Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-03-27

UuuuHC NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 1UDe--I ne
Killed and Wo,mded. r...' .a54
Editorial Correspondence of the Belmon, Chronicle.
a ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
-a CAMP New MADRID,
March IA, 1862.
Our army is in undisputed possession Of
New Madrid, and the Forts erected forits
protection, with all their contents. The
rebels, after desperate resistance of nearly
twenty-four hours, having abandoned them
during last night, in such haste as to leave
everything they had behind them.
1 will give the readers of THE CHRoN-
IcLE, as far as / have been able to gather
them at this early hour, all the facts in con-
nection with the siege and capture.
On the evening of the 18th, the Add was
ordered to provide one days rations, and
be ready, at o'clock, A. NJ, next morning,
fully armed and equipped, for active service.
At II, P. NJ, Col. Smith ordered out the
right wing of the Regiment, of which the
two Belmont companies form part, which,
under the command of Maj. Herrick, was
conducted through the woods until it arrived
within about half mile Of the fort, below
the town, where it had been preceded by
the 10th Iowa aud part of the lst Infantry,
(Regulars,) and at which point. they, after
having driven in the rebel pickets, with the
loss of one man, IA Captain of the 10th
Iowa. commenced to throw up earthworks,
and prepare for mounting the three siege
guns, (32 pounders,l and one howitzer,
(64 pounder,) that had arrived in the even
ing from Cairo, which point they had lett
in the morning; and the work was pushed
with such diligence and energy that by 4
o'clock, A. NJ, the earthworks, nearly one
fourth mile apart we're completed, with two
guns mounted on the one on the right. and
one gun and the howitzer on the one on
the left, connected together by a rife. pit
and an embankment running from one to
the other; and with such silence that, as
We have since learned, the enemy did not
know that anything had been done by us,
more than the taking possession of tn G
position by our troops; and yet the works
were SO complete that the heavy guns from
their fort, less than half mile distant,
we're unable during the whole day to dc
them any serious injury, although nearly
every shot fired from them lodged in the
embankments in front of our guns.
During the entire night the road was
filled with teams hauling ammunition, which
was inclosed in two bomb proof magazines
built during the night in rear of and neal
by the position occupied by the guns-anl
in transporting heavy hewed timber fol
platforms. .-Fascines--long bundles of small
poles and twigs used to rivet parapet, o.
bind together an earthwork, ,-Gabions-
cylindrical baskets, without top or bottom
made of willow, Or plant twigs, to be fille'
with sand and empty barrels to be used TO
the same purpose, which, by the industr,
/ of the men, were all duly placed in position
and the work completed before daylight, al
though the first shovel-full of dirt was re
moved after 10 o'clock on the previous even
ing. The 43d had the task of bringing u
and mounting the guns, two of which wer
mounted by Company d, and third unde
the direction of its officers. At AZ o'clocl
in the morning the rife-pits were occupie
by the 10th Iowa, the guns were place.
under the command Of the lst Infantr
Regulars, Capt. Mower. The right win
of the 43d retired short distance to tn
rear, to sustain the batteries and preven
any flank movement of the enemy. Th
balance of the 43d, the 39th, 9th, and 6S
J Ohio Regiments, were brought up at abor
s clock, and occupied the same relativ
position. About the same time the rebe
approached in considerable numbers, wit
the evident purpose of driving our me
from the pits and storming the batterie
but retired suddenly on the first fire fro
our guns. .sg sro,,.tlas
The engagement now commenced !
earnest The fort and three gunboats opel
ling up terribly noisy fire upon us, whic
Of was kept up almost incessently for tv
n :, hours, ,-our guns in the meantime firin
/, as directed, three or four rounds each eve
: fifteen minutes, and with such coolness ar
precision that the rebels, no doubt, we
soon led to believe that the Yankees We
not all After short respit
their guns again commenced belching for
+ their thunder, in answer to the fire from Q
g batteries, and for the balance of the day,
until about o'clock. in the evening, Il
echo and re-echo of the thunder Of artille
! scarcely ever ceased. The position Of Il
Q AID was ascertained by the enemy duril
the moriing, and one Of their gunboats
q placed as to completely enfilade us; and t
\ short time our position was truly a feari
rss 4; one, 1.-THE shells bursting in quick successi
all around US, the round shot cutting d
trees over our heads and around us in a Il
j. rible manner. when, by order Of our Colon
we removed to another position |; but q
4 until one Of our men, belonging to Compa
G, had been shot through the breast by