Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1861-08-16

ktElnCHt. III, residence l. ~ BiSCHIi!.
ALEXANDRA, July 23d. lS6l
Dr>R PARENTS i received yo4r kind
letter this morning, and it came in good se4-
s1n can assure you, i; was just what |
wanted after the events of the past few days
No doub, YOU will hear before YOU get TIM,
oi the great battle at Ball Run on the 2ls;.
inst. aud hasten to relieve your anxiety on
my ehalf, WAS one of tn thousands that
fought on that ever t. be rem mbsrcl day
aud although We were placed in one Of tie
most dangerous parts o. the tirii came ii
unscathcd, without 50 much as scratch.
1t was one of the hardest tJasht battles Oh
record, bat after all ", had to retreat. Or
regiment rallied on the enemy three timss,
anl every man seemed 10 d. the best he
could; but oar ammunition for our cannon
gave out and there WAS NJ alternative for u
but to be cut t, pieces or retreat.
We were stationed On the extreme right Of
ali, on an elevation facing towards piece
Of woods, where WAS a m >kcl battery, aud
commanIeI t. fire, at first W. could Sc
nothing but the woods ID fire at, as every
thing WAS completely hId-At the ssme tim
the balls Of the enemy were dying about IL
tina, aim Jst at rand I'm, we begun t, unn.sk
them aud were able t. urr:t our fe with
: catar precision and cd,c;. At last w
drove them from the wo)I- jus; At thi,
time our ammunition TOR oar cannon faded
As soon A. thu enemy learned the fact,
they planted their fell piece, On our right
and opened on Us u mos: d StructWe IRE,
throwing shell and shot, aaI rAhins Us FIR
aal ait. They came thick and last you had
better bclieyc. Any quantity Of them struck
within tsw feet Ut me, bat they were over
ruled by higher power than man a.d |
vas saved. Strange as It may seem, did
not ie,l afraid in the least, bat felt just II
calm as ever in my life, tIrJug Iodt the entire
fight, although saw my COMRADES filllns
all around me one who was neIr he ha!
both his * shot off, another by my sile
was shot through his brsast. did not s,e a
single mln who manifested the i,aQ fear,
aud have ye, to learn of the .frsi Mlus
man who Ainchcd Or ialiered in the ieast.-
Every man marched with bold front and a
firm, Determined step to bis post and obsf.'
Hateiy maintained it until the order was Civ
en- from the General 10 fall back,
fired about 20 rounds in the whole. At
ter We had fired about five or six rounds, the
General gave the order to fail back-we re-
treated but few rods int a piece Of woods
and then went into them again. The third
time we advanced, our first Lieut. led US on
with only twelve Of our company. | w1s
one Of the twelve, IN Jst Of the Others wege
taking care Of the wounded and some were
completely exhausted.
After the order II retreat was giyeu the
third time, | and IA chum Of mine lost cur
regiment in The confusion that preyailed,b
kept on our way as best We could. y ftei
we had rttrelted about six miles We fell in
with twJ others of our company AMI lail
down in the woods for the night, glad enough
to do 50 although we were in sight of the
enemy, We s.w them when they st theil
plcke;s, so we lay as secretly and still as pos
sible, expecting every moment to be taken
In the morning we took an earl start and
cut across the woods and got out Of their
way, We came through Fairfax and Cen,
treyille arriving here (2l mies) last night
glad to get into camp again. never saw
men and boys appear more rejoiced to meet
with others, than our comrades were to see
us come in They thought We We're taken
prisoners.
But to-day, (ruesday) | feel nearly "a.
well as usual, excepting little stiffness in
my legs
We all feel very anxious about the missing
and are hoping for the return Of most OF
them ere long. 1t was hard fought battlt
and long will it be remembered by The 4th
Name regiment. Il was a long and weari-
some march for US Sabbath day and Monday
leaving out the fight. We turned out about
IL O'Clock Sabbath morning and breakfas ted