Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1862-04-24

Inc awful uusH WHICH pIcCcutu tue
charge, you cannot conceive. could not
breathe. Presently came the order, and
with a cheer the boys went on, the gallant
Stoughton ten PAGES in advanced
From every one of Motifs eighty can
non darted tongue of fire, and with a
howl like that of all the fiends of hell let
loose, one hundred pounds of iron leaped
towards the rebel front. They are silent
as yet--a stiffness as OF the grave is in
their works, which look as deserted as
the streets of Tadmor Of the wilderness.
This bodies i'll Yet with straining eyes
in the glory OF sunset we gaze after our
comrades, and see the cleaning colors dis
appear in the covert, beyond which is the
felled timber. Henceiorward, we can see
no more. All at once we know what has
befallen, for we hear peal on peal of mus
kerry, from the rebel fort, mingled with
the shrek of shell-for in the gathering
twilight they need fear no more the
deadly sting of Berdau's bullets. Pres
entity we can see coming across the plain a
figure, crawling on his belly; as it nears,
we can make out the man. He brings
bad news. He has been ordered to
crawl back as best he could. He says
they are in retreat, with many wounded
and many killed; that Capt. Atherton ia
terribly wounded. All this time the bat
teries have been playing, and the clearing
is sheet Of flame, and the roar of the
guns would have drowned the thunder of
tic iercest storm that ever ragged, 1t
was ike hell and nothing else. In the
midst Of this came an order for litter
" til eigj. men to be sent for Captain
AT ION. | was all ready to start, when
it was countermandcd Had it not been,
tb, chances are all the world to nothing,
should not have written this. | was
perfectly willing to go, but my judgment
told me it was worse than useless II was
not long before | grasped VS. hand,
in whose return l rejoiced more than can
tell yOu-for all that dreadful time | had
been thinking Of the young mother in the
New Hampshire hills, nursing the little
boy its father has never seen. Now came
an order obeyed at once-to cross the
field to another point, and meet the Cap
tain. | was under weigh in less than
a minute The balls whistled fizorons,"
assure you, past my ears, and could mt
help ducking like a goose under a gate,
| $50 did all the rest, too.) Ever and anon
a she'll would howl past me-but at the
double-quick, | soon reached the place,
and was reJoiced to find the Captain good
deal better than [ could have hoped.
| soon started him of, and was called
back to three more. One stone-dead,
wounded in the head; another lust
breathing, and the third dangerously hit.
We could find no ambulance, and so were
forced to carry these on filters to the
building selected for depot. Here the
scene beggars description. From cellar
to garnet every floor was within half an
hour filed as close a: the could liz with
wounded men. No space here for the
dying or the dead--they needed no other
shelter than the soft covering sky, which
looked as unconscious of the horrid work
as the sea in repose, Of its yesterday
wreck.
went about work at once. ana soon
finished all could do for our own men
who were there, and began to helm the
9th, who then seemed to have suffered
most.
Here let me 90 back. Col. S.. with
one OF his classmates, Lieut.. Bowen. of
the Typographical Engineers, and Can't.
fratt, were the last off the field - the
Colonel, noble as he is brave, brippino a
wounded man upon his back Never did
Drawer men rush blindfold to their death
than our boys in that sunset charge. II
was as wild as the deIirium of fever; vet
they went forward smiling and came
back without murmur, and will take it
again tomorrow, if it be ordered. | am
proud OF them, and proud to be one of
them Our Adjutant behaved nobly.-
Three times he crossed the plain under
fire, once in the charge, then to take a
message to the General, and returned to
assist in bearing Atherton off the field.
While we were doing this, the Sixth
were charging nobly, though in vain, on
the other side and suffered, as you have
heard, dreadfully. Before this the Third
had with three companies done the fiat of
the day, crossed the creek, taken two of
the eneny's riAe-pits, held them for half
an hour, when, not being supported, they
were compelled to retire, with p dead
| and over 20 wounded
1t was long past midnight before 1
found time to lie down, and when I did
1t was with no cover but blanket, and
within thirty yards of one of Motifs '12-
Founders, which you may imagine, being
fired every haIf-hour, broke me of my
rest, but it didn't, for in the morning I
was ready to swear it was not fred after
one; while Col. Worthen, up all night
with fatigue party, sad it was fred
regularly at that interval. Morning
came, and with it we were relieved from