The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-10-03

In fact, lhe rout of this part of our line was
becoming as complete as that of the enc
my's right, when Davis, who had been
marching up as rapidly as possible to in
tersect with Van C1eve's left, arrived upon
the ground, went in most gallantly, and,
for time, restored in that locality the for
tunes of the day. But the enemy, know
ing that all depended upon his effecting a
diversion in favor of the defeated Long
street, massed nearly the whole of his avail
able force, hurled it upon Van Cleve, and
Davis drove the former to the left and the
latter to the right, and entered boldly the
opening thus made. 1t was just at this
juncture that Thomas troops, whose at
tention had been called to the extreme
danger Of our centre, began to RETURN
Reynolds Immediately sent the heroic Will
der to the assistance of Davis, and the Gel
ebrated brigade of mounted infantry at
first scattered the enemy in terror before
them. But the persevering rebels rallying
again, and charging in fresh numbers,
even Wilder began to fall slowly back
General Sheridan, who had been following
after Davis, now came up and led Colonel
| Bradley's brigade into the fight. 1t held
| its own nobly, until the rebels, in large
| force. getting possession OF piece of tim
| Der near its flank, opened upon it en- enfila-
ding fire, which compelled it to give way.
| But now new actors appeared upon the
|
! ly repelled the assaults of the enemy at
Owens Ford assaults intended as feint
to conceal the designs of the enemy against
our left,) came up to the rescue. Their
troops went to work with will. The pro-
gress of the enemy against Davis, Van
Cleve and Sheridan was speedily. checked.
Reynolds, returning from the pursuit OF
Longstreet, assisted in rallying the broken
battalions of Palmer. Thousands OF our
scattered troops reorganiZed almost OF
their own accord. Baird, Brannan and
Johnston resumed their places. A con-
Stunning fire swept all along our 'front.'
The rebels retired everywhere before it.
and before sunsetour line was again in bat
tie array, upon almost precisely the ground
held that morning. aga alf
Just before dusk the enemy, as if in
spite for his unsuccessful efforts, opened a
heavy fire of artillery and musketry upon
these same troops, and continued it until
after nightfall. But it was so promptly
returned that he sustained certainly as
much injury as be inflicted, and about six
o'clock drew off entirely, leaving the day
clearly our own.
During the night of Saturday some
change was made in the disposition of oul
!. forces, and the line was so far withdrawn
that it rested along cross road running
northwest and southwest, and connecting
the Rossville with the Lafayette road. By
this arrangement our extreme right was
; made to rest on Mission ridge, as it shoulC
probably have done in the first place. Tht
new line that formed was mile shorter
than than of the day before. General Ro
: secrans' headquarters were removed from
. the house belonging to the widow Glenn
near the right of the line, to point some
what nearer the Lafayette road, and ir
> view of the center, and every preparation
was made that genius, science and patriot
ism could make, 10 beat back the ava
: lanches of the enemy, should they venture
upon an attack the next day.
The changes in the order OF the differen
divisions made the new line stand thus =
One brigade Of Negley's division was nea
the extreme right; then came Johnson, theI
Baird, then Palmer, then Reynolds, the1
Brannan; then Negley's other brigades, ,theI
Van Cleve, then Wood, and then Sheridan
Wilder and Minty, with their mounted
force, held the extreme right. l have Civ
en- only the general order of our line
7 somewhat in reserve. The other divisions
J had reserves detailed from their own regi
ments or brigades.
Ifany one wishes to get general but a
the same time clear idea Of the nature o
the battlefield of Sunday, let him imagin
, :. two roads, the Rossville and Lafayette
gradually approaching each other as the,
. run northward, the average distance be
l tween them, where the battle was Tough
being about two miles. AS we look south
ward the low wooded range of hills calle'
Mission Ridge is upon our right, and ava.
to the left flows the Chickamauga. Be
4 tween the ridge and the creek, and espe
cially between the two roads the countr
is mostly level, and is covered with dens
forests of oak and pine, interspersed her
e and there with small cornfields. This
- pf haff to
1 immortal in the records of the historian.
That was indeed a night of awful sus
pense which settled around US after tn
last gun had been fired on Saturday.
was very chilly and cold, and much suffer
!. ing amongst the wounded was occasione
thereby. Those who were still alive an
I well, although they were exposed to tn
\ physical condition. True, no warm fire
kept the influence of the frost from thei
t limbs, for fires were strictly forbidden
: No blazing light helped to cheer their mind
: and dispel gloomy images therefrom. Bu
: still, as they sank down in the darknes
p upon the hard, cold ground, they entirel
!, forgot their bodily deprivations as the
= to themselves, the country and the cause
Y of the gigantic struggle which might ensu
: on the morrow. No tongue can ever te
: the yearnings Of the soldiers heart fo
: friends and home as he lay on the groun
s that night grasping his musket. Nor pc
l nor pencil can picture the emotions of hi
t soul as he thought of his mother, wife Q
|, children, and reflected that ere the settn
= of the morrow's sun, thousands such as ht
: and he himself, perhaps, would hav
/, passed beyond the possibility of seen
4 these dear ones ever again on earth. An
: who can fancy the varied feelings of appre
: hension, of agony or of hope which file
q the patriots mind as he thought that th
: evening of the coming day might see th
s banner of his country waving in the breeze
e of benefcent victory or draggled in tn
# mire of disastrous defeat And he, tot
s upon whom all the responsibility for sue
e cess or failure rested, he who had never ye
lost battle, but was now confronted b
e such fearful odds that a triumphant issu
: seemed almost impossible-what were th
: reflections that coursed through the cham
I. bers of his soul on the night preceding tha
f eventful day whose issue would confir1
4 his title of one of the greatest of livin
r Generals, or write failure in burnin
7 characters upon his brow! And deepe
: than this solicitude for his own persona
n L