The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1861-07-30
THE GREAT BATTLE.
INTERESTING DETAILS.
From the New York World
THE HEAT OF TIE CONTEST.


7 1t was noon, and now the battle commcn
I ced in the ferceness Of its most extended fi
r ry. The batteries on the distant hill begar
TO play upon our own, and upon our advanc
, ing troops, with hot and thunderous effect
Carlisle answered for us, and Sherman 70
Hunters Division, while the great 80 pound
or addressed itself resistlessly to the alternate
defenccs Of the foe. Tho noise Of the can
nonading was doafening and continuous
Conversely to the circumstances Of the for
mer engagement, it completely drowned, al
this period the volleys Of the musketry ani
rifemen. 1t blanched the cheeks of the vii
layers at Centrcvile, to the main street o.
which place somo Of tho enemy's rifed shell
were thrown. II WAS heard at Fairfax, a,
Alex andria, at Washington itself. Five oil
ak heavy batteries were in operation at once
ard to their camor was added tho lesser roll
Of twenty thousand small arms. What could
we civilians see OF the fight at this time =
Little: yet perhaps more than any who were
engaged in it. How snxiously we strained
our eyes TO catch the various movement "a,
thoughtess Of everything but the spectacle
and the successes and rever3es Of the Federal
army. Our infantry were engaged in woods
and meaGows beyond our view. We know
no. the nature or position Of the force they
were lighting. But now and then there would
DO fierce rush into tie open prospect, gal.
liant charge on one side and retreat on tho
other, and We saw plainly that our columns
were gaining ground, and steadily pursuing
their advantage by their gradual movement
which continued tevard the distance and the
enemy's center.
! We Indeed heard continuous tidngs Of hero
ism aud victory; and those in the trees above
US tod Us Of more than we could discover
with cur field glasses from below. We heard
that Hunter had fairly rounded the eneny's
/ flank, and then we listened for ourselves to the
sound of his charges in the northern woods,
and saw for ourselves the air gathering up
smoke from their branches, and the wavering
columns Of the MissisSipp,ans as they fed
/ from their first battery, and were forced into
| the open field. Then we saw our own Sixty
ninth and Scventy.ninth corps animated by
= chi,aIrous national rivalry, press on to the
support Of the more distant column. We
could catch gimpes Of Il c continual advances
/ and retreats; could hear occasionally the guns
Of battery before undiscovered; could guess
how terribly all this accumulation Of death
upon death must tell upon those undauntod
men, bur could also. see-anl our cheers con.
tiuualy followed the kuowledge-that our
forces were gradually driving tho right Of the
enemy around the second quarter of a circle,
until by 10 o'clock the main battle was rag.
ing at point directly opposite ono standing
place-the road at the elgc of the woods
where it bad commenced six hours before.
There was a hill at the distance Of mile
and a half to which have hitherto alluded.
From its height, overlooking the whole plain,
II lew shell lad reached Us early In the day,
and as it WAS nearer thu Manassas road than
almost any other portion Of the field, more Of
the enemy's rciniorcements gathered about
its ridge than to the aid of the beaten rebels
in the woods and valleys. Here there was
an open battery, and long lines of infantry in
support, ready for a wonder, to let our weary
fellows see the fresh forces they had to con-
quor.
As the Sixty-nisth and Seventy. ninth
wound round the meadows to the north OF this
hill, and began to cross the road apparently
with the intention Of scaling it, we saw col
umn coming down from the furthest perspoc.
tive, and for moment believed it TO be
portion Of Hunters Division, and that it had
succeeded in completely turning the enemy's
rear A wild shout rose from us all. But
soon the iookouis saw that It's ensigns bore
secession banners and we knew that Johnson,
or some other rebel general, was leading
horde Of fresh troops against our united right
and canter. 1t v as time for more regiments
to be sent forward, and Reyes was ordered to
advance with the First Tyler Brigade. The
three Connecticut regiments aud tho Fourth
Maine came on with will; the First Conn.
was posted in the reserve, and the other three
corps swept up the fld, by the ford on the
right, to aid the struggling advance.
All eyeJ were now directed to the distant
hilltop, now the center of the fig t. All
could see the enemy's infantry ranging darky
against the sky beyond, and the first lines Of
our men moving with fine determination up
the steep slope. Tho cannona!ing On our
advance the struggle mp the hilltop, the in
terchange of position between the contestants,
we're watched 10y Us, and as new forces rushed
in upon the enemy's side the scene was re.
peated over and over again. 1t must have
been here, think, that the Sixty ninth took
and lost batter eight times in succession,
and finally were compelled, totally exhausted,
to resign the completion Of their work to the
Connecticut regiments which had just como
up. The Third Connecticut finally carried
that summit, unfurled the stars and stripes
above it. and paused from tie fight to cheer
for the Union cause.
Then tho battle began to work down the
returning half Of the circle, when the army
described during the day, driven before the
charges Of our troops, until they reached
the very point where 'ryer's advance com
meuccd the action. Down the hill, and into
the valley thickets on he left, the Zouayos,
the Connecticut and New York regiments,
with the uncouqucIablc Bholc ISLANDERS,
drove the continually charging but always
vanquished columns Of the enemy. 1t was
only 10 meet more batteries, earthwork sue.
cccding earthwurk, ambuscade after ambus
cadc. Our fellows were hot aud weary; most
had drank no water during hours Of dust, and
smoke and iusuIerable heat. No one knows
what choking the battle atmosphere produces
in few moments, until he has personally ex
pericnced it, And so the conflict lullcd for
little while. it was the middle Of blazing
afternoon. Our regiments held the positions
they had won, but the enemy kept receiving