The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1861-08-30
The sIqgEhret o 1he Blast

Of the Black-Horse Cavolry al Bull Run.
which is By FAR the most kfaphlc aud
evidently correct one, yet published; 20
Commenting with the attack, be huyaF
In the frat charge spon the mssired.
battery, in line Of hattie, the Goth New.
York were Ia front, then The Zounved..
and IN the rear the lst MiciiRsn. RI.
sing 10 the top of the HILL about thittyi
rods from the Rebels, We fred; Intending
20 fall back little and loqd, "a spretioualy
icrdercd Just then this order was eoua-
Itcrmanded, and we were ordered 10 fush
on, unloadcd. THIS new order u,ts irall
perfectly understood, and q portion ieH
back; upOn which oil did the same. but
not more than two or three rods, creating
somo disorder; Tut we were Ia no sons6
"driven back.n h0cr loading, we rOshedl
forward, crossed a roed, deep ditch and
a fence, descending The hilli firing ~ wo,
advanced. BY The time we reached tho
foot Of the hill-the Rebels having falieR
back--the men u inc three reeinicntsl
were mingled togethor, every man trying
TO get in front az ;koonh 69bting on hisl
own hook, The din ofbattle was SO ter
ri6c that no orders could be hsatd, Va
were in this position hcafly btaij6n5ry,
| perhaps half an hour.
We then changed not 10 retreat, but
to take up dew pscsition more 10 the
right, to get 1t those who were firing al
us from that qulrter We were NOT :Ul-s
lowed by the enemy on the left. We
were in this vicinity constantly engaged
between four and Eve hours though Il did
not seem an hour. s'.T
Ricketts, Battery ofelght guns was sta
toned on The right Of ctr ditison, aud
was taken by the Rcbols. A portion Of
all three Of the regiments, without anya
oTdcrsi rushed promiseucdsly 70 fetaka
the battery, which was done. Here was
some hpnd-to. hand fighting. Thehorsed
were oil killed or had ron awgy, and we
could not take OF the guns, till the Reb-
ela rallied with an increased force, and
aiter spiking the guns, we fell back 10
oor former position. Facing ugain %
the Rebels, ! saw shcm falling backg
trying to draw away qua into which 4
had myself driven a spike, bot ere they
had got Il many RODS ous bullets had made
such havoc that they abandoned Il,
Ina few moments J saw two Rebels
advancing TO the gpns<1ne with rincy
and one with flag, which ho was IN tho
net Of planting by the gun. The NAV
standing next 90 me uHd the Rebel rifls-l
man drow upon each other, and both fen
at the same moment, killed, as belicve,a
by zach otheT M the same time, tsok
deliberate aim at the Aug-behrtr, and hu
fell aS fred. e ~
BY the timo / had reloaded, another
Rebel was seizing the flag, and he tor
Tell as l fired. Two more foil at this
point in similar manner ne fast az +
| could load. was some fifteen r0ds'
distant, and nearer the gun than most of
my comrades, though in other parts ofthoi
limo others were ia advance. q Hr ~
At this moment, the Black Horse Cav
airy made It's appearance obliquely FROM
the rights all the while the masked bdtl'
terry, as we'll ns infantry was pouring
upon us fearful Gre Of shot, she'll, cuhls!
ter, &c. As the cavalry appeared, 6O0i
strong, upon the full gallop, cHrblne ini
hand hand, cur firing for tho moment
mostly ceased, each man resoryink hiu
charge to receive them with suitable
houors. ..#IrE rrIur.rrpQ H
The horses orthe eaVahy were al black
or grey. Pheir front showed line Of
perhaps ten rods. ON fire was resofv0d
tuntil the lott Of tscir front was within
five or six rods of our right, whon'woL L
pour' d continuous volly at them killing
most Of the horses inf ont and many On
their sides. As they fill, pitching their
riders to the ground, those following fell
over them aud frcm Our bullets, aud iii
i've minutes we had sent them probably
four thousand pills, and they lay piled
upon each other, a mangled, kicking
struggling, dying mass Of men and hofses,
"a sight-Of horror 10 VIII eh no description
could do justcel Our aim was mostly at
the horses; end I doubt not many more
ofthe men were killed By .he horses than
by our bullets. l.1I ~
), The story that al this fighting 'was
Il done by the ZouaVts : s1lse. The three
regiments were mingled together ana
all fought equally we'll, here speik
what know, for wos directly in 'front.'
Of the cavalry, and nearly in tho center.
ltwas the ,nerHl opinion that not ogcf
) half a dozen Of the cavalry escaped alive,
! though there may have beeh more. aa79t
! o. During this brief but horrible work tho
masked bat cry and large bodies ofi6iah-
try were pouring their hre into our fdaks,
and oar men were falling on every hand.
We again returned their fre, and soon
after, Lieu. Maueh having been struck
down, and two others assisted him
back, and on returning, W found our
men still standing their ground. -a''0na
Soon after this flag Of truce a5s rails
cd BY the Rebels twenty ot thirty rods IN
our front, and our FIRE slackehcd. linn
diately the white hug fell, aud our eoiors
were raised, We knew not what 20 make
Of II at the moment, unless they were
:, about 10 surrender, but supposed alter
ward the design was to lure us into q
more deadly range Of batteries In few
minutes the Rebel flag only was again
flying ia their place. The contest ragged
for time longer, when the airing of tho
4 Rebels eeaFed, and W. supposed the no
tory was ours. Tho Rebels Wtrc seen
to iall back, hut very Eoou Johnsoh's army
was seen approachlng. We bad fought
necessarily for four or Eve hJurs. wilh0ul
food or drink, almost cxhaasled a. tho
\ beginning, our ranks thinhed and bfokef.
we saw NO prospect Of safp0ri, and We
retreated in disoTderi but there was lntei
running. ~ ~"
Just about tais time the general stam-
pede Of tho army took place, and We
returned to Wakhing,on and Vicinity,
feeling that We had won d glorious victO-
/ y, oniy snatched from rs By the ayfival
Of Johnson's urmy, and the failure of
proper officers 70 bring up the reserve
force 70 our relief
T'YIroR AfHlc DisPircBEs 4 AWeH.
that's always the way with the tele4trh
! folksl' exclaimed AIrs. AlellovT, = the eo0d
news ihry send Us one day e pretty ssf.
tain 10 be conuadicted Tie next Why,