, 1862-04-16
WAIT OF sYsTEM OF OLE SIDE.

serve that thus tar haye said Little OF nothing
OF any plan Of attack or defause amopg our
commanders. It has been simply because
o 1na 1and 20 see any sS1dsnees Of such
vision General, at least-not to say in many
cases, every individual soldier, initiated the
good old 1sraelitish plan Of action, BIZ which
every man did what seemed good in bis own
eyes. There may have been an infinite amount
of generalship displayed, in experimenting
our various defeats, and reformaEions and re-
treats, bnt to me It seemed Of that microscop.
ic character that required the magnifying DOW
ers OF special permit for exclusive newspaper
teissgIaphlDg. On Government lines to discover.
aundaI night there was, as has been said.
council Of war, but if the Major General
commanding developed any plans there be-
you'd the simple arrangement Of OUT line of
battle, am very certain. that some Of the di-
vision commanders didn't find it oat. Stub
born fighting alone sayed Us when We had
reached the. point beyond which came the
ch!ld's jumping of place ~ end stubborn
fighting, with such genera1ship as individual
division commanders displayed, regaincd on
Monday what ne had lost before.
To those who had looked despairingly at the
prospects, Sunday evening, it seemed strange
that the rebels did not open ont on US by day
break again Their retire It before the bomb
sh. lis Of the gunboats, however, explained the
almost simults neorsly. By seven o. clock Lew.
Wallace opened the ball by 6helllny, from the
positions the had selected the night before,
the rebel battery, Of which mention has been
made, q brisk artillery duel, rapid movement
OF infantry across shalloW 5aSine Is IS if to
storm, and the rebels, enti1aded and menaced
in front, limbered up and made the opening
Of their Mondays retreatipg.
1t soon became evident that, whether from
change Of commanders or some other clu5e,
massiDg their forces. On Sunday the heaviest
fighting had been done on the left This
morning they seemed TO make less determined
resistance here, while toward the centre and
right the ground was more obstfnate1y con-
tested, and the struggle longer prolonged
slewly but steadily, sweeping bis long lines
over the ground Of our sore defeat on Sunday
morning, forward over scores Of rebel dead,
.1esistlessl2 pressing back the jaded and weary
forcenents during the night, their men were
exhausted with their desperate contest of the
dny before, and manifestly dispfrited by the
evident fact that notwithstanding their we'll
laid plans Of destruction in detail, they were
fighting Grant and Buel combined.
Gradually as Nelson pushed forward his
lines under heavy musketry the enemy fell
back, till about half past ten, when, under
cover Of the heavy timber, and a furious can
honading, they made general rally. Our
forces, flushed with their easy victory, were
scarcely prepared for the sudden onset, where
there. Suddenly the rebel masses were hurled
aSainst our lines with tremendous force, Our
men halted, TaEered, and tell back. At this
critical juncture, Capt. Terry's regular bat
ttery came da5ning uP Scarcely taking tine
pieces before the caissons had turned, and ia
an instant was tossing in shell from 24-pound
hoEltzers to the compact and advancing rebel
rvnks.
Here was the turning point Of the battle on
ha off Thca halls f113v7 a1,o -al
halted: On they came. Herse after horse
from the batteries were picked of. Every
private at one Of the howitzers fell, and the
gun was worked by Captain Terry himself and
corporal. The rebels seemed advancing. A
regiment dashed up from our line, and saved
tillGy and nlusketry at close range. At last
they began to wayert Our men pressed on,
pouring in deadly Tol1eys. Just then Bnell,
who assumed the general direction Of his
troops In the field came up; At glance he
BY brigades." Our men leaped forwa7d as if
they had been tied, and were only too much
rejoiced to be able to move. For q quarter of
q mile the rebels fell back. Faster and faster
they ran, less and less resistance was made to
the advance At last the front camps on the
left were reached, aud by half past two that
point was cleared. The rebels had been steadi-
" swept back over the ground they had won
with heavy loss as they fell into confusion !;
we had retaken all our OWL guns lost here the
day before, and one or two from the rebels
we're left as trophies to tell in after DAYS how
braSely that great victory over treason in
Tennessee was won.
NELSON'S ADVANCE.
To the left We were slower IL finding the
enemy. They had been compelled to travel
| some distance to yet out of the gunboats'
range. Nelson moved his division about the
| same time Wallace opened on the rebel battery
| forming in line Of battle, Ammon's brigade
| on the extreme left, Bruce's in the centre, and
| Hazcn's to the right. SkeEmishers were thrown
| ont, and for nearly or quite mile the division
thus swept the country, pushing few outly-
! ing rebels before it, till it came upon them in
| force Then q general engagement bsoke out
along the line, and again the rattle Of mus
ktiEy and thunder of artillery echoed over the
late silent fields. There was no struggling
this morning. These men were better drilled
than many Of those whose regiments llad bro
ken to pieces on the day before, and strict
measures were taken, at any rate, to prevent
the miscellaneous thronging back, out of
harm's way. They st.,od up to+fheir work
| and did their duty nanfuly.
ADVANCE oF cRiTTESDES's DIVISION.
I have sketched the advance Of Nelson,
| Next to him came Crittenden he too swept
forward over his ground to the front some
distance before finding the foe Between 8
and 8 o'clock, however, while keeping
Smiths brigade on his left up even with Nei-
/ sons flank, and Joining Boyle's brigade to
Mccook's on the right, In the grand advance,
they came upon the enemy with battery in
| position, and well supported. Smith dashed
his brigade forward, there was sharp, close
work with mus6ctry, and the rebels fed. We
| had three pieces, l2-pound hoWitzer and two
brass 6-pounders.: But they cost the gallant
18th Ohio dear Major Ben. Platt Runk1e fell,
MORALLY wounded Softly may he sleep, and
| tFrnw thH 1ay1rp3H hic hnr nraI
None ~ortbier wear them living.
| For half IN hour, perhaps, the storm ragged
around these captured guns. Then came the
reflex rebel wave that had hurled Nelson back.
Crittenden, too, caught its full force The
| rebels swept up to the batterics-around them,
and on down after our retreating column. But
| the two bngades, like those Of Nelson on
their left, took fresh position, faced the foe
and held their ground. Mendenhall's ami
Bartletts batteries now began shelling the
abandoning the guns SO briefly held, they had
| spiked them 2eith mud, and the novel expedient
Was perfectly successful. From that time till
after one O'Clock, while the fight ragged back
and forth over the same ground, the rebels did
not succeed in firing shot from their mud
spiked battery.
At last our hrigades began to gain the ad-
vantage again. Crittenden pushed them stead
ily forward. Mendenhall, with his accomplish
ed First Lieutenant Parsons, one Of our West
ern Reserve West Pointers, and Bartlett,
poured in their shell. A rush for the contested
battery, and it Is ours again. The rebels re-
treated toward the Left Smith and Bowie
holding the infantry well in band Mendcn-
hall ngain got their range and poured in shell
on the new position. The fortune Of the day
was against them as against their comrades to
Nelson's front, and they were soon in full re.
treat.
Just then Brigadier General Thomas J,
Woods advance brigade from his approaching
division came up It WIS too late for the
tight, but 1t relieved Critteuden's weary fel-
lows, ana pushed on after the rebels until they
were found to have left our most advanced
camps.
A'cooK's ADVANCE.
Thus the left was saved. Meanwhile Nc
Cook, with as magnificent regiments as eyel
came from the Army of the Potomac or from
any army OF volunteers In the world, was do
ing equally well toward the center, His diyi
sion was handled In such way as to SAVE
great efusion Of blood, while equally impor
tant results were attained. Thus the reserve;
were kept as much as possiblefrom under fire
whie those TO the front were engaged. Thus
the lists Of killed and wounded viii show thai
while as heavy fighting was done here Is any
where on the rig hit or centre, the casualties
are fewer thanceuld hare been expected.
It would ecarce1y be interesting to prolone
details where the course of one division sd
nearly resembled that Of the others, But lei
lie sketch the close An Illinois battery,
serving in the division, WIS IN imminent dan.
| ger. The 9Th lddiaEa Was ordered to Its rc.
4 lief A rapid rush, close musketry firing, No
. need Of bayonets here-the battery is safe,
The enemy are to the front and right. An.
he.