Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-08-05
THE BATTLES ON THE pE,IN,uLA,
Ifiyats Letter from an officer N Gsns,.,
AtCElellanrE Arv~v

We @ivf below tie material part. OF an inter
eitns private let'er from an ofhcer Of Cen
E..,..,.ah 80 army describing the scenes of the
TgtTat to James river. In the absence of sen
SIIo.cttaS ohcial report of the laie batties the
J,,eIs oI army officers aud privates shed light
SPnn ne history OF these bloody engagements.
ssfaI incidents are related In tnis letter which
Aa'shot before appeared IN print.-N Y. Post.
TIE FIRsT ArrAcxs OF THE ENEmY
Oh tAs 10Th, In the evsning, the ene
nv having efgssed the Chickanominy at Meadow
force under Jackson. The fight continued until
Iate az night and resulted IN the defeat Of the
my. They were driven back at the every point
with heavy loss This a. ht was al Beaver Dam
position selected by as weeks ago as the poirt
ci resistance In cess OF hank attack. The
1oIIowing morning me enemy largely reinforced,
ara nun Oering from TiX'y thousand tc ninety
1Louseno, renewed Tic attack. Oar force under
Porter, numbering about twenty-five thousand,
were ordered 30 fall back TO Gaines Hill.
1hls was 90 facilitate their crossing the
Chtckaho1niny that night There they main.
Ialned tReif ground ali dag. One division and
two origsdes were sent to their assistance toward
eEeptn2, the former from F.snkiiR's command,
tbs Atter from Summers The slaughter was
Tery great, heavier than In any battle in the war
AT Night bringing of all their wounded that
uId De found aud all tGeir raln, and a number
of prisoners the OF the right wing crossed
a. thc ChickahUH.ia-. These were the battles Of
Beaver Dam and GaiaeS HILL While they yyeTe
N PROGRESS the eRtire front Of the main army
Isc.ng Richmond was threatened, and fierce at
Z" k made upon Franklin IN the morning and
evening Of the 18th. Franklin Occupied thai nart
cl he main line which rested on the night bank
Sf he CEickahominy On the right He has been
al day shsliing ne enemy engaged with Porter
1toIn heavy h-ti--les at GOldtng's house. The
-ttcE on tiIn chiefly Of ant, llery and Infantry
A'loaC oHce.s declared al tEe time that this was
tie hSEcest artillery fire thew had ever witnessed
o-t they did nOJ know " hat tie next few days
would bIiHE. Tbjs attack was brilliantly re-
pulsed, chiefly bJ Hancock.
FKANKLINs DIvIsIOS IN the BATTLES
That night aIIc the following day the army wu.
moving by the ieH hank for James river Frank.
IN was len to cover the rear. They attacked
lin IN the morning OF the y tb on his front Sith
artillery and infantry. and in his rear and A,nE
Srom batteries o. the opposite side Of the Cbick
=aorniny By noon the wsre beaten back at all
points, and their battPrirs sIleDcyh In This Is
otar aao Others Of rank Were taken prisoners IN
toe evening The attack was feintly resumed and
quickly rVpulsed At two o'clock the moTnio no
of The 9th, we commenced orr march At Day
iiCHt We were at Ssvase's. Here ths army had
y en- concertratins f0r the pas age Of the " hte
oak swamp. sumner was attscked al Perch
'5shara, DIS original position, In the mcrn'up
and bF coon had driven the enemy bsrk mrc5b
C'lppled TheiT loss here was very hez,yv ovinr
10 Ihe position of our artillery
SYIcut O'Clock IN thc evening Sumner ioIned
srsnklin, who was IN line of battle Al SaysgeSs
he Rebels Appeared within an hour, and IN two
80 80 snsy weIe again driven back under a Ter.
ItHt ue, iedvlng many prisoners In our hands
Sumner Then followed On towards the " bite-sar
NWtaP, whittier our immense wagon train had
- 1ho HSsesdliy moving for 81 hours. Our loss
- the oltite OF Savage's did not exceed 100 all
era state this for the reason that certain neV,s
pdPer cores Pondents, who were miles away bs We
s~ated 4. al thousands, aGd have also written OF
tGs ahtif II tae most lUguhri strain, whereas
y was one Of the finest OF all our battles We had
- a-I opT own way from the hrst, and punished
t,s e22tny with terrible severity. Late that night
IdSkuH broke up nis line of battle, consi,tiug
81 Sg.ltl's and Richa -dscr'S al :! ions and soon
hitcr daylight crossed aud DESTROYED the White
"ik S%amp oddyeS aad took up his line of battle
again Ca tie nei Jats bordering the swamp
This day, the 80 b, sas the crisis In our air
Here was our position. Our rear, under Frank
manding TIE destroyed bridge Our font, under
r Porter; Wss pushing on towards the James
river tie main body, necessarily presenting lie
1ank towards chTnond, wa. threatened alone
its whole Lac, but cniefv on the Charles CitS
Loaa Ihe ~ag3R tIain, extending almost the
entire length on The hne, was halted in rowp and
siIable spo. OF cround mo, ocrnnies H., ths
troops from the frOnt to the rear. Imagine such
EsLI tspef2'iag tue Principal parts Of our army
Gu .nst army at,scsed in front, and flank, and
CRlrIaAL POSITION
a Panlc or STAN npede Of drivers was destruction
% tae army, AID such panic one word Iafgtt
produce Al eleven O'Clock rode ont y.fb g.
franklin on tue Charles City read toygsrds Ricb.
mond. Oae Of his divisions, namely, sIocum's.
was posted on the To2d. Orders lad been I've, q,
to oos:rIct this road; this had been imperfectIv
Gone We went by The DISTINCTIONS win Iittis
olmculiy, ana ret1rn4d IN a short time. A Few
IAnu.es afterwards ssversl ordeflies r-Le n 10 from
different directions and az the same monndnt a.
Iute5 the General Ore announced tbat Pc,Tr,
was ~ htag Ia the front; another that the enemy
were az yancng in large force en- the Charles CI,y
EI4d, ana That our piekets Were falling h.ck. an
other that the enemy were crossing tbs sva1nn =,
.eIlous poinE Deemed i'm Sassable by u.s. and an
among The 0eanlstsns kt the same moment =
~ ,Noss-efftnc eaHnonade commenced at the w hIte
Vak swamp bridge
watched FtaakIin closely as he heard all .hs,e
tElags, for fell my heart slnx with eAch spcces
eve announcement. There wds not shadow Of
Ia SaSase IN IN ,ny feature Of BIS f.ce-no haste Of
DgssWent or OF word lie asked one or two
quiet questions. snd then turned and caImJv
c0mptetef the objections he was giving when
lhs messengers came up The artillery IRE grew
i9Ider-mOre terrible Ia the direction oS the
h.tdge. The General told me 10 rtde h.cL 20
General smith and learn the position OF things
ganopea b1ek, passing through the wago5,
80 ~ We AZ am IN motion dor Pcrter's fghf
Hau pee Dut tfinlng Interruption endeay-
ored TO check all symptoms Of panfc among the
drivers and to that end found Il necessary to
thIedten with revolver, lthe one Jack gave me ,
The train was moving stsadiIv and ,.nidIy
however, ana IL few hours was we'll ad yanced
ana out of onr way. found General Smith and
MS ucnps under the mos. terrific Ere OF artillery
toal nas been openea on any one rotnt urino the
wsT- The enemy had opened suddenly from
many batteries concealed or the wooded heights
opposite 20 his position. The tloops were Hiade
&c lie down, IN Httle gullies generally in snch
order as 70 reslsi readily aay attempted crossing
started back for General franklin and met him
on the road coming to the bridge The fight at
the bridge lasted al, Iay. Ths aytilierv nrvsr
ceased uIl towards night, when the enemy,s bat
tefles were siIsaced. The inIaatry failed disas-
to1'y IN every attempt 10 cross and we held the
Sp!uSs IIg ~ gahauty- Meantime on the Charles
SitY fosd the bs.tls had commenced and raged
ae,csy. The TeS7lt was long time doubtful
We bfigades and two batteries were sent from
,se NLLlse 20 reinforce such parts of the line as
were giving wsy. At last, about eight O'Clock.
& e eheiiiy was driven back at every point aftef
- 'Je seVerest battles Of modern t.Ynes
ASf darS We stilI hsId the bridge and must
,ssfS Sn,n ~ 1e army are far on their way from
.sna % action Our guns keep up a steady
ssresPlhg AT the points where the enemy
Inlght attempt crossing They nnade az e1o,t
% thIo" bridge across. Snot and shell and
gfape and canister all directed on tbs h.Sn ~.
head sooR settle that question Of eon.trnrtinn -
isfsctorily for RumOu reach "a 1f,Ise &C..
they afterwar turn out be) that our eent,e hs
heen pierced near the Charles City road and or,
fetreat upon the main body cut on 80 :
MIDNIGHT MARCH TO IAMKs RIVEk
III WA plooml hen while thess rurDor. -.