Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1863-07-16

| the fire, from intermittent to continuous,
and crushing. told of the wise tactics oil
the Rebels Of attacking in force and chang.
ing their troops. Seemingly the attack
of the day was 20 be made through that
wood. The demonstration was protracted
it was absolutely preparative; but there
was no artillery fire accompanying the
musketry, and shrewd officers in orr west.
ern front mentioned. with the gravity due
to the fact, that the Rebels had felled
trees at intervals upon the edge OF the
wood they occupied in face OF our posi-.
ton. These were breast works for the
protection Of artillerymen.
Suddenly. and about 10 in the forenoon,
the firing on the east side, and everywhere
aDout. our lines. ceased. A silence as OF
deep sleep fell npon the field Of battle
Our army cooked. ate and slumbered.-
The Rebel army moved 100 guns to the
west, anI massed there Longstreet's corps
and Hills corps, to burl them upon the
really weakest point Of our entire posi-.
ton.
Eleven o'clock-twelvs o'clock--one
o'clock. In the shadow cast by the tiny
farm house Is by 20. which General
Meade had made his headquarters, lay
wearied staff officers and tired reporters
There sas not wanting to the peacefulness
of the scene the singing of bird. viii III
had nest in peach tree within the tiny
yard of the whitewashel cottage. In the
midst Of its warbling. a shell screamed
over the house. instantly followed by an
other. and another, and in a moment the
air was full of the most complete artillery
prelude to an infantry battle that was ever
exhibited. Every sizc and form Of she'll
known to British and to American gun.
merry shrieked. whirled. moancd, whistled
and wrathfully huttcNl over our ground.
AS many ss six in a second, constantly
two in a second, bursting and screaming
over AMI around the head quarters, made
very he'll Of fire that amazed the Oldest
officers. They burst in the yard-burst
3ext to the fence on both sides. garnished
as usual with the hitchcd horses Of aids
and orderIies The fastened animals rear
ed and plunged with terror. Then one
fell. then another-sixteen laid dead and
mangled before the fire ceased. still fasten-
ed by their halters. which gave the express
sion of being wickedly tied up to die
painfully.
These brute victims of cruel war,
touched all hearts. Through the midst Of
the storm of screaming and exploding
shells. an ambulance. driven 10y its frcn-
zied conductor at full speed, presented to
all of us the marvellous spectacle Of q
horse going rapidly on three legs. A
n she'll tore up the little step Of the Head
quarters Cottage. and ripped bags Of oats
IS with knife. Another soon carried of
one OF its two pillars. Soon a spherical
case burst opposit the open door; another
ripped through the low garrett. The re.
naming pillar went almost Immediately
to the howl of fixed shot that Whit
worth must have made. During this fire
the horses at twenty AMI thirty feet dis.
tant were receiving their death, and sol.
diers in Federal blue were torn to pieces
in tho road and died with the peculiar yells
that blend the extortei cry of pain with
horror aal despair.
Not an orderly, not an ambulance, not
a straggler was to be seen upon the plain
swept by this tempest of orchestral dcatl
thirty minutes after it commenced.
Were not one hundred and twenty
pieces OF artillery trying to cut from thu
field every battery we had in position to
resist their purposci infantry attack, and
TO sweep away the slight defences behind
,.-h, ,uf.
minutes, fifty minutes, counted on watch
es that ranl Oh SO languidly. Shells
through the two lower rooms. A shell
into the chimney that daringly did no,
explode Shells in the yard. The ali
thicker and fuller and more deafening with
the bowling and whirring Of these intern
al missiles. The Chief of Staff struck
Seth Williams. loved aAd respected thro
the army, separated from instant death
by two inches of space vertically meas
ured. An Aid bored with fragment
Of iron through the bone Of the arm. An.
other. cut with An exploded piece. And
the time measured on the sluggish watch,
es was one hour and forty minutes.
Then there was lull. and we knew that
the Rebel infantry was charging. And
splendidly they did this work-the high
est and severest test Of the stuff that sol
diers are made of. Hills Division, ia
line of battle. came first on The double
quick. their muskcts at the right -shonlj
er-shift." Longstreet's came as the sup.
port. at the usual distance, with war cries
aud a savage insolence as yet untutored
by defeat. They rushed in perfect orde,
across the open field, up to the very muz-
zles OF the guns. which tore lanes through
them rs they came. Bat they met men
who were their equals in spirit, and their
superiors in tenacity. There never was
better fighting since Thermopyle than
was done yesterday by our infantry and
artillery. The rebels were over our de-
lenses. They had cleaned cannoniers sud
horses from one of the guns. and were
whirlingit around to use 1t upon US
The bayonet drove them back. But so
hard pressed was this brave infantry that
at one time, from the exhaustion OF their
ammunition. every battery upon the priu.
cipal crest of attack was silent, excep.
Growers. His service OF grape and can .
lister was awful. 1t enabled our line. out
numbered two to one, first to beat back
Longstreet. and :nen to charge upon him,
and take great number of his men and
himself prisoners. Strange sightl So ter