The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-08-21

circumstance mat curing all the tteniendo,,i
fire poured upon him, Cap: Totten did not ioss
In the meantime the right Of the .-t;,,..s
protected by the lst Missouri, was .vent 4.
the musketry Of the enemy. A full resimeni
OF the enemy suddenly made dart fcrwsrd.
upon the Missouri list, and had reached r;th;S
fifty yards OF them when the deadly are no;,t"d
in urOn them from the gallant frat c.nssd
them to falter, aud finally to break for thc
cover they had just left, leaving however !
goodly number OF their force upon the rroun6,
regiment however was nothing to them, for
scarcely had the fragments Of the other vanished
| in the shelter Of the timber. ere another came
| pouring out, and advanced in the track Of their
predecessors. Again did the gallant First pour
in voley after voley upon them, till they too
broke and fed to the rear. A third regiment
| took their place and one more effort was made
| in the the same direction a. before, with pre-.
ciseIy the same result. But the incessant
storm of lead that swept the ground occupied
by the Missouri First, had told feariully upon
them, and their shattered ranks were ordered
to the rear, while the Kansas First regiment
came up and took their place. -
The Kansas men CALAMITY stool the storn
for awhile, and then with decimated ranks
gave way to the First Iowa, -
1t is impossible to particularize all the events
| of the battle upon this par: OF the field. 1t was
here that tremendous struggle was conssaatly
kept up, one which tried the courage Of 60
men 70 the utmost. From the large area in
front, the vast hories Of the enemy poured in
shower OF balls that did not leave y square
inch OF ground unse rched while their artillery
kept the air filed with missiles, which however
were generally more terrific from their noise thin
their contact. Lying FIAT Oh this faces our
men poured in their fire with telling effect, and
finally drove the enemy gradually down the
ravine till they, thinking the battle lost, fired
their baggage wagons, and prepared tor retreat
and with no fresh body Of troops to aid them
our wearied men could retain no advantage.
even after they gained it, as was shown once
in the case ofone OF the enemys battefirs from
which every man was driven, and the z, ns
silenced, by the deadly accuracy of tile tire
poured in upon them by Totten and Dubois
Had the Federal forces had men, tue battle
would have been decded. 49,. ry.,. r..
Numberless we're the Ill, ersiOns, eints and
other forts made by the Secessionists to out.
flank the Union forces. At one time boy
OF at least SOO horsemen nlane u long detvur
and came in to the re.r CT the artillery CAPT.
!otten instantly wheeled his four pieces ana as
my were then riding along At the distance of
5Ofyards,he opened upon them with round shet
and shell. The effect was absolutely awiu.-
every round shot marked its course by long
lines Of fallen men and horses that opened
through their lines, while each shell in ! 9 ex.
pi"sion was marked by largelaren VI wri hing
steeds and their riders. hree Or four ,o.i,ss
was enough tor them-they wheeled and
sought shelter from its deldy effects in the
woods from which they came . @gHHEa
On the east side of the north ravine, was 4
large corn field and this the seces,iunsts threw
two regiments y it'll view to turn the tanks O
the Federals. Sc,rcely had the last & es enter.
ed the field when both batteries opened u,ou
them with shell and canister. The distance
was not more than 2O0 yards and the effect was
irighttuI-it was not elm y killing men, it was
wholesale massacre. The went down not by
dozens bat by iities-one single shell burt
exactly in the center OF what seemed large
crowd OF human beings and the next instant
not soul could be seen in u vicinity. In q
few minutes not man OF the enemy who could
get away remained in the corniield. At anoth.
er time u Louisiana Regiment having q mag.
nifcent large flag came suddenly out Of the
woods, and began forming with great rapidity.
Dubois artillery paid its respect to them seal.
tering them Ike chaf-. the flag and bearer
went down together. Another m IN seized II.
attempted to climb over the fence with it, but
as he was astride the top rail a l2palnd bali
struck him square in the back and seemed to
scatter him, flag and all as ii keg of gumpow.
der had suddenly exploded within his body
boon after the tight commenced, Gen. LYON
saw how fearful, the enemy outnumbered him
and he gave up the day as lost From that
time he seemed scarcely conscious ofanythiny,
ball struck him in The leg, to which he paid
no attention, and s,on after another stru OK
him IN the head. inflic,ing II severe flesh wound.
ne bled freely, but refused to move out of the
line OF fire The Iowa Regiment were occu.
pying the brow of the hill TO the right of the
battery, and were exposed to CALLING fire
from the woods in front. Gen. Lyon stood
calmly q few steps in re OF the color company
bareheaded, with balls haing around him in
fright ul quantities. eff some one will lead Us.
we will clear that woods with the bayonet said
the Iowa boys" 81 will lead you!' said he.
ana at that instant ball entered his breast.
passing through his body just above the heart,
ne Tell instantly, ana a momen, after reaching
the ground SAID: "Eptcu HeytD.ent ypu are
''otbo b.ys' A little later he grew weaker,
and his last words were "FoRwARp aY ps.vr
MEN, l WILL LEAD you ~ He did not live a
dozen seconds after being struck with the last
ball
1t is believed by many that he did not desire
{" live alter finding that he could make no head.
way against the immense odds opposed TO him
he saw ut glance the result of defeat both
10 nm and t. the cause which he revered-he
saw that all his efforts from the hour in which
ne took Camp jackson to that OF his splendid
efforts at Bonneville, and fl ON tina, down to
inc presenting tremendous fatigues OF the
march to Springfield. the labor at Forsyth. Dug
springs Greenfield, Carthage and Mt. Vernon
all were yam, and like a brave hut despond-
ent soldier, he dared'to die rather th an live All
hohor 70 his memory, and rs for the Govern
ment winch persistently refused TO sustain him.
lei IL oe-a"afhcnn mor"natha. Two no sea p
were shot under him a short time before his
death, and one OF his white pumed body guard
.,'"'os' ~ the very same miment OF his tall,
dropped mortaIly wounded BY his side. and soon
atcr ms spirit took its fight to jpiu his m.stcr.
In the regions Of the unknown. t-
"lhc' ''ugit like brave n,m, long and true"
put what awaited gallant fighting and desperate
charges when as fast as each regiment was
orve" from the ground or cut 10 pieces. the
enemy was ao,e TO supply its place " th :, fresh 6
one, and SO, after driving the enemy ,or MR..
than mile from his original position. the Union
tr"ops were compelled from sheer exhuus, i'm, m
suspend the labor OF slaughter, aud soon after
" reure from the field rs best they uld. Here
again The shattered forces OF the low. First
were gatnered in line to resist the onset OF the
enemy while the weared, broken frau luents Of
s'e army were collected in order preparatory to
rUeat, Inc enemy saw the maneuvre and
again and again hurled themselves a.a;,,s, ,h.
rnst Regiment in order to bre. thro,,oh Il and
precip'tate themselves upon our trarme ntarv
co'u'nns. Had Iowa yeielded then wuiul would
nave oeeh The result-the retreat would have
oeeo'',e savage massacre, an indscrjmin,t,
terrible rput: Batthey breasted like rocks the
IRON iail ana tremendous charges of the enemv
!. pouring deadly fire and holding the ensmy
y, !, complete check till 'h union fragments were
formed :? and moving, and then ami not Til then
ald thry leave their position. They came awav
-, ~. splenald order-llot man .quickened his
s!ep' anu when soldier tell from the r.nk.
they closed up and shoulder to siouLisr n'n NAVAL
slowly from the field. 1'o''1