The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1863-08-13

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light, ,ywhen saddehly an Officer is sesn,
spdrFing hfs horssr to wards the. front of
thee hae uhe coanmAnd halt aaickls,
toHows, and almost ~ quickly thS as,
founding newssis passing ftos soldier,
TO soldier, "Vieksbufg has fsllen.n y ~ !. 3:
The surrounding .dsrkness, bid from
view the disappointment 'apd moItitics,
tion depicted. fuponSthe faces Of ms al, !.
and sad as the gloom of night fell upon
our. ears, the command eoaht ter march
battalion; battalion. right face, by file
left, march, +" Tor then and there. we. .be~
gan a retreat (which far .pytsatiot aad
suaefing had never been, eiperienced.i
even by the veterans Of the. brigade in
Che ,csIhPaisns of Maryland aud Viz
gihia.. =. = ~. ~ = = &. g.:
r, The nain body os,the army had not
yet, of course, moved from the encamp.
ment 90 the pond, and We were again
halted there, tilf the nssrch or retreat,
could be properly orgapized.. This was
effected by 8 o'clock in the morning,
and then again arose the Important
ques'iont What shall be done with
The sick? They could not be transport.
ed, no regiment had more than a single
ambulance, and could the poor. .fellows
ssroggle after US, and escape the flying
cavalry Of the enemy who were sure to
pursue This was tho only alterna,iSs,
and assembling the sick of my own reg,
'ment around me, gave, thensths re.
qnired certificates, the instructions sug>
sested By the exigsacs, and started
them on their painful march, ahead Of
she column, on road parallel 10 the
one we we're 10 occupy. -
Some Of ,hsse men were i'll OF fever,
and the greater number-weli nis!s ex-
haussed from diarfhes, with bad food ::
yet strange TO tell, they all made good
theT escape :: there is not one, believe,
who can not be accounted for as safe in
hospital or in tho regiment. when
they could no longer march, tliey4weuId
s,o? al some private house. till sufii-
c,enily rested 10 go on again. The
s:ckest Of them were helped on by the
cavalry, who protected our rear, and in
this WAY the most Of them got up with
us In time 10 witness or take part in
The contest at Jackson. .
The sun, thiak, was alrendy up,
when we began our retrogrsde march
from Bndsong's farm. To South Caro-.
hnians the day waa- ;:.tei,sea ;;::..t.eei,se.7 not and
sultry; no rain had fallen for weeks
the road was bed Of fine, penetrating
lime dust, peculiar 10 tie county, and
as tho 'lorg line-o weary men dragged
hsef slowly aloas, it rose high above
the. trees, and rested upon tie NOV
InS colamelike paH of death. Mile
succeeded mile without drop of water
Tor the fahting, except here and there
a solitary cistern in some farm yard,
around which the men would rush TO.
g"iher in adense struggling mass, each
one striving TO snatch at least, a capful
Of Ielprecious beverage. BY 10 o'clock,
the weary and fsinting were falling
speechless on the road sides, and hun.
dteds of stragglers hanging in the rear,
despite gear guards and tho pursuing
ehemy. Pie surgeons, of course rode
in the rear of-,beir regiments, prepared
with opium and other stimulants for
readyspplication. Succeeded in getting
several of my men in. priva!e, houses,
who overlook US tue following night
The last one fell in two bundled Yards
of the place Of encampment- . hope |
may, never be-ealled upon to pass again
through such scenes of suffering.-
Scarcely q mile of lnis, and the succeed
ing days march, but we were called To
tile road side 10 speak word of en-
conrageincnt or TO administer cordials
10 some sick and weary soldier.
We marched this day twelve miles,
and encamped near dirty pond. On
the route we passed the residence and
plantation of Joseph Davis, brother tor
the President. A gentleuan, who. rete
to the housesFss the regiment was pass.
ing, told me that he found bis daughter
in tears, at the sight Of. the retreating.
cS'"mn {; she Informed him that the
family were preparing 10 follow with all
That Was valuable Of their property. A
multitude of citizens. In this region, fol.
lowed the army with their negroes and
all Ihe property they could haul off in
wagons and carts. Ny heart hled at
tlre sight Of helpless, panic,stricksn wo-
men and children, whom we passed on
the. road side. waiting to fall 10 our rear.