The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1863-01-03

start in par,piA>, They At length end him
in strong position At Frazer's farm, and
here another terrible battle takes place.
During that fou- days massacre our
troops had been transformed. into wild
beasts, and harkly had they caught sight
of tho enemy, drawn up in order, ere they
rushed upon them with horrible yells.
Yet calmly, % on the parade ground, the
latter delivered their fire. The batteries
in the centre discharged their murde, GUS
volleys on our men; and great disorder
ensued among the stormingmasses Gen.
Lee sent al his disposa6le troops to the
rescue, but Mcclellan opened upon these
newly formed storning columhsso heiiish
q fire that even the coolest blooded vete-
ran lost his self possession: whole ranks
of our mon were hurled to the ground
The thunder Of the cannon, the cracking
Of the musketry from; q hundred combat
ants, mingled with the screams OF the
wounded and the dying, were terrific to
the ear and the immaginatiou- Thus rag
ed the conflict within comparatively
narrow space seven long hours, and yet
not a foot of ground was won. All our
reserves had been led into the fight, and
the brigade of Wilcox was annihilated,
At length the coming Of night compelled
a truce, snd utterly overcome by fatigue
the soldier sank upon the ground at his
post, thoughtless of even the friend torn
from his side, and engrossed only with the
instinct OF selfpreservation But "Waterl
waterr was the cry from the parched lips
on all sides. The empty TASKS contained
not drop, alas! aad at length sleep over
came each worn. out warrior. and even
thirst and hunger were forgotten. Gloomy
and out of humor, General Lee rode
through the camping ground OF the deci-
mated regiments, attended by his statt,
and then with dry, harsh voice, ordered
up the divisions Of Wise and Magruder to
bury the dead With brief remark, he
next indicated to General Longstreet his
position for the next day. and rode OF
with his aids to visit other portions Of the
line
The battle was renewed next morning
with great fury. but Mcclellan, having
brought up reinforcements during the
night, beat back every assault, when, at
length, the division of Anderson, Hill,
Longstreet, Cobb and Whitcomb were or.
dered to storm the enemy's works:
And now again commenced one Of the
NEST desperate combats that ever took
place in any war The loss on our side
was absolutely frightful. Mcclellan, OBJ
serving the devastation his artilley was
making among our troops, called up a
division Of receives, and overwhelmed US
with terrific rain of musketry. His mas
ses pressed forward, step by step, nearer
and nearer, until at length some compa-
MES of ours threw their arms away and
fed. Mcclellan availed himself Of this
panic, and ordered flank movement Of
his cavalry. Quick as thought Anderson
placed himself Mt the head of our horse,
and led these regiments to the charge.
Their onset was magnificent. Our Texans
burst with ringing huzzas into the ranks
of the foe, who, without even giving US
time 10 try our sabres. turned to the ght
about but here, too, tine hostile field peices
prevented farther success, and we had TO
draw back from before that crushing fire.
The enemy noticing our confusion now
advanced with the cry, "Onward to Rich
mond + Yes along the whole hostile front
rang the shout, Onward to Richmond "
Many old soldiers who had served in dis
tant Missouri and on the plains of Arkansas
wept in the bitterness of their soul like
children OF what avail had it been to
US that our best blood had flowed for six
long day. ?-cf what avail all our unceas.
ing and exhaustless endurance Every
thing, everything seemed lost, and general
depression came over all our hearts. Bat.
teries dashed past in hesdlong fight; am
munition, hospital, and supply wagons rush
ed along and swept the troops away with
them from the battle field In vain the
most frantic exerfion. en,reaty, and self
sacrifice Of the staff officers. The troops
had lost their foothold, and all over was
wi.hthe Southern Contederacy.
Hill Qst finally came up with new
forces and stayed the onward rush Of toe
federals, until night put stop to the
carnage The Divisions Of Magruder, Wise
and Holmes reinforced the rebels during
tho night and the battle was renewed next
day, until noon, when McClelland cautl
ously withdrew, and made his next stand
on Malvern Hill. This was also attacked
with great boldness and dies peration, when
suddenly missiles of monstrous dimsn
sieas tore down whole ranks OF our sol
diers and causec the most appealing dam
age" This was the fire Of the federal
gunhoats, which though 2in1iles of, now
took part in the contest Tie "rebs'
couldn't stand that and sullenly withdrew
thus ending the memorable Seven Days
Battle