Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1862-06-26
JAMES HARPER, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

ICduC VI tUC ICoP viz -sA-% -,
was so effective that tongstreet was
force upon Cssey's command at q blow
$ Gen. Bailey's artillery met their RI
down the road with grape and sho
3 making gaping wounds 10 their column
but not staying their attack. Out c
the woods to the left of the road. on
of the woods to the right of the roa
and beyond it. the rebels swarmed lik
bees, rushed courageously upon Casey
hastily formed regiments, firing as the
advanced, and bringing with them th
morale of force thirst fer the battl
and an assurance OF victory. Tb
most conflicting statements are made O
the behavior Of the troops in Casey
Division.
The corpses of hundreds and hun
dreds Of them lie upon the ground
mute but impressive witnesses Of th'
courage that can die, il it cannot resis
unequal numbers. On the other hand
the early and almost immediate set-ir
of the drift of skulking and struggling
from Casey's regiments is fact which
cannot be denied, and which cannot be
made to consist with discipline and
soldierty spirit. The witnesses to this
early and formidable and disgraceful
food to the rear of unwounded men
are thousands and thousands in number.
Majors wandered alone in woods mile
from their regiments line of battle;
lieutensnts with privates, when stopped,
swore that their body had been entirely
cut to pieces and did not exist, and
edged sideways out of the questioning
and out of the barred pathway, and re-
sumed their flight from the shells which
screamed and burst in the air above
By tvos and threes, singly and in
groups, officers and men-too many
officers. 1 do declare, they retrested
continuously from the first five minutes
after the firing commenced, and could
not be stopped, save in numbers so few,
that when gathered by Col. Russell, Of
Massachusetts,, they made the most
representative regiment ever e1tempor-
lied from the wreck of field of battle.
Seven hundred did this officer scoop off
the highway with the help of the Pro-
vost Guard. But the woods on either
side Of the road were alive with them,
steady in their resrward walk, and
quick and ingenious in their excuses for
it, from attacks of colic," which all at
once bent the questioned travellers
double, to the "totslly-cut-to-pieces"
dodge, and the being ''sent after am
munition." At O'Clock in the after
noon l saw Gen. Casey riding about on
the field without command.
Hurried a nephew yesterday, an act
ing Captain in the New YORK iGGih,
whose body 1 recovered way in front
Of the 6ostiOned fort, beyond Casey's
headquarters, where l hear a rumor
that bis regiment made charge to re-
pei the attack that first burst upon the
Division in front of that work. He
was shot in the breast, and lay in ad-
vance Of all the dead upon the field. ]
feel perfectly willing to accept the solu-
ton of the disappearance Of his regi-
ment, that il was overwhelmed by the
fire of two or three rebel regiments,
and blown right off the field, as was
the case, say with all the regiments in
Casey's Division. But l will interrupt
the narrative of this great battle TO say,
that il the same care had been taken Of
the regiments in this division, which
had been taken Of the regiments in
COUGHS Division and Berry's Brigade.
if the same care had been taken to
form them into soldiers which John
Cocbrane gave to making the Chas-
seurs perfectly organized fighting ms
chine, and Col. Poe gave to making
the Cd Michigan as deliberate and
manageable in battle as they are on pa
rsde, the field of the Seven Pines
would have been as deadly to the reb.
els as honorable to us. Cechrane, on
the extreme right for two hours and a
half poured deliberate FIRE into the en-
emy across an open feld-so deliber-
ate that every one of his men covered
his rebel accurately with both sights,
before be pulled the trigger-and he
literally piled the enemy's front INTO a
line of corpses-aDd, after a fight in
the woods, which always favors skulk-
ing, and in the course of which he re-
sisted artillery. musketry, and charge
of bayonets, he called the regimental
roll, and there iOas not man missing.
The dead and wounded were answered
for by their comrades. When the dead
fell, they lay as. they fell. When the
wounded fell, they handed their mus
kets and cartridges to their comrades,
and craplsd out Of the ranks. Nc
sneaking and doleful procession of from
four to ten towards bore them back.
ward. For Shsler, the Lieutenant.
Colonel of the regiment, and Hamlin,
the Major, had so trained them for the
sacred duties of battle, that it was i'm.
possible for them to weaken the regi-
ment and weaken their cause by deser.
ting their ranks on any pretense what.
ever, or to waste ammunition by wild
firing or firing contrary to orders. Sc
it was with Poe's ed Michigan. Oul
upon picket duty four miles long, they,
within the short space Of two hours,
came in, formed, answered every man
to bis name, marched. and reported tc
Gen. Heintselmsn on the field of battle.
Berry led them through the woods to 9
position which fanks the swarms oI