Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1863-11-16
The late EigA5'at Aelly's Terd.

The chaplain of the 54th n. C. regi-
nent has furnished the Richmond Exaa-
iner, with a request that North Carolina
papers copy, the following account ofthe
fight on the Rappanannock
DISASTER TO GEN. HOKESBRIGADE.
AT DUE OLD CAMPS on THE RAPIDAN,l
November 10th, 1863.
To II EDITOR OF TaE EXAMINER
A history of the misfortune which be-
fel our brigade on the afternoon Of Sat
urdQy, the 7th inst, is cue to the friends
of the unfortunate officers ~and.s0ldiers at
home. | therefore be- leave to offsr, for
the information of such, only such iniar-
nation as [ have been able to gather
from tue officers whe escaped On Fri
day tue louisiana brigade, under BrlEa-..
der General Hayes, was sent across the
Rappahannock to act as picket guard at
the point where the railroad frem Gull
pepper Courthouse to Manassas crosses
the Rappahannook. Whilst the enemy
held this read during the latter part OF
the summer he had throTn up a line OF
breastworks from q point a short distance
below the end Of the railroad bridge, on
the ether side, which works faced from
the river and extended some distance up,
and diverging from the river. The LOU
~isianians occupied the lower part OF these
works. The pontoo- bridge, tbs only
place Of crossing for infantry, being upon
their left, and abeut one hundred yards
above where the raiirsad bridge had been
burned. At half past 2 o'clpck Z. H.,
the long rod was beat in our encamp-
mert, and every man fit for daty ordered
to fall in; we knew not why, as we had
no artillery, the day being quite windy,
and our camp being,about SIX miles from
the river. The whole Of Early's divis-
ion was marched rapidly to the river
Brigadier General Hoke's brigade Of TIRES
regiments, the Sixth, Fifty-foursh ans
FEfty- seventh, now commanded by Col.
narsfar - Hifecfr'm1s1n1. us ordsTeT oTsr
the river to ocenpy the extreme left Of
the breastworks. This brigade crossed
the river under 8 heavy fire of artillery,
fOr the LouisianiaAs we're already sus-
tanning a furious fire from several bate
riss.) This fire from the artillery and.
the sharpshooteCs was kept up until af-
ter sunset. The othsr two brigades Of
f General Early's division, commanded by
BrigadIer Generals Goodwin and Pegram,
were held in position on this side Of the
river. By sunset the sn2my had extend
i, ed his lines, in the farm Of half moon, 50
as to e~nvelop our forces entirely, his
right and LETT resting en- the river above
r and below. st the same time he had
. formed three lines of attack, enc. behind
the ether, to assault the works held by
s General Hayes and tha right Of IIoke's
g brigade. The sun had gone down when
I this terrible onset was made. Although
! the odds Were greatly against Us, and we
had only four pieces Of artillery on that
side OF the river, our mon received the
5 shock as brave men only do. The Lou
1 ~isianians fought with desperation. The
eneny's front line was torn to pieces ana
scattered in confusion. Being reinforced
by the second and third lines, the enemy
again advanced upon the works, and, by
Overpowering numbers, leaPed the works
into tho ditch, aud cana to a hand to
hand fight.
, Our brave men, being thus so greatly
OutnuRbered. were compelled to- WELD.
l Some surrendered !; others rushed to the
: pontoon and escaped; some Others, bein.
= cut OF from that, plunged into the river
below and swan across, q few being
c drowned; General Hays escaped after
:, he had surrendered Colonies Monagan
and Peck swan the river. More than
= half this brigade are missing. The ex-
: IRENE right ef General Hokc's brigade
fought with equal valor anf shared, 8
similar fate. The possession ofths works
o held by the Leuisianians gave the enemy
= possession of the pontoon bridge, and
. .thas cut Off General Hoke's brigads from
r any escape except by swimming, Gu
h eNtrsme right being thrown back, The
+ brave Colonel Goodwin, although sur
n rounded on all sides, except on the river
=, side, still fought on, and when COMPEL
ed to yield ground to overwhelming edds
fell back with a force Of about seventy
S five men, still returning tie enemv's fire,
c and refused to surrender until lighting
waS useless.
{ Lieutenant Colonel Tate and Major
York, Captains Mcpherson and Ray an
LjsutcnantN ebane of the 9Th, with Capt
Adams, of the staff, broke away and es-
k capped ovcn the bridge in the darkness
Lieutenant Williams, Smith and Fit=
.e gerald, Of. the Flty fourth Bro~n -
the Sixth ; with a few Others, pIancct
into the river and Swan safely over, ba'