The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1860-1863, 1863-02-05
LANCASTER,


eral to his men. 1t was
the voire Of the nation q cfss,,l...
The wish Of many a BRAN. .hcsrf
day saliated, and no o.1dara say
Rosecrsas will no, lead 2s victory v
must follow?-desperate, " longed,
sauguiuary STRIFE. leaving trail Of 4
from where the sinuous. sine Just psfYed
back to the rear of The las wing, l3opiug
the ends of both with the rebel slain :
How went the day? As was Monday ia
he battle OF Shiloh.
NEW YEARS EVE. mo
To the rear Of where <oUr men rested
ou their arms. a little to the left Of lRs
Tight wing. was the dllapid.led hou9'
used by the General as his headquarterE
Here he ordered ratons to be cooked
> enough tr last himself and staff week,
and declared to his wing comwaudet' =
that he would whip the enemy thong
they came FIVE TO one. To him time w3s
too precious for sleep. The night w4s
passed in giving orders for the conceh
tralion Of tho lines. in disposing the fol
ces for the coming day, in anticipating
the work that was 10 be done; and thhs
with the dying year lie scaled the fate pi
his adversary. To many biz voice wfs
ar early reveille; arousiEg those arouu d
him ut 2 o clock, assuring Them that tic
enemy were up at one. ........
Night, cold and clear, hung over the
ba'tle ground like funeral pail, hiding
the bivouac of the two armies. The tale
OF Wheeler's movements In the rear mas
ni6ed in Importance as it passed fro m
Zip 10 lip. Tie hospitals Of the wound I'd
we're harrassed at every point. TIE
dread con usion Of the rou ton the right
the thought of heavy rein lorcements &c
the rebel ranks at every sound Of the
whistle. all these burdened the mind o
the Union tEoops with gloomy forbodin g
as to what would be the result OF tbt
coming contest
THURSDAY.
The new plans and purposes Of ihe
General were this day moulded int9
change Of front. the line now extending
three fourths ofa mile. and invulnerable
at every point. With this as his centri.
fugal power, he was ready 10 illustrate
the science of warfare and impress upon
the enemy that, as ever. he was iovinci
Bile. But the day passed without gen
eral conflict. and our men recovered from
the fstigues of the works of previous
days. Ammunition and provisions were
distributed, the small arms were cleaned.
the dad buried, the wounded cared for,
and every preparation made to renew hos
tilities. The wagon trains wh'ch encnm-
bered he field of action were withdrawn
aud sent 10 Nashville, the weather un-
pleasont and tie men suffering for shell
ter and FIRE. .... t...
The rsbel leadsr was as obstinate as our
own. The prisoners taken were hurried
South, the stores accumulated for the
campaign were shipped to Chattanooga
as precautionary measure. The recov
cry Of our fatering column and the null
ti,ude OF rebel d ad and wounded con.
vinced Braxton Bragg that gIeat error
had been made in his calculations. To
him there was surely some point from
whence we were being reinforced. Flat
ed with the work Of Wheeler in destroy
ing our trains, and the arrival of a reserve
Of ten thousand from Shelhyvillr, be
could give no reason why he should not
succeed. 1t was true the enemy had
changed their front, and hours would be
consumed before he would dare venture
another general engagement But no
time was t, be lost on his part tina. day
He watched for sign, but it did not
appear. ..r... ...t ......
THE SECOND DAY.
Frids5nwss disagrpeabls day. for our
soldiers endured all the privations as WI!
as the dangers OF war The rich soil o
the land. wet and heavy rains, had been
trod into deep miry mud, and such was
the resting place Of th- troops Of both
armies. Natures ratio was the sam;
and though the elements dill rot favor
the renewal OF hosti!ities, Bragg saw our
phan ON reinforcements and heard to bis
never ending wonder of the raid Of Gen
eral Carter into East Tennessee. The
artery of the Southwest failed to bring
the expected need. and now every mo.
ment lost was the shadow of defrat: "He
, knew the chances OF success were wan
ing. and another day must not pass with
ont measuring strength with his formida
able opponent. He resolved to attack
our lines again on the decisive point ol
our position BY concealng the design un
til the moment of execution and then to
execute it with the greatest rapidity.-
/ Bragg forgot that Rosecrans was once
: the teacher Of this art at West Point Il
, was true the peril was now greater thar
! in The .Grst attempt, and the demonsIra
) lion to discover it attended with more
ris-; so most of the day was spent in re
connoitring. aU huu ,ua
! Having heard the results Of heavy hea
, Wy skirmlshing along the whole line, ant
, examined 10 person the movements Of ou
army, Bragg now concluded TO concen
T trale and direct the next effort UPON ou
{ left. It was abou; three P. NJ. when th
entire rebel strength was precipitsted up
D on the corps Of General Crittenden.- =
, Every struggle has incidents from whicl
r the imagination can color picture O
/, misery more horrible that the conception
/ of West; but what now passed has nj
e counterpart in the battles Of any country
4 The irrssislible front Of the Union wa
' against the sphemeral force Of The rebel
: lious hordes The collision was awful