New-York daily tribune., 1862-05-13
syamrv oroupd. Before daylight heavy down.
80 ~ "a ,;n act IN from the northeast.

.o,'nnn;ca,ed 20 Hein.zeman his purpose to com.
,1ence the attack Immediately, the iatf"r VINO n'iu
,d.r.d Tho latter TO post his division imnediaeiv
an The I.ft-tbe ground thai Sumner should nave
occuuied with Lis large command. lie oio .s:, nG'
no nst,n,Iv seut back for re-enorcements an1cpa'
;ny that Simmer would be repulsed. lie did nvre
vcI-did his duty TO the army ana tDe caare, ny
sending one Of his aids TO the ifon', 'oy ~ Jav
that Gsn. Hooker would at ack the enemy oa!'
break on the left and to suggest 70 him 70 Geier nv
own attack in the center till that time. 1ne ara
limited faithfully for Sumner through the tangled
forest for over an hour, and then returned ana
reported him non est ,arentW. IL was no' W We
wondered at-for 40 dense were tho wooIs' "nu ..aT
dense wa the dark, that Sumner, with DIE stah,
had even run against the enemys picke's aDd ~ele
fred on Fortunately, none OF them were Killed.
More fortunately yet, his regiments mircelng ln.o
the wood, and coming upon each other IN 'pe nn ~
gloom, did not commence destructive va.sio a. Va
Union trvops upon Union troops. Ine ln.emhs ,hs
and dscipline OF American private soldiers saved tne
army from bonibIs disaster. More yet-M tno
conference between Sumner. Heintzenlan, heyee,
Stonemsp. Smith and Hancock, Gen. Heinfzelmah,
I am assured refused TO offer suR2esuoh uh'I
had been made and insisted upon one
being made. L. was not ordered. Night Iel, ~
have said before ere the preparations by Sumner Ior
his attack had been made, and before his regime nts
disappeared in the woods. At the time u was evi-
dent To the cOnmOnest teanrter In the army 'n"'
upon the narrow and wretched road from iorS'o"h'
choked with cavalry, infantry, artillery ana Wagons
supulies of food ard re-ent0rcemehts oi men, aye,
and supplies Of ammunition even, couid NOT pe g"'
no in time for use before mex. noon. an
Nonday-A chill northeast rain storm was III Iu'i
sweep over the country. Sumner did not conlie":e
the attack which be had spent the night before NJ
wandering through the forest to make, bat DC com,
m.nced a Conference Hentzelnan earnestly advised
N reconnaissance. 1t WAS ordered WINE IN pro.
ptess from east to west, the officers conducting IT
sent back word that on the enenys extreme iei'
were two unoccuped forts, part OF ohaih s're..h
ing away ACROSS, below Williamsburg. Neei".'
accidentally az headquarters, offered 10 gnde 10 10
them by road which wss in par, mill dain sum-
ner I'M mated that he should wait Ill The recohoi
sapce was finished before he acted On heih'zei-
mans suggestion that in the mean ti'ne the en- my
mi sht occupy these forts, Haocock was ordered 10
pour his troops into them Tbs ld lle iauno,,o.,
of The victory Of Williamsburg Freed no" az
head quarters, and alarmed by tie heaylness OF the
battery firing from hookers divii on, iieniIe'Nan
Instantly went 10 the nearest practicable rOad 10 hs
uoitiou aud ujout O'Clock found the galian, Oen'
.ral sor,ly pressed and in great daDetf Hooker III
1ured for the re-eDforceneDts he ai sent LOT, oy
raih through tie woods oply mile long-sen, 70
ienizelman for. HE written message was received
ana read by Sumner soon after iieintlenan ieit
hend1uarters. HeintLlenan Instantly sent two or
derI.s with another message TO Sumner Tor portion
Of Ls 80 OO0-sent twO, 90 tba, II ore Was KILLED me
The rear 10 hurry MP the march Of the briga1es
noundering through the mud. Officer after officer lie
sent TO the resr on this painfully ANXIOUS u lsslon-
TIL he was freq quently wholly alone on the held
told Yesterday how ne encouraged the troolh-h0w
he rallied and led back broken companies-bow he
gathered the fragments Of TWO bands oil music, api
willie awaiting lhe coming Of the re-eniofcements
from Sumner his right or from out OF tne Hud all
the rear animated the dropping courage OF Hooker
oufnnlnbered and almost oyer-mastered men, WIN
Yankee Doodle and the " Star Slansled Banner.
To fe rcpe0td Uess1ges h sent tO Simmer for 0fd,
h, cot NO repfv w10tsrcr. At oclo X, and not be-
fore Sumner ordered Hancock TO Tho front. Before
= Berry mad come up with his brigade, and saved IFS
IRON the mos, imminent ruin that has lowered upon
our cause since Bull Run
The Thousands WHO unnecessarily wear mourning
in the North AID West, for onr victory at Williams
burg will now understand the causes Of the terrible
mortality which accompanied tho demonstration
OF our superiority TO these barbariaDs To further
elnedate tbem-regsrd the plan Of the field, and see
where the Yorktown road comes upon the cOrn-feld,
directly in front OF the FASHIONED Fort Msgruder.
That was our direct liue 10 Williamsburg. 1he
,,panpy ,coods on both sides a mule doep, the
abattis of fallen shout 500 feet deep; beyond
that were riae-fis away round the horse.shoe-
shaped plain; beyond them were batteries OF flying
artillery; then Magruder, beyond alf vouiiing
shell, canister, snd grape. In that mile depth OF
thick woods HeiDtzelman and Hooker, and their
brave comrades, fought the principal part OF the bat
,e It was principally there. that 10 the long strng
gle from clock IN the morning till clock IN the
Afternoon 5000 men held their own against =, Co.,
Bot the battle ragged with desperate courage on the
edge Of the woods in front OF the abattis In the n
fernal sbattis i@ef, aud Mropgh ~ up TO the rife
piis, and beyond them, and finally, with triumph
into ono 1 the forts. Tho only ground on
which we could use artillery small
angle Of the corn field, where the road debouche-
upon the plain and which our infantry ha cleaned
OF the Rebels 20 admit Of our guuners wading with
their pieces into position. No sooner were these un
lmbered, than men and horses bes,an TO iall-the
recoiI of the guns soon buried them almost 10 tie
bubs In the soft eartb-down went more men and
more horsef-tIe enemy made dash al the bat
trries and they lost. The sSsisiance IIeint2e
man received from kearneys Division, enabled HIM
to do what he had vainly tried and hoped 10 do, all
day-to attack in faux. Tne 18th and 10th New
York charged through the abbatus upon the nile
piis and threw the Rebels out with their bsyonets in
double quick. Berrys charge at the same Tine all
along the front feiled part oi the dispute between
the North and the South. The Rebels were whip
ped.
Now this was purely an infantry 6sht And how
well Uookcr's DIVISION did hyht Those much
sbused-those wioDged, derded, aud suspected Fire
Zousves-the Sickles Bngade-tbey were heroes all.
Every man OF them had reason 10 be proud oi the
organization have just returned from the spot where
Lieut. Col. Lewis Benedict, jr., was last seen IL is
ia the deusest heart OF the abatts, and olose front
Of the rife pits The bark OF the trunk and branches
Of the trees is checkered white with masket bullets
and craze. Standing up TO his full hight, and way
ing his men forward with his pistol, he was heard
10 shout, "FgLJ men fight to the laot y The idea
prevailing his regiment u.s. that he got to the front
that charge drove his men back, shat he was too
brave and too proud " run-that he WAS captured
for his exchangeable value instead of being killed.
negro woman saw him on bis way to Richmond
next morning, leaning the shoulders Of two
soldiers and walking lamely. Ont Of his regl-
nfaIn and
pants, and - privates were killed; "a privates
wrre wounded. 81 are missing and their