The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-10-04


from ,hs Rps che face Nhitened I'll Il
looked ~ pure and clear as marble, the
eyrs became dull aud staring, a shudder
passed through the irame-and the spirit /
OF the patriot and Christian stood reveal |
ed in the clear radiance OF eternity. The |
agony was passed. The surviving bro |
ther having seen the body placed in . /
pOsition where be could recoyerit, shOul- |
dered his muskei, and With heavy feet |
and heart moved slowly forward to re- |
sumo his place ia the ranks, and his /
position in front Of danger. This was
but one of a hundred equally touching |
Incidents that presented themselves a.
round us. Yet there was "a wonderful |
buoyancy Of spirit among the wounded. |
They talked with great animation Of the
part they had taken ia the fight Of the
morning, Of the glorious con duct Of their
regiments and brigades, and made light
Of their wounds as an almost inevitable
consequence, aud from which they would
speedily recover Ht|FTW AEktr
il is not my purpose TO attempt des.
cription Of the Rattle Whoever ba s.
read the account of it published in the
New York Tribune, viii have as clear aud
accurate a conception or its general fea-
lures as can or will be given. We had
arrived too late 10 fully understand tho
disposition and moN ements Of che differ
cnt divisions aud the part they had taken
in the struggle, Moving up the success
sion Of hillsto the right, we came to the
nelu where rhu eight he'd commenced the
previous evening. Rockers division had
advanced ON the enemy e left, deployed
right aud left, with Meade's (formerly
McCalls) division OF Pennsylvania Re-
serves in the centre, pf6teoted bv Duos
bleday's battery on the extreme right
and had driven the enemy from pir.e
Of woods On the crest Of hill com
handing an open field Of pastureland and
cornield Ia front, with the HagCrstown
and Sharpsburg road, and another forest
IN the rear The position was consider
cd an important one, and the enemy dur
ing the night had endeavored TO recover
the lost ground, but Intellectually. This
was te battle ground Of the following
day. Taking the Hagerstown road as
it's southern boundary, it represented an
irregular parellelogram, defined on the
west by the above road, on the east by
dirt road or lane joining the Hagers-
town road near q frame school house,
and on the north aud west sides by
woodland, which was held by our troops
on Teusday night, The enclosed field
became the theatre of desperate light on
the following day, Ii was taken aud
retaken four times, by impeiuOus charges,
aud was &c last held bS Smiths diyis-
len Our forces had also penetrated
the woods on the lett of the Hag-
crsiown road, but had been repulsed
with great loss. Brigades and divisions
had melted away like snow in the teri-
BILE rencoun'ers OF that field. In the
meantime the extreme right had closed
! gradually in, and the left under Burnside
! had forced the passageOf the bridge over
the Antietam, and stormed the the enemy s
position, driving him through Sharpsburg,
and up the irregular hills above, clinaing
| to the ground be had gained with ex-
| IRENE tenacity, and holding it with per-
ilous difficulty. When night closed in,
the ends Of the segment Of a circle,
which repre- scented our lines in the morn
| ing; had been concentrated till il took
more the shape of horse shoe. During
the afternoon the right had been strength
ened, and the old brigades Withdrawn To
to reOrganize and rest They were sadly
cut up. Gibbons brigade hardly mum
bered five hundred; Max Webar's was
equally reduced; kimball's small before
the light, was almost annihilated; and
the Pennsylvania Rerserves was but a
skeleton OF what once comprised a splen-
did division. The loss of summers CORPS
was terrific, amounting TO as much prob
ably as all the other corps 1t had Tough
with desperation. 1t bad been where the
bullets were thickcst aud bayonets the
keenest' 1t had struggled hand to hand
with a desperate aud resoluie enemy.
So with SeymOur'S brigade. Ithad closed
ia with the enemy, the men seizing each
other by the collar and dragging them
over fence which separated the comba-
taRts. Ttcy had used the bayonets free
| ly, and dubbed their muskets in the ter
rife collision.
have said / should attempt no de.
scription Of the battle. 1t was inipossi.
bic from the trout, owing to the irregula,
and woody nature OF the ground. 20 take
in at ono view more than tenth part OF
the field. The line extended nearly five
miles 1t was impossible from the hill on
which Gen, Mcclellan had fixed bis head
quarters to obtain more than general
idea of The conflict.
What did transpired was ascertained
from aids and messengers, and from Com
manders of divisions, A complete his.
tory Of the battle bas yet to be written
possibly it never will be. But only by
the light of different newspaper accounts
and the reports Of Commanding officers
will its true character be made appa-
rent.
have generally to say of this battle,
from what | observed and subsequently,
learned, that it was, as a battle, indecisiye,
Two great objects were to be gained
which had not been gained-to seize on
our left the road leading from Sharps-
burg TO the Shepardstown Ferry, and
thus intercept the enemy's retreat in
that direction aud, on the right the
road leading FROM Sharpsburg TO VIII .
Transport. We were in such position,
however at the close Of the day, as 10
threaten the latter, aud make retreat in
that direction impractlcable, aud the
enemy probably knew that the right had
been strongly reinforced, aud could
neither be tIanked or driven from its po-
sition. BIT lie still held the Shep-
ardstown ferry, and ford a short dis g.
lance below The river was unusually
low, and fordable TO infantry at many
points-so that ii he chose to retreat.
aud the time was given him, ho could
effect it without very serious difficulty.
II has been impossible during the day 10
strengthen our left at the expense OF tue
center or right 10 have doae so would
have perled the safety OF one or both,
and TO have been flanked on the right or
broken in the center, both of which had
I been reDeatedlV attemoted ,yortI 49,.