Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-02-27

by the impetuous charge ofthe enemy. 1t
must be remembered that it was here that the
grand sortie was made by the rebels up the
river bank with the intention of turning our
right Hank, and cutting their way out.
Some ten or twelve thousand men composed
the force sent out for this purpose. They
advanced under cover of a deadly fire of ar
tillery, and steadily drove Gen. McCler-
hands force before them a distance of fifty
or sixty rods. Our troops here made a
stand, and having been REINFORCED by one
or two regiments, began the assault, before
Which the enemy were forced TO retreat
The ground was contested with desperation,
and the slaughter on both sides was Inn
mensc. The whole space Of two miles was
strewed with dead, whol lay in every imagin-
able shape and form.
Federals and rebels we're promiscuously
mingled, sometimes grappled in the fierce
death-throe, sometimes facing each other
as they gave and received the fatal shot or
thrust, sometimes lying across one another,
and again heaped in piles which lay six or
seven deep. | could imagine nothing more
terrible than the silent indications Of agony
that marked the features ofthe pale corpses
which lay at every step. Though dead, and
rigid in every muscle, they still writhed and
seemed TO turn to catch the passing breeze
for a cooling breath. Staring eyes, gaping
mouths, clenched hands and strangely con-
tracted limbs. seemingly Dawn into the
smallest compass, as if by a mighty effort to
rend asunder some irresistible bond which
held them down to the tortue of which they
died. One sat against a tree, and, with
mouth and eyes wide open, looked up int
the sky ash to catch a glance at its ~leetine
spirit. Another clutched the branch of an
overhanging tree, and hung half suspended
as in the death paug he raised himself part
~ from the ground. The other hand grasp
ed his faithful musket, and the compres
sion of the mouth told Of the determination
which would have been fatal to a foe hat
life ebbed a minute later. A third clun,
with both hands to a bayonet which wa.
buried in the ground, in the act of strikin,
for the heart of a rebel foe. Great mum
bers lay in heaps, just as the fire Of the ar
tillery moved them down, mangling thei
forms into an almost undistinguishable mass
Many of our men had evidently fallen vic
tins to the rebel sharpshooters, for the,
were pierced through the head by rifle bul
lets, some in the forehead, some in tn,
eyes, others on the bridge of the nose, il
the cheeks and in the mouth. This circum
stance verified a statement made to me b,
a rebel officer among the prisoners, tina
their men were trained to shoot low and ain
for the face, while ours, as a general thing
fired ut random, and shot over their heads
The enemy, in their retreat, carried of
their wounded and a great many of thei
dead, so that ours far outnumbered then
on the field. The scene of action had beef
mostly in the woods, although there wer
two open places of an acre or two where tn
fight had ragged ~furiously, and the grounC
was covered with dead. All the way up t
their intrenchments the same scene of dealt
was presented. There were two miles O
dead strewn thickly, mingled with firearms
artillery, dead horses, and the p~araphernali
Of the battlefield. 1t was q scene never I
be forgotten-never to be described.