The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-05-16
Jackson.

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1t is Ike breaking walking-stick by
striking it on end with sledge-hammer
Not that, ether, but the crumbling and
flying of stick of brittle candy. The
division melted away like straw in a
candle-fame. Howard was on the left
with Gen Devens. He rallied the two
remaining divisions. For few moments
they resisted the shock, but like the fall
ing of shattered wall, when the ma
sonry is loOsened, like the washing away
of q dam where the water has swept ont
the first grain of sand, the line dissolved
Gen. Howard was left almost alone
He begged, threatened, stroye with all
his might-did all that man could do,
but the panic was on the men. Away
they went toward Charlottesville,
through Berry and Whipple, through the
mixed crowd on the fifty acre lot of
cleared land, imparting the panic to
teamsters, to artillerymen and ambu-
lance drivers. They have left eight
pieces of artillery behind The remain
der of their guns are coming down the
narrow roadway as fast as the drivers
can hurry their horses with lash and
spur.
A CRITICAL MOMENT.
1t is sundown. A critical moment in
the history of this nation. 1t is not a
Bull Run stampede, with no enemy in
pursuit; not the close of hard fought
battle, but the beginning of one, with
! Haroa avul+op+ Iatanp,ipaJ bocf ID
vancing. The river roaring in its might,
just bursting through the breach, must
be damned in an instantl The food
must be stopped at once or all is lost
There has been no moment like it during
the war. 1t was a critical hour-that
sunset hour on Sunday at Pittsburg
Landing-but there the torrent had been
stemmed all through the day. 1t was
an eventful moment at Molvern Hills,
when Magruder led up his whisky-mad-
of our forces; but that was the last
gEfmine2f 2f BSff BS4ff fGNshfaau3tsd Gsfa s By seven days
this wood, this clearing, may have been
the turning point of the destiny of this
nation, the welfare of the human race for
| all coming time Now is the hour for
the stringing of the nerves, The bracing
of hearts, the clenching of teeth! Flesh
and blood must become adamant.
THE TORRENT sToPPED.
Gen. SickIes, seeing the disaster, hast
ened to avert it. The fleeing artillery
was laundering down the narrow road.
| Half way back to Charlottesville at the
entrance to the cleared field was stone
wall extending from Scots creek up to
the woods. There was the place to stop
the stampede. He reached the gateway.
With pistol and sword he stopped the
foremost piece of artillery. The others
came crowding on, the drivers in fever
heat of panic, but they were blocked.
| Officers rallied them, and their courage
began to return, and Notwithstanding
the infantry was tumbling headlong over
the wall, and fleeing through the woods,
the artillery recovered its senses.
Pleasanton with his cavalry was in the
field Leaving the cavalry lie took
charge of the artillery, turned it up on
the ridge, manned it in battery, brought
up his cavalry to support it-a feature
novel and laughable-and in five min
utes had the foundation of dam. Capt
Best, Chief of artillery TO Sickles' corps,
with marvelou senergy brought his pieces
into position, all pointing toward the
advancing avalanche-forty pieces ready
to open their thunders. Gen. Hooker
was at Charlottesville. In an instant
he was in the saddle. There was no
force at hand but Berry that could be
thrown instantly into the breach. Itwas
his old command, hardened, indurated,
made perfect through suffering in all
the hard-fought contests of the PENN
sula. With heroism unsurpassed,
equal to the imperial guard at Waterloo,
amid all the disaster rout, panic and
commotion, they moved into position
one single block to resist the moving
mass, to stop it square till Birney, Ber-
dan and Williams could be recalled; till
SIocum could change front; till the dam
could be thrown across the stream
JACKSON ADVANCE.
With yells and cheers the enemy ad-
vanced and met the canister and shells
of thirty pieces of artillery 1t was a
terrible fire. There stood Berry's di-
vision as firm as a rock. Again and
again the rebels dashed against those
veterans only to be hurled back, dashed
in pieces, to reform and roll up again
like tie waves upon the rocks of Nahant
An hundred shots minute were thun.
dered from those thirty cannon-one un-
broken roll of thunder, sweeping away
the rebels as a housewife an army OF
emmets into the firel
They quailed, halted, fell back. The
torrent was stemmed. The grand coup
d etat Of Jackson had been checked
Goodness. nerve, pluck, endurance, had
, won the day-seemingly had turned the
tide of destiny.
, JACKSON PUSHED BACE-
5 = In the night Whipple and Berry and
Birney advanced. 1t was not enough to
, | Ston, tha tida-it must ha mnued hack