Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-05-29
FrGm the 09d Ohio-.The SlyiFmish near
PearisRurg--The Killed and Wounded Of
the 23ds
~ 6SNP No. Z, Mouth Of East River,
Giles Go. Va, May IL

: I1T aSiP No. 17Monh Of East River,
Giles Co. Va, May II.
Ebs. LEApER ,-
Ny last was dated the 9th from Pearls
q burg or Giles c. H. Then We expected /
. be in Newburn by this time, but we wer
destined to be disappointed, for our rein
forcements not arriving, we were obHge,
to fall back before superior numbers t,
Z within three miles Of this point, where W,
were reinforced by the S0th o. Reg, anC
2 AieMunen's battery of hoWitzsrs vii
give you the skirmish in detail Friday
evening we expected a reinforcement.--
] They had been sent for, as we were in
) hourly expectation Of an attack. At length
. the long looked for approach Of he enemy
was announced. At 81 o'clock Saturday
morning tie advance Of the enemy came
in sight, closely followed by their main
column, between four and five thousand
strong, with five pieces Of Nrtillery--two
3 Founders, two Founders, and one how
itzer, Our mounted riAemen were soon
y. "
acting as skirmishers under cover Of a
fence on the outskirts OF town, Our boys
fired upon them before they were aware Of
our presence. They advanced with three
battalions in line, our boys keeping them
in check until cur little column Of a trife
over 500 were formed in line Of battle to
the rear and right Of the church used By
the rebels and ourselves as q eommissary
department which we burned before we
/ fell back, with all it contained. Abeut
this time the rebels opened upon our skir-
mishbrs with their artillery, throwing shot
and shell In abundance, but doing little or
no damages, as their ardllerymen were,
luckily for us, deterrent In practice. The
/ infantry and mounted men acting as skir-
mishers, slowly retired under heavy. but
Z Ineffective ere, the shell bursting before
they reached within two hundred yards of
/ US. AT this time the enemy were trying
% hank our little band bothlU upon the right
I and left-their whole column of FIVE bat
talions was closing upon as in the form Of
a half moon. =a
But our Lieut.-COl., R. B. Hays, now in
command Of the regiment, who is alWays
I ready for an emergency, saw their inten-
y tiOns and ordered retreat, our rihemen
L HhNNHlAk AAElAN NNCEA MlNdnMHlL1 nNa an
i effective FIRE; we quickly fell back, Colonel
Hays bringing up the rear with the rife
men covering US. We went on double
I quick for about a half mile to pass a ra-
vine where the road wound around 50 "a
bring US under 3 TakiRg fire; but we we're
too late, g enemy had reached the upper
end Of the rayine and planted one Of their
heaviest pieces. Soon their shells came
thick and fast but doing but lite damage.
Soon we turned bend in the road aud
we were out Of range. We fell back tothe
bridge across Wolf Greek, five miles from
town, and halted for a rest. Half an hour
later we again fen back TO the pass called
The NarrOws. Here company A deployed
as skirmishers upon the side Of the noun
tain with instructions TO hold the place if
we could. We laid among the rocks for
upwards Of an hour, most of us during
that time taking forenoon nap. We were
orderedfrom this place to'a another a half a
mile farther down the road, where we Z
again deployed upon the side Of the noun
tain commanding the road. After half an ]
hour spent in cracking jokes, a battery
opened on us from the opposite side Of New
river. The rebels had boats brought from 1
sheOpposite shore by their aCcompHoes, and
Immediately sent a battery of two guns |
across to play upon US as we fell back
Our boys engaged the battery, and at one
time we silenced them, but they soon open
ed on US again, throwing shell and grape |
too fast and thick for asjand we were obig-
ed TO again fall back. We were soon out
Of range and commenced sharp-shooting
with their skirmishers across the river
Our Enfeld's proved too much for them,
for they soon learned to respect them, and
took considerable pains % keep out Of |
range; but occasionally one would venture |
down to get a chance shot, when he would !
get tumbled over. -5...a Ir=e ssE
/" Our loss, So far as I can ascertain, Is ten
killed, wounded and missing. have not
ascertained the names Of but two or three
and they are ps follows: H. Tenny, Com |
pany B, from Geneva, O., killed Sergeant
Major Reynolds, slightly wounded by
piece Of shell on the back Of the head: he |
is now doing duty. Inqour company Che |
casualties are as follows: I. Hunt, struck |
on the ankle by . piece Of she'll bruised |
slightly; James Mitchell, skin broke on |
forearm by piece of she'll T. Conners !
had his cap knocked off byR piece of shell, !
struck at the same time on the head BY a |
bullet Several others were struck by
spent balls but no one disabled One of
our boys, Fagerdine, had bullet from a
shell pass through one side Of his cap and
lodge therein. The boys behaved like vet
erans There was nc. confusion, nor could
there be any confusion where Lieut. Col
Hays or MajorICOmley is in command. AT
every report Of a cannon the boys would
point out 10 where the shell had bursted in
the air, making exclamations-ad t that
look |" "There goes anotherp 81 wish Nc /
MCllen's boys we're here, they would show
them how to throw SHELF Col RIB. HAYS,
is, in the estimation of the BOYS. another
Sigel. The retreat was conducted in the
best manner possible. Nobody seemed in
a hurry. Ali the time that we were under
fire the boys throughout the battalion were
continually joking AID laughing, all in Che
best Of spirits, making remarks something
as follows: "Ihe rebel Ecamps are most
cohfounded careless with their fireworks.
At one time the bullets came like hail, de-
ing no damage most Of them passing over
and the rest falling short. II would
amuse you TO hear the boys talk, something
as follows: 81 don't care for shell now. II
used to fear them" "By jingo, want 1t
fun to. hear them come buzz bing, and see
the bows fall down, then get up aud call
on the secesh for more, ana more they
gaveus without being ia the least niserly.
Our boys, need hardly mention, wasted
little or no ammunition but made nearly
every shot tell The enemy's loss is re-
ported BY citizens and eontrabAnds to be
ssiEty killed and seighty wounded. We are
now lying gqfe,ly y n camp awaiting orders
from headquarters Our regiment to a
bman are ready to 20 forward, and are
ready to follow Lieut.. Col Hays wherever
he chooses 70 lead. He has the entire con-
fdenes Of the regiment. have Just learned
that the rebels had six pieces Of cannon.