Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-08-28

,rookrp csrrx. Va. Ave. Il,b. 1867

~
sns's brave sons were engaged in the late
terrific battle Of Cedar Mountain. and il is
hardly probably shss your readers will 8
wait the list Of casualties with anxious
hearts:-fearing the name of some dear
fr;ena or relative may appear among the
victims. As one Of the most terrible and
bloody engagements Of the war. however
il interests the entire nation. and "a &C.
count by one who: although not partici'
pant. had some chance to know the truth.
may be ofsome interest to Jour resdsrs.
The corps Of Gen. Sigsl received orders
on the eve Of the 9Th inst. to make fore
cd march to Culpeppcr. as the rebels had
CROSSED the Rspidsn in large force and our
advance hal fallen back before them
We reached Cslpepper about daylight but
everything remained quiet. except brisk
cannonading Of some fifteen minutes near
now. until after 3 o'clock P. NJ, when the
corps of Gen. Banks. who occupied the
advance. commenced Smelling the enemy.
After the artillery Of either side had been
several times reinforced. Gen. Banks or.
dered the Brigade Of Gen. Prince to chsrgt
upon an enfilads battery which the enemy
were using against us with terrible effect
This. Gen. Prince attempted to do. but af'
ter three efforts and finding the battery sup
ported by more than thrible his owr
strength. he ordered his men to fall back
out of reach of their murderous fire.
Troops never behaved with more gallantry
and when the final orders were given tc
fall back to their former positions. the
remnants of this brave corps retired in q.
good order s. If they were executing some
msneuver in Division Drill. instead OIL
leaving . CORY, hard fought battlefield
where hundreds of their comrades had fall
len fresh victims to this hellborn, hell
bound rebellion.
The enemy occupied one Of the strong.
est positions l have seen during the war
and We further laborsd undsred the disad
vantage Of fighting against largely superi
or numbers. The corps of Gen. Banks
was the only troops we had engaged. while
the rebels had at least forty thousand men
in the action. Ths engagement lasted from
near o'clock till twilight. and the slaugh
ter on both sides was terrible. Gen
Pope's entire command was within sever
miles Of the battle ground. and had hi,
available force been thrown forward
"Stonewall Jackson" would have been
compelled to succumb to greatly superior
numbers. but instead or this one corp.
fought against terrible odds. and although
we did not sustain . defeat, there was
certsinly nothing gained.
The balance of the army moeed forward
Oh Saturday night and took up a position
as twas generally thought. to act on the
morrow. either in the offensive or defen.
sive. Nothing was done on Sunday. how.
ever. except some unimportant skirmish
ing by Gen. Milroy's Brigade. which re-
suited in keeping the rebel scouting par
ties out Of reach Of our sharp shooters.
On Monday morning some two regi.
ments Of Milroy's Brigade went out armed
with spales and picks to bury our dead.
and as soon ss the enemy saw by our sm.
balances. and not very hostile appearance
that we meditsted no mischief they dis.
played white ocket hasdkerchief and
unexpectedly, and almost before the ides
was entertained by any one. Gems. Bsysrd
and Milroy Of tho Federsls. and Gen
Stewart. Confederate. hsd met and an ar.
mistice was agreed upon until both parties
could remove their wounded and bury Tho
deal. This, we accomplished early in ths
evening having buried five hundred and
eighty Of our dead. the majority of whom
were killed in the bsyonsnt charges hav,
before referred to.
By IN early reconnaissance on Tuesday
morning. va found that the rebels hat
skedaddled. leaving only few piekets AM
cavalry patrols to deceive us Is long o,
possible. Gen. Milroy was in no way
tardy in getting permission to follow them
but they had made good their escape ant
only . few strsgglers. who appeared very
willing to make the exchange. fell int
our hands. In q strip Of woods the rebel
would not permit Us to visit the day pre-
vious, we found the dead bodies Of Owe
one hundred rebels they had left unburied
Twill be remembered that the rebels hat
possession Of this ground on Sunday ant
Mondsy beside the moon gave suficien
light on either night for fatigue parties I.
perform nearly % we'll - BY day light
Thus Il Is conclusive that sithc- the enc
my were guilty Of the most cruel and cul
pable neglect toward their dead comrades
else they had so many they could not at
tend TO them. From the most reliable in
formation | .sn gather believe their los
exceeded eight hnndssd in killed and 6f
teen hundred wounded. Our loss was 81,