Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-07-28
From the Mobile Register and Advertiser. July lYl
THE SIEGE OF TICkSBURT.
EY ONE OF THE GARRISON,

On Sunday the lItl of May. the Confederate
army tel back from their position east of Biz
Black, their hreastworks having been stormed
by the enemy on that morning. and about
eight O'Clock on Sunday mig reached the city
OF 'lcSsburS, where they were Immediately
reorSanlzcd and placed in the following posi-
tions: Gen. Smiths division on the extreme
lett, Mal.-Gen. FOrney III the centre Mai Gen.
Stephenson on the right, and Brig. Gen.
Bowen's division of Missourians held in re-
serve. At about two clock ON Monday after
noon the cncmy'S skrmishers came in sight
and opened fire Oh our line of works, without
doing any damage whatever to the Confederate
army: by seven o'clock that night they had
placed several batteries i'll position about three
hundred yards from the brcaStworks, but alb
stained from firing. On Tuesday mOrn-
lug before daylight they opened fire from
their batteries, our guns responding immedi-
ately and with tine effect, compelling the enc
my to shift their batteries several times. At
the same time the enemy cndeavored to throw
! Forward body of sharpshooters but were pre-
vented, BY the fire of our men, from susdousrr
The artliiery duel und sharpshootcrS conan-
ned for about three hours, when Gen. Peribcr-
ton rode up and ordered or mcn to cease
f,tmg, as he desired no artillery Guels!' In
obedience TO the order Our men ceased firing,
and the result was that next .nurnine tie cnc-
my. embeldened by our silence, approached
| one han}'rd yards nearer HGn Mey 'ctye he
d"g d@t@Fe, gittom aay opposition. On Tues
day tEc enemy made their first assault Oil the
line OF works held ny Brigader General
Shcups brigade Of louisianianS. They
marched up in one solid column. "ur men
Withholding their fire until the Yankees had
approached within thirty yards OF the lines.
when they opened Il terrific ypley Of mu$ket-
". The enemy waycrcd momeut then
marched forward. they were again mct by
another vciicy. when they broke ana fled
under cover et-. the hills. This WAS
the only attcrutt made on that day
70 force our lines, ard the attempt was
evidently made more with the intention
"t 'lrc!ng; our lines than with amy serious
| idea OF stormins thcnl The days intervening
from the 10Th to the 2.2Hwcrc spent in one
| continued bonIbardinc and sharpshooting du-
ring the day in the night they generally
ceased firing On the morning Of the 22d the
enemy opened u terrific fire with their Parrot
guns, and continued it till about | | o'clock,
when the bombardment ceased, and heavy
| columns OF the enemy could be seen forming
in line of battle. Our forces were all ready
ipl tLSili, duu luI luCIl Lil
about Il III the columns Of the Yankee ar.
my advanced all &along the lines in splendid
order, and with a. lend cheer dashed up to the
works. They were calamity responded to by
our brave boys and the first charge repulSed.
On the extreme right Of out lines the nature
of the ground prevented the enemy from ma
king any heavy attack, but on the right of
the centre, the'ccntrc, and the left Of the cen
| ire, the assault was desperately made, and
calamity met--Dut once did our lines break,
and that was in Aee's brigade; the enemy
gained temporary pfooting on the rifle-pits,
but Lee quickly rallied his men, and after a
desperate hand TO hand fight drove them out,
and reoccupied the lines. :.
The engagement ut this .point and the
right of the line, held by Brig. Gen. l.. Her
bert,was of terrible nature, the Yankees
having thrown their best troops on these works.
Five times did they charge and each. time
We're repulscd. Fhe last ohnrsso the right
Of Brig Gen. Herbert's lines was made by en-
Irish regiment-the 18th Wisconsin-carry-
ing the green flag Of Erin. They came at
double-quick up the hill, each man in the front
rank furnished with ladders to reach the
works Three times they eSsayed 10 plant their
ladders, but We're prevented by the obstinate
resistance offered by the consolidated 2lSt and
they came within ten yards Of the line, but
two rolleys of buc&Shnt from the Shot-guns Of
our forces compelled them to make q precipi-
tate retreat from the front OF our works. At
about TWO o'clock they made their last charge,
and were again reruiscd, when they retired
! and did not attempt any further demonstration
that day. The loss Of the enemy on that day
| is estimated by competent parties at not less
! than from 5000 to lu.0DD while our loss was
between 500 and 900 in killed and wounded.
| To describe tho battle would be an impo>si-
| blity; the cauncnadins appeared like one
continual peal Of thunder, and the sharp
crack ofthousandS OF rifles lent grandeur TO
| the scene that dcfies description. That day
| ,yas no dUub. the heav!cs. and most desperate
| assault on Il line Of brcas,workS that has ever
been attempted during this war. No higher
| praise cun be given to our troops Tor repuiS-
lns the enemy Than the acknowledgment that
| the Yankees fought with Il valor worthy OF
| better cause, and tn" frank acknowledgment
OF Gen. Grant that ,kc troops tI:at a'.'' hiin
out OF IickSburg for iortv-sevcn days on one
quarter rations, were the hr;tvest troops heever
saw, aud men that could ba;;e Kept hi"a out
as long as they had provision. On the Ind,
| We lost some noble men, among whom were
Col. Ilerrick o! the 2lst La, Capt. Gomez u.
the S;ltle !esHciit, diu 't'''' Sci'"' "''" ''''
ilrous Southern men,.
From the commencement Of Tie siege to tn"
:2Gth of May, the Yankees lad only nrcd dur
inc the day, but from Tuesday the 26th. they
kept up one continued fire night and day
The murtarS OH the peninsula opposite \lcks
burg opened fire on the 23th of May. and con-
:nued an unccasinc fire until the surrender
of the city. Each day new batteries were
erected. and a large amount Of guns brought
to bear upon the town. 1t was estimated that
rs many as 5000 mortar shells alone were
thrown at Vicksburg every twcnty-tour hours,
and on the lines in tho rear of the city as many
as 1000 per day.
After the grand attack on the ..2d ct May,
the enemy evidently perceived the hopeless
ness of taking Nicksburg by storm; they
then commenced mining our works. 10 give
au idea of why they ventured to mine our
lines, we would state that our men having to
obey the order of Gen. Pemberton, did not
"waste any ammunition on the enemy" but
allowed them to come within fifty yards OF
our line Of breastworks, when they commenced
throwing up works and erecting torts; TINS
thew were allowed t. do without any further
molcstation than the occasional throwing OF Il
few hand :renadcs, in many cases the enemy
hnsing them back to us. From the 22d Of
May to the 9th Of June, no attempt was
made of any serious nature, with the excep-
tion of the attack by the turreted iron-clad
runboat Cincinnati, to silence. one of our
i land batteries. The enga agoment lasted about
fifteen minutes, when the Cincinnati COM
menced sinking having been pierced several
} times Ivy the Brook gun known as whist
ling Dick" This was spirited and exciting
engagement, and the result appeared wholly
unexpected by the Yankees, as they conf
IDENTITY anticipated the destruction of the bat
terv by their vaunted iron-clad. During the
engagement number of the enemy congre-
gated on the bank Of the river opposite Ficks-
| Tnrn- while Sherman with his entire corps