The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-12-23


trously to us. A foraging party was sent
ont by Gen. Stuart, consisting Of about two
hundred wagons, escorted by the 1lth Vir-
ginia, Col GARLAND; the slh South Carolina.
under Lieut.. Col. A. !. Secrest; the .IOin
Alabama, Col ohm Il. forney. the lst Ken
lucky, Col. Tom Taylor; the Sumter Flying
Artillery. Capt. Cults: aad detan hments from
Ransom's and Radford's cavalry. Our whole
!orce amounted 10 neariy twenty i've hun
dred men. They started tT early in the
| morning, and before day we're some distance
Gu the Journey. Soon after leaving a rocket
! was seen to shoot up in the direction of
DrainsTille, which, IS was afterwards as
certained, was a signal from the enemy,
and indies ted that our approach were known.
| IL is about fifteen miles from here 70 Drains
vile. When within u snort distance Of the
| place, two or three regiments Of Yankees
were seen depIoyed as shirmdshers In the
,kirts OF Il pine thlcket, which stretched ont
on either side OF the road. General Stuart
drew up his force ana prepared 10 make an
attack Ur either side the weeds were very
IuIcli and IL wac difficult to make through
| them, but our force WAS pushed forward III
The following order: The Eleventh Virginia,
icing III the advance, was depioyed GA the
y
while The SIN til South CaI DINA and the + lrs.
kentucky were sent TO the lett. On account
OF the dense thickets on either side, the ar.
Iiilery was forced to al vance down the road
IN order TO gain Ii position to make the guns
effective.
AS we approached the Yankees tie llth
Virginia charged them With Ii yell, and drove
them back TO their line within sight O.
DrainsvIIle. TIE enemy seemed somewhat
confused, but soon formed again i'll line of
battle. The advanced positions wer 9 held by
the ll,h and the 9th South Carolina the for
ncr the night and The iatte1 on tho left Of
the road. Wnlle waiting 10 get sight of The
enemy the 9TH Sou Ia Ua1 DINA was drawn un
ana The lst Kentucky advanced upon them
and mis- taking them for tho enemy, portion
OF the regiment 1ired without ogaers, killing
five OF the South Caroi,niaus. The error was
soon discovered, and Co!. Taylor advanced
cautiously TO the Left, and soon after came IN
sight OF ;ln Their regiment but a few yaros
away. To be sure there was nc mistake, Col
Taylor shouted to the Colonel, anu asked
who he was?
1.-The Colonel OF the eth" was the reply,
go. what 9th5'
Don't Shoot said the Yankees, "we are
friends. South taroIiaians.
"Un which side are you - asked Colouel
Taylo
For the Unton," and i'm N -tsiately after
the Colonel gsys the conn and to fire and Il
voley was poured into IT, KanIuesi.ns from
| the eth Infantry, regulars, L. :. a. Ths en-
Gagemant then became general, and our f0nr
regiments, with Capt. Cuttss four guus,
were soon actively engaged. The Yankees
had every advantage Of position There
were several houses along trs Leesaurg turn
pike, and back of IL hill upon which their
battery was placed. Lower down, and op-
posite the llth, was another battery placed
in position 10 enfilade tie turnpike should
| We enter II. The main battery OF six guns
| swept the road upon VIII ch we were ad-
vancing, And KEEP up an incesSant IRE of
grape, canister and spherical case. The ae-
| curacy Of their aim was remarkable, consid
ering the rapidity with which he guns were
| fired. Capt. Cutts got three OF his pieces
| In position, and returned the fire rapidly and
| successfully.
| Neanwhile the enemy advanced several reg
| iments of infantry, and. protected by the ma
| ture OF the ground, c3me within hundred
| yards Of Us, and forming il Ike, fred for
| some time, keeping the air full Of minnie
| balls, and finally attempted 10 charge. Three
| tim as the Cfhcers gave the order and tried 10
| get their men forward, but failed They
| could not be pushed iato the thickst. Soc Z
after this the firing on both sides ceased, bu,
not before great damage WAS done 10 our force.
| For over an hour both sides had kept an IN ces-
| SAINT firing. The wounded and dead lay on
| every side, and the regiments were begin
ming to get scattered.
| To give it Il little more in detail As our
| first advance were marching by the flank
| towards the Yankee skirmi sbers, two ccm-
| panies Of the lIth Virginia were thrown out
| as skirmishers, and sent forward CAPTAIN
| Houston's com pany charged the Yankees with
| Il shout, and drove them in, and soon after
the shout was taken up by others, and all
| advanced within sight of DrainsvIlls. Com
pany a, of the llth, was deployed on the
right, bat by some means got lost and was
separated from the regiment until the fight
was over.
When the enemy formed in line Of battle.
Col Forney drew the 10th Alabama up also,
and prepared to advance upon them The
GOODNESS and daring courage displayed by
Col. Forney was observed by every body. He
RODE backward and forward in front Of tt 6
line, encouraging his men, ana in getting all
prepared for the coming struggle. The sam e
can be said OF Col. Garland. Soon after the
firing commenced, Col. Forney was shot
through the right arm, Litutenant- CoIoRel
Martin was killed, and the command of the
regiment devolved on Major Woodward. who
| commanded on one side the road and
| the senior Captain ON the other
This regiment lost more than any other -
The Sumter Artillery WIS in the road, and
had three guns in position. Only four pieces
were out, and abo ut sixty men. Capt. Cults
and his men fought bravely, and suffered So.
verely. The enemy's batteries played upou
him for some time, and killed nearly all his
horses. destroyed one lin Der, and exploded .
caisson. Twenty i've horses were LETT dead
upon the held. The guns still kept firing,
anG did good execution, every shot scattering
the Yankees and telling upon them seriously.
He succeeded In breaking their line and In
driving their sharp shooters from the house
behind which they were hidden When or.
dered to fail back, the pieces were taken to
the rear by hand, with the assistance of the
infantry.
Seeing the wagons safely to the rear, Gen
Stuart gave orders to fall back to a better 20
sition. The regiment marched to the rear In
good order, both sides having ceased firing -
AT this time Dol. Tom Taylor rode TO the
right to see what disposition had been made
of his n eigb bors, and on returring found his
regiment gone, and himself nearly surround
cd by Yankee cavalry. Throwing himself
down he eluded them and afterwards crept
into pine eoppice, and remained there I'M !.
til dark. with Ysnkees on each side OF him.
At night he escaped. and joined his regiment
this morning sustaiDin ny no injury havord q