The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1862-01-30

RI niecos Int .Le lnderbrush was 50 thick
thot bovo,ats were ofbut little use,and charge
could hardly have been made.
,r,,,rp THE BA7TLE-THE ADVANCE TO zoL-
IICOFFEBS CAMP.
Our course was now steadily forwarded
to the main road that led 20 Zollicofier's en-
campment on the Cumberland. | shall not at
tempt to describe the battlefield, the dead or
the dying Of course in all battles somebody
must be wounded thi, was no exception to the
general rule. / shall mention only one Of the
dead-that one ZOllicOffer. He lay by the side
of the road along which we all passed, and all
had fair view Of what was once Zolhcotfer. / |
saw the lifeless body it lay III a fence corner
by the side Of the road.
The march was now steadily but cautiously |
forward Two pieces of artillery were taken; one |
was crippled in the woods near the battle ground |
and the other was found suck in the mud abouS
& mile in the rear; also two wagons with ammu-
milton. No incident worth mentioning occurred |
on the march which was delibe rately but stead
iIY forward with the artillery well up, until
final halt was made about half past four within |
a mile of the breastwCTks of the famous fortif- |
cations of the Cumberland which have been re-
ported impregnable. Here the artillery was
again planted and set to work Smelling the won
derful Notifications and a continuous fire was
kept up for nearly an hour. Every shell that
There was only one cannon that answered US
from the breastworks, and that one sounded
more like potatCe pop gun than anything
else / can likcn it to- and did us no damage, as
the shot never reached us. This one piece was
only fired four times. Night closed in and the
firing ceased. We all laid down on the wet
ground, in perfect security, to rest weary
limbs, the distance we had come being over ten
miles.
WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE DESERTED CAMP.
On the morning of the goth, soon after day
light, several of the Regiments were moved for
" ard toward the breastworks, and a cannon
ball or two fred over into them but no answer
was made-all was quiet. The Regiments NOV.
ed steadily on and into their Notifications it be-
! ing ascertained that there was one to oppose
! them. The enemy having crossed the river
during the night or early in the morning, the
routw as complete. 1t seems as though there
was perfect panic among them their tents hav
ing been left standing and their blankets, clothes
cooking utensils, letters, etc, all left behind
Here were ALL n9arly all of their wagons some
twelve or fifteen hundred horses and mules ,har-
ness, saddles, sabres, guns ; III fact everything.
Il was complete stampede, and by far the most
disastrous defeat the Southern Confederacy has
| yet met with Ten pieces of cannon, with Gals
sons, are also here. To all appearances, they
seem to hav9 completely lost their senses, having
! Out one ODJeCJ III view. ana Jnat 10 run some
where and hide themselves.
! GEN. sHoEPF's BRIGADR-THEY HEAR THE
ROAR OF BATTLE AND FLY TO THE RELIEF.
The Somerset correspondent of The Cincin-
natl Gazette says that Gen. Shoepf hearing that
Thomas was advancing up the road from Col
umbia, sent out portion of his brigade to join
forces on Friday, but the men being unable to
| ba LIvCDnol,oI III I,,;,
! miles distant and returned to Somerset on
Saturday.
| Sunday morning came, dark aud rainy-a fit
/ day for Sabbath battle. At SIX minutes before
eight o'clock we heard the first boom of cannon.
| The battle was evidently raging somewhere
near General Thomas camp. The cannonadinp
continued. with but brief pauses, and then
ceased. We waited i'll suspense for two hours
more, but no news. The widest rumors began
! to circulate. About noon messenger arrived
from Gen. Thomas His first words we're
Hurrah, Zolly's dead He sought the Gene
raj and i'll moment out rushed Shoeptf, bare
headed and jubilant; Munoz, go and tell the
18th, 35th 38th and 3lst to prepare to march,
instantly. Instantly he repeated in his quick,
decisive way. We hurried back to camp. The
boys had not eaten their dinners yet They
were tired with Saturdays march, They had
no meat for breakfast. There Were no crackers
and only corn meal to make bread of and no
time to prepare it. But it made no difference.
The only anxiety was lest Thomas should drive
the enemy over the river before we could get
down. Boys sick in the hospitals hurried out
to get their muskets. Our Regiment which could
not have brought out three hundred men for
dress parade, marched five hundred strong to
battle, and one company gone bo tgpsjgaA e-road
to Stanford 1t tine same WITH an yIie rest
Of the brigrde. Colonies Bradley and Vande-
vier left their sick rooms where thew had been
! lying dangerously i'll Tor weeks, to head their
| Regiments.
| We reached Fishing Creek in an hour and
half. 1t was running breast high and the cur
rent very swift. There was no time to bridge
it. A rope was stretched across. The men
strapped their cartridge boxes upon their shout
ders and, with one haRl holding their gun locks
out Of the water and the other clnging to the
rope to keep themselves from being swept down
the stream, they pressed across. All the horses
and mules that could be found were put in re-
QUESTION for teniage. But IT was night when
the last man was over. Four miles march
brought Us TO Gen. Thomas camp. All along
the road we heard the report Of Gen Zollicofer's
death. The country people who have suffered
from his lawless soldiery or feared their ravas
ges, were wild with delight. One old woman on
the road exclaimed, &" I've got two children in
the fight but don't trouble myselfa about them.
| IN so glad LollcOftGr Is dead"
After leaving the camps we pushed on our
road toward the enemy. We passed through the
battlefield in the night. Two corpses lay by the
roadside, and our men stumbled over them in
the darkness. We could see nothing more at
that time.
The road which had been bad enough before,
now became frightful. The boys, worn out by
fatigue and hunger, one by one dropped down
by the wayslde TO sleep. Some, stumbling i'll
the mud, were too much exhausted to raise
themselves again, and had to be pulled up by
their comrades.
About 6 o'clock we halted, built fires and Law
down to rest until the moon should get far
enough up to give us light to travel by. Two
hours OF rest somewhat refreshed us and we
again pressed on 1t was two clock when we
reached Gen. Thomas camp. More than half
OF the three Regiments which went through
that night were dropped on the way. One by
one they came struggling in, till by the time we
were ready to move in the morning there were
but few behind.
SHoEPFs BOYS DISAPPOINTED
AS we marched over the hill into the deserted
camp of the rebels, Monday morning, a storm
was raging There was suIlen fall OF rain. The
lightning leaped from the sky upon the hills on
the other side Of the river,aS though 1t was pur-
SUING the remains of the Rebel army with the
wrath Of heaven. The thunder echoed our ar
uIery. Long columns of our men filed across
the circular crests of hills. But there was hardly
a cheer. We had hoped to capture every man,
and though we had taken everything which
made them an army,we felt disappointed. This
was peculiarly the case with General Shoeph"s
brigade, and most particularly so with the Sew
en- teenth and the Thirty Eighth. We had done
more hard work, made more marches under the
most trying circumstances, thrown up more en-
trenchmentS and had done more of evArv Kind
Of soldiers duty than any other REGIMENTS in
the State. We wanted to have the soldiers lux
ury, fight We had waited for it nearly two
months, and at last having run the fox to his |
hole, to have him taken from us by others was
too bad.
No signs OF the enemy being visible on the |
other side of the river,and our own stock of pro |
vision running short, Gen. Shoepfs Brigade |
was ordered back to Somerset,