Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-04-17

Of the 9th Onio, Of kimpalfu /
brl1sda this unitsd force dashed upon the |
snemy With cheer and yell that rose high |
1p Above the roar OF battle, and though the
rebels fought desperately, as their piles OF
dead attest, they were forced back through
the woods by 8 hre as destructive as ever
fell mon a retreating foe. Jackson, with
his supposed invincihle stone wall brigade
and the accompanying brigades, much to
their modification and discontinue, were
compelled TO fall back In disorder, upon their
reserve. Here they took up new position
for fnal stand, and made an attempt for 9
few minutes 10 retrieve the fortunes Of tho
dsy; but again rained down upon them the
same close and destructive Gre. Again cheer
upon cheer rang In their ears. A few minutes
cnly did they stand up against IT. when they
turned dismayed and fsd in disorder, leaving
rs IN possession of the field, the killed and
wouaded, three hundred prisoners, two guns,
four oaissons and thousand stand Of small
arms. Night alone saved him from destruc-
ton. The enemy retreated above Eve miles,
and, Judging from his camp hres, took up q
new position for the night. Our troops,
vearied and exhausted with the fatigues of
the day, threw themselves down to rest on
the field.
Though the battle had been won, still l
could not have believed that Jackson would
have ha1arded 3 decisive engagement at
such a distance from the main body without
expecting rsinforcements. So, to be prepar-
ed for such q contingency, / set to work
during the night to bring together all the
troops within my reach. sent an express
- H.,
brigade, about twenty miles distant, to march
all night and join me in the morning. /
swept the posts and route in my rear Of al
most all their guards, hurTying them for.
ward by forced marches to be with me at
daylight. I gave positive orders also to the
forces in the field to open FIRE on the enemy
ss soon as the light of day would enable
them to point their guns, and to pur-
sue him without respite and compel him TO
abandon his guns and baggage or cut him to
pieces. These orders were implicitly obey
ed as far as possible. It now appears that
had rightly OWNED the intentions Of eur
crafty antagonist. On the morning Of the
23d, reinforcement from Luray Of 5000
reached Front Royal, on their way TO join
Jackson. This reinforcement was being fol-
lowed BY another body Of 10, 900 from Sper.
ryvile; bat recent rains having rendered
the Shenandoah river impossible, they found
themselves compelled to fall back without
being able to effect the proposed Junction
At daylight on the morning of the Gath, our
artillery again opered on the enemy. he
entered upon bis retreat in very good ordsr,
considering what be had suffered. General
Banks, hearing of our engagement on his
way to Washington, halted at HArpeF's Fer
~, and with remarkable promptitude and
sagscity ordered back Williams whole d.
vision, 80 that my express found the rear
brigade already sB Foits to join rs. The
General himself returned here forthwith, and
after making me hssty visit, assumed COM
mand Of the forces in pursuit of the enemy.
The pursuit was kept up with Yigor, energy
and activity until they reached Woodstock,
where the enemy's retreat became fight, and
the pursuit was abandoned because Of the
utter exhaustion of our troops.
The killed and wounded in this engage
ment cannot even yet be accurately ascer-
tanned. Indeed, my command has been so
ovcrworked, that it has had but little time to
ascertain anything. The killed, as reported,
are one hundred and three, and among them
we have to deplore the loss of the brave Col
Murray, Of the Eighty-iourlh Pennsylvania
Volunteers, who fell at the head of his regi-
ment while gallantly leading 1t in the face
Of the enemy. The wounded are four hund
red and forty-one, many of them slightly, and
the missing are twenty-four. The enemy's
loss is more difficult to ascertain than our
own. Two hundred and seventy were found
dead on the battle field. Forty were buried
by the inhabitants Of the adjacent village,
and, by a calculation made by the number of
graves found on both sides of the valley road
between here and StrAsburg, their loss in
I-tIi-l - La-sa 49,. -Ean,--I - @Nnndad
1000. The proportion between the killed
and wounded Of the enemy shows the close
ness and terrible destTuctivenes8 Of our FIRE
nearly half the wounds being fatal. The
enemy admit loss Of between 1000 and
1900 in killed and wounded. Our force in
infantry, cavalry and artillery, did not sx-
eeed 1000. That of the enemy must have
exceeded IL 900. Jackson, who commanded
on the field, had, in addition to his own stone
wall brigade, Smiths Garnetts and Long
streets brigades. Generals Smith and Gar
nett were here in person. The following reg
iments we're known 70 have been present,
and from each Of them were made prisoners
on the ield:-The Second, Fourth, Fifth,
Twenty-frst Twenty third, Twenty-seventh,
Twenty eighth, Thirty-third, Thirty-seventh,
and Forty-second Virginia; First Regiment
Provisional Army, and an Irish battslion.
None from the reserve were made prisoners.
Their force in infantry must have been 8, 900
The cavalry Of the united brigades amounted
to 1900. Their artillery consisted of thirty
six pieces. We had 5000 infantry, and a
cavalry force of 76o, and twenty. four pieces
of artillery.
cannot conclude this report without ex-
pressing thanks and gratitude to officers and
soldiers of my command for their valuable
conduct on this trying day. It was worthy
of the great country whose national exist
ence they have pledged their lives to pre-
serve. Special thanks are due to Col. KIM
ball, commanding first brigade and senior
officer in the field. His conduct was brave,
iudicious and efficient. He executed my
orders, in every instance, with Vigor and
/ fidelity, and exhibited wisdom and sagscity
in the various movements that were necessa-
rily entrusted to his direction. Col. Tyler,
commanding third brigade, has won my sd-
miration by his fearless intrepidity. His
brigade is worthy of such an intrepid leader.
This brigade, and the regiments accompany
ing it, achieved the decisive success of the
day. They drove the forces of the enemy
before them on theleft flank, and by hurling
this flank back upon the reserve, consumms-
ted this glorious action. High praise is due
to Col Sullivan, commanding second brigade,
for the manner in which he contributed to
the first repulse of the enemy in the morning.
To him and Colonel Carol, of the Eighth
Ohio Volunteers, who commanded the skir-
mishers, is the credit due Of forcing back the
right wing Of the enemy, and of intimids-
ting and holding him in check on our left
during the rest of the day. The chief of ar
tillery, Lieutenant Colonel Dsum, deserves
high commentator for the skilful manner
in which he managed his batteries during
the engagement. This skillful management