, 1862-07-23

$Ht$ &Vt40MH$H &H t94& III u&Eu
But ara Completely Routed
-
-.-....
'a11an.fs VI 20. taoses ano ms NOR
Correspondence Of the Chicago Tribune1 |
HELENA, Ark, July Is, 1864.
It may be ofEome tnterest to your readers !
to lave sketch Of the battle of the stCache'' /
from one whose position t7ns eueh a. tn ena-
h1a IT., - o7o,r.. .-o,, ,,,,.,, +,,,t
We .1n W 'ee '@'S 4uuen '1t4' oesui1eo
Oh that day.
Ont the afternoon Of the 10Th inst. the divi- |
t;on nnder command Of Gen. steele arrived At
p:., g.. ...I-c -,
taene 1@lse1' Ill" 1oono oalltcaoe VI 1eAed
timber on The opposite bank, from which
some skulking rebels fired on the advance,
a,, oa,,.1., rax., ,>t 49, o. 5T..-:S., -
ny . slna1l e7fafS 4otee " tue oAo"a c1Valry
uhder the command OF Col. Busy, with tha
1oss ofsome fouror five killed rebels' Throurb
.,.o..o,, 80 oo.,,, - 49,
1pe '4ts4noou ~ eeAy ~ w ln"inl1s, o1'
mt wire otttn h1ed at bE the concealed en-
em5 81 they would 20 to the river for gase-.
Fairly On 1be morn,n,r of tba 7fh 1u,so o-
W ~ +1o5 - Wv ''u' "'As u,
eeleo Ny W. ho'es' eon1hauuil5 soe eesoao
brigade OF Gen, Steele's division, to detail four
tou,psuies from ti,p SD Illinois Norm III r.oi
4r-,.. r. renort 10 f.o1 u,r;s ~ +hs I1th w,s
44'eNs ~ - W. .tSA "i'.
c'nsit, Rho Hlen 1onf companies OF his own
giment, in all eight co1npa.ties-Haa to u ike
a recon7 o;ssance in advance
"as ofoefec' VIII 1our shail sqoeds de-
| tailed from the four infantry regiments of tue
d;y;sion IN fn11ow .he f.,ree of g., :T,rris and
~ r.1noye :, h, h,rncade. and ,zh,,cr,r otter
~ 'ne A40 ~. o'uei
obstruction miEnt BE- n our way: The men
wcrked with will, a2d tue barricaae which
h0a 1Ahen tne laooI OF many saves foE days TO
/ 1nske, VANISHED IN isss toan L7o hours before
tie soldless oi lne Northwest.
| Just O. M lne 1ast .ree nad oeen fol!ed IRON
the road &C.! :, hoyey foae ap, h and M' bidding the
Asutehan1s ln command ot inc olllefeht 1ofc=5
q PIONEERS 70 1on9~ Win tnslr GO tnes,
| feae on Win CoL doVey 10 sec VIA: osher a.
| oof mlsat oe rt4aueo. A1lef r!a1ng NJ:
nlles We esme upon Col- harnS, "ao aad
ctased some reDel rickets' and haired tor tue
oEel N Inc repei army;
Af{sr some minutes, oetay COL harris TOOK
road TO me f!Gne OF dllis plaalatlon, 10 eA-
plore It. Col HoEey and myself prepared to
return to the camp, TO move on with the rest
OF tne troops. we nau Jast got INTO our saa-
dies, when some scattered hrlng Was heard III
i tie direction taken bj Col. II iris, aud sup
posing 1t to be mtre ah41r OF d Struggling
picket, We rode out towards the firing. Az
We approached, the firing became more ffe'
We found that Col Harris had, with COM
paoy Of 'shirmlshers, follo"ed at little dis
tHnce by the rest OF his force, penetrated tue
ambuscade Of q very superior force -ho~
much larger 1t was impossible in the deuse
aid marsny wood to accurately tell, Every
bush, every clump Of cane, every tree, formed
q cover for the rebels, and rifles, shot
guns and reVolVers poured 8 furious
I discharge upon that company OF Rkismishere
Col. Harris was here wounded tHIce-5eing
, too, Was shot in the shoulder, and his saddle
| received bullet. Cool, a5 If on dress pa
rade, Col Harris ordered the command to fA
back, Intending, probably, rs actually happen
cd, to bring the fight upon more open grount
| where he might baYe the advantage Of settut
tie force he was fighting.
Unfortunately in their eagernesG to to SCI
what was going On, and fn the common mis-
take that It was only small force OF rebe
str2eglets eneaged,. come of the companie
ble, all of them, to execute their order prop
I eriyy. Three or four companies, however, re
1reseLtiIg both the re- eziments from whic1
The command had been taken, were in goo
reformed, and came back eager to show tha
:, it was not fear that had taken them for mo
mcnt from the front Of the fight.
L Meantime Us the four small companies f..
: buck from the edge OF the wood, The rebel
charged On them. Yelling like earages an
Texas rangers. It seemed as it our little fore
must be swept away like q leaf by whir
wind.
4, At this moment Col H3vey spFang frot
his horse, seized a gun, placed himself befo1
the men, and set them an example Of couraE
aud determination which had an electric e
: feet. On came these Texas Rlugers-tt
!. boast Of rebtldom in the Southwest
strong, charging On less than 200 Illinois an
Wisconsin troops, headed By Col Hove
Under the direction Of their leader our lit
r, band held their fire until the enemy ne
within thirty Iares, when they opened {
them tearlully. The emptsed saddles, tt
:. ridelless horses rushing back into the no
~aTe1ing ranks, the dead bodie>, and tt
in, 10 grooming, bleeding wounded rebel SHOVE
~ thr effect Of that we'll aimed fire
- HayiDg fired his first gun Thereby emptgiE
n q sadde} Col. Hosey seized q loaded r.hs of
=" dtad rebel, and discharged it. His comman
K. also, reloaded and fired. The 6raggArs b
another yolley hardly less effective than 7
: first, and-fed! The crisis Was passed. T.
- officers CT the rebel furce made every possit
lG exerifon TO recover the fortunes Of the ds
St They could be heard exnorting, cheering q
cursing their men. They tried to flank Q,
force, first On the right, then on the Left B
~ from the first reoulse Of their Charge Col u
d. III: Horey lost no moment Of time, but used
10 torcc-aagmen'ed no" by the return OF T
az companies which fad at first fallen Into d
!" order-with such complete energy and 81
that the amazed rebels found themsels
everywhere met with murderou5 IRE, q
forced to abandon their own aims.
IN They made great efforts to force their t.
~ 1iicp soldiers to attempt another charge, t
always before the charge was begun the lru:
rifles Of the SD Illinois, aud the muskets
the l1th WISCONSIN would convince tlem Il
e. the attempt was madness.
= Slowly and stubbornly, fighting every 1t
Of the way, they fell back Steadll7 Colo
Ioyey pursued, always directing the fOrem
r. force, and always convincing the men t
IL vicsefy s7as sure. This stubborn hsh
pom was continued tor mlle--a little more
i}d' ite less. Up to this tune It had been fight
tween less than 400 Illinois and W1scou
troops, and oHe small steel gun belonging
.r ! the LIT Indiana cavalry, and :, 900 Texan R
Ill gers supported By still larger reserve un
= s II Gen. Rust. But just about this time Liz
',plS Col. Wood Of the LIST Indiana cavalry +
about ECO men, and three more Of their Ii
- steel guns, came galloling with cheer
N the fight. His little 1suus rang out lou
than the rifles ormusEelry-his or men made
gxllaut chsrge, aud the enemy, alrr
Chi. wave ring anu ppuic stricken, fled routed
r. terrified jrJm scarcely third of their nun
s- leay,up Il field which they had chosen cow