, 1862-09-23

n%t} oRPoeAt: toe pOlhL Whtre CraT-
ford was fighting. The veteran general was
Ilditg alone In The forest far ahead OF his lead
ing brigade, bis Lat of, bis gray hair and
ptaId and moustache strangely coatr,stiu. .
with the fire In his eyes aad Ills martial air,
Is nc huf1ied On to where TIE bullets were
sedgwick's division was in advance, moving
forward to support Crawford aud G ozdou.
hbel reinforcements were approaching also.
ard the struggle for The roads was again to BE-
TereWtd. Sumner sent for ward two divisions,
Richardeon and French, on the left. sedg..
w1ck moving IN column Of divisions through
Inc woods In rear, deployed and advanced In
line orer the corn field. There was a broad
interval between him and the nearest di7is-
Ion, and he saw that If the rebel line were
complete bis OWL division ~as In immediate
danger Of being fanked. But his orders were
70 ADVANCE, and those are the orders which .
soldier Sedgwick is every inch q soldier
-loycs best to hear.
To extend his oEn front as far as possible,
he ordered the 34th New York to move bv tne
lett Hank The maneu7er was ATTEMPTED ua-
der fre OF the greatest intensity, AID the
regiment broke. At the same moment the
eDt my, perce1ring the advantage, came rouud
On that flank Crawford was Obliged to give
on the rjeGt, ,ea1d his troops pouring in coafi1-
sion through the ranks Of Sedg&icE's ADVANCE
brigade, threw it into disorder and back on
the second ard third lines. They enemy ad-
Wa (fQ, tuGAI LITE luCfEIE1OE.
Gtn. sedgW!ck WAS ttrce times wounded, In
the ebculter, leg and wrist, but he persisted
In 1c1nainlnS Oh the Held SO long as there wax
CHANCE OF saving 1t. His 4di0tans general.
Major sedgwfck, brayely r7llfing and trying
70 TclorM the troops, was shot through the
from bis horse Severe Is th. wound Is. it ia
p1ohoh]y not mortal. Eient. HIVE, Of Gen.
secrwick's staff, erdeaynred Vain'y to ra!Iy
the 5sth New York. They were badly cut NJ
ard would rot stand. Half taeir officers ;;ers
E'l1ed or wounded. their collars shot TO pieces,
co1s'r guard wounded. Only thirs{-tEo were
at1erward got togetncr.
Gc1i: Dana vas worrded- Gen. Howara, who
tock command Of the division after Gen.
s,6g~ick WAS disabled, exer1ed himself "a re-
stere ordsr, hut i. eou1d not be dou= .ther..
zen. eu1ineT ordered tue linz to be ref1rmad
1ncer Arr The test eas tooseyere for volun-
tser t1ooias nuder sCch I fire. Bumper llfr s-If
attempted to arrest;the disorder, .,but to little
pu'prsc. Lieut.: ca. Revere atd C1pt. Au-
detr;cd, OF his staff, were wounded severely,
eut not dangerously. It WAS Impossible to
oolo 1fe position. Gen. Summer withdrew the
division to the rear, and once more the corn
field vas abandoned to the enemy-
French send word he could hold his ground.
kicbardeon, willie Ea'lan@lY lcad,nga regiment
nhdtr h.aFy tire, was severely wounded in
TIC shonlder. Gen. Meagher was wounded at
- A~AA ~ A445 uE loES LII general
officers was becoming frightful-
At O'Clock affairs on the right had q
g1tomy look. Hooker's troops were greatly
exhausted, and their general away from the
htlH- Manst1cld's were no better. Suuuer'5
command bad lost heavily, but two Of his divis-
ions We're comparatively fresh. ARTILLERY was
yet p:4trg vigorously In front, though the
ammunition Of many Of the batteries was eo-
si'ely exhausted, ard they kad been conpe led
70 retire.
Doubleday held the right iunexib1y. Sum
nsT,s HEADQUARTERS we're now IN the narrow
field wherc 7he night before, Hooker had be-
tuc the fight All that had been g.iard ia
tout had been lost. The ene1ny's batteries.
II ADVANCED and served vigorously, might h ays
made Fad work with the closely masse3 troop5
who wire unfortunately either p,rsial;y dish
p'eu Or snort OF ammunition. Snmner WIS
ctnfldtn Mt that he could mold his own; but
nnother advance was out OF the question.
The enemy or the other hand, seemed to BE-
too much exhausted to attack.
At 1h1s crisis Ftaokllug came up with fresh
trooFs and formed on the left. Slocum, com-
tans,rg taaa 1ne dyis!oa Of TIE cores, vas sent
raEge OF Irbt1 hills, while Smith, command
Ing thr other division, WAS ordered to retake
lie cornfelds and woods which all day hlt
heen 60 holy contested. I, WAS done u the
hsndson.est style. HIS M4iuc aud Vermont
regiments and the rest went forward o. the
run, nHd, cheering as they went, swept ike
+ n -hvalastsate through the corotlclas, fell upoa
the woods, cleared them in ten 1nIantes, and
held them. They were not ny ,io rc:akeu.
The field aId rs ehastly harvest which the
naPer had gathered in those fatal hours IT.
.nained finally with us. Four lines it hai
heen lost aud won. The dead arc strewn so
Tricky that as you ride over 1t son caanos
guide your horses steps tco carefully. Pale
ard bloody facts are every where upturned.
ihcy are Ead and terrible, but there is nothing
which makes ones heart best so quickly %
the imp1or1ng look Of sorely wou .1ded men
who beckon ~earily for help which you can.
rot s,ay to give.
Gen. Smiths attack was so sudden that his
success was accomplished with no greet loss.
ne RAD gained pint, however, which CON
peiied him to expect every moment at attack,
and to bold which, if the enemy again bronrht
up reserves, you'd take his best energies and
hest troops. Bnt the long strife, the heavy
lcsEee, inc, ssant fighting over the same ground
repeatedly lost and won iuch by incl, aud
mo'e than all, perhaps, the fear of Burnside
On ne lett ana t'or:cr in front, hr Id the enemy
10 check. Fer two or three hours there was a
lui. even in tho canuonade on the right which
litecrto had been lucessaut Mcclellan h1j
been over on the field after Sumu.r's reo1,se.
but had speedily returned to bis headquarters,
Sunloer ag-ln seEt word that be WAS able to
huld bis position, but could not advance With
his own corps
Meanttn.e whcrs was Burnside, and what
was he doing? On the right where I had
spent the. day until two o'clock. little was
known Of the general fortuacs oi the field.
Ns Lad heard Porter guus il. the centre, but
nothing from Burnside on the left- The dis
:auee WAS too great to distinguish the sound
Of BITS artillery from Parter's left. Toere was
no immediate prospect Of more fighting on
The right, and left the Held which all day
l0rg had seen the most obs'i ate cout4st Of
the var, and rode ever to M:Clrllan's heal
quartsfs. The ciffareut batlefields were shut
ont from each otner's view, but all partially
Visible from the central hill WEIGH General
Mcclellan had occupied during the dar- Bat
was more than ever impressed on rsrura{nr
With the completely decettful app 2.araYces Of
the ground the rebels had chosen, WHEN view I'd
from the front
Hookcr's and Summers struggle had b,en
carried on over 81 un=vea AID wooded sur
lace. their own line Of battl4 extending in q
seni-ciscle no: less than mile aad q halt
tcrh'ps better notion Of their positioa c,n
De got by considering their right, c.ntre aad
3e!t as forming three sides Of 3 squatc- 50
long, therefore, as either wing vas driven
back, the GENRE became exposed to 4 ve-r
dansernns enttl sdin.. fi-c. and til: further rh:
centre was advanced th. worse offs ~as. unless
the lints on Its sid. aod rear were mi; held.
il.ts formation resulted sligiuatly from the
rnerts OF the enemy to turn both flauks.
Aonker, at the very outset, threw his 3iu IN
:" Tar into the centre Of the reb Il lines that
Leey were eclnpc1led to threueu hlm o4 the
hank to secure their own centre
NoihinS Of all his :sas perceptihle from the
h'ls IN front. Some directions Of the r1.h.l
lines had been disclosed BY the smoke Of thelr
| guns, but the whole interior form ation IF tn.
] country beyond the hills was compI .ttly cnn.
ccaled. When Mcclellan arranged his order
Of battle. 1t must have been upoa infornatfou.
| or have t'ecn left to his corps and division
commanders to discover for them s-lyes.
Up to O'clock Burnside had nsde little
progress His attack On the bridge h.j been
successful, but the delay had been So great
1hat to the observer it appeared as Il NcClel-
san's Iians must have been seriously disar-
rangrd. 1t IL Impossible not to suppose taat
the attacks on right and left were meant in a
measure to correspond. for other wise the eae-
my had only to reptl Hooker on the ons b aud.
Burnside. - ~'>'o
Herr Was the difference between Smith and
Burnside The former did his work at oncr.
and LOST al! big men st ouce-that IL, all VINO N
he lost nj all Bnrn=ife seems to hare attack N
cautiously in order to save his msu: aad srud-
ing sucecsslrtly fnsut1ic'en. forces arljust q
! poeition Of strength, distributed his loss over
agreat.r period vi time, but yet lost none tbs
| less in the trd.
Finally. at I clock, Mcclellan sent sfmul.
tareous orders to Burnside and Fraak1tu: to
the former TO advance aad carry tue ba terics
IN his front, a. all haz ,rds aud auv cost: ia
.he latter. TO carTy the woods next in front OF
BIN to the right, which tho rebels still held.
The otdcr to franklin, however, WAS prac1lc-
| ally countermaudcd, in consequence of a
| mtss 'ge from Sumner, that If Ffankliu went
| On and VIA repulscd, bis own corps vas M.
| YET sufficiently recognizable to be depended On
| as q resfrve.
F1aIkl.n, thereupon was directed to run
in hi