, 1863-05-28

he rebels sought to check their advance By 1
lc1yy t.e from the timber, but our men stood
h.; If ground nobly, contending against the
l1nost concealed foe at great disadvantage,
never yielding an inch, but pressing steadily
forward. Gen. Logan, on ascertain1nS the
condition Of affairs 1u his front, sent word to
the 1Et and Sd bIiEadcs Of his division to close |
NJ their ranks and push forward as rapidly rs |
possible. Meantime, the I'd brigade was hold |
Ing its own against vastly superior force. It |
was soon reinforced by the brisades under
Gems. John E. Smith and John u. Stevenson.
ARTILLERY FIRING.
Shortly after the opening Of the fight, Capt
D.GoIseyfs battery, eth Michigan, was ordered
to the fropt, and took commanding position
for the purpose Of dis!odgipg tue enemy from
the woocs, tile infantry having proven itself
inadequate to the task. The james riflcd guns
Of UeGolyer's battery opened and commenced
pouring heavy fire Of shell into the rebel
columns. The enemy now for the first time
opened artillery upon Us. His aim was good,
Succeeding in making our infantry change
position. But Ills purpose was to silence tue
Sth Michigan Battery. and lie failed IN that.
artillery, the rebels attempted a charge upon
the battcry. 4 regiment Of men essaVed the
hazardous undertaking. While they were re-
moyinga fence preparatory to making the tie
cisiyc tash, the battery opened on them.
Cur men fired two shells into their midst,
wounding large number, and causing the
entire column to fall back in disorder. At
their iDglorfnus withdrawal Our infantry sent
np q few ronsing cheers, which had the effect
Of accelcratiDg tho speed Of the fugttives,. and
inspiring onr whole command witha Il new zcal
and denomination to press forward to ayictoTy
Of which they felt certain, even when the for
tunes Ct tue day seemed to turn aGainst them.
THE REBELS GIVING WAY.
The rebels, defeated in their attempt to
capture our battery, found themselves COM
pcllt i to fall buck To j position immediately
in the rear Of Farnden'5 Greek. There was
hut a few inches depth Of water in the creek,
ard it's very abrupt, deep banks rendered it
more favorable to them than the best rife
pits they could have dug, Gen. MCPHERSON
had no sooner aeccrtaiucd their new position
than he ordered an advance upon it. Gen.
Dennir' brigade had the lead, and his brave
1ncn went forward with q will Gen. Smiths
lay between them and the enemy, and to
march across it, exposed to tic fire Of an anl-
hushcd foe, WAS their dreadful task assigned.
Not l1lan ilinched, not n soldier eyiuccd y
spirit Of fear or reluctance. Forward they
went, unmindfu1 of the CALLING fire in their
| on the rebels, and 4 more terrible conflict
! than that which followed, for more than i've
| minutes, has seldom occurred between two
| "tppei1g forces of equal size. Tho 2ot&
Ohio, :0th Illinois, and Esd Indiana lost hcar'
ily, but tue rebels we're forced FROM theil
| ground.
oCn NES F1A.'EED.
During the desperate struggle above allud
I'd to, the rebels attcmpted;o 10 turn our left
Hank, md very nearly succeeded in doing SO
The 10th Ohio, an'i cd Indiana, had al
yauced too far from their support, aud wcr'
in great danger Of being cut off, A Arcgimcn
Of rebels suddenly emerged from thick un
dcrgrowth, end marched daringly forward II
the lift Of the Goth. Col. Force saw the DANCE
Aewas in, and gave the order to fall bacl
upon the main body. 1n the execution q
tits order, the regiment suffered greatly, q
n,i:sioned officers wounded at this time, wa
Major Rags, from Sidney, Ohio. Two ball
atruck hiul near the shoulder, breaking til
cnl)nr-bone, and intlictiEg such injuries 4:
it is fcarsd, will prove f.tA. The Esd Il
diana, wien ordered to fall back to the mai
5 two riyines- Their commander, Colon
2 LAWS, extricated them from this position
| Al admirable manner. Auy but veteran
5 would l,ave scattered IN confusion, on tint
!. :pg themselves SO totally at the mercy T j
, | enemy, three times their numerical strengt
!. tni the 2S3d were undismaytd, and retreate
f without showing their backs to the enem
The casualty list Of tile Indiana boys in th
battle is very great.
ACuAKGE BIT THR STu ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
The fight on the left was growing desperat
: The 20,h Illinois had fired forty rounds
!, cartridges, a1!u still the enemy held them
L bay. Colonel Richards, Of the Goth, had be
r 1nortal!y wounded while urging his willil
~ heroes forward. At this critical period lie
Is 18th Illinois, Lieutenant Colonel Surg
commanding, came up with fixed bayonc
ard with Wild yell, which the rebels wist
l. interpreted as rrelnonition Of death TO t
If Toe, drive them from the creek in wild disf
70 der. This was one Of 1lle most brilliant fea
r. II the day. It made the assurance Of our =
II tory doubly sure.
= RoCT or THE ESEMr.
ar The rebels were By this time thoroughly
~ feated, though they still kept up an outw.
= show Of willingness to continue the bait
i'll No'ling occurred after tho charge by the
,e illinois that deserves especial mention.
-. rebels 1etreated gradually toward Raymos
N, eciying no reply to his fire, he became Ct
vinced that the enemy was ION the win
OF We we're in the town Of Raymond about
". hour after the departure Of the routed reb'
he TIE FORCES ENGAGED.
ca The most reliable estimate NC can N;
7o ,,laccs the rebel strength at G,000 men. G
ou ::cns tell us they had but 5000; but tn
re were prisoners captured from ten differ
regiments Tennessee, A1abama, Texas :
rc Mississippi. They were under command
~ Gen. Grrgg Of Texas. We fought them v
Gen Logan's division Of McPherson's ar
corps, between five ard six thousand stro
Gen: G,osker,s division came up In the af
t:gh'. 1t is fair to say the forces were :
nearly cqual-tle rebels having the great
vantage IF position and Typographical kn
ledge, however.
ice LOSSES on BOTH SIDES.
'on The official list Of killed and wounded
Feo our side has not yet been made up. .OfEt
cIs diragree i'll their estimate Of casu1ities.
Nv, ps los in killed and wounded will not exc
oiu 80, think. The burial party report ha7
oss .,uIitd f1rty of our men on the field; to II
In NAV be added ten who died on the eyeuin
Ith the engagement. There were 1G0 wor
ON cd Union suldicrs carried 10 hospitals.
but lumber were slightly wounded, aud eli
ap' did not enter the hospitals atsall: or
hs, cared Tor In their own regiments. The r
7tl- loss was much heavier than ours. We bu
IN tixty-uEc Confedcratcs on the field,
pic Twelve died at our hospitals before the N
tea ing Of the 18th. We picked M nearly
'ef: drca Ct their wounded on the field, aud fo
I,,;;y their slightly wounded were carried o1
-a n,e those left behind by them, more tllAn Que
at, will die On their side, Col. McGif1lck,
s-a Nashville, Of the 10Th Tennessee, was kil
~ also several Captains and Licutcnants.
The R;c1u,rle. Of Tie am I1iinnis ~ Ncf
mS, tbrothcr Of Major Gen. McCook) was wo
ION. cd in the foot. We lost number Of line
on GERS. sent partial list Of our casualt;
very asrccial messenger yesterday. II be /:
lall- captured on the road, 1t will reach the y
ers, in good season.
uar- We took between 200 and 800 prise
lncs IN during the day.
~, INCIDENTS OF TIE BATTLE.
During tie engagement yesterday, Gen
R. Phcrson rode along our lines i'll tho thl
" Of lhc fight, encouraging his men, and 4
Il - inc theiT movements. He behaved nj
- ~ u;arEablc coolness all day. He had ST
owed BARROW escapes from cannon ehots.
this Cen Logon Was, as usual, full Of yea
Mar. intoxicated with enthusiasm. His kors
viii shot twice. If you ever hear that Loga
lands hcen defeated, make up your mind tn
al for and most Of his men hare been sacrifices
has stricken the word "rctreAt" fro
military lexicon.
,z Ihe 7th Texas met the 8'h Illinois {
ne1o, and was xcpulscd by them. The
snb. regiments faced each other At Donclson
5D's IN Missouri (Urion) and 10th Ten1
tContcdcrate}, both 1riah regiments,