Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-02-07


ed, firmly clenching their sword.hits, with
quick tramp of hoofs and clang of steel
honor leading and glory awaiiing them, the
young soldiers flew forward, each brave
rider and each straining sieed members of
one huge creature, enormous, Terrible, ire
sistible.
'Twere worth ten years q lisc
One glance at their array"
I They pass the fair-ground.i They are at
the corner of the lane whereihe wood be-
4 gins. 1t runs close to the fence on their
left for a hundred yards, and beyond itthey
see white tents cleaning. They are half
way past the forest, when, sharp and loud
volley of musketry bursts espn the head
of the column; horses stagger, riders reel
and fall, but the troop presses forward un-
dismayed. The farther corner Of the wood
is reached and Zagonyi beholds the ter
rble array. Amazed, he inyoluntarily
4 checks his horse. The rebels are not sur
prised. There to his left they stand crown
ing the height, foot and horse ready to in
| gulf him. if he shall be rash enough to 90
on. The road he is following declines rap
4 idly. There is but one thing to do,-run
the gauntlet, gain the cover of the hill and
charge up the steep. These thoughts pass
quicker than they ran be told. He waves
his sabre over his head, and shouting, "For-
ward follow me quick trot! gallop .
he dashes headlong down the stony road.
The first company and most of the second
follow. From the left thousand muzzles
belch forth a kissing food of bullets: the
poor fellows clutch wildly at the air and
/ fall from their saddles, and maddened horses
throw themselves against the fences. Their
| speed is not for an instant checked; farther
! down the hill they fly, like wasps driven by
the leaden storm. Sharp volleys pour out
Of the underbrush at the left, clearing wide
gaps through their ranks. They leap the
brook take down the fence, and draw up
under the shelter of the hill. Zagonyi looks
around him, and to his horror sees that on
ly fourth Of his men are with him. He
cries, They do not come-we are lost F"
and frantically waves his sabre.
He has not long to wait. The delay Of
the rest of the Guard was not from hesita-
ton. When Captain Foley reached the
/ lower corner of the wood and saw the enc
mys line, he thought flank attack might
be advantageousfy made. He ordered some
Of his men to dsmount and take down the
fence. This was done under a severe fire.
Several men fell, and he found the woods
so dense that it could not be penetrated.
Looking down the hill, he saw the flash of
Zagonyis sabre, and at once gave the or
der, /" Forward" At the same time, Lieu
tenant Kennedy, a stalwart Kentuckian,
shouted, Come on, boys remember old
Kentucky !" and the third company of the
Guard, fire on every side of them-from
behind trees, from under fences-with thun-
dering strides and loud cheers, poured down
the slope and rushed to the side Of Zagon-
yi They have lost seventy dead and
wounded men, and the carcasses of horses
are strewn along the lane. Kennedy is
wounded in the arm and lies npon the stones,
his faithful charger standing motionless be-
side him. Lieutenant Goff received a
wound in the thigh; he kept his seat, and
cried out, The devils have hit me, but
will give it to them yet"
The remnant of the Guard are now in
the field under the hill, and from the shape
of the ground the rebel fire sweeps with
the roar of whirlwind over their heads.
Here we will leave them for moment, and
trace the fortunes or the Prairie Scouts.
When Foley brought his troop to halt,
Captain Fairbanks, at the head Of the first
company of Scouts was at the point where
the first volley of musketry had been re-
ceived. The narrow lane was crowded by
dense mass of struggling horses, and filled
with the tumult of battle. Captain Fair
banks says, and he is corroborated by sew
eral of his men who were near, that at this
moment an officer of the Guard rode up to
him and said, - They are flying; take your
men down that lane and cut off their re-
treat, t,"-pointing to the lane at the left
! Captain Fairbanks was not able to identify
the person who gave this order. 1t GER
+ tainly did not come from Zagonyi, who was
several hundred yards farther on. Cap
tain Fairbanks executed this order, follow
eddy the second company of Prairie Scouts,
under Captain Kehoe. When this move
ment was made, Captain Naughton with
the Third Irish Dragons, had not reached
the corner of the lane. He came up at a
gallon, and was about TO follow Fairbanks,
when be saw Guardsman who pointed in
the direction in which Zagonyi had gone.
He took this for an order and obeyed it.
When he reached the gap in the fence made
by Foley, not seeing anything of the Guard,
be supposed they bad passed through at
that place, and gallantly attempted TO fol-
low. Thirteen men fell dead in few min
u,es. lie was shot in the arm and dis
n. n I :.