Newbern weekly progress., 1862-09-20

NE, hlSCUNcItu lUC CltIn1
posted in the cornfeld TO the left Of the road,
and Immediately engaged them, and held their
position until the Twentieth came up a few
minutes afterwards. Colonel Dennis ordl red
the artillery to be posted IN the road, so as to
command the lane, and the Twentieth regiment
to support it; whereupon line Of battle was
formed in the timber TO the right Of the road
occupying a favorable ridge.
The artillery was no sooner posted than they
began to play upon the enemy, or in the di,
ection indicated by the rising dust.
After our line Of battle was formed, Captain
Foster, with his cavalry, advanced to discover
the position Of the enemy, but they had gone
but short distance before they were met and
driven back by the enemy, who advanced on
desperate charge, four deep and three thousand
strong, and, as 1t was afterwards le errned, with
the expectation Of riding over our force. They
had sent out large detachmcnts to cur right and
left, for the purpose Of picking up all stragg'erS,
and thus bagging the whole command, Though
they came tearing up the load and throngb
the aelds, dschargIng volley after vo'ey, not
shot was Fl ed from our men Until they had
come up in full view, at about one hundred
yards stance, and bad nearly all discharged
their piec.s, which fortunately oyershot oul
men, when our men were ordered to Fire.
and poured into the rebel ranks such a deadly
| fire that their advance was Immediately check
ed. About one hundred saddles were emptie@,
and the rebels fell back IN dSmay and disorder
They, however, soon rallied again, and second
Bnd nHrs sanguinary charge was made on our
wtolI line, advancing on our flank with stronger
force than before. A similar reception to the
first was given to them by our boys, but they
came knowingly and better prepared than al
first on both our hanks. A desperate hand 10
hand encounter ensued The reb IL rushed H.
among our brave boys in largely superior nun
bers, and took many Of them prisoners; but
prisoners il was determined they should not
remain ifther ransom could he pa chased by
desperation and bloodshe' Our men fought
like pent up tigers, and most of those who
were captured were released by their comrades,
all fighting to release each olher--and most
admirably lhcy succeeded One captain If Il C
Twenlisth, whose. company was completely
surrounded, was approached by arebrl captain,
who presented pisto! at his mead and ordered
him to surrender; but our hero was too soon
for him, for the words hal no sooner passed
from his lips than the gallant captain Of the
rSVnleth shot him lead from oil bis horse.
The rebels succeeded in lhis charge in cap
turing our cannon anl most Of our transporta
lion train; bu, the guns bad been abandoned
short time before, aud all he ammunition dc
sroyed, so that they could not use them
against Us.
!, was in the heat Of this desperate cQnaic
that the TErtein regiment (Which were ovees
half distant IN the rear at the commencement
OF the fghV, led by the gallant Major shedi
6 came rushing up Oh double quick, with sucl
yell as only the confident can give. THeI
clme tie Tug Of war. These two exemplary
regiments, which have fought together on every
hard fought field from Fredericktown to .h'
! last skrmlsh before Cornth, were again sid
10y side, each ycing with the other in deeds u
| daring, but neither destined TO excel. Th
encounter lasted about an hour, when the rebel'
were again repulscd and icll back without hav
ing broken our lines, except portion On tn
tlanks
In this charge the enemy had fully discover
ed our position, and Colonel Deans, havinj
D ridden GU. in the advance, discoS cred that th
1 rebels were dis,n0untlng for demonstration
aait uutd6ia Ii eahbG :" ;aa, 70 Pre- M
vent our right wing being tarned. Cap;aiE
y Frisbic accordingly moved his regiment to tn,
, right, with his right flank drawn back, so al
!, to form crescent or horseshoe, with his risE
resting down a slope in the timber, leaving
gGpat the point last occupied to be protecte'
e 10y the Ihirtieth regiment, which WAS lilt
s 10 the left of the corn field. SkrnlShur
were also thrown out from the IhIrtlcth int
the corn field 10 the left, so as 10 make II ap
pear that they we're the advance Of anothe
regiment.
> PrcCauiOn was taken 20 instruct The men t.
-, hold their fire until the enemy came in within
i short muskct range which was rehelouSll
I complied with, and tor each man to take cove
e behind a tree whenever II was convenient.
= But a short time elapsed before anolhe
charge was made by the rebels, mounted an'
on foot. As was anticipated, the main body 0
the enemy moved on the position last held b,
) our men, aud, owing to the oens" -''"l o
. dust continually arising, were unaL dis
y cover the change that had taken place, so the.
| opened fierce lire on the ground before occu
pied, killing and wounding nobody, while Gu
a boys poured in a cross fire Ipon them, and, a
= they advanced along the line, dropped th
rebels from their horses like leaves falling II
u an autumn wind.
!, The main body of the rebels were, as before
u driven back, but they succeeded in gaining
!, little knoll on our right, which gave then
5 considerable advantage. Captain Frlsbie sao
C at once that il would not do to suffer them L
hold this position, so he called out for volun
tcers to follow him, and drive the rebels from
d the hilf The response was a noble one. Th
men OF the Twentieth nearly all rushed for
4 ward led by the daunlless captain and, will
y yell, opened fire on the enemy, and advance,
J upon thelr posilion from which the rebels tle,
IS like frightened sheep. While this was gon,
n on on the right the Thrtieth, on the left, wer
: receiving another charge from oyerw heln,in,
: numbers. which was met like the former one
q Three other charges were made subsequently
i but all to no purpose, and after four hours O
V the most desperate fighting on record unol
J force Of not more than five hundred men sue
G cecded in defeating and driving from the iipl
81 rebel force Of from four TO five thousand
n leaving one hundred and seventy nine dca,
u rebels on the field by actual count The nun
r Der of their wounded is not known, but tn
=. proportionate number would he from three t.
y four hundred, many Of whom have since died
u Captain Carroll, who subsequently scoute,
o the country in the vicinity of the Engagement
II in search Of the rebel wounded, reports tha
il they are to be found in every house from fv
v miles this side of the battle ground to tn
a Hatche river, but their wounds are Of such
y dangerous character that they were unfit to b
removed. Out of the whole number wounded
n two thirds will either die or he crippled 10
k.ol e., I IL.