The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1862-04-05


side. 1t was behind these woods that the
enemy had placed their infantry and caval.
~. and several pieces Of artillery were in
position commanding the road. extending
also, as above described, as tar and even be-
; yond the turnpike. From this position Of
The forces. the rebel Infantry and cavalry
being concealed by the woods opposite our
right flank, it was evident that most was
to be feared from the enemy in that quarter.
Their FIRST and heaviest 6re was, howev-
: er. opened by their artillery upon our left.
they hoping by that means, to draw our
attention aud forces in that direction, and
by q sudden onset and charge Of the infant
ry and cavalry upon our right. to outAAnk
US. The attempt was entirely unsuccessful,
and the fire was directed against the right.
The forces thus placed were under . con.
tinual fire of the batteries Of the enemy. re-
turning the same mos. vigorously and oon-
stanlly. while our men dropped down one
after another. and :be grosns Of the wound
ed were added to the roar OF the artillery
through Eve long hours, from half-past ten
to halt past three.
From that onward until dark the fight
was one OF musketry--o of close hand to hand
conflicts, of hazardous charges and of des-
perate slaughter. The order was given to
the whole right wing to charge. and. led on
! by Colonel Tyler, they rushed fearlesslv
and fought brayely till the enemy was forced
to retreat.
! Our left wing. consisting of the Thirteenth
! Indiana, Seventh Ohio and battery Of the
Fourth regular artillery, under Captain
jerks. had a feint made on it while the real
attack of the enemy was being directed
against our right wing. The fent ON the
4 LETT was heavy fire of artillery posted on
both sides of the village and the turnpike,
which. however. did trifling damage.
Our battery replied. siIencing those Of the
enemy. though the firing was maintained
Tor long time on both sides. Our centre
consisted Of the Fourteenth Indiana, the
Eighth and Sixty seventh Ohio and the
Ell ghty fourth Pennsylvania and two artil-
lery batteries belonging to the First Ohio
artillery. and the cavalry. consisting OF tho
First Michigan and First Ohio. were drawn
up in the rear. The whole of our cavalry
amounted to no more than eight hundred
men, and this arm played very unimpor-
tant part in the action on either side. Our
right wing was made up Of the Fifth and
ighth Ohio regiments and battery OF the
First Virginia regiment The reserves oon-
sisted of the Twelfth Indiana, the Thirty
ninth Illinois and a squadron Of the Michi-
gan cavalry.
General Shields was unable to appear on
the 6ed in person, and the command in the
field devolved upon Acting Brigadier Gen
eral Tyler, while Colonel Sullivan directed
the operations on our left. The battle ragged
along the whole line with great fury from
eleven o'clock. A. NJ, till half past 2 o'clock
p. NJ. when General Shields. who received
accounts Of the progrsss Of the fight on his
u ~ IL
saged the hottest. to charge upon the ene-
my. That was an awful charge. The left
OF the enemy prepared desperately to repel
our gallant troops. but their rush was irres.
is.able as the tide in the Bay of Fundy.
Previous to this time our line of battle
had been some hat changed. The Eighty
fourth Pennsylvania re-enforced our right.
and also.a battery Of artillery. Oar whole
force now engaged was about six thousand
men. while that OF the enemy was, at the
lowest estimate. eight thousand. The reb.
els had also changed their line. and extend
ing both their wings. presented concave
front to onr army. They had also en-
forced their left wing, and the charge to be
made by our right was all important in its
consequences. On it. at o'clock, depen-
ded the fate Of the entrs battle.
The gallan. Tyler led the charge, sword
fred from the woods with artillery and
small arms while our men advanced against
their murderous showers Of lead and iron,
returning few shots aud reserving their FIRE.
Up to this time the armies had not been much
nearer to each other than three hundred
yards, unless in some few instances. The
wood was soon cleared at the point of the
bayonet. our men discharging their pieces
at twenty and even FIVE yards distance from
the rebels. and then dashing at them with
the bayonet.
PLIGHT OF THE KNENY.
The rebels fought we'll, however. They
contested the ground foot by foot and mark
ed every yard of it with blood. Retiring
behind their stone wall, on the ridge, our
men jumped over after them and drove
them along in the greatest confusion and
with fearful slaughter upon their center
The panic communicated. Kimba.l ordered
q charge along the whole line. and for .
short time the fighting was most desperate.
The roar Of the cannon was no longer heard,
unless in occasional bursts Of 6sful explo-
sions, and the rattle OF musketry was moro
boIs;erous than ever. and sounded like the
noise made by very close thunder clap.
except that it was sharper and continuous.
The rous of the rebels had fairly CON-
menced, however, ana Two OF toelF guns ana
tour cassions were now ours. aud though
many of them turned and fred again and
again a. our pursuing host. many more
threw away muskets and bayonets without
hesitation. Darkness and the extreme ia
tigue of our troops. however. saved the
enemy for the time. aud We retired about
two miles aud bivouacked till yesterday
morning. AZ day-break General Shields
ordered the rebel position to be attacked.
and the enemy. after replying by few shots
from his artillery, continued his retreat:
SCENES on TEE BATTLE YIELD.
The battlefield after the struggle was .
sight TO be remembered. The night was
dark and cold. After the battle the ambu-
lances were busily engaged removing the