Des Arc semi-weekly citizen., 1861-06-22
THE GREAT EXECUTION
FORE ABOUT BETHEL
Advance of the AbOEi ionists -
 oEsaY,aeas cement of the f, SsRs- Highly Interesting Eafflcu-


 h addition 10 what we have already given, we publish the following, dated the llth. from the Yorkown correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch. IL will well repay perusal
 Al half-pasl nine o'clock we espied two mounted men to our right, inspecting some fihy cords of wood that lay upon the road and. we feared, with design of erecting | a battery behind il. The Colonel dis. patched a member of the Life guard to approach them, under cover of some brush wood that skrted a branch, to examine them more closely. Aftertwo inspections with the glass, we feared the realization of our first opinion. It appeared after ward that they were our friends. In a few moments the gleamlng of hundred ds of bayonets were seen just in our front. distant six or eight hundred yards above the top of fence, and presently the wild cheering of the invaders was heard. In five minutes thereafter, bang went the howitzer battery fifty yards to our left, and
 just in front of the main road, by which the enemy were approaching. In an in- stant the fire was returned with great spir- 1t, and such cannonadlng began as l never heard before Shot and shell flew thick and fast, shaking the very earth by their reverberation. Thick and fast fell the branches from the neighboring trees, and as the shell burst in the air, our men watched the curling smoke with pleasure rather than fear. Our little detachment of Howilzers alluded to, under command .of Captain Brown, of Richmond, fought with great spirit.
 We had full view of their firing. A l ball from one of their rihed cannon almost made me trembIe for its effects even upon the enemy, as it rushed righ. down the road at capital range, and must have torn some of the enemy limb from limb. Now, while our men concealed themselves in the trenches, keeping down thelr bayo- nets we'll from the sight of the enemy, saw him deploy on our right, and present. l y sharpshoo,ers leaped the fence jus, in | front of us, about two hundred and fifty yards distant, and we discovered them to be (would be) famous Zouaves, in their red pants. Our men became very anxious to fire upon them, and Col Stuart, who was above the breastwork fearIesSly ob- l serving their approach, found il difficult 10 restrain them. They had been thrown out doubtless to pick of our howitzers, and were entirely ignorant of our position "Ready-am-fre," commanded the col onel, and the front rank of the first pla- toon of the Life guard was in blaze, and one man certainly fell morally wounded and the rest threw themselves fiat upon their faces and returned our fire. We continued to fire about five minutes by files, when the Zouaves got out of the open field much faster than they got into | 1t. Concealing themselves behind the fence and some neighboring houses, they continued very we'll directed fire for per haps an hour. The Mimic balls whizzed after fashion l never heard before. IL was by merciful Providence that not man of us was hurt.
 None of the officers occupied the ditch except partially, and one brave colonel ex- posed his whole person to the enemy's fire. The balls often threw up the fresh earth upon the tops of our embankmen,s, showing that they had the right range. Our commander kept his eye on the right ot our position, fearing the approach of artillery which we were not in condition to resist. All this while, 1 forgot to state, the howltzer battery in its greatest strength under the command of Mai. Randolph, situated to our Jeff and in the centre of our lines, and commanding a ridge which lay Just Tn front of the church, kept up splendid fire, and no doubt with great effect. An unsuccessful attempt wns made 10 burn the houses in our front, thing that should have been done on Sunday. and the neglect of this obvious precaution caused one brave man to lose his life. As the enemy were now seen about 500 strong on our right. supported by artillery, and covering thelr position by some brush wood, intending to storm our position, and Col. Stuart finding that the three compa- nles under his command, numbering l9OI men, would not be able, without artillery, 1 to maintain their ground, sent dispatch to Col. Magruder to that effect. Before my return from headquarters, orders had been received 10 evacuate our trenches and on my way back to our position met our three companies retiring by private road, made the day before for the purpose. Tn the very best order. After this move