The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-12-26

of miles to our left below lie was max
ing no nearer
At o'cock an aid arrived from General
Couch to say that his (Couch's) troops
We're advancing finely and that Wilcox
was not keepingup Tell General Wilcox, .
replies General Sumner, 'tell him he must
make the Ninth Army Corps keep pace
with the Second, if he can"
At 3! O'Clock, Sturgis, who had been
clinging to the valley amid showers of fire,
is SO hotly pressed that Che hardly thinks
he can hold his own till Griffin comes up
At 4 O'Clock French reports that his right
is held by brigade (Masons) which IS
without ammunition
Sumner sends message begging Burn
ei'le that Franklin be directed 10 advance.
Bur Franklin cannot advance. He has
enough 10 DO Mt this moment to hold his
OWE, for Jackson has just thrown in rein
torcements, and is pushing hard to turn his
left
Meanwhile the reserves have not been
touched. Hooi,er'a Central Grand Divis-
ion--liity thousand fresh men--have not
yet been engaged, indeed, are yet mainly
on this side Of the river.
''Tell Gen. Burnside that he had better.
by all means, throw some Of Hooker's in -
Burnside replies that he has directly Or
dered Hooker to go i'll, and that every
man On this side Of the river shall cross.
Promptly the column is pushed down to
the pontoons, Humphreys division of But
teriield's corps leading The wary rebels
sharply on the alert for the movement of
troops, and having a battery or two admi-
rably trained on the bridge, pour in the
shells, and somewhat delay operations
Happily, though they fall all around the
bridge, and kill some men on the banks,
they do tire structure no harm. In case
they do. however, a corps of pOntooneers
stand ready to repair any damage.
At o'clock Gen. Hooker, who had not
yet been across the river, proceeded over,
remarking to friend that he ''was going
to push this thing through
In half an hour prodigious volleys of
musketry announce that Hooker, with the
reserves, is engaged. This last assaulting
column consisted of the divisions of Hum
phrey's, Monk, Howard, Getty and Sykes
They had, however, hardly got fairly en-
gagged before the sun went down, and night
closed around the clamorous wrath of the
combatants.
At this time, Gen. Burnside, who had
remained all day at the Philli ps House,
came down to the Lacey House; and, in
the garden facing the city, followed the
progress Of the fight. Externally calm,
the leading player in this tremendous game,
was agitated by such intensity of feeling
as no one can conceive, and he paced the
garden gloomy as night.
The brevity of time into which the stu
pendous issue of the day had to be crowd
ed seemed to add redoubled energy to the
fury of the combat.
Not might or Butcher" as wellington
exclaimed at Waterloo, but rather Ajax's
prayer for ''more light" was the prompt
ing of every heart.
Creeping up on the flank by the left,
Gettys troops succeeded in gaining the
stone wall which we had been unable all
day to wrench from the rebels. The other
forces rushed for the crest. Our field bat
teries which, owing to the restricted space,
had been of but little use all day, were
brought vigorously into play. 1t was the
fierce, passionate climax of the battle
From both sides two miles of batteries
belched forth their fiery missiles athwart
the dark background of the night. Vol
leys of musketry were poured forth, such
as we have no parallel of in all our exper-
fences of the war and which seemed as
though all the demons of the earth and air
were contending together. Rushing up
the crest our troops had got within a
stones throw of the batteries, when the
hill top swarmed forth in new reinforce
ments of rebel infantry, who, rushing upon
our men, drove them back. The turn of q
die decides such situations. The day was
lost. Our men retired. Immediately
cannon and musketry ceased their roar,
and in a moment the silence of death sue
ceeded the stormy fury Of ten hours
battle.
AS General Burnside, turning, walked
off through the garden, and, mounting his
horse, galloped back to his headquarters,
what thoughts and feelings passed through
his mind? No illusions could possibly
make him believe that victory had been
achieved.
ST. wv e'y- {. e:l. that it was adefeat ?
I've started out to accom-
oject, and to have failed in
-efeat, you cs. apply no
otl.-- The upshot of to- : battle.
In -. Of all the glosses c. day IS
kilograms which you may receive =. GEMS
here tonight that we have received a de-
feat Let us hope that, when fully prepar-
ed, the assault may be renewed with new
tactical combination, the position carried,
and the day retrieved. If it be not SO,
Saturday, the 18th day Of December,
must be accounted as a black day in the
calendar of the republic.
GEN. BURNSIDE.
The Herald correspondent at Gen. BURN