Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1862-06-13
lCorr6spondence Of the New York Trisunel
THE GREAT BATTLE BE-
FORE RICHMOND.
The Three Days Desperate
Struggle.
sAvAGB's STATION, York R,verand
Il IL IA maud Rnil,nad NInu ~

kerry hlc III iIDBl "a tue leu wing d "a
upon Casey's Division, told US that th
enemy had commenced the fight, whicl
policy and necessity had suspended Oh
our part. The storm of last night wa
I the most furious fail of rain and explo
sion Of lighting | ever saw. Not reg
inent, not company, scarcely an Office
was exempt from its chilling and ex
hausting effects. The rebels seizet
upon it as an element Of military adiyan
| tage, and, having fully prepared them
selves, fell suddenly on our pickets
scattered them inward, and held Casey
regiments IN actual battle while thei
pots and kettles were yet on the fires
and many Of the men were drying theii
! wet clothes. I cannot tell in the con
fusion, which now reigns supreme, hoy
tthe small earthwork and the rife pit a
the front were SO quickly taken out o
our possession. The number and tht
quality of the guns in the fort I am is
llorant of. But pits, fort and gun:
whether siege OF field, changed owners
suddenly.
Now / face the first truth in the his.
tory Of the Union disgrace at the Seven
pines-and shall not dodge it. The
important place of danger, the front
was committed to General whose di.
vision, composed of raw troops, marched
down Fourteenth street, in Washington
in the last week Of February, 13, 00C
strong; and has been SO neglected and
SO allowed to go undisciplined, that
1000 Of them could not by any pessi,
biHty have been gathered together this
morning. division SO left to itself, to
luck, and the devil, that it has lost
literally lost, roo men and upward since
it lett Williamsburg division whose
commander has long been conspicuous
as searching, miles ahead of his march
ing columns, for comfortable quarters.
Upon this division, out of place in
front, the shock of battle fell, and
Knocked it into disorder and ruin faster
than / conceived it possible for Anglo
Saxon troops to be moved by any power
less than Gods thundrholts OF how
much | have learned to-aay, and how
much / have unlearned!
Gen. Peck's military family were at
their rice and coffee Ia the open air at a
quarter before l O'Clock in the after
noon. The unmistakable rattle of mus
kerry fred by companies and by column
in front brought the, graduate Of every
battlefield in Mexico right to his feet
He mounted instantly and ordered his
brigade under arms. In; the short
cpaoo Of ti,na oaosnma afi lI ,,,o - Ill
ing up my blankets, and oyercoat, and
saddling a restless horse, and, riding
twenty reds toward the front-not
twenty minutes-the current of strag-
Cling and skulking had fully set in, and
vas sweeping in a great shameful flow
down the williamsburg road. It was
the most astonishing of spectacles.-
Great, healthy, vigorous men, who had
volunteered to fight the battles of Free
dom. walking rapidly back from the first
touch Of the foe, with boxes full of
cartridges and muskets in their hands,
soundsin wind and limb, but thank God!
looking mean as sheep thieves when
they encountered the stare of brave
men, and stimulating lameness and
every form of sickness when cavaliers
not eombatants by profession, damned
them in their fury for towards, and en-
deayored to breast them backward with
their horses into the fght-great hulk
ing poltroons, falling into every possible
variety of limp out of rapid, strong
walking; depressing at pleasure either
shoulder with terrible wounds; quickly
gathering into their bosoms inatilated
arms, wholly untouched with bullets;
going through the whole disgusting
pantomine Of sickness of the stomach in
reply to fierce questions as to where
they were going, and why they we're
not fighting; with false speech and
talser looks asserting every conceivable
acute attack Of disabling disease as a
justification for going to the rear, and
letting the cause they had sworn to de-
fend 90 to the devil. 1t was amazing.
1t was new revelation. But mo-
ment's reflection, and sharp observa7
ton Of the numbers on the ca ps of the
streaming towards explained the phe-
nomenen, as it appeared to a civilian.
The brass figures 100, 101, 103, 104, told
Of enlistments as late as january and
February, and conclusiyely proved the
greenness and inexperienee of troops
who had been taught nothing save how
to march and to camp, and who deteri-
grated daily under the command of a
General who had neither youth, enthu-
siasm, pride or eombativeness. To
these the sight Of falling comrades, and
the shriekiRg of the wounded, and the
groaning of the dying, instead of being
the food of a fierce fury, served only to
opensthe veins Of manhood, and let all
courage out. Down the road they came
over the fields on either side Of the
road they struggled fast-through the
safer woods they skulked away and
sought the rear. Most were muddy.
showing that they had laid down to
avoid the shell and shot-yery many
were without arms and aceounterments.
The crowd grew thicker. The Provost
Guard formed across the road to stem its
dastaraly flow. Before o'clock Gene
raj keyes found that Casey's entire Di-
vision was gone! He sent to Heintzel-
man for instant help The brave
Pennsylvania was already on his way
to the place where he was wanted. He
came on the ground about quarter
after three, aud gathering as srapidiy as
he could all the elements of the situa-
ton in the strange woods, and unknown
swamps, took command, and infused
his indomitable spirit into the failing
fight. He sent back for Kearney, and
Ja4nisoa, and Birney, and Berry-he
who so timely brought salvation upon
his bayonet points to as at Williams
burg. While thew lfera enrainer m T