The weekly pioneer and Democrat., 1863-07-31

A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF THE
GREAT BATTLE. oo'ea


GREAT BATTLE. o.o 'ea
Interesting Letter from an officer.
We are indebted to Colonel GEORGE N. Nor
GAN. commander at Fort Smelling, and late
Colonel of our glorious First Regiment for the
following graphic account OF the great battle
It is a private letter from an officer, dated
R,vouAc FIRST REGIMENT MINI. VoLs.,(
NEAR ANTIETAM, July 13, 1868.
DEAR COLONEL: write the first mo-
ment of time I have had since the battle
of Gettysburg most fatal to us that
we ever participated in. You doubtless
will have heard the particulars ere this
reaches you. I sent list of the killed
and wounded to the Adiutant General Of
the State two days ago. We lost about
three-fourths of the officers and men en-
gagged. Poor Periam fell in the first
charge. was Just by his side, and saw
the bullet-hole by his right ear. l did not
supposehe would breathe again, and passed
on. Company K had twenty-nine men
when we went into that charge. OF these
eight were killed and thirteen wounded:
Corporal Gore, the company clerk, was
killed, and Matt. Marvin badly wounded in
the foot. Tenny also had bad wound.
The whole regiment Except Companies F,
G and L, who were not engaged here)
suffered nearly as bad. Capt Muller was
shot through the brain. Lieut.. Francis
was also shot through the brain. Among
the others that you knew particularly were
Sergeant Trevor and Privates Jackins, Da-
Wis and l. L Taylor, of Company E-(poor
S'Tactics. - his notebook is closed for
overland Sergeants Aker and Wikoff, of
Company II. Col. Colville and Lieutenant
Colonel Adams are both badly wounded.
Downie has two wounds in right arm
Peller left arm broken. Tom Sinclair had
bullet fatten itself On his breast-bone. |
told him there was no necessity that he
should get iron-clad." Boyd was also
wounded in the leg, and De Gray had his
skull ripped about four inches. The next
day (Friday) we withstood the shock of the
decisive charge of the battle. After a
shelling for about three hours, during which
the air was literally full of iron, and COM
pared with which all the other shellings we
ever withstood seemed insignificant, A. P.
Hills corps charged our line just at the
point held by our second brigade. The
enemy advanced in solid column, in beau
tiful order and style, without firing shot.
although it left the ground over which it
passed strewed with its dead and wounded,
from deadly fire which We poured into
its front and both hanks. besides canister
from a dozen batteries. 1t never wavered
nor fired shot until it planted its coiors
upon our nearest battery. Our brigade,
moving by the right flank to the point OF
attack, and constantly firing, arrived at the
battery just with the enemy, and charged
him. Decimated as they were by our mur-
derOus fire, what were left were obliged to
sUccumb, and our regiment alone-then
not much more than one hundred strong
being the first to charge the rebels, took
over five hundred prisoners, and the cOlors
of the Twenty-eighth Virginia Regiment.
Such bravery, GOODNESS and determination
as the rebels showed in this charge, is not
recorded in history. Mac,onald's charge
at Wagran, embellished as the story is by
adm'ring chroncleIs, does not come up to
the steady, determined, unwavering ap-
proach of these men, without a shot or a
shout, although not one of every ten that
started reached our line. AS they
reached our battery they fred upon
us, and we had all along been undfr
withering fire of grape from their bat
teries, which came up to close range.
Here Capt. Messick then commanding
the regiment,) and Capt Farrell fell. The
Provost Guard had been ordered up. Its.
May and Mason were wounded severely,
and 11Lieuts Harmon and Heffel6nger,
slightly Immediately after this, another
charge was made just to our left. But the
|'Johnny Rebs - were completely "gob-
bled up' by the gallant Second Vermont
Brigade, who charged them at run
when they approached within about fifty
yards of their line, and took nearly every
man prisoner. This ended the battle of
Gettysburg-the most sanguinary that l
have ever participated in. You may judge
how our men fought, when / tell you that
after the battle, but one man was missing
while three fourths of the whole were
killed or wounded. We are now in front
of the enemy here. Heavy skirmishing
has been going on these two days, and a
battle is imminent Capt. Coates COM
mands the regiment. Hooper is calling
f.r ttmail," So I must close. Please