The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1861-10-01

while Rains, with another large division,
was marching to Glasgow, with the in
tention ofcutting off all communication
between Lexington and Jefferson City.
They were quite sanguiue that we would
have some hot work TO do, and giving
three hearty cheers, We parted. The rest
oflhe journey was performed without any
thing transpiring worthy Of note, and at
12 o'clock midnight, we made fast TO the
shore opposite the fairgrounds of the
famed town of Boon, lille. This morning.
after parlakiug Of hearty breakfast, con
sisting Of coffee and crackers. the COM
panies were marched ashore and quarter
ed in the faii' tai!ding, which is circu-
lar in form, with tiers of seats rising one
above the other, and surrounded by a
fence which was once beautiful, but is
now sadly mullated. The fair grounds,
comprising from 25 to 80 acres, rise with
a bold and regular siope from the rivers
bank, and after attaining high elevation,
descends like an inclined plane on the
other side On top are situated the in
trenchments, constructed Of earth, and
built in the form of an elongated square,
with obtuse angles. Prior TO our arri-
val, not a single piece of artillery giaced
the works, defect which is now some
what remeded by our twelve FOUNDER
This kind persuader is placed in an en-
brasure Of the n. f. angle, commanding
the range of all the enemy's approaches,
and describing the arc of circle that
will sweep the town itself. The battle
here of the 18th inst, was quite serious
affair, resulting in the total defeat of the
enemy. with loss of 2d killed, while the
number of wounded is not accurately
known. The Home Guards lost but two
men killed outright, and six wounded,
two of HON have since died. The rebel
force, as have stated before, amounted
to so men, led by Col. Brown, who,
with his brother, u Captain of one Of the
companies, was shot, while galandy en-
deavoring to rally their troops. The con
test did not last over fifteen minutes, but
was sharp and decisive. The front, right
and left flank, were attacked simulane-
ously by the seceSh, who endeavored to
use as covering to their approach some
houses aud an orchard standing close by,
but il was of no avail. The fire of the
Union men was hot and deadly, the roar
of muskelry was unbroken, rising at
times to deafening peals, which subsidized
in violence now and then, but never ceas-
ed, and after seeing their leader fall, they
fled in utter confusion. This morning
| went to the scene of conflict, TO gather
up what incidents | could of the fight.
The sentries standing at the entrance of
the intrenchments, granted me a ready
admittance. and | passed within. The
garrison (if such it may be called, was
eating breakfast, and guns, blankets, cart
ridge boxes, and other articles, were ly-
ing scattered about in state of inextri-
cable confusion. 1t certainly cannot be
for ease, pleasure or comfort, that these
men are soldiers, for their clothing, in
many cases, is poor even 10 wretchedness,
and their fare Of the coarsest and simplest
kind. Outraged and insulted by those
who were once their friends and asso.
ciates, deprived of all means of earning
livelihood by toll, aud with but a poor
prospect Of receiving pay from Govern.
the most desirable. One OF the Sergeants
kindly acted the part OF cicerone, aud
took mo over the works. Alter making
the circuit of the trenches, we sat down
upon an embankment, and he proceeded
to narrate the occurrences Of the engage.
meut i will relate il in his own words
=" We war not expectin the enemy quite
so soon, and when | seed lot of the
sneaking whelps crawlin behind that
house thar. (poiuting 10 a large brick
building that stood about a hundred
yards opposite) | began 10 feel leetle
streaked. At the same time another gang
Of 'em was commin thro' the orchard.
while the Col. was tearing along in the
most obsueperous manner right in front.
They didn't come in large numbers, but
small squads, and kept dancing about
like ducks in gale Of wind We never
waited fur orders, but poured in our fire
as fast as we could, and tell 80, strsn-
ger. il WASH slow. Every time | pull
led trigger | thought of Betsy. with the
children at home. AMI Old i5e. Right
whar YOU see them two trees standin' to-
gether, Col. Brown was shot. and abou,
five yards 10 the left his brother fell