The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1862-02-28
w ar News.



! was invited on Sunday morting b,
Gen. McClernard, 10 take . ride over m,
battlefield. Itwould Le difficult to des
eribe in a few worts the SC nes wbic'
have met my view. The batile-croun,
was chiefly confined TO the SPACE Cuisid,
the rfb,l fort ficatiors, extending up M
river behk q distance oftwo miles, 10 The
pont where Gen. McClerngrd's fore,
rallied froia he retirement which the,
wefc AZ fret forced into Nv the imwtu u,
chtrge Of the oncmy. Il must 10, r..
mcnbercd llini u IVES hHr,atlist the trsto
rortie was mrdc by TIC rebel 40 tho fii,I
hank with the inti ntioh Of turning ,ui
right flank, aud eating their Wy ,ut. .--
some ten or Twelve thousand men com.
posed the force sent out Tor this purpose.
They edvrnccd under GOV v,r of q deadly
fire Of artill'ry, and st, ndi,y drove Gen.
MeElcrnardie forcc before them a,lt,pncr
I" n'ty or sixty rods. Our troops here
lnand a stand, nrd having been rc.cn.
forced ny onc or two regiments began the
assault, hcferc which tho enrlny were
ir'c d TO rctr A.. The ground was con.
tstd With desperation. and the slaughter
~ tch sid,s was immense. The whole
srnre of two mil,s was siriwd with dcnd.
who lay In every imaginable shape snd
form.
f'dcra's und rrbcls were protniscu
ouey mingled sometimes era pied in the
nc &C dcath.thr0c, sometimes facing each
other as They gsyc and received the fatal
fhot cr thrust, son' t'm,s lying across ono
another, and again hccprd In piles which
lay sik or seven deep. I could imnrinc
nothing ntrc terrible than the silent in
''ca'lons Of agony that marked the lca
'nrrs OF the lals to'pscs which lay stI
~ ~ step, Though dead, md rigd in
every muscle, they still wri,hcd aud
So mod t0 turn 10 cat,h III, pAssinr
hre, &c for co,ling breath. Slaring,yes,
gaping mouths, clcnchcd hands and
strangely contracted limbs, secmingly
dtuwn into the smallest compass, as if by
) mighty ,Gor to "a Lsuudpr some ir.
rant be herd which held them downto
hrttriurc ui which they died. One sat
IA nst tree, upd with mouth aud eycs
N'de op n, looked w At the rky us il [,
catch glance at its 1cctinn spirit An
other clutrhcd the branch Of an ever.
hanging tree, aud hung half suspended, |
us ia the d,H'h panR he raised himselfI
parity from the ground. The other hnud ,
g-nsPed his faithful muskct, and the COM
prrssion Of the mouth told of tho dotormi. |
naiion which would have been fatal To /,
foc had life thb Il n piunic later. A third
clung with both hands to bayonct which T,
was buried IN the ground. ia the act Of
striking for the h,a art ola rebel foe. Great
ihmhtrs lay In hears. Just az the fire OF
The srtillcry moved thcnr down, manrlinu
Their forms into an almost undirtinmishn-
lle mass. Many Of our men had cyidcui-
" ialleh victims 10 the 2, bel sharpshu,t- .
r., for they were pi reed through the .
head ly riht bull,t,s me- In the Tor, h ,ad
"emc ia the eyes, others ON the bridge of
tho ms, in the che, ks aud in the mouth. ,
This circumslancc verified statement
made TO me ly rebel oficcr among the /
prisoners, ulat their men were trained To-
shoot l,w aud aim for the taco. while ours /
as general thing, fred at rrndom. and
shot over their heads.
TIC enemy, Ia their retreat. carrird nfr
their wounded and great many of their
dead ~ that ours far uutnumbrrcd them
on ,hs field. The scene of action had
been mostly In the woods. although thcrc
were Two orcn places OF an aero or two
Mhrrc the fsh had ragged luriousy, aud
the gr' und was covered with dead. All,
the wa. up 10 their intrcnchmcnts the
saine scenc of death was presented. 49,
III re- were two miks of dead strcwn,
ih'ckly, mingled with firearms, artillery,
dead h,rscs, mud the purhplrrnalia of The
tnttl' h' I'd. II was u sccno never To be
iorgoit, --nvCr TO be described