Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1861-10-11
lCI9rc,i i0nlouc1 ol ihr !tr /. ChronI-le.I
From tamp5cII'S Penna Artillery.
Fort ETHAN ALLEN,
a., 1-HI

All being quiet here now, and having a
leisure hour | will eudcavor briefly to
narrate the disaster Of last Satarily night,
so far as / witnessed the same We we're
ordered to move our Battery (Barr',} in
the road near NanG-rwrrEcr's house,
about s o'clock in the evening, ard rro
cce!ed, to the ,l,ce uamel, togtraith.
Upon cur arrival here, W. h4jlel fir far.
thor instructions. Mou's Battery soou
joined u, followed 10y Gcu. Smith and
most of the troops Of his Division. The
column vas divided into d!Irren' Hn-
gadcs, aud moved forwards Motifs Bat
terry was placed at the head of the column,
aud the first section Of Bars Battery
next to il, and the second section ia the
rear Of the colImu. The position assign
ed Us was in the lead # the litst section
We proceeded in good order fl,; as posi-
bic, with an advance guard Of Infantry
and axemon TO clear the road Of the trees
irl!ei across by the Rebels. When ap-
proachiug Balls Cross Roais, we were
startled by yoiicy of musketry, which
We presumed vas occasionel by our guard
driving the Rebel pickles. When We ar
rived at the spot, We found however, they
had fred at random iufo the woods, upon
some Of our pioneers who had got too far
ahead, but without effect. v continued
some distance, and then turned TO the
right into narrow road, GenseFy wooded
Oh both sides But our guns and caissons
had Just all got around the corner, when
a brisk fire of muskets, or horse pistols
opened upon us direct from our front.
The light of the fash blinded Us from sec
ing from whom /; came, whether Trend or
foe One Of Motifs horses, aud several OF
bis mcu fell dead Their horses frighten-
Cd and turned the Battery, breaking and
falling upon our section in a heap Of con-
fusion. Oar hur>cs could not stand the
pressure. aud also tarucd short around
breaking the timber poles OF our pieces,
aud several sr'ts OF harness, BY their
pluu.iug aud falling. Our guns were in
melia'o!y put ia position at the corner we
had lust before turned, and loaded with
cluui,ter to repel any further attack,
The dead and wounded OF our huIors, and
also Mott's horses and guns, were then
gathered from the wreck, aud taken into
a field by our side and rear. While this
was going on, stood with our eaunonier,
by our guns, in anxious expectations tor
further Developments, when fire OF mus
kets, opened a short distance to our rear,
on the same road we had come. 1t grew
stronger, approaching towards US cry
was raised, "They have got US, they have
cot with our rear ~ aud we were ordered
10 turn our guns and sweep The road. We
.acw our other section and other troops
e our own must be there, or between, and
we refused to obey the order. The firing
soon ceased, and all became quiet, save
the g.oans of the wounded and the hush
ed noise of gathering the dead. Il was
about one oclock, Sunday morning, when
these calamities occurred, and we watched
in silence aud sadness during the remain
der Of the night The dawn of day re-
ycaled sad scene, such as do not desire
to picture, or ever witness again. Know
ing that mos, Of the destruction, II not
all. was the work Of our own men, our
sorrow was greater than any lnslorions
defeat could have made But there Is
still doubt about the !irius upon the
Batteries coming from euy OF our men,
aud 1t seems probable that body Of REQ.
cl cavalry got into the rond in rear OF our
advance guard, and did the harm. We
were upon the level aud the fire came from
the dcclivity Of the bill, which caused the
balls 10 pass o'ei an 'AN' P'"b
mediately in front, otherwise the voIley
might have killed most Of our horses and
men. One Of our drivers remarked, g
might have caught the bullets if | would
have held up my hand" This remark Is
not improbable, and gives an idea how
narrow was our escape. The last hnns IN
our rear was entirely among our own men,
and seems to be one Of those unaccounia-
bic fatalities for which "no one Is to
blame" Our second section was IN the
midst Of it, but escaped with very little
breaks of splinter!ars,
harness, &c, and several men Slight
" bruised by falling and trampinG oi
their horses. During the day some OF
our infantry secured the country and fired
buildings. One excuse for this lncendia'
rism is that they discovered at large
brick house, a fine young beef just cut up
and full of strychnine. Gen. NJ CielIau
the scene Of these disasters III the
afternoon, and very much condemned the
wanton destruction of SO much Innocent
Our Battery kept its position
pntil sunset, when the roads were blocka-
5ed and we returned to our camp. we
have now three days ratIons cooked, ana