Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1863-12-09


master of the ground until night, wher
they were ordered to retire, carrying off al
their guns, losing no prisoners, and but
small per centage Of killed and wounded
The. whole command behaved we'll, and es.
pecially that model soldier, Major Genera
Cleburne, true son of the Emerald Isle
and his heroic division. General Hardee
saved the army from disastrous rout, and
added fresh laurels tohis brow.
The attack on the left wing was not made
until about noon. Here, as or the right
the enemy was repulsed; but he was obsti'
nate, and fought with great ardor and conf
'dence, returning to the charge again and
again in the handsomest style, until one Of
our brigades near the centre, said to be
Reynolds, gave way, and the Federal flag
was planted on Missionary Ridge. The
enemy was not slow in awaiting himself Of
the great advantages of his new position
In few minutes, he turned upon our flank
and poured into them terrible en6lading
FIRE, which soon threw the Confederates on
his right and left into confusion. Under
this confusion, the gap in our lines grew
wider and wider, and the wider it grew the
faster the multitudinous foe rushed into the
yawning chasm. The confusion extended
until it finally assumed the form of panic.
Seeing the enemy in possession Of q portion
Of The heights, the men hastily concluded
that the day was gone, and that they had
best save themselves. Just at this time, the
alarm was increased by an artillery battery
which rushed down the hill to the river for
fresh supply Of ammunition; the men,
however, supposed they were flying from
the field, and that all was lost. Nearly the
whole left wing eventually became involved
and gave way-a portion of it retiring un.
der orders, but the greater part in an I'M.
mitigated rout.
Gen. Bragg did all he could to rally the
fugitives and reform the broken line. He
exposed himself in the most unguarded
manner, and at one time it looked as if he
would certainly be killed. His staff officers
were also conspicuous in their efforts to re-
store our line. They and their chief were
the last to leave the ridge:
The.day was lost. Hardee still maintain.
ed his ground; but no success of the right
wing could restore the left to its original
position. All men-eyen the bravest-are
subject to terror and confusion but to-day
some of the Confederates did not fight with
their accustomed courage. Possibly the
contrast between the heavy masses of the
Federals as they rolled across the valley and
up the mountain ridge, and their own long
and ,attenuated line, was not of a character
to encourage them. -: -. '..si.>.5s
Our casualties are small-too small--too
small, indeed, to be recorded along with SO
complete and humiliatiug defeat. In
cluded among our losses are some of our
best guns-perhaps as many as thirty or
forty. The infantry supports in some ih-.
stances fed so precipitately that there was
no time left to remove the guns. - There
were but few roads down the mountain by
which they could retreat, and this occasion
ed further loss. ALI the artillery behaved
well. The men in Cobb's battery stood
ground after their support had fed, and
though they lost their guns, they fought
them to the last; and when the could use
them no longer on account Of the steepness
of the descent, they hurled hand grenades
at the foe as he crawled up the mountain
beneath the muzzles of the guns. =
The enemy's loss must have exceeded
ours ten to one. Our dead and some Of the
wounded were left on the field.
But it is late and bitter cold, and I must
close. We cross the Chickamauga to night,
and then proceed to Dalton.
Cor. Savannah Georgian.