Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-01-27
THE SOMERSET CKy. y VICTORY.
Full Detail. Of the Engagement.

On SUNDAY morn Of the 10th of January, at
seven o'clock, the camp was alarmed by the
driving in of the pickets of the 10Th Indiana.
This reg ment being In the advance of the other
regiments, advanced Immediately into the woods
to ascertain the position and strength Of the
enemy. After proceeding one half mile from
camp they came suddenly upon the enemy in a
dense wood, drawn up In line OF battle, prepared
TO receive them. As the Indiana Tenth emerged
from the woods Into an open cornheld the enemy
poured vollsy from their whole line into their
tremendous fire but few men fell.
The 10Th instantly opened upon the enemy, their
fire telling with terrific effect upon them But the
10th, In their exposed position In the open corn
obliged to fall back a few PAGES into the timber.
Here the 10Th made a stand, and held the entire
force Of the enemy in check for nearly half an
hour before the arrival Of Gen Thomas with the
remainder Of the forces On the arrival Of Gen
Thomas with the 9th Ohio, the 4th Kentucky and
ID Minnesota, they fell back, drawing the enemy
out Of the woods into the open field. 81
General Thomas then advanced his force to the
open field when the engagement became general.
The two armies were not more than one hundred
wards apart; cur little band Of four regiments
holding their ground against more than double
their number, showering leaden hail upon them
The two Tennessee regiments, under Gen Carter,
were advanced on the rightwing, for the purpose
Of outfanking the enemy, and consequently were
not brought much under fire.
The left wing and centre had sustained the Are
OF the enemy for two hours, and had suff red Sc
verely In killed and wounded. The enemy were
stationed behind high fence, which protected
them In great measure from the bullets Of our
men.
A simultaneous charge was now made upon
the enemy by the On Ohio, 10th Indiana, 4th
Kentucky and I'd Minnesota. The 9th Ohio Col
McCook, charged directly up TO the fence, and
thrust their bayonet through at the enemy At
the time Of the charge, Col McCook's horse was
shot from under him, and the Colonel himself
wounded In the leg
During the hottest Of the engagement, and when
tue Two lines Were not more than one hundred
yards apart, an officer with his aid rode up to the
Col FRY, and cautiously remarked to the Colonel
NOT 10 nfe upon our own men, at the same time
pointing TO the enemy's line, saving '.'rhere are
our own men" Col Fry, supposing him 10 be a
Federal officer, replied, ave are not firing upon
our men, and pointing to his regiment remarked,
''These are our own men here ~
The two rode by the side Of each other for some
minutes conversn9 upon the battle and the Incl
dents, when the officer wheeled his horse and rod
of to one side. After getting some thirty feet
from Col: FrV, the aid who accomrsnied the Of
hcer leveled pistol at Col Fry and Aired at him,
at the same time putting spurs TO his horse aud
ned The Colonel now suspecting treachery
drew forth his pistol and fred al the officer shoot
Ing him In the breast, just below The left nipple
The officer fell from his horse dead man. He
was soon afterward recognized as Gen Zollfcof.
fer, late commanue r Of the division Of the rebel
forces. ..0I
Col Connell, who had known Gen Zollicofer
corpse and went with him He lay in a tent
wrapped in an army blanket his chest and lpft
arm and side exposed. A tall, rather slender m an .
with thin brown hair, high forehead, somewhat
bald, Roman nose, firm wide mouth and clean
shaved face. pistol bali had struck him in the
breast, little above the heart killing him in
stantly His face bore no expression such as those
who usually fall in hattle-no malice no ecklesa
hate, not even shadow of physical pain. TWAS
calm, placid, noble. But have never looked on
countenance SO marked with sadness deem
detection had settled on 1t. "The low cares of
the MOUTH were distinct In the dToop at its cor
ners, and the thin cheeks showed the wasting
which comes through disappoIntmenta nd trouble
The death Of their General does not seem to
have disheartened the enemy, They continued
their attacks with as much vehemence az over
The I'd Minnesota Regiment came I'D and formed
along the fence, on the left Of the 4th Kentucky
The Rebels still extended their line to flank ,,s
on that side. The 18Th Mississippi charged up to
the fence, and the men in the two regiments
fought hand to hand. catching bold Of each
others guns, and trying to drag them through
and over the fence, but 1t was all In vain
McCook's gallant Dutchmen came up to support
The 10th, forming on their right, and with them
driving the enemy out Of the woods over the
raVne, up the hill across the field to the right of
the road The l4tn Ohio, which with the Orb
had marched all night TO get to the battle. to.
gether with the two East Tennessee and the 10Th
kentucky Regiments, were coming up The
enemy themselves were In danger Of being out
nanked and cut of from their retreat Stand
arts battery was in full play, with deadly effect
on their center. Kinney's and Whitmore's were
advancing. There was no help for It, the dav
was lost to the Rebels, and they must retreat
They were pushed back, flying as they went
across the field.
On they went. The enemy Is driven through
the woods, where, an hour and half before
they so nearly surrounded the 10th, the heroes of
Rich Mountain. Many regiments are com pIetelv
broken, and ran for the forests on the left Woods
Alabama regiment breaks for swamp and scat
ters there. Some regiments act together ana
a mi 10 tn fha
position. But Standards shells, thrown from the
hill where the section was nearly taken begin
to fe.! among them. They fly again, pursued by
our victorious troops. For the third and last n me
they form, only to be fca altered as before
After this the rout IL complete Panic stricken.
they fy In all directions. The pursuit is pressed
up TO the very Entertainments of the enemy. Two
OF their pieces have been taken The third which
they took with them, Is only saved to be left be-
hind In their flight across the river Our cannon
open on their camp, our shells falling into their
most elective battery, killing four Of the men AT
their guns and driving the rest away The dark.
ness OF nlghtfall only prevents general assault.
and our troops lie down, hoping in the morning
to complete the good work of that Sabbath, a
work they had not sought, for they were resting
that day, preparatory TO the attack which Gen
Thomas had intended to make on Monday.
rode over the battle field In the evening Our
men were burying the dead, but MANY still lay
been taken up. The same kind treatment was ex-
tended TO the enemy'swounded which was given
10 our own. The universal remark which they
made to me as / passed through the hospital
was, owe never expected to be treated So We
have been misled. We expected to be served
like dogs should we fall into your hands You
are kinder to us than we would have been 10 Won
The only difference was In the burial of the dead
Those OF the enemy were laid toy ether I'm COM
mon pits. Our own were buried in separate
graves, and on many Of them | saw Young cedars
already planted by their comrades
Besides one OF the graves prepared for the enc.
my's killed, noticed several lying already to be
Inferred. One poor boy lay In The exact position.
az was told, In which he was found he rested
on his side his head lying his right arm while
his left hand was loosely closed on mis- right
elbow. His eyes was closed, and he looked "a
though be had just fallen asleep
In one field, where the oh Ohio charged upon
the enemy, s5 OF The enemy lay cold In death, and
some 50 wounded lay groaning with suferinps
from their wounds. On the other field, on the
opposite side Of the road, as many were found
living dead and wounded. Many were also found
lying In the woods In every directions; Others in
the road and In the fence corners -.
Three or four dead bodies were 10 he ssen
behind one tree or stump. IL was most sinpnIar
that the average Of wounded to the number I}iIed
should be so much less than 10 usual In hattie
The killed and wounded were found 70 be mostly
shot in the head or body, showing that cur men
TOOK aim at the enemy whenever they had an
opportunity. The enemy, in most instarcss s,ad