Santa Fe gazette. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1859-1864, 1863-06-06

tIut tnu uuy Wuulu pIius iuttu u teliiuc puteiV'
We knew that the enemy had been reinforcing
his line all night at the expense, undoubtedly Of
the strength OF bis force on our left. His inten-
ton was evidently, to fsht for the possession Of
the plank road. which it was perfectly apparen, be
must have, Us that portion Of it which we then
held, was subject to the enemys assault in front
and on both aanks.
Bu: the possession Of this road was mol obtain
cd by the enemy suve at our own time, at his
severest cost, and after one Ofthe most desperate,
tenacious and bloody coualcts for its short dura'
ton, Of the whole war AT live o'clock A. NJ.
the rebels could be plainly seen up the plank road,
about mile and half from tho Chancellor
House, which General Hooker still retained as
his headquarters, though shell bad gone through
il the evening before and another had cut down a
tree directly in front fit,
Our line Of battle was formed with General
barry gallant division on the right, General Biz
ney next on tho eit General Whipple and Gen
enl Williams supporting. At l'2 A. NJ. the
advance became engaged in the ravine, just be.
yond the ridge where Captain Bcst's guns had
made thor terrible onslaught the night before and
where they still lrowned upon the enemy and
threatened his destruction -gl.l.es snsr5l
The rattle Of musketry soon became long con.
tinued crash, and in iew moments, as battalion
after battalion became engaged, the roar surpassed
all conception, and indicated that the fight would
be one Of the most terrible nature. I,.I....,
Gen, Beuys division, which had checked the
enemys advance the night before, engaged him
again, and il it were possible for them 10 add
more laursls to their fame then they did ii thrice
over again. The enemy advanced bis infantry in
overwhelming numbers, and seemed determined to
crush our forces But the brave men Of Sickles
and SloCum, who fought their columns with dos
perate galantry held the rebels in check, aud in
/. licted dreadful slaughter among them. Gen,
French's division was Seht in on tho right flank
Of our line nt about IA, ", and in short time
horde Of ragged, streaming rebels running down
the roaj, indicated that that portion ol The enemys
line bad been crushed Al 8 o'clock A. NJ, Gen,
French sent bis compliments to Gen. Hooker,
with tho information that be bad charged the
enemy and was driving him before him. ..nt-
1 Sickles maintained tho attack upon bis line with
great endurance The enemy seemed determined
/ to crush him with The immcnSty oIhs forces, and.
i as subsequently shown from the statements Of
prisoners, five whole divisions Of the rebel army
were precipitated upon this portion Of the line,
4 for from these Eve divisions we tool during the
day an aggregate Of over Two thousand prisoners.
The exploits Of our gallant troops in those dark
!, tangled, gloomy woods may never be brought TO
J light; but they would Gil a hundred volumes. II
| was deliberate, desperate hand to hand conflict,
and The carnage was perfectly frighlful Cool
I officers say that the dead and wounded Of the
8 enemy covered the ground in heaps, and that the
t. rebos seemed utterly regardless Of theirlses and
ut literally threw themselves upon the muzzles ofour
Al guns. Many despantecharges were made during
e tho fight, particularly by Bery's division. Motifs
brigade made fifteen charges, and captured seven
a stands Of colors, the Serenth New jersey COL
Q Franciao alone capturing four stands ot colorS
i and five hundred prisoners.
!, Gen. Couch's Second Army CoTs, though only
| in part present, didexceIlent work. II was ten.
French who charged and drove tho enemy on The
flank, and 1t was the indomitable Hancock who
. gaantly went TO the relief Of the hard pressed
n Sicklcs, '''
# The engagement lasted without tho slightest
!. lntcrmission from IL A. NJ, 10 Sa5 A. NJ,
a when there was a temporary cessation on our part
|, occasoned by getting out Of ammunition. We
held our position for nearly on hour with The bay
onct, and then, being resupplied, an order was
4 given TO fall back to tho vicinity ofthe Chancellor
r House, which we did in good order. Here the
!, contest was maintained for an hour or more, not
h so severely as before but with great havoc TO the
n enemy, and considerable loss 10 ourselves.
y The vicinity Of the Chancellor House was now
/ the threatre Of the fight, and my visits to that
spot became less frequent Gen. Hooker main
4 tanned his headquarters there until 10 A. NJ,
|. when it was set on fire by the enemys shells, and
= Is now in runs Charlottesville is no longer in ex-
It stence, having pershed with the fame, but Chan.
% cellorsyille is in history never TO DO eilaced.
Our new line was now so far established as to rem
of der il safe to withdraw all our forces on that 'front.'
a which was accordingly done, and at ll:30 A. M.
y the musketry firing ceased. OF wi W..
It The engagement had lasted six hours, but had
e been the most terrific Of the war Our artillery
IA had literally slaughtered the enemy, and many Of
l. the companies had lost heavily in men themselves,
10 but the guns were all saved. ..I... .....
ID The enemy was now no longer in our rear, but
had been showed down directly in our 'front.' and
r. is now directly between US and our forces in
It Fredericksburg, and we were again 10 an ntrench-
q, cd and iormidably fortified position. The enemy
q has gained some ground II Is true, but at the sac
D. r6ce Of the flower Of bis force FIVE Of bis seven
Ii divisions having been cut to pieces in the effort,
as and over 1000 Of them have fallen into our hands
" Our right wing, under Gems Reynolds and
' M.olo ,can cok onoa,ad uaVA thn diviainu ni