The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-01-15


eamsters who had so frantically driven
across the river when the rebels were assaIl-
ing our right, found they had escaped Sc,la
only to fall into Charybdis. They no longer
made even a preense of an attempt to save
their teams, but jumped from their horses
and ran for Fife.
y considerable number were captured, bu;
we're Afterwards relaken It was nslrly A
o'clock when Hardee was repulsed. and all
Immediate danger in that quarter was over
He had succeeded in defeating our RICH,
wing, hut he had not game our rear; nei
ther did h. obtain the baggage and annuni
ton trains which he so much coveted. One
of his divisions had been less successful
still.
While the battle WIS raging on the right,
half dozen or more pieces Of artillery be.
longing to P,lmsr's artillery kept up con
tinual fire on the rebel lines in the direction
of Murfreesboro, in order to prevent an ad
vance from that quarter The division Of
The rebel General Wither. happened to be
Just in range Of these cannon. Here he had
been stationed by Hardee in readiness to
charge upon PalEer's division when that
part of our line should be sufficiently awak
ened bv the withdrawal of reinforcements
for McCrok.
The position was a most uncomfortable
one. and at every discharge Of artillery some
Of Wither>' men bit the dust Goaded al
most to madness by this slaughter Of his
charge His men advanced with great inn
petuoSity out their pecttessness was of no
avail against the few prond regiments that
stood in their way. The sea might sooner
hope, by hurting its angry pillows against
them, to break in piec s the solid rocks which
confine It,
The desperate assailants withdrew at last.
Their loss must have been fearful, as they
call it the bloolest struggle of the day.
! There was now lul in the storm, and
scarcely volley of musketry or boom Of
cannon was heard for three quarters Of an
| hour
Some hoped the bloody scenes were ended
FIR the day. but the rebel leaders diSappoint-
| ed by their failure to penetrate to our camp
by way Of the right wing. were preparing
for bold blov at the center
All the reserves were attached to the CEN
ter Of their army md r. Polk, AMI Bragg in
person piacel hn,,i ut tn. hpa of the
coun ~, AMI NV was pr ,Sentel an limos.
ing Spectac.. Ia, natlr. Of tn. gr,lll in
this part Of the fi.l wat slch that every
movem mt Of eth ,r army could be dis inctiy
seen.
The open tells tovarls MurfreeSbor.,'
were sino'th enough for hplid,y parable
ground \ i.r,, ctnr,nli, up IA. turn
pix. am ,ua:a tn, c,njn, ,ls,t, AMI from
the very woods oat If which hal seen the
rebel cavalry issue Oh VI ,ni4y ev4nin, tn.
first line Of battle now siles forth.
1t came on IN magnificent order AMI
stretching away diagonalty a;re-s great
S'oI'"o isl vi "i'cn hlFo 50 irhll2lly
spoken, its Length, seemed interlninabie. At
a Sufficient interval another depl ,yel into
the oIen ground parallel with the first ami
ere the forward battallons wer. engaged, a
third line o; battle came forth fro n tn. sam,
wo,d<.
| 1t seemed as thou IN our fe.b., troops il
that direction ina b, crushe by the W i,lt
| OF these immense masses Of living an | NOV
ing men. Is II ths ever Sltc1f Il ete Of RS
ecrans had dete re the reo.l design, even
before their froat line OF bl,tl. hll EN- rsel
from among tn. trees -t
The Union army WIS Xix 4 set Of ch.S;
men in his hln l., an | its di f.reni brig ld.>
and divisions vera moved ab,ut with as
much f,ei!ity as are Plwls All Piece, in tn.
Royal game &
The least exn ,ustel troops Of the left and
center were hlrriei f,rwarl on the d ,ub!e
quick t, c,n5,, this new IF ,rt If the en.ny,
AMI even f., u tn. extrtn, i,ft wle.e VA
tleve vas p,'tel b,is.h wis Brought
over 10 take part in the ief,nse. 1913
They rushei ~ to tn. very muzzleS OF
our cainDn n hi-l.l tn .ir N l,k It's Il tn,
heads of oar artillery n.i. Tl,y even shout
ell dtmoliaciy yhei t,ieir hearts we're pierre
ed by bullets, and tn mile to the earth
while en- le.voring to take another step in ad
vance. -
Toe same formidable array of batteries
and hattalionS again confronted the foe as
that upon which the violence Of Harde,'s
iorca had spent itself, an / similar results fol.
lowed
Almost simultaneously sheet of fire
leap.d forth fro II exc OF the opp )sts lines,
and for few IN IN mt bpth stoo like walls
Of ston., d!schtr siny heir deadly miskets
INTO each Others sons. A,s
rnol the reoels ate nptei to charge. bat
storm Of !e, al ir,a am ir,t ii their
faces anl all arouhl than, sweeping them
Own, as the l,ng l.l> Of tr, iers Sio cross
the ,hira are psostfat Il ~ btlst Of the
Simeon. "' q. s#'a
if utter m,lnss. cil b, cllsl b.ls.rF,
thel in | 70 w.r, these re,.I> brave @a5
Ii ICE tn, >oiliers Of the q ,ioa wavsrel
bef,re th, f,ry onsst, it vas but Tor mo
msnt, anl in forty minut., from the time
the first rebel liae in ircael forth, all three OF
them had been dashed to pieces, and the
Suryiynrs ,,f tha ,.,ii.. -, 4, ..,,,