, 1863-07-12

t1mber upon it., while that held By the rebels
can boast Of several groves Of greater or less
extent, In one Of these the PennsylFanla
College i embowszsa, while Il ;e Sposhes Is
twgcn the ridges ere tho ruins Of large brick |
bui1ding, burned during the engagement, aud !
dotted about here and there are various brick
and fame structures. Two miles ut ourleft |
hand 1ises sharp pointed elevation, known
to The inhabitants "a Round Hill: It's sides
are wooded and the forest stretches from It's
base across the valley to the crest Of the Wed
tern ridge.
THE VALLEY BETWEEN TIE RIDGES.
II must not be supposed that the space be-
tn cen the ridges is IN even plain, shayen with
the scythe and 1eveled By tho roller. It rises
ard fails gently and with little regularity, but
for its uniformity aud for the occasional
sprinkling Of trees over it, surface, 1t could
BE- compared to patch Of rolling prairie In
miniature. To the southwest Of the ridge is
ct en- the mountain region Of Western Nary
land, behind which the rebels had their line
Of retreat It is not wild, rough :mass Of
mountains, but region Of hills Of the larger
yerFed by roads only In few localities, and
their rastage, except through the gaps, ia
difficult for single team and impossible for
an army. -
TIE RxTREME RIGHT
of the line is close upon meadow on the
bank Of Rock Creek. Here but few marks
Of the battle we're seen, the most Of them
thrown from single batteries on the other side
Of the creek. Lines drawn from this point to
the extreme left, and again from each wing,
would form a triangle, with the longest side
IN the rear. The reader can obt8in an idea
Of the ehape Of the line Of battle by picturing
to himself horse shoe, the toe as the GENE.
tery and the wings ut the heel. The horse
shoe should de widened somewhat at the heel
to make the illustration app1oach perfection.
Oficers With whom have conye1sed say the
line was very nearly quarter Of circle.
This position gare US great advantage over
the rebels. We could concentrate on either
wing or On the centre by moving from two to
our outer circle, Lee was forced to move ten
miles to make similar concentration. By
watching Lee's movements carefully Geu-
Meade Wi.s ublc to checkmate him on each
occasion.
CONCLUSION.
The great battle is over. The enemy Is in
fua retreat Toward Virginia, With our Victozl-
the two hosts may. again measure their
strength. Flushed with its present victory
and increased by the thousands now marching
to joln it, who can doubt that our army will
achieve success. As great or greater than
those Of Waterloo are the results Of this
battle Gf Get'yWsR95tg Lee and TGtST PS
adelphia, would hare fallen before
him. The rebel flag would have float.
! ed over the national capital. The nations OF
| Europe would no longer withhold the rccog-
uition that the rebel leaders have for SO many
months been asking. The way would have
been oPensd for peace Tbleh etnna should en-, ~
defeated, and driven sgain to Virginia, with
onr army In pursuit, the natton breathes in
| safety, A terrible blow Ia struck at the hopes
! Of the rebellion. More terrible ,nay be the
result to the rebel army before It ehnll reach
the Potomac. The long suspense is over
| and bated breath, half dreading to hear the
result Of the combat, are to-day filled with
| e3ui,ntion. To those whose ya1or stood fol
the nations defense VIC will render our heart
felt Thanks. To Him who doeth all thing:
well' shall eternal praise be given.
EFFECT OF THE Wu1TwoKTn PKo1ECT1LEs.
| Moving still to the left, found an orchart
in which the fighting appears IT; to have beer @
| plowed through the ground In every direc
cape the fury Of the storm. The long balll
Of iron, said by officers present to be q modi
tication Of the WhitwoIth projectilc, lay eve
been well supplied with this species Of ammu
| milton, and they evidently used 1t with NJ
sparing hand At one time counted twelvl
| Of these bolts lying on a space not fifty fee
square. was told that the forest In rear 0
our position was full Of these shot that hat
passed over our heads In the time Of the &C
lion. The rebel artillery fire has heretofor
been excellent, but am told that on til
prescnt occasion 1t WAS not accurate. Why
was 20 is difficult to explain.
| BATTLE DEBRIS.
The deftnEes thrown up on our left wer
next In order Of visit. They consisted Of
single line of temporary earthTorks, and In
lev instances Of two lines. Behind them la
the debris Of battle scattered every where
Pieces Of clothing, tatterea shelter tents
spoiled cartridges, canteens pierced by bullets
tu1n larerEacks, broken muskets, sabres, bay
onets, soldiers, equipments were mingle
III confusion Stained aud saturated with log
I al blood, the fragments Of clothing torn iron
| wounded heroes bore evidence OF the terFlbI
struggle. Behind the breastWork were tn
graves Of the fallen, dotted thiek}y around
The GROUND was deeply cut by the wheels Q
The artillery as It performed !ts evolution o.
the field.
EFFECTS UPON WHEAT FIELDS.
4 mile from our central position, on th
crest Of the hill at the cemetery, WIS field 6
wheat, and near to It large tract, on wh1c
Tie. The wheat was fearfully trampled by til
! hur1ying feet Of the dense masses OF 1ntantr
as they changed their positions during the bal
tic. In the corndeld artillery had been stt
tioned, aud changed its position as often Q
tie enemy obtained Its range. Hardly h HI
: / If corn is left IN its pristine iaxnriance. II
little that escaped the hoot or the wheel, q
, tie guns moved from place to place, has sint
b en- nibb1ed off By hungry horses during Il
: night niyouac subsequent to the battle, NJ
: stalk Of wheat is upright; not blade I
t corn remains uninjured; all has falls
l long before the lime Of harvest. Another In
g yeet, in which death wus the reaper, has bet
1 gatheled nbuvc IL
i. the ASSAULT on THE LEFT.
z On our extreme left the pointed summit
g hill of d thousand feet elevation rises
n warus the sky. Beyond It the country fal
:, off into the mountain region that extends
b the Potomac and across i into Virginia: II
l. formeda strong position, on which the left
d our line could rest. The enemy assault
n this 1x>int with great fury, throwing bis div
0 ions one after tie other againscfit. Their
y forts we're Of no avail. Our men defend
their ground against every attack. It 3
ike the dash Of the French ut WateIl
against the immovable columns Of the Ell
lieh, Stubborn resistance overcome the va
j. Of the assallants. Time after time they ca1
to the aseault only to fall back as they had
|
Of our own men still standing behind th
works. The rebel dead aud wounded r
II scattered thlckly about the ground. Our o
i were not wanting. =.
sToRMEp WITH SHOT AND SHELL
Nearly to the lefs extreme Of the hne. I
n. half way between the crests Of the ridg
~ stands neat farm house, Around this d0
litr the battle ragged as around HoWgoum
at Waterloo. Al one time It was In the re
possession, and was tiercely attacked by I
~ ~ men. The walls were pierced with shot :
u shell, many Of the latter exploding will
-. ~ and makiug of themselves scene Of deya
~ ~ on cyery side, and all the woodwork be
~ ~ testimony to the struggle The 5hnrpshe
as c1s u Here in every room, and added to the
order caused by the explosion ofshells. "
a a the nieslcs spared the esoldlery destroyed
~ 70 7tbels were driven from the house, and
- position was taken by our own men. L
ne 10 in tu1n were dislodged, but finally took
~. held the place. .-....-.
x CITIZENS SEARCHING THE FIELD.
fy. In the orchard in rear Of this house
re, tie position Of the rebel batteries dnrit
III portion Of the attack upon the left. FIT
, . Of their horses lie dead on the ground, sV
de- len to IN enormous size. As Jet the citIz
or hare made no attempt to bury the patrefy
es. masses. AL over the field are numerous 4
vil from the country, engaged In gathel
Us Whatever Is OF Talue. ] few arc mcFel
les search Of relics, but the most Of them
bearing away any and everything that
Rr. consider Of pecuniary value. here in
nd orchard find 4 countryman engaged in
lily g .ne ana tsona1inr IN ~ cary It from
s w field. Another has collected dozen blank
n.1 .e11 dropped by soldiers in the heat Of the
gagtment. Another Walka past me !