The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1862-04-05
The Western Dead.

we are Pleased with the opportu,;
} Transferring to our columns the STl
well written tribute TO tho Drawers Oss
J riotism of the men of the West w n
from the New York Times of Feb 90 ~
As time reveals the nature and ~
ton OF the struggle at Fort DoneI!rnSV PPs'
hnd-contrary to our usual. exp,r.u
reports Of battles-that the 6rst n.ws
derrates Its Importance. So accra. u
are we to exasgerations in the disUsir5ss
and letters relating to military opersi;o"1
this war, that most people uncopsc;"SH
deduct a large percentage from the acoou!
) OF every new event in our CAMPAIGN D
in regard to this first great eolIisioDn os D ~
hostile armies of the West, We find !, @'
essary to add to all our earliest ,. !" nee
Time and fuller information reveal II! pU u
tie of Fort Donelson as the greatest S. Ua''
fought thus far on the American Con,;".s
a three days desperate struggle b.tv..'
assailing force of (probably5 80 0oo '. emu
and well-intrenched deiendipo srr, M
from twenty to thirty thousand o.
battle reaching for several miles. l nae Of
gle veering to and fro as positions surg
or lost-the woods and rayines .ob" %ae 'A1en
the crack of thousands of ia. WIN
boom of at least seventy ni.c.s - anu me
on each side. Desperate sort;.s - aunleEy
-Da''e RES are taken' retaken and LOST
again-fresh regiment succeeds regiment i !,
the fierce struggle, and in one casa, a ssn'
IS made with the most determined nnrno..
by some ten thousand men of the bes;ss.S
force to cut their way through-su attsrt
which is finally repulsed with great loss
They are three gloomy and deplorable d,v.
in the natural world-though forever ploT;.
Gus in our history. The tough soldiers Of
the West fight amid rain, and sleet, and
snow; they lie down on the frozen ground
or in the snow at night, and it is believed
that many of the wounded are frozen 70
death.
They have little food or rest during those
days; even their blankets, as is usually th.
case in battles. have heen abandoned, and
they are exposed to all the inclemency Of
the season. Their naval allies are beaten
back, and the attack must depend alone on
them, while the enemy has most strong
and difficult position. But they never think
for moment of Withdrawing. or giving up
the assault. They have set themselves down
before Fort Donelson to take it, and, like
the sons Of the Pilgrims, as most of them
are, they will not give it up until they have
it. Each common soldier knows that th.
whole course of American history-per-
haps the life of the Union-depends on the
result of those hard fought days. The dead
fall in heaps under the desperate Oussts of
the besieged.
In one regiment but one hundred and sig
teen men came out of the struggle unharm-
ed. One captain reports that of his COM
pany of eighty seven brave men only nine
ever returned. The proportion of officers
killed is immense. The battle is finally de-
cidsd by the bayonet, and position won
which is key to the enemy's intrenchments
The Tennessee regiments have not the
slightest disposition ''to die in the last
ditch" or to meet desperate hand hand
encounter with force whose numbers their
fears have SO exaggerated. They have no
great heart in this ''unholy war;" AMI they
surrender in mass. -e..r=
What our losses are on these glorious
days it is impossible, yet, to say. We learn
that single division-General McClsr-
nand's-counts /, 500 men in killed, wound
ed and missing. 1t is said that almost ev-
cry home in Southern Illinois and Indiana
mourns lost one; and that dark cloud Of
grief hangs over that battlefield to thous
ands of western families.
To the nation. it is the breaking Of morn
ing after a long night of disasters. Fort
Donelson determines the destiny of the
Mississippi Valley, and probably the fate OF
this gigantic rebellion. Plain fathers,
brothers, lovers, sons-went out from prai-
rie farms, and Western workshops, and
counting rooms; and there, in the snow-clad
ravines by the CHAMBERLAIN, each by him
self, offered up life as dear to him as ours
to US, for his country. They sleep in their
shrouds there, that we may enjoy comic IT:
and privileges here. They have borne cold
and frost, and storm; they have met the fury
of the cannon blast; they have charged on
the deadly breach, that we might have fret
and honored government. A thousand
homes are desolate. Gray haired fathers;
sons who are the supports of widowed moth
ers; young men in their prime and youth,
in the first flush of life, have gone forth to
death on that immortal field, that they might
preserve freedom, and justice, and govern
ment, to their countrymen.
@ We should not mourn them. They have
done the noblest thing that man can DO
Without hope of fame or chance of reward
they have sacrificed themselves for Their
country. Their dust will be the seed OF LID
erty. On those silent graves. by the banks
of the Cumberland, will be built up all tns'
our posterity shall enjoy of Order and Gov
eminent, and Union; and future historians
will ascribe to those wintry days of battl,
the success and permanency of great and
glorious Republic. Honor, then, to tn
Western dead! And let us not, in the en-
ioyment OF what those brave men have VOL
for us and their posterity, forget the mourn
ing hearts and desolate homes which Wer
the price of our liberties.