Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1862-05-14

II WAS now my turn, aift thtu1 from TIE
movement, he fired no more guns We
stood there til they came with thirty
yards OF US when we had to fall back, rs
they outnumhered Us fully five to one and
they fought like demons We fell back
fighting all the time They followed, and
ffanked Us both rirht and left, cross firing
on us all the time was hit with a spent
ball in the side, bat as it struck my belt,
it did me no injury.
The fight still ragged on every hand =
They pressed US so hard on the right and
lett, that we We're compelled to fall back
or be taken prisoners, The rebels kept
sending in fresh troops, and crowding us
on very hard. Our men began to be dis
couraged, and regiments were scattered
in every direction. Many of our men
were on the bank Of the river, and would
not move back an inch Some SWAN the
river, and few were drowned in attempt
ing it, others were fighting desperately
Our men drove them back on the right
On the left we had retreated to within
halt mile of the river. Here we had
three batteries In good position, and we
determined TO make desperate stand and
drive them back or die Our regiment
now mustered lis men. Our place was
jast in the rear Of the principle battery
| There was part Of regiment on the right
and part of another on the left, and ten
! or fifteen thousand all in disorder betwee
US and the river, that would not budge an
inch to help US. Capt King made a
| short speech, asking them, for Gods sake,
to come and help US defend that battery,
our last chance 4 few rallied to its sur
port just then word came that BUELL.
had arrived with achievements, and in a
few moments we heard their music as
| they were crossing the river, and if there
ever was rejoicing, we rejoiced then, and
! three such cheers as went up then and
! there, are not often given. 1t was now
between shutdown and dark The rebels
threw a heavy force in on the left and
made desperate effort to take the bat
teries, evidently with Il determination to
get possession of the landing, in which
case we might have been forced to sur
render ur whole force.
Capt. aines made 4 short speech and
told us to give them the cold steel, ana I'D
he would leave every man OF tn 5Oth on
the field before they should take that bat
terry We all felt about the 5 M w3v-
On came the rebels in full force Just
then one OF the gun boats eot in range,
and began to play on them. They opened
their battery on Us and we returned the
compliment We had Is guns-three
different batteries. 1t VAS now cont:n-
ual, deafninc, deaden;n< roar of artillery
| We bad our 64-rounder that womld come
in about three times a minute above all
the rest al the battery guns. throwing a
perfect stream Of fire for forty feet The
Guns from the Loats then came in above
a. the rest, throw n shell over oar heads.
b rs time TIER Il sntry opened on the
ha ter, n the resi ne 1t IN h ri54 t o
Us began 10 wtver bnt the OF :,rs. with
drawn pistols, rallied them. never saw
men work as the artiIleriSts did then
Just then the rebels came up on our lett
and opened a cross fire. Every man of
Us 1--WE had been lying on the ground)
raised with bavonet fixed, nd thought
our time had come But the gunhoats
opened thick and fast The artillery
whirled in an instant and akcd them fore
and aft They retreated just then Blu
ellis men began to come up, and we felt
that the day was ours. In a short time
the firing ceased for the first time since
4 clock in the morning There had not
been moment for over twelve hours but
what there was a continual roar of mus
kerry and cannon do not think such
an instance was ever known before
\ little .fter dark it began to rain, and
in short time it came down in torrents.
We remained in line of battle ill about
, clock in the morning. Buells forces
were crossing all night, and he said he
would whip them before night or drive
them to perdition. At = o CLOCK we were
relieved by Buelfs men. We could not
sleep, for the gunboats kept throwing
shells all night
Before daylight on Monday morning
we were aroused by the boom of cannon.
Our men now commenced the attack, and
drove the rebels over the ground we had
lost the day before, but they were strong
ly reinforced, and fought for life or death.
but it was of no use We took our artil-
lerv back and many of their guns also
About i clock, p. NJ, hey commenced
retreat in good order and preserved 1T
about four miles, bat our cavalry, infantry
and artillery followed them so close that
in q short time there was Il general stam-
pede We had fresh troops, and they took
many prisoners They took just about
1000 Of our men on Sunday, but we took
a good many Of chem back on Monday.
We got our Lieut. Col. back
To pass over the battle field the most
horrible sight is presented have been
over but a small part of it since the fight,
but have seen enough. Some OF their
. L -, IL