The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1862-06-13
The Battle Before Richnond--
Conduct OF Cnscy's Division
-lntcrcstiug Particulars.

quote the following details,
The attack commenced shortly before
| O'Clock on Saturday, ON the left wing
uf the army, on the further or south side
of the Chlckahominy. where the advance
position was held by the division of Gen.
| Casey, much the wcakcs, in the army,
composed almost entire ly Of raw regi-
mcnts and reduced by disease 10 an ciTcc-
tive force of some COCO men.
THE POSITION HELD ny GEN. CASEY.
wus ON the Will amsburg Stage Road,
within six or seven miles of Richmond,
ard on line so extended at the front
that the troops required to maintain
/ picket guards Of sufficient strcnp III made
no slight drolt on his weo kened forces. -
| The right Of the limo was held hy his flrst
brigad f, under Gen. ii. VI. Naglcc, as
brave oad vigilant an officer as is to be
found in the army OF the Potomac. Gen.
| Naglce's pickcts extended across the
railroad Cumming parallel with the VIII
liamsburg road, about mile TO the right
to near the sixth milc-post from Rich-
mond, and so on further TO the right aud
u little to the rear until within short
distance Of point on the Chickahominy,
where Gen. Sumner had thrown bridge
across the stream, and was hourly expect
cd to cross to complete the line OF pick.
cts TO the river.
The centre ofGcn. Cascy's position,
held by the second BRIGADE, Gen. Was
sells, (ormerly Gen. Keims',) extended
from Gen. Naglce's lines 10 the left, a
short distance ccross the Williamsburg
road, where it joined the ird brigade,
Gen. Palmer's, stretching some distance
further to the left, and joining the lines
of Gen. Couch, who guarded tho left
flank, the main portion Of his force being
u short distance to the rear OF Casey, en-
, the Williamsburg road.
THE STORM On FRIDAY NIGHT.
? During the afternoon of Friday ter.
rife thunder storm urcsc, Continuing
through most Of the night with uuintcr.
rupted severity, deluging the earth will
rain, converting the spOHgy soil into q
nearly impossible bog, and raising the
: waters of the Chckahominy 50 as 70 eur.
r ry away one Of two bridges Gen. Sumner
had prepared fer his passage, and some.
what disturbed the foundation Of The 9th.
= or.
night and the camp fires of unusual size
, cleaning in the pitshy darkness, scenct
to illuminate our position, aud may pos
= sibly have assisted the rebels in getting
an idea Of the bearings OF things. Jus
: before the storm had reached its fur,
I, there was some skirmishng between tlIt
), artillery OF both sides. This commcnc
;, cd again in the morning. several shot,
: flying over our camp, indicating that the
=, rebels had in some way gained mere Ger
rect iGea Of our position.
[ TIE ATTACK ON SATURDAY.
Shortly after noon the grand attack
commenced, Gen. Cnscy's pickcts being
driven in all along the front. after u spir.
u tied resistance, the rebels advancing
in force along three roaGs-the vii.
! liamsburg road, to chr LETT, the railroad
in the centre, and the "Ninc. mile Rcud,'i
I as it is called, on the right. With his
feeble division greatly weakened by OK.
teusion, Gen. Casey had no bach bone to
oppose to this sudden attack. But no
! thought Of yielding his ground cnt red
! the mind of the old soldier, Scared with
T; the wounds of NJ xico and disciplined TO
danger by huudrcd fghts, His troops
were Immediately formed into position,
the three brigades maintaining their rel
: ative positions on the right, left and CEN
| tire, aud as thorough preparations were
made for resisting the attack as It's sud-
denness would admit Of
Regan's New York Battery was sta
toned just to the right OF the Williams
burg road, Bates Battery Of Napoleon
guns further to the left across the road,
, aud F,tch's d ttery three or four hun
drcd yards to the rear, the last sending
: its shells over the heads Of cur troops at
the enemy b yond. The fourth battc,y
was near the railroad, further to the
right.
The vigor with which the enemy Pre- Sc.
ed forward to the attack indicated the
, confidence of superior strength. A bat
talon of two regiments pressed against
! Gen. Naglce on the right, another fell
on Gen. Wussell ut the centre, and a
third on Gen. Palmer TO the left, pour
ing in at once fire hot and heavy, and
advancing with great resolution in the
face of the ste, dy fire OF canister aud
grape from the guns in front, aud shell
from those fuSher in the rear, moving
The rebels had but little artillery, and
were evidently disposed to make good tho
deficiency by pressing to close quarters
with their superior force, to bear down at
once by weight Of numbers the feeble
skeleton regiments Of three and four hum
' dred men who composed the advance d.
vision.
Most of Gen. Gaze 's troops were
thrown forward to the edge Of the woods
in front of his position to meet the adj
vance of the rebels, u few regiments b. '
ing left behind the partially completed
|, rifle pits, a short distance to the rear
Thus division, nearly new to warfare,
was suddenly exposed, in an opened field
to the heaviest of fire from an enemy
covered to a considerable extent by the
woods through which they were adVanc-
ing.
Terribly the tempest ragged, the air al
most growing thick with musket balls;
officer after officer fell, or was borne from
the field a wounded man. The men
dropped by scores, and the usual num-
ber of weak jonted ones were falling to
the rear. But in spite Of the rapid Thin
ming OF their ranks, the regiments gener-
ally held their ground until the enemy
succeeded in rushing AROUND on the left
flank and poured in an enfilading fire
from that direction, against which the
/, rife pits were no protection. The sixty
rounds of ammunition with which they
entered the fight were nearly exhausted,
/. aud no more was at hand.
. GEN. SUMMERS ADVANCE.
Meantime Gen. Sumner had succeeded
in bringing his troops across the Chicka.