Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-06-04
THE BATTLE AT RAYMOND.

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THE BATTLE AT RAYMOND.
RAYMOND, (MIss.) MAY 10, 1868.
The battle fought yesterday within three miles OF Ray
mond Miss ought to be called the battle of Farnden .
Creek. from the stream which it commenced, and
whose banks last evening bore witness to the dreadful
struggle by the number Of dead and wounded that lay
strewn along them.
vary advance exchanged shots with the enemy after
daylight The rebels had their cavalry thrown out several
miles from their main body is their nvarable custom
in the Southwest, and which we might initiate with
great advantage to ourselves After pretty heavy firing by
the cavalry in which the Second Illinois lost two killed
and several wounded. the Twentieth Ohio, Col Force
commanding, ordered to advance in line of battle
couple of fields toward heavy timber where
it supposed the rebels had their infantry force Short
y after the Seventyeghth and SixtysIghth Ohio and
Thirteth Illinois were ordered forward in similar
These regiments constituted tho second brigade of
Gen Logan's division. The Twentieth Ohio kept steadily
its way forward followed by the other regiments of the
Second Brigade. As they approached the woods the
bells sought to check their advance by heavy fire from
the timber but stood their ground noby, contend
ing against the almost concealed foe at great disadvantage
yielding inch, but pressing steadily forward.
Gen. Logan, ascertainng the condition of affairs in
his 'front.' sent word to the First and Third Brgades of his
division to close their ranks and push forward rapid
y possible Meantime the Second Brigade holding
its against vastly superior force 1t rein
forced by the brgades under Generals John E. Smith and
John Stevenson Shortly after the opening Of the fight
Capt De Goyers battery, Eighth Michigan ordered
TO the 'front.' and took commanding position for the pur
pose of dsodgng the enemy from the woods the infantry
having proved itself inadequate to the task The James
red guns of De GOyes battery opened and commenced
pouring heavy fire Of shell into the rebel columns The
enemy for the first time opened artillery upon His
aim was good succeeding in making our infantry change
position But his purpose to silence the Eighth Mi
chigan battery, and he failed in that Finding it mposs
Bile to silence the guns with artillery the rebels attempted
charge upon the battery. regiment of men essayed
| the hazardous undertaking While they moving
fence preparatory to making the decisive dash the battery
opened them causing the entire column to fall back 10
disorder At their ngorous withdrawal infantry sent
few rousng cheers which had the effect of accerrat
lag the speed of the fugtves and inspiring whole
mand with zeal aud determination press forward
to victory of which they felt certain when the for
tunes of the day seemed to turn against them.
The rebels, defeated in their attempts to capture
battery found themselves compelled to fall back to posi-
ton Immediately in the of Farndens creek There
but few inches depth OF water in the creek and Its
very abrupt deep banks rendered it favorable to
them than the best rfepits they could have dug Gen
Mcpherson had ascertained their position
than he ordered an advance upon it, Gen. Dennis bri
gade had the lead and his brave went forward with
| will Gen. Smiths brigade supported them. large
open field lay between them and the enemy and to march
across it, exposed to the fire of ambushcd foe,
their dreadful task assigned Not fnched, not
soldier evinced spirit of fear reluctance Forward
they went, unmndful of the CALLING fire in their front
When within good range they opened on the rebels and
more terrible conflict than that which followed for
than FIVE minutes has seldom occurred between two OPP
posing forces Of equal sze. The Twentieth Ohio, TWEEN
tieth Illinois, and Twenty third Indiana lost heavily but
the rebels forced from their ground.
During the desperate struggle above alluded to the
bells attempted to turn left flank and very nearly
ceeded 10 doing The Twentieth Ohio and Twenty
third Indiana had advanced too far from their support aud
in great danger Of being cut Off regiment OF
bells suddenly emerged from thick underground and
marched darngly forward toward the left Of the TWEEN
teth Col Force the danger he was IN, and gave the
order to fall back upon the main body In the execution
Of this order the regm suffered greatly it's mortality
list will show Among the commissioned officers wounded
at this time the acting Major Capt Kaga, from Sid
ney Ohio Two balls struck him the shoulder break
ing the collar bone and nficting such injuries it is
feared will prove fatal The Twenty-th Indiana when
ordered TO fall back to the main column found itself
elevation between two ravnes Their commander, Col
Davis extricated them from this position 10 admirable
Any but veterans would have scattered IN
fusion finding themselves totally at the mercy Of an
enemy three times their numerical strength, but the
Twenty third were undismayed, and retreated without
showing their backs to the enemy The casualty list of
the Indiana boys 10 this battle is very great.
The fight on the left growing desperate. The Iwen
eth Illinois had fired forty rounds of cartridges and still
the enemy held them at bay Col Richards of the Twen
eth had been mortaly wounded while urging hs willing
heroes forward At this critical period Gen StevensoDs
brigade To the The Eighth Illinois, Lieut..
Col. Sturgis commanding mp with fixed bayonets,
md with wild YELL which the rebels wisely interpreted
premonion Of death to the foe drove them from the
creek in wild disorder This Of the most brilliant
feas Of the day 1t made the Of victory
dDubly sure. The most reliable estimate we can make
places the rebel strength at 600 Citizens tell us
they bad but 5000, but there prisoners captured
from ten different Observation-Disclosures Alabama, Texas,
and Mississippi. They under command Ct Gen.
Gregg OF Texas We fought them with Gen. Logans di
thousand strong Gen Crockers division up in the
afternoon, but not in time TO participate in the fight 1t
fair tn the forces very nearly equal the rebels
having the great advantage OF position and Typographical
knowledge Our loss in killed and wounded will not ex-
coed two hundred and fifty.