shields. The 9th, 18th and 18th regi
ments under Col Ransom. Capt Wood, K Col
Morgan, respectively. of Pierce's brigade.
! O'illow's tlivison) and the New York and s
| Carolina volunteers, under Coils Burnett and
Butler. respectively. of Shields own brigade
| (0uitman's divison) together with the noun
| tam howItzer battery, now under 1t Reno, of
the ordnance corps, all shared in the glory of
this actioI,--our fifth victory in the same day.
| Brig Con Pierce, from the hurt Of the eve.
ming oefo-e-under PAIN and exhaus' ion
tainted liz the action Several other changes
in command ACQUIRED on this field. Thus
Col Morgan being severed. wounded. the
| commane. of The IF eenth infantry devolyed en-
1t Col Howard; Col Burnett receiving like
wound. the commanc of the New York yolun
tie ers fell to 1t Col Baxter: and on the fall OF
! the lamented Col P. NJ. Butier--early badly
! wounded but continuing to lead nobly in the
/ hottest part of the battle-the command Of
| the South Carolina Volunteers devolved-frst
! on Lieut. Col Dickinson, who being Severely
wounded, Gas before in the siege of Vera
Cruz) the regiment ultimately fell under the
orders of Maj GLADDEN..
Lieuts d Adams and w r Williams OF the
same corps; Capt A Quarles and Lient B
Goodman Of the fifteenth and 1t Chandler,
N volunteers all gallant officers,nobly fell
IN the same action.
Shield took $50 prisoners, Including Off
cers; and it cannot be doubted that the rage
Of conf CT between him and the enemy, just il,
the rear Of the tese de pont and the convent.
had some influence Oh the surrender of those
formidable defences.
AS soon as the :ete de por,t was carried. the
| srvS1cr I,ssrr VI " oruIs ~"a rn'u~.s f~-1--
passed that bridge in rapid pursuit Of the fly.
ing enemy. These distinguished generals,
coming up with Brig Gen Shields. now also
victorious. the three continued to press upon
the fugitives to within mile and half OF the
capital. Here, Col Harvey, with a small part
Of his brigade of cavalry, rapidly passed 70
the front, and charged the enemy up to the
nearest gate.
The cavalry charge was headed by Capt
Kearney. Of the lst dragons, having IN sqa'
drom will. his own troop, that OF Captain Nc
Reynolds Of the sd-making the usual escort
to headquarters; but being early in the day
uSIaCnc0 LOT SSneTAi ScIVlCC NNS H." uu'.SA
Col. Harkey's orders. The gallant captain
not hearing the recuN, that had been sound
ed, dashed up to the San Antonio gate. sabre
ing in his way all who resisted. Of the of:
fcers Of the sqadron. Kearney lost his LEFT
arm; McReynolds and 1t l. Graham were
both severely wounded, and 1t II Eweli,
who succeeded to the command Of the escort
had two horses killed under him. Maj
Mills, Of tie 18th infantry, volunteer III tins
7 charge, WAS killed at the gate.
So terminated the series of events which
have bat feebiy presented. My thanks were
freely poured out on the different felds-to
the abilities and science Of generals and Other
otficers-to the galiantrv and proves OF al
the rank aud file included. But reward
infinitely higher--the applause OF a grateful
country and governmental i'll, ;! cannot doubt,
be accorded, in due time, to SO much merit,
Of every sort, displayed by this glorious army
which has now overcome all d'ihcult'es--d's-
lance, climate. ground, fortihcatlonS, num-
bers.
L, hasin single day, in many Bates, as
often defeated $4,000 men; made about j.
600 prisoners. including generals, (tw" OF
them ex presden:s) and 2c5 other officers
killed or wounded 1000 Of all ranks-besldes
entire corps dispersed and dissolved, captur.
ed 81 pieces of ordnance more than treb.
ling our sege train and field batteries--witl,
a large number Of small arms, full supply Of
Ammunition OF every kind Sc. sc.
These great result have overwhelmed the
enemy.
Our loss amounts to .O5s killed. 1879. in
GLIDING 10 officers. uounded 876 with 81
officers Tie greater number OF the dead
and disabled were of the highest WORTH
Those under treatment, thanksto our very
bic medical officers are generally doing we'll
lregret heving been obliged. on the 2oth
to leave Maj Gen Qutman, AN able comman
der with part OF his dvisicn-the fine 81
PENNSYLVANIA volunteers and the veteran de-
tacament of United States narnrs-at our
important depot, San Augustm. It was there
that had placed our sick and wounded the
seige, supply and baggage trains. If these
had been lost, the army would have been
ariven almost to despair and considering the
ene,ny's very great excess of numbers and
the many approaches to the depot, it might
well have become, emphaticaliy, The past Of
honor.
| After so many victories, we might, with but