Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1863-09-11

calculated TO stem the hery attack OF Stonewall
Jackson's veterans Again the Germans broke
and fed but their swift retreat was not bloodless
and unharmed. as il had been through the thick
est and copsewooi of Charlottesville.
Thicklv and heavily shot and shell and mus
ket balls fell with damaging accuracy upon their
shriekip- ranks. and il is the belief Of many
that if Gen. Ewell. after driving his enemy for
f,ur miles and through the town Of Gettysburg,
had not, by superior orders, stayed the pursuit
within the town itself, his victorious troops
would have camped on the night of the lst Of
July upon the top of that ridge which upon the
two subsequent days all the desperate efforts
Of the Confederates were inadequate TO storm.
For the division Of General Heth, opposed to
General Reynolds and the First Corps of the
Federals, fercer conflict was in store
Standing firmly on his ground, Gen Reynolds
met the Confederate attack unfinchingly and it
was not until bsyonets were on the eve Of cross
ing that several of his regiments, and notably
the oath Michigan and two regiments from New
York and Pennsylvania 1.-THE latter said never to
have been in action before broke into sullen
retreat leaving about half Of their number dead
and wounded on the ground The retreat once
commenced knew neither pause nor stay until
the town Of Gettysburg was gained and passed
Among Its victims was numbered Gen. Reynolds,
one Of the most active ofthc Federal Generals,
who yielded his life upon the best contested field
which in the opinion of competent judges, the
" Grand Army the POTOMAC had hitherto
known.
Gen. \. T. Hill, 10 inexperienced witness,
bore willing testimony to the gallantry with
which the Felerals fought. If the events of the
two following days had not eclipsed the notice
taken ofthe first DAYS struggle, much more
would be said and thought Of a Lgny which,
though inexpensive 10 the Coniederates, cost the
Felerals not less tLan l0,000 in killed, wound
ed and missing.
JULY "a.
know not whether | am mistaken, but il
struck me that both Generals Lee and Long
street yielded reluctantly, and coHfTc-cGur to
the policy Of pressing forward at once this days
attack. Undoubtedly, General Longstreet would
have preferred TO wait for General Pickett, who
would have Joined him on the evening Of the
u General Lee struck me a. more anxious
and rutiied than | hal ever seen him before,
though it required close observation 10 detect il.
Il was not ill / in the afternoon that the bat
tie commenced Upon the extreme Confederate
right advanced General Hood and the Texans,
who would follow his tail form mp TO Gehenna's
gates. and the DAYS disasters commenced 10y a
wound which he at once received, shattering his
left arm below the elbow and forcing him from
the field His division fell TO the command Of
the senior Brigadier General Robertson, who
swiftly shared General Hoods fate, and resigned
the command TO Gen Law
ON Hoods left advanced, hardly with sufici-
ent promptitude, the division Of Gen. M'Laws.
Observing. some DELAY in their advance, General
Longstreet threw himself at the head Of Wofords
brigade. and led them under such fire as has
rarely been witnessed right up TO the slope. Re
pressing the disposition Of his men 10 cheer him
as he took his place at their hcaj by the brief
exclamation Of - Cheer les. men, and fight
more, Gen. Longstreet, mounted upon the same
charger which he has ridden in score Of battles
without either horse or rider, both recklessly
and constantly exposed, cncountering even
scratch, plunged into the thickest Of the fight.
Meanwhile on the Confederate centre snd left
Generals Hill and Ewell mingled IN herce con-
fict with their embarrassing enemy am
indeed would he the attempt 10 portray IN Ian
guage the scene which the Cemetery-hlll, held
by the Federal centre, and the lines Of their
right wing, lying Immediately behind Gsttys-
burg, presented to the spectator II It had not
been reserved for me to listen next day to still
more awful din. should have fancied that no
such scene had ever before sslutel mortal eye or
ear. 4 thick canopy Of smoke, constantly rent
by bright darting flashes Of fame, cast its dense
pail over the struggling, bleeding thousands
Sho toiled and died in its centre, while cut Of
the OPAQUE gloom, as though from the bowels
Of the earth, one deep prolonged belloWinS roar
never ceased 10 issue
Through the deepening twilight and on far IN
10 the night the hcrce struggle continued. until,
in the gloon, the dazzling parabolls Of fame,
bursting into sparkling Jets sud coru-cations as
the shells cracked and exploded. made CHASTITY
pyrotechnic display Ii WAS not until late IN
the night that 1t was learnt that the divisions Of
Rodes and Early had at one time actually car
ried a uart of the cemetery hill, and had sent
down a peremptory entreaty for support 20 Gems.
Pinder and Anderson Of A. ?. Hill's corps. But
Gen. Pinder lay at thst moment desperately
wounded. The request was, for some uns1swn
reason. unheeiei bv General Anderson. Ecdcs
and Early fell back to their oll position, aud
the only advantage gained by the Confederate
consisted in the carving by Gen. Long,trect Of
the first position Of the Federals upon the cy-
trcmc right of the Confederate line
JrIA g.
Between the first and second positions origin
ally held by the Federal left intervcnel large
bare sloping meadow, nearly a mile in width.
Across this Valley Of the Shadow Of Death the
Confederate advance. committed this morning 10
the divisions Of Generals Picket and Petigrew,
had no option but to proceed, swept by the con-
centrated fire of the countless Federal guns, and
exposed when nearing those guns 10 hall
storms Of musketry bullets. The distance was too
great to advance at the double quick; It was ne
ccssary to move slowly and deliberately that, as
the men approached the batteries, there might
be some dash left for the final onslaught Early
in the morning General Longstreet's Inc stood
thus
On the extreme right the division Of Gen.
Hood. commanded by General Law, next 10 him
the division Of McIaws-these two divisions be-
ing bv Gen Longstreet held in hand TO launch
against the Federals should success attend the
onward movement to their left Next To McLaws
came the SDes greyis Of the movement-the di-
vision Of General Pickett, supported and assisted
on its left by the far larger division Of General
Pettigrew, belonging to A. p. HILLS corps, and
ordinarily commanded by General Heth, who re-
ceivcl a singular wound on the first day. He
was struck in the centre Of his forehead by a
Minnie bullet, which laid bare the bone, and
then rlde,l off lie attributes his escape to the
fact that he was wearing Yankee hat which
was too large for him, and in front Of the fore
head he had inserted a thick wad Of paper,
which was strong enough in its resistance to the
bullet 10 save the Generals life. II should he
noticed that most Of Pethgrev division consist
ed of men who had never been seriously engaged
before. They have recently been drawn from
North Carolina
The division Of General Pickett, short Of two
OF It's brigadee, lAtely ltlt III 'ut NiOihi'y Va
folk. but likely, believe, shortly TO join Lees
army, did not in number much exceed 1000
The strong division of Pettigrew, which in its
engagement of the LIST, against General Rey-
uolds, sustained Inconsiderable loss, numbered,
with the addition of Wilcox's Brigade temporsr-
ilv attached to it, about 10000 men. 1t was
naturally desirable before their attack was de-
Ivered that heavy csnnonading from the Con-
feierate batteries should, far possible, e1-
haust and perhaps silence some of the Federal
guns. Accordingly, under the instructions OF
Colonel Walton, Chief of Artillery TO General
Longstreet. and Colonel Walker, Chief Of Artll-
lery TO General 4. ?. Hill, battalions Of artil-
lery, numbering IN all li0 guns, were got INTO
position, while similar arrangements were made
by General Ewell on the left. so that in all upon
the Confederate side alone there must have been
a concert of about two hundred guns
Ii can hardly be doubted that their thunder
WAS echoed back from a similar number OF pieces