The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-10-04

, The loss in general officers was becomin
frightful. ,.-,.
At O'Clock affairs on the right had
gloomy look. Hooker's troops were great.
exhausted, and their General away from tn
, field. Mansfeld's were no better. Sum
ner's command had lost heavily, but, two o
his divisions were comparatively fresh. Ar
tillery were yet playing vigorously in front
though the ammunition of many of the bat
teries was entirely exhausted, and they hac
been compelled to retire. i, r....-.-....s..
Doubleday held the right infexibly. Sum
ner's headquarters are now in the narrow
field where. the night before, Hooker had
began the fight. All that had been gained
in front had been lostl The encmy's bat
teries, which il advanced and served vigor-
ousy might have made sad havoc with, the
closely massed troops, were fortunately ell
ther partially disabled or short Of aminuni-
ton. Sumner was confident that he could
hold his own !, but another advance was. out
of the question. The enemy on the other
hand, seemed too much exhausted to make
an attack.
At this crisis Franklin came up with fresh
troops and formed on the left. Slocum,
commanding one, division of the corps, was
sent forward along the slopes lying under
the first ranges Of Rebel hills, while Smith,
commanding the other division, was order
ed to retake the corn.felds and woods which
all day had been so hotly contested, It was
done in the handsomest style. His Maine
and Vermont regiments, aud the rest went
forward on the run, and, cheering as they
went, swept like an avalarch through the
corn-felds, fell upon the woods, cleared
them in ten minutes and held them. They
were not again retaken. r,.r..
The field and it's ghastly harvest which
the reaper had gathered in those fatal hours
remained finally with us. Four times it
had been lost and won. The dead are strewn
so thickly that as you ride over it you cam
not guide your horses steps too carefully.
Pale and bloody faces are everywhere up.
turned. They are sad and terrible, but there
is nothing which makes ones heart beat so
quickly as the imploring look of sorely
wounded men who beckon wearily for help
which you cannot stay to give. ..-...
Gen. Smiths attack was so sudden that
III, e,,o, ,,s ,,,o, ,onj;,boJ ,,,;tb ~ ~-oot
loss. He had gained point, however, which
compelled him to expect every moment an
attack, and to hold which. if the enemy again
brought up reserves. would take its best
energies and best troops. But the long strife,
the heavy losses, incessant fighting over the
same ground repeatedly lost and won inch
by inch, and more than all, perhaps, the
fear that Burnside on the left and Porter in
front, held the enemy. in check. For two
or three hours there was lull even in the
cannonading on the. right, which hitherto
had been mcessant. Mcclellan had been
over the field after Summers repulse, but
had speedily returned to his headquarters.
Sumner again sent word that he was able to
hold his position, but could not advance
with his own corps.
Meantime, where was Burnside, and what
was he doing On the right where l had
spent the day until two o'clock, little was
known of the general fortunes of the field
We had beard Porter's guns in the centre,
but nothing from Burnside on the left. The
distance was too great to distinguish the
sound of his artillery from Porter's left
There was no immediate prospect of more
fighting on the right, and | left the field
which all day long had seen the most obsti-
nate contest of the war, and rode over to
McClellan's headquarters. The different
battle-felds were shut out from each others
view, but all partially VISIBLE from the
central hill which General Mcclellan had
occupied during the day. But was more
than ever impressed on returning with the
completely deceiptful appearance of the
ground the Rebels had chosen when viewed
from the front. fs
Hooker's and Summers struggle had been
carried oD over an uneven and wooden sur
face, their own line of battle extending in
semi-circle not less than mile and half
Perhaps better notion Of their position can
be got by considering their right, centre and
left as forming three sides of a square. So
long, therefore, as either wing was driven
back, the center became exposed to a very
dangerous enfilading fire, and the further
the centre was advanced the worse it was,
unless the lines on its side and rear were
firmly held. This formation resulted orig
inally from the efforts Of the enemy to turn
both Aanks. Hooker, at sthe very outset,
threw his column so far into the center of
the rebel lines that they were compelled to
threaten him on the flank to secure their own
center
Nothing of all this was perceptible from
the hills in front. Some directions of the
Rebel lines had been disclosed by the smoke
Of their guns, but the whole interior forma-
ton of the country beyond the hills was COM
pletely concealed. When Mcclellan arrang-
ed his order of battle, it must have been left
to his corps and division commanders to dis.
cover for themselves.
Up to 8 o'clock Burnside had made little
progress His attack on the bridge had been
successful, but the delay had been so great
that to the observer it appeared as If Nc
Clellan's plans must have been seriously dis.