, 1862-10-09
THE REBEL 1CCOUNT OF THE
BATTLE OF -ANTIE7ANE.
4 Rebel Victory Claimed


The southern public are indebted to "Ptr-
eopne," the army correspondent Of the
Charleston Courier, for the most graphic
sketches Of the operations Of our armies
which haEe appeared in print. But for his
contributions to the Courier, We should have
been under the necessity Of relying upon the
nc1thern press for details Of battlea. or await
ing, for months, the publication OF formal OIL
tic1al reports. In the Courier OF the Sytn uit.,
wc find his account OF the battle OF Sha-ps-
tracts. Personnel estimates that the
Yankee force engaged in this battle was neatly
200 GOO, and doubts II We carried iuto the
battle more than 10,00o men! What lie.
--ED.1
TIE FIGHT ON THE LEFT
With the first break Of daylight the heavy
pounding Of the enc,ny'a guns on their right
announced the battle had begun, aud for an
hour the sullen booming was uninterrupted
by auEht save their own echoes. Mcclellan
had initiated the atrack. Jackson and Law
ton Commanding EwelIs division) )-Aways
in 1ne-h6d come rApidly forward during Inc
night, aud were in position on our extreme
lett. What a strange strength and confidence
We all felt in the prt sence Of the man, 'Stone-
u vall'' Jacks On. Between 6 and Z o'clock the
tyacrals advanced q large body Of sllirmisher5,
ana shortly after the 1nsln body OF the enemy
wss hurled against the division Of Gen Law
| tun. The fre now became fearful and ancts-
! SAINT What were 1t first distinct notes, clear
and consecutive, merged into 2 tumulruons
| clo1lls t1Rt mAIc lh: cath trcMb'e- III. dis
c:'aree Of E:uske11y sounded upon the ear
| like Ite rolling II 4 thousand distant drains,
| sud EVER ana anou the peculiar yelts Of our
| buys told us OF sc,ne aayantage- We who
| were upon The centre could s3e little or 1oIh-
| ing OF this portion Of The battle, bat from
| tie dense pail oi smoke that hing above the
| sc*rs. VIC kncT too we'll That pioody work
| VII: going On.
| Til: 3ederals cutnumbered Us three to one.
Th.i1 best troops were concen1rated upon
this single t4i,;r1 TO turn our left and for Two
hor-s and half the tide of battle ebb@d and
flowed alte.:.at.ly against u.s. still CIR boys
fought desperately, perhaps Us tasy nsssf f
a"2y before the i:oz: etora:, the gron:.d was
covered with tue wounded aud dead. ESeli'd
old tis1>ion, nycri'owercc BY st2tr;or nun.
br1s, gave back Hood, with his Texans, tae
18Th GeoTsis. aud the Hampton Legion,
rnsnee into 1re t.:p AID rrtSi-ved tue loss.
Ewell's men, rallylng OF this supoott returned
10 the fight, end adding tnefr weight to thai
VI the fresh and enthusiastic troops, the enc
1ny il turn wesc driven back Reinforced
they made another desperate effort on the tx
trcmc left, and here again WAS repetition q
The scenes have described. For i Time the.
| f1snked us, and our men retired slowly, fight
/ ing OVER every inch of ground. It was try
ing hour. The federals saw their advantsgg gge
2 aud pressed it with yigor. Eight batterie
| were II Iuu p4ag upon uE, 3uU LIZ u1A u acaa
guns, whissllng and bursting Of shells, aa
' the roar Of musketry, was almost deafening.
l At this juncture, Lee ordered to the SUP
= port Of jackson the division ofGen. NcL1ws
which had been held in reserve And b1essin
\ never came more cpportuuely. Our men ha
fought until not only they but their anua'tio
|. we've well nigh exhausted, and discomtslr
t stared them in the face But. thus encon'
:. oged, every man rallied, and the fight was r,
y doubled In its Intensity. Splenaidly handl=-
l. tGe reinforce:nents swcps on like ~ays. J.
+ rlo~s FILLING thick and last upoo the aud
" c,ous column that had SO stnbtornl
e forced their way to the position on which VI
| originally commenced Ihe battle. Aaaf q
hour later and the enemy were retrearing. 4
It oitc point VT pursued for nearly mile, au
.e last night a portion OF our troops Oh the le
> slept on YaIkec ground. Tue success, thong
y not decisive as compared with our usual !
s. suits, was complete as it was possible to mai
o- it in view of the peculiar circumstances IS
- tt c battle and The topography of the countr
er Certain It is, that alter the cessation Of t
If tight at l05@ o'clock. the Yankees did 20: ,
new it aeain at this point during the ia
n They had been defeated, and all they could
D. til. rea3tcr, was to prevent US from 1epeatl'
49, in turn the experiment which they had 8
Ii tempted On our line It was, beyond {
r. doubt, the most horly contested tie
on which battle has taken place duri
the war.
n, TIE FIGHT CroS TIE CENTRE