Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1862-10-06

ana lying down, we pour ''iso eacn other one
continuous shower oflradeh nali for four long
mortal hours The whole arr resounds with
the DIN OF arms. Musket rine, cannon and /
Shell pour forth an avalanche of lead and
IRON. Our men are protected by about & or
8 inches Of the wear of the road. bnt tba, I;
great protection !; they fire cautiously and
are apparently as cool as If shooting at so,,;r
refs, taking sure aim every fire. The ,,ro
lection, however is not sufficient. The air
is full OF lead and many are shot AZ thcv :.
at the enemy, and the rroans If ,hs
wounded are heard amid the roar of the mus.
kerry. Col. Tew was killed ahot IL o'clock.
!" minnie ball penetrating his brain. 1t is
certain death to leave the road wounded. a.
the balls fly so thick over us. We hear re-
Inducements coming up behind us, but the
fire is SO hot they were not able to come to
our succor,s and were forced to fall back Our
number is p%erceptibly reduced by deaths
and wounds, and our Are slackens. while
the enemy has succeeded in planting a bat
terry that rakes the road, and sends MANY TO
eternity at every discharge. Our left has
given way, and the enemy has already cross
ed the lane in our rear. At last, the order
is given to fall back, and the few that rcmain |
uninjured fall sullenly back. The enemy. |
however, have been so badly punished, they
are not able to follow US immediately. We
rally behind a stone fence, and await their
approach, the whole division hardly making
a respectable regiment. Reinforcements ar
rive, the enemy approach, but fall back in
disorder before a fire from behind the wall
that fairly melted their ranks. Their retreat is
is followed up by the fresh troops of A.P.Hil,
who have just arrived, and when night setsin
the enemy is whipped three miles from the
battlefield on the left, while the receding fire
that blazes horribly from the right indicates
that. en- the right too the enemy are sullenly
retreating before the invincble forces Of Jack-
son. The day is ours, but-dearly WON Six
to eight thousand of our brave boys lay
around dead or wounded in that days fray,
while the ground is made blue by Yankee
carcasses. They left fully 1000 dead on the
field. Their wounded must be Immense
Our regiment brought only 100 out of the
fight, just one-third it carried in, while 9TH
er regiments suffered worse.
The next morning the. Yankees sent in a
flag, asking permission to bury their dead,
and all that day was devGed to, that pur-
pose, and to taking care of the wounded,
who are now hospitalsd at Sharpsburg. Nd,
Harper's Ferry, Charleston, Winchester and
throughout the, country, on the Virginia
side of the Potomac. Each army was so
disorganized that neither vas abe to make
another offensive msve. fOn Friday our ar
my crossed the river intoEirginia, and en-
campsd ia the woods, near shepardstown.-
The enemy took the nevenent,as a retreat,
and on Saturday morning undertook to cross
at the same ford, but wers metb by our forces,
and were driven pell-mell across the river
with fearful slaughter. Oag loss was slight.
In the last ten day fully $4,000 men. ION
both sides) have been put hers du combat,
killed, or wounded, or prisoners. This is a
small estimate. [ think it likely to amount
to 6Olor "a, O0s. Our army has again cross
ed into Maryland, and occupy the same
places they did before TIE battles, Will;
HHaeerstown, near the PensgIrania line. ]
40 not know what will happen next.
Now, as ! have given you an account Of
the battles, l will give an account of myself
| do not know all that are killed and wound
ed in the regiment, nor even in my owr
company. know Col lew is killed, ant
Capt. Howard taken prisoner. Capt. Hunt
of Co. /, was wounded, and taken prisoner
Lieut.. Applewhite, of d, wounded in thu
arm, and | hear that there are OILY thre1
officers with the regiment. / was slightly
wounded on the head and in the right foo
about l o'clock, by a bursting shell. [ ha'
no bones broken. was able to get off tn
field by myself, and did so without being hi
again many others tried it., but / am th
only one that | know of, who attempted t
leave the field wounded, that was not sho
again. [ went to the rear, had my wound
dressed, hired a horse, and, knowing the vi
cinity of the battlefield wouh be crowde
with wounded, came to this place. Their
are about 400 wounded in the Hospital
here, and they are treated as we'll as if the
were at home. Every woman in the tow
is a dev, ted Southron, and they all vie wit
each other in their kindness to the wounded
[ am so fortunate as to be. able to. secuT
quarters with . rich Presbyterian famil,
where every lady abont the house does as
she could not do enough fer me. They war
II to wait on me too much. There are thrt
other wounded officers in the office with m
/. and | am not able to eat the Goodthings tn;
are showered upon me at all hours of tt
day. | am in perfect Glover" n dstow ava
large quantities Of luscious grapes, apple
peaches, pears, while preserves and cake
pies. etc, lie untasted around. | Shall
10th to 90 back again to green corn, bad
cooked -four bread, and fat middilng.
, would come home and see you, but n
wounds are not respectable enough 10 a.
!, for a furlough besides, it Is one hundr'
: miles to where a railroad is running, Al
!, what few men | have left are without a 81
gle officer. -,
For three or four days before the battl
e we suf fered much. We had to lie out@
e line of battle without blankets, anil take t
f. sun, rain and dew, and | never got a 'nout
full to eat but green corn from Saturday mig
d till Wednesday night. notwithstanding
# that, I enjoyed excellent health,
e There are not 25 men left to the 18th II
o All the rest are killed, wounded or taken pr