Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1863-05-16

| MAY, o, lOoo.
Shall not attempt TO chronicle the dis
graceful affair of part of the Eleventh
Corps Qormerly Sigel's), till am able to
learn the particulars and send you diagram
of the positions then held by our troops.
GENERAL WILLIAMS DIVISION ORDERED TO
SUPPORT GENERAL oEARY.
The following is correct as far as it
goes -
At six o'clock p NJ, an the Cd Of May,
the First Division, under General Williams,
of the Twelfth Army Corps (Slocum's), was
ordered to leave its intrenchments, which
fronted Howards, to support General Geary,
one-half of whose line was then actually en-
gagged with the enemy. The division moved
| promptly, and in less than ten minutes were
both engaged.
JAcKsoN's ATTACK UPoN TIE ELEVENTH
CORPS.
| General Uoward's right, commanded by
Carl Shurz, was attacked by "Stonewall''
! Jackson, and held its ground, for about an
hour, when his corps broke in the greatest
confusion, dashing to Williams rear and
over his intrcnchments.
AN ATTEMPT TO CHECK THE RETREAT.
| A small regiment from each brigade of
! Williams Division had been left to support
section of Lieutenant Crosby's Battery, +,
| Fourth United States), and hold the works.
| These troops formed across the woods and
endeavored to check the flying columns of
Howard's Corps but were unequal to the
task. The Twenty eighth New York Infan-
try, Lieutenant Colonel Cook, held their
ground till after the flight of Towards COM
mand and kept the enemy engaged. Col.
Cook, Lieutenants Chatter and Kenyon, and
about one hundred men, were flankcd and
taken prisoners.
TIE SHELLS AND THE EFFECTS.
On my return to camp / examined the
! marks of the shells, and found that one had
gone through four hospital tents, striking a
tree, and going off at an angle struck the
ground without exploding. Another killed
one of our horses. In the last tent that the
shell went through was wounded corporal
of the One-hundred- forty ninth New
York infantry, in a sitting posture, reading
letter from home. One-half of his head
was taken off by it, and he was dead. What
horrible thing to contemplate Men
wounded so badly that they cannot move,
lying exposed to instant death, with soul
Just going before them-wherc could
not learn his name.
TIE CAMP OF REBEL PRISONERS
Our camp of Georgia and Alabama priso
ners contained last night about six hundred
in number. These men are in good spirits
healthy and enthusiastic. In conversation
they are quite aconic, and know how to
hold their tongues. Whisky and some cof:
fee these men long for, but as for food they
have plenty They carry flour instead Of
hard bread, cooking it as required. These
prisoners are from Alabama, Georgia and
North Carolina When they see a shell
coming in our direction their enthusiasm is
immense.
THE SUPPOSED REBEL LOSSES.
From captured officers we learn that the
enemy's loss has been terrible. In Jackson's
corps the casualties are unprecedented.
jackson is wounded in the hand ID. III.
Hill, severely and removed from the field !;
Roach and Ransom are killed and Nichols
wounded.
TIE REBELS FIRE TIE WOODS.
Many of our killed have fallen into the
hands of the enemy, and are still lying on
the field: 1t is feared that some of our
wounded were burned to death, as, after our
troops fell back on Sunday, the enemy fired
the woods. S. NJ. c.
DESPERATION Or lliE REBELS.
1t may seem strange to Northern readers
and those away from the scene of contest to
read of the repeated attacks made by the
enemy, who, it would naturally be supposed
would put themselves almost wholly on the
defensive. The fact is they never fought
with such desperation before; they feel that
| they are being hcmmed in, their all is at
stake, and it is victory or death with them.
They are more cautious than our men and
are more secretivc. We can learn but little
from prisoners or deserters; many of ours
tell all they know. Our men not only must
have camp fires and their hot coffee, but
they set the woods on fire, thus unwisely
revealing their position and making them
selves the target of the enemy's shells. The
enemy use exceeding caution about camp
fires. Our men are curious and climb trees
to see what is to be spied out in the encmy's
land, and are more seen than seeing The
enemy, serpent like, crawl along the ground
and keep out of sight as much as they pos
sibly can.
GENERAL HOOKER.
Whatever may be the issue of the present
| fighting, one thing is certain, that General
Hooker has made himself known to the
army as one of the bravest and most daring
men that ever was on field of battle. There
is no fear in him. He rides anywhere and
everywhere, and at all times of the day and
night. Having occasion to visit his head
quarters shortly after my return this morn.
ing, and learning that they had changed
them from where they had been, asked
Lieutenant Colonel Weld, of Gen. Meade's
Staff, his present locality
go to the very 'front.'" said the Lieut..
Col. "then go to the line of skirmishers, and
from there advance to the first house further