Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1862-08-04
CUE ARmY CORRESPONDENCE.

who passed through the bloody scenes, may . !.
be OF interest. il to no others than those VINO :
nave friends in the old 34th n. I. | VIII not
attempt to speak of our trials dsflnG tue late
great battles, but seeing nothing relative TO
our well-tried Regiment, [ venture a te"
facts, hoping your readers viii overlook I'M
projections. remembering the Chance OF q .
tented soldier.
Late on the evening of the Goth June, our
Regiment with the many Others OF our III
vision, rolled up our blankets after the oid
style, throwing them across cur shoulders,
and with a few camp biscuits moved on IN
silence. as if ina funeral procession. mus
We continued until near 10 o'clock, L. d.,
when we unrolled our blankets and spread
our beds. Being fatigued we soon tell asleep
and the dawn of the following DAY louha u
taking up our beds to walk. But no,wltn-
standing our early rise, . O'clock Z. N: 1ound
US still on this hill side. Abou. TINS time we
received the command I"faU aa,' and soon
we were crossing heChckahominy ana rum
nlng In the enemies pickets.
Our Brigade reaching the north SIDE OF the
river we filed right and in a lew minutes tAe
shell commenced visiting Us a little too fire.
quent to be pleasant. Onward We moved IN
double quick, led by our brave, noble and
patriotic Col. r. H.Riddiekran and by fanking
movements aeceededsin reaching a position
where we could return saat for shot. BY
this time the fro bec~ansgenerai; and now
we were brought to enacrsselals, more severe
than we had ever iisagtaass The believing
of the cannon and the unceasing vollies of
musketry caused Us t9 th.ak Of that great
day when all mus be ca,ied &c stand at the
tribunal of God. ThE keen flashing from
thousands of guns, great and small, the
fierce yelling of our r~csolute fellows, as they
rushed on the enemy's laundering batteries,
and the continued screams of the wounded
and groans of the dying, rang through those
confused swamps as if worlds were dislodged
and crashing together.
About 10 o'clock in the night the thun-
dering hushed, and oursboys lay down on
their mother earth for a moments rest. Ny
self with others spent the night in bearing off
and caring for the wounded. 10 be surroun-
ded by so many suffering and dying is truly
a time to try the souls ofmen and if ever a
Chaplain's services are needed in the army,
it is among wounded and dying men. Could
our Chaplains have heard the begging for
prayer by poor soldiers trembling On the
verge Of death, that | have, they would Ger
tainly realise a hell on earuh. from the neg
lect of duty. In all the fighting around Rich
mond, [ have not seen one single Chaplain
breaking unto the dying the bread Of life
But | must return to my story and leave the
cold-hearted Chaplains to struggle. with
conscience.
Early on Friday morning the 9th, the
struggle was commenced, and for some time
the work was terrific, but soon we re-
joiced to see the enemy in full retreat. For
ward march = and close up were the Or
Io,e ooI +ho, e.. -3I1,F xro, ..rc,,xl 49, 1900
ic-stricken ~rascals, who threw off every thing
that would check their speed, leaving then
by the way side. sFYemg this point Mechan.
i~csyilIe) our friensss yal 1f~ecollect is one con
tinned encarnIssAFaNN@-p-aass.l,las 4ns
tedious to mentiosf cfS found all along rht
way. About s o'clock P. NJ, the enemy's
rear-guard looks stand and fired into oul
lines and for som time fought like tigers
for the purpose, We suppose, of enabling ole
Mcclellan to form a line but driving then
before us, We soon approached his we'll
dressed lines and now a more deadly con-
fict than the war had witnessed, began
Thousands on either, side. sternly engaged
poured into each line volley after v~olley.-
Here our regiment sustainedits greatest loss
On this blood-drenched hill our noble an
cautious Colonel received a wound, disabling
him for any further duties of the action, ant
our beloved and gallant Capt. A. G. Water
laid down his life while encouraging his mel
to stand firm. r-.# ..l.
!, The sable curtain of the night again close
the scene, and squads scattered here an
there sought rest. BY this time our entir
f Regiment was suffering from want of some
thing to eat, having thrown off every thin
: in the first engagement. Early Saturda
morning we began 80 bury our dead and car
e. 49, o,-~J J-1ln,- 49, -1; w. ~ fho QNtl
t we crossed to the south side of the Chicks
S hominy, the enemy having crossed the nigl
= and day before, and marched until 10 o'cioc
# at night, when We went into a meadow, ar
0 without a covering save that Of a drjppir
f armament, we lay down and slept. Monds
e morning we resumed our onward march
pursuit of the enemy. About 3 o'clock,
n NJ, our Brigade filed by the right Of batta
0 lens into column and all set down for a res
d But a few minsses changed conversation il
|. to commands, and such a shower of shells
rained into the esods among us was hard
ever witnessAA. Yhis was what the bo
call a "squallsNAkn bat moving to t
front in line Of BATS Ee soon got under t
al range of their guns. Oar position at th
place was such h2t cur BATTERIES could n
Id be of much service, yet our Regiment wi
s. our Brigade chargeH on them, and it was Il
n long until the ia Of the 34th was seen flo;
IN ing amid a storm of balls over the captur
TT battery, with tha brave bearer hard at I
OF post. Our loss vas heavy here. but a fl
~ hours sent up a shout of praise from eve
e. southern heart 70 know that the enemy W
i'll in flight. The sgene Of battle impoverish
g, language at this ptace. Oh, how glad we q
,e- that mothers cagnot witness such trials.
al Tuesday morning We collected what RENAL
&c ofour Regiment md triedto prepare some
IN freshments. Tuesday evening the fight "
renewed but our Regiment did not reach
ty ~musketry, but lay under the Smelling
m through the enuarement. Thus. reader