The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-03-01
yis,, 70 the na,,,enela.


retirement which they were at first forced into
by the impetuous charge of the enemy It
must be remembered that it was here that the
grand sortie was made by the rebels up the
river hank with the intention of turning our
right flank, and cutting their way out Some
ten or twelve thousand men composed the force
sent out for this purpose. They advanced I'M
der cover of deadly FIRE of artillery, and drove
Gen. McClernsnd's force before them q distance
of fifty or sixty rods. Our troops here made
stand, and having been REINFORCED by one or
two regiments, began the assault, before which
the enemy were forced to retreat. The ground
was contested with desperation, and the slau Oh
ter on both sides was immesnse The whole
space of two miles was strewsd with dead who
lay in every imaginable shape and form.
Federals and rebels were promiscuously
mingled, sometimes grappled in the fierce
death -throe, sometimes facing each other as
they gave and received the fatal shot or thrust,
sometimes lying across one another, and again
heaped in piles which lay six or seven deep.
could imagine nothing more terrible than the
silent indications Of agony that marked the
features Of the pale corpses which lay at every
STEP Though dead, and rigid in every mus
Gle, they still writhed and seemed to turn to
catch the passing breeze for cooling breath.
and strangely contracted limbs, seemingly
drawn into the smallest compass. as If bv n
mighty effort to rend asunder some irresistible
bond which held them down to the torture Of
which they died. One sat against q tree. and,
with mouth and eyes wide open, looked up in.
to the sky as if to catch glance at its fleeing
spirit. Another elutched the branch Of an oy
ENHANCING tree, and hung half suspended. as
in the death pang, he raised himself partly
from the ground. The other hand grasped his
faithful musket, and the compression Of the
mouth told of the determinations which have
been fatal to Q foe had life ebbed minute lat
er. A third chung with both hands to bsvo.
net which was buried in the ground, in the act
Of striking for the heart of q rebel foe. Great
numbers lay in heaps, just as the FIRE of the
artillery moved them down, manglipp their
forms into an almost undistinguishable mass
Many Of our men had evidently fallen victims
to the rebel sharpshooters, for they were pier,
ced through the head by rifle bullets, some -
the forehead, some in the eyes, others on the
bridge OF the nose, in the cheeks and in the
mouth This circumstance verified statement
made to me by rebel officer among the pris.
oners, that their men were trained to shoot low
and aim for the face, while ours, as general
thing, fired at random, and shot over their.
heads.
The enemy, in their retreat, carrid off tier
wounded and great many Of their dead, SO
mat ours Tar outnumbered them on the field,
Fhe scene Of action had been mostly in the
woods, although there were two open places Of
IN acre Or two where the fight had ragged furi-
ously, and the ground was covered Mn dad
All the way up to their intrenchments the ssm.
scene of death was presented. There vsrs 49,
mi1ea of dad sfrovpm xh;.11.,9.-s..as..s