The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1863-07-17

"'ke Ia The rear. aud constituted the only "a.
ferye u the army.
iha'soHy forenoon was spent in skir,nish.
ing. Meade Las been urged to attach tn
enemy by the heads of columns in div;s;or
pouring the whole army in the enemy.
center, bu. determined tia. the enemy mns,
light i'm where he stood. was to come nm
der the range Of his long chain Of batteries
on tbs cres's. f,om whica concentric FIRE
could be poured into his advance.
Four O'Clock came. when Sickles cauti-
ously t0fAAFhfs-aay on the LETT, uncovered
Longsttests aivanee>, The rebe,s charged
mpVAlsly.s but ~srs swept back by a
storm OF grape and canister. A second
charge and the fight ensuing pushed Sick
ies back SLOWLY. He reformed. placed bis
bat eries IN new position. swept the rebel
line With an eniilading FIRE. and. charging,
recovered tee los; ground and guns.
AT six the cannonade grew fiercer than
ever. aud the storm of death swept over the
held iron then till darkness ended the con-
Diet. In the main our strengthened col,
umns beld the line. At points they were
forced back LITTLE; te~ prisoners were
lost. On the whole the rebels were unsuc-
cessiat, but We had not quite held our own.
just at the close Eweil charged and took
from he single brigade holding the rifle
pits on the rig portion of their line Of
pits. a7
In the morning the struggle commenced
on tue right. the 18th corps attempting to
regain their lost ground Agate says al
one time, amid the roar of artillery and
crash OF musketry, there came up the sound
OF another o! those OMNIBUS cheers and
the hurricane Of crastiug sound that fol
lowed seemed tearing the forest trees and
solid hill side asunder. Ii was another
rebel charge Standing by the gate keep
er's lodge. with glass l could distinctly
see our shattered line swinging irregularly
and conyulsively back from those death
bearing woods. The rebel wells redoubled.
and so did our artillery FIRE, now that the
euuners saw exactly where 20 throw. The
retreat lasted but for moment. the line
Strengthened. rallied ana plunged into the
woods again.
Tie front was occupied by skirmishing
and an occasional fus.lade of artillery. Ga
the right, at quarter past eleven. after
seven hours and a quarter OF desperate
fighting EweIl's corps was repulsed and the
rife pits regained Till one there was a
lall Two hundred and fifty pieces were
concentrated on our left for the 6nal attack.
A semi-clrcle OF fire opened on Cemetery
HILL Three cross-fires came in upon it..
and to-day the tracks of shells plough hing
the ground in as many directions may be
seen everywhere among the graves. How
ard never moved his headquarters an inch.
There was his l1th corps, and there he
meant to stay. and make them do their duty
if he could They did it we'll.
When the fierce cannonade had. as the =
supposed. snthcle prepared the way,
down came he rebel lines. dressed TO the
right as if for a parade before some GranG
Master of Reviews. To the front they had
line Of skirnisheTs, double or treble the
usual strength, next the line of battle for
the charge. next another equally strong in
reserve, If the fierce fire they might meet
should melt away the first
Howard sent orders for his men to lie
down. and for while our batteries ceased
firing. The rebels thought they had sileuced
us, and charged. They were well up TO our
front when that whole corps of concealed
Germans sprang up and poured out their
sheet OF fame and smoka. and swiftly fly
ing Death the batteries opened-the solid
lines broke. and crisped up in little frag-
ments, and were beaten wildly back Our
Heu Chdfseu company AFTER company,
once at least a whole regiment. threw down
their arms and rushed over 10 be taken pris
oners and carried out Of this fearful fire.
simultaneously. similar scenes were en-
acting along the front of the Second. Third
and Fifth corps. Every v here the rebel at
tack was beaten back. and the cannonade
on both sides continued at its highest pitch.
About two the FIRE slackened little. in
half an hour it broke out deadler than ev-
err. and from that time till four it culnlina.
ted /; then, beaten out against our impenetra-
BILE sides, il ebbed away. and closed in un.
broken, spasmodic dashes.
At four the great. desperate. final charge
was made. They swept up as before. the
flower of their army to the front-victory
staked upon the issue. In some places they
literally lifted up pushed back our lines.
hut, that terrible position - OF ours =
wherever they entered it, enfilading fires
from half a score Of cres,s swept away their
columns like merest chaff. Broken and
hurled back. they easily fell into our hands.
and along the center and left the last half
hour brought more prisoners than the rest
1t was a fruitless sacrifice. They gath
cred up their broken fragments. formed
their lines and slowly marched away. 1t
was not rout, it was a bitter, crushing de-
leat. For once the Army Of the Potomac
bad won a clean, honest. acknowledged vic