Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-04-25

made upon the rebels to regain the ground
we had lost. They stood firm as rock
and though our artillery often swept down
their ranks, and left fearful gaps in their
columns, they manifested no trepidation,
nor did they waver for moment The
living supplied the place Of the dead. The
musket that.had fallen from lifeless hand
was seized al once, and the horrid strife
swept on as before. The force Of the enc
my appeared increasing, and where the
| greatest havoc was made, there the strong
est opposition was shown. Hand -to-hand
contests were innumerable. Every strug-
gle was for life. Quarter was asked on nei-
ther side, and the ground drank up the blood
of hundreds OF brave fellows every hour
Men lost their semblance of humanity, and
the spirit of the demon shone in their fa-
ces. here was but one desire and that was
10 destroy. There was little Shouting
The wsritf, were too much in earnest
They set their teeth firm and strained their
CNCi1 HClfC " to utHhost ttuStOh. DtdlH
lost all its terrors and men seemed to feas.
upon the sight Of blood. The light ef the
sun was obscured by the clouds of sulphur
Gus smoke, and the ground became moist
and slippery with human gore. The atmos-
pilere trembled with the shock of the ar
mics, and the earth shook with the tramp
of thousands and tens of thousands Of war
ring foes.
The balance Of victory ever varied 1t
Here the Unionists gained an advantage !;
there the coniederates. Advance was fol-
lowed by retreat success by repulse. AT
this point we drove the enemy back, but
we're driven back in retarn. Success was
always shifting, but never settled. Hope
and fear, Joy and sorrow, seized the soul by
turns, and every hour held month of etho-
tions. All consciousness of time ceased |;
all thought of the future, all recollection of
the past. Everything was absorbed in the
sanguinary present, and external nature as
suned the hue of blood. Men glared a.
each other as at wild beasts and, when a
shell burst with fatal effect among crowd
of the advancing foe, and arms, legs and
heads were torn off, grim smile of pleas
ure lighted up the smoke-tegrimed faces of
! the transformed beings who witnessed the
catastrophe. Soldiers were wounded and
knew il not, so intense was their excitement,
and often mortal hurt was annouced to the
victim only by cessation of vitality. Men
with knitted brows and flushed cheeks
fought madly over ridges; along ravines,
and up steep ascents, with blood and pers-
piration streaming down their faces. Men
with shattered fingers changed their mus
kets TO the left hands, and still fired their
pieces as best they could. Everywhere
was mad excitement, everywhere was hor-
ror. Commanders galloped wildly 10 the
front of their Regiments, and cheered them
on, using their sabers on each and every
foe, and urging their spirited steeds when
ever the troops were falling back, careless
of their own life, as if they had a million
souls to spare. Captains, majors, colonels
and generals fought like common soldiers,
and il was not uncommon 10 see field Of
ficer firing musket or charging with his
revolver upon the advancing foe.
But on the side of the federal forces
there was no thought of fiinching. All
such thoughts had been dismissed at sun
down on the preceding evening. They
were to fight till victory crowned their eff
forts.
The forces under Buell. fodght most gall
! lantly. They turned the rebel flank, re-
gained the position of the preceding morn
ing, and drove the rebel rdvance right back
upon its centre. The fight was kept Up
l from ridge 10 ridge along the uneven coun-
: try. For six hours on Monday the battle
e ragged, when Gen. Grant, putting the entire
column in motion, moved on the rebel GEN.
: tire, bearing down all opposition, and COM
pelling the rebels TO flee. They broke and
fed, panic-stricken, along the reads and
through the fields, followed BY the yictori-
| Gus troops, by Buell. with the entire force OF
E cavalry, by several batteries and regiments,
towards Corinth. The victory was COM
plcte. The field was won.
2 AFTER THE BATTLE.
The field was won but on such field
as that the sun never shdne on this western
continent. 1t is not more than four miles
square, but twenty thousand men were ly-
ing on the trodden slopes, dying, dead,
crushed and torn by the iron hail and lead
en- rain which had hurtled through the ait.
AT this time Of writing it is not possible to
state with any defniteness the numbers en-
IL IL III