The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-06-13

49,
nihcentiy and successfully. The Ja'.g-
mans had pompously predicted orr $50
route and captivity should we Hawaii ..itife
rity to approach that place, yetin fnvv ,sae-
hours after our first arrival, our troons LOT LOTT
!he stars and stripes floating over tho c Maa
ltol of Davis State. io cap
jackson, after its capture. was of ,ol,4
OF consequence to us as a military ,,o MAO
Irants object was accomplished %. ~
obstruction of X. r. communicates tne
vlcksburg. The main army was ,h WIN
fore, put in motion toward the latter , rie
the next morning. Steele's division a,
ielt III jackson, under orders to leave aIa as
M M TWO or three days, and move on toyra .s9
| Vicksburg. coward
The third day after leaving jackson l,o.,
INST: we were met by the enemy FLU FLU
| V1ckSDurg, in strong force, estimated III
rebel prisoners at from 80, 900 to 6J 600 10y
place called Champion Hill, about b, ,, ~
from vlcksburg, and beyond the cross;n
OF the Big Black. AS usual, the enemvhnSS
selected his own ground, in piece of con n@u
try consisting Of abrupt hills and dao,, u lu
vines, with not level ground enonob ~ IA,
circuit OF miles around to have drawn
our army upon, in line of battle Tbev b up
possession OF the ridges and all the emino "u
ces commanding the road, and. in sbor.
had every advantage for a fight. The,
were reached and engaged by Hoyev,s ana
Logan's divisions in the morning the hat
tie continuing all day. Our division IOn;n
by's) reached the scene of conflict abo %ll,
O'Clock, P. NJ, when the contest was at i,1
hottest. ZIP "' 'Os
Never, perhaps, was such battle fopob,
IN the West, since the commencement ns
the war. Upto the time of our arrival Il
had been pretty much an artillery duel, Int
now came the deadly work. The artillery
closed. Two batteries of the enemy were
! fol- r..
charged and captured battery, it was 70.
captured by the enemy, captured again
again re-captured, but finally brought of
in triumph. W
But the greatest loss was inc Division
| and especially in our Brigade. I'D. com.
manded by Col. Bowen, acting Brigadierl
composed of the 5th and 10th Iowa. and Tho
ODD Illinois, and the 18th Missouri The
enemy being hard pressed attempted to
| flank us on the left. Col. Bowen's quick
eye had seen this danger when we frat
came on the field, and he drew I'D his bri.
gade in line of battle to meet it. Had ba
been permitted to remain in his first posi-
ton the movement of the enemy would
| have been defeated, and great slaughter
obylated. But he was ordered to advance
to the support of our right, which was not
IN danger, thereby leaving our left exposed
to Ranking movement. When the move.
rent UdS made, he was ordered up to meet
it, but too late. We were already thanked
Our line of battle had to be formed undera
Calling fire of the enemy, and with Dor.
ton of the flying forces of Hovey breaking
| through their ranks. Our brave men fell
| back few rods under this first shock, but
soon rallied, and with cheering charged
upon the ranks of the enemy. The con-
test was terrific one. For four mortal
hours there could not be volIey distin.
guished except as one position was changed
for another. 1t was one continuous roll:
volley tapping upon volley, till the hills
and woods seemed all ablaze in the deadly
strife. The dead and wounded were piled
up on the battle field, while the the living
pressed forward to the conflict. Before
dark the enemy was routed at every point
and driven from the field with the loss of
q pieces of artillery and about 1000 pris-
oners.
The loss in our little brigade was not less
than 800 in killed and wounded. The 10th
Iowa suffered most severely. Our position
was that of the 9Th at the battle of Iuka,
and most calamity was it maintained. Our
loss was 1877 in killed and wounded. Be-
ing thanked by the enemy, we were exposed
to a raking fire both from front and rear
while forming in line of battle, but not
man hinched from his duty. Capt. Poage
fell, killed almost instantly, while cheering
on his men. Capt. Holson was wounded
in the arm, Capt. Lusby in the throat, and
Capt. Kuhn through both thighs. Lieut..
Brown was killed, Lieut.. Terry mortally
wounded, and Lieut.. Gregory slightly. A
cOlOr-bearer was shot in the arm he drop
ped the flag, but seized it up with the other
and bore it alOft, when almost in moment
he received another ball, killing him in
stantly. private who received mortal
wound cheered on his comrades while he
could speak. Oh! it was bloody dav for
the 10th, but thank God not a man fiinched
from his duty-every man of the 10th who
came from the field of Champion Hill
came NTH an honorable ,Cound.
The enemy were again engaged by Sher-
mans forces the next day at the crossing
of the Black river and routed, losing IL
pieces of artillery and 4 900 prisoners. The
next day we reached the outer fortitica-
tions of Vicksburg, aChich We hare not yet
taken. Yesterday was day of considera-
BILE loss to us. An attempt was made to
carry the works by charge along the line.
From some remarkable miscarriage the at
tempt failed. McClernand, on our left (our
left rests on the Mississippi, and our right
upon the YaZoo at Haines' Bluff took one
fort, and the I'D Iowa planted the stars
and stripes upon it. BUTT was afterwards
re-captured by the rebels, together with
the flag and what men were in it, thirteen
believe. Our Division was ordered from
the centre to the support of McClernand,
and most murderously ordered to charge
upon the rebel works There the gallant
Boomer was killed by ball through the
head. This sad casualty was all that saved
the brigade from humiliation. After the
death of Boomer the brigade was ordered
to halt and withdraw under the cover Of
the night, which was then thickening
around. Our regiment lost yesterday
about 80 in killed and wounded. The loss
Of the 5th and 18th also was very heavy.
both at Champion Hill and yesterday.
1t would seem that Vicksburg is as near
ly impregnable as a place can well be
made. l suppose we can take it by assault,
and if our men are ordered to do it, / be-
lieve it will be done, but it will be at
dreadful sacrifice of life. The rebels are
obstinate and fight with desperate bravery
and determination. But they cannot, I
think, hold out long against regular siege.
In this way we can whip them with COM
paratively little loss of life, though requir-
ing little longer time. We now have
them completely hemmed in and cut off
from all sources of supply. Their supplies
are said by prisoners and deserters to be
sufficient but for a short time, and they
must yield.
| Our batteries to-day have been making
havoc in the rebel Notifications, tearing up
|