Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1862-07-02
Army Correspondence.
PAaE COUNTY. Va, (near Luray). )
June 18th. 1862.

n OF transportation homeward iron
this benighted region, might happen Il
forward this communication to you at /.
convenient time for publication in you
weekly paper, | viii devote q few mo
ments to reporting some of the circum
stances Of the battle of Monday. in which
the It'll and 29th Ohio regiments were en-
gagged. On the evening of the 18th inst
after going into Camp near this place, We
were informed by Gen. Tyler, that we hac
now approached within % miles of Jack
sons army-he spoke of the hardship
that our division (Shields) had alread!
undergone, 1--WE HAD then marched owe
300 miles in less than one month, with
out tents-including among othermarch
ing and countermarching the distanc'
to Fredericksburgh)-said that we haC
already done more than could be ex
pected of men, but that he had just re
ceived a dispatch from Gen. Shields, or
dering forward two brigades of his divis
ion to cooperate with Fremont, in an at
tack on the rebel force under Jackson.
He then inquired if the third brigade
was ready to start upon q forced marcel
for that purpose, early the next morning
The response was q hearty and enthusias
tic affirmative, Joined in by more thar
one of the war-worn It'll who have now
fought their last battle.
The 4th Brigade list Va, eth In, S4th
and 10th Pa, were encamped further on,
and reached the battlefield of the two
succeeding days on Sunday forenoon
Ours reached it about 2 o'clock Sunday
afternoon. The Sd Brigade was not called
into action until Monday morning. The
4th participated in the fight of Sunday,
and their wounded were passing by us all
through the afternoon; some in ambulan-
ces, some on horseback, and some on foot,
according to the severity of their wounds
and the conveniencies of transportation.
The great battle was, however, not
fought until Monday forenoon. At about
3 o'clock, Monday morning. u brigade
was called into action. The line of battle
was in the following order: The 29th on
the right, the 9Th forming the right CEN
ter, the 5th in the left center, and the
Goth the left of the Brigade. These are
all Ohio regiments. The 4th Brigade was
also engaged. 1t is said that the object of
Shields movement was to hold a certain
bridge across the Shenandoah at this
point burning it if necessary and cut off
Jaekson's retreat, while Fremont should
attack him from the other side of the
river. The 18th brigade had possession of
this bridge On Sunday, and here the great
part of the engagement of that day took
place. They were driven from it once
and repossessed it. There was a second
contest over it, and meantime it was fired
from our side, but the fire was extinguish-
ed by command ofone of our officers, who
declared that he could hold it, notwith-
standing the tremendous odds against us,
but his judgment proved unsuccessful
So on Monday morning the rebels had
crossed the river in force, and we fought
them for FIVE hours-they constantly re-
ceiving reinforcements-in one of the
most hotly contested battles of this dia-
bolical rebellion. They were repulsed
three times during the conflict, from their
chosen positions, and fled in wild confu-
sion more than once before grape, can
mister and shell. At about 10 o'clock our
forces were drawn off and commenced a
retreat, covered by the eth Ohio, and part
of the 29th, and was conducted in excel
lent order. The Rebel cavalry at first
followed their parting guests with warm
greeting, but this sentiment was recipro-
Gated so cordially that they soon retired
in disgust. "glad we were gone" 1t should
be borne in mind that at the time this re-
treat commenced, We had been fighting
for several hours against more than twice
u numbers our artillery ammunition
having become spent, and the rebels had
fresh reinforcements in sight and about
crossing the river.
The eth Ohio wen: into action with
325 men, their loss is about IS in killed
and wounded; nearly one-fourth of the
whole number engaged. Co. C went in
with 81, had 3 killed, 8 badly wounded
and 6 slightly. The official report returns
u killed, 81 wounded and s unaccounted
for; there are 10 or more slightly wound
ed not included in this list. The 29th
regiment did not get the order to retreat,
and were entirely surrounded by the reb-
els while the rest of the brigade was leav-
ing the field, 90 of their number managed
to cut their way through and come up
and assist the 9TH in covering the retreat.
There were but one captain and 8 Lieu
tenants of the commissioned officers of the
18th that came in the first squad. Col.
Buckley, the Adjutant and a number of
others have since come in. The number
of commissioned officers now absent kill
ed, wounded or missing) are eleven. The
number of this regiment that went into
action was AGO, nearly half that number
are still absent. / have not been able to
find one-half of my friends and acquain-
tances of this regiment since the battle.
l have been happy to find the following
safe: R. Chapman, Hudson C. Fits, Gus
tavus; Capt. S%choonover, Summit Co., and
DR.. Haines. Kinsman. l have enquired
at every new opportunity for Capt. Hayes,
of Trumbull Co.; | have talked with some
of the boys that were with him during
the engagement, but do not learn any
thing certain concerning him except his
gallant bearing OIL the field, and that he
Is still among the missing. His company
captured a stand of rebel eolors and kept
them until the retreat, when they were