, 1863-05-07

sious Of the rebel army wore procipitated upon
thi. portion Of the line, for from these five d.
visions we took d0tlus the DAY An aggregate
Of over q Geo prisoners.
The exploits Of our gallant troops In those
dark, tapgled, gloomy woods may never be
broug ght to light; but they would I'LL hun
drcd yolumes. II wac deliberate, desperate
hand .t9 he1d CONFLICT ana ths caEnaE;s ~. vs. .
dead and wouaded Of the enemy covered tho
ground in heaps. and that the rebels seemed
utterly regardless Of their liTcs, and literally
threw themselves upon the muzZles of our
guns. Many desperate charges were made
during the light. particularly BY Berry diTi-
sion: motifs brigade made fifteen distinct
charges, and captured seven stands Of colors,
the 1th New Jersey, Col. Franciuc, alone cap
turing four Stands Of colors and five hundred
prisoners.
Gtn. Conch's ed army corps. though only in
part present, did excellent work. It was
Gen. French who charged and drove the enc
my on the flank, and it was tho iudomitable
Hancock who gallantIy vent to the relief Of
the hard-presseo sickles.
The engagement lasted without the slight
est intermission from 553 o. NJ to 5.45 4. M,
when there Was 4 Temporary cessation on our
part, occasioned By getting out Of amnuui-
ton. We held our position for nearly IN
| supplied, IN order was given to fill back to
| the vicinity Of the Chancellor House, which
| NE did In good order. Here the contest was
| maintained for an hour or more, not so Sc
verely as before. but with great havoc to the
enemy, and considerable loss to ourselves.
The vicinity Of the Chancellor House was
now the theatre Of the fight, and my visits to
that spot became less frequent. Gen. Houker
maintained his headquarters there until 10 I.
H., when 1t vas set on fire by the enemy 8
shells, and is now in ruins. Charlottesville
is no longer In existence, having perisned
| with the flame, hut ChancellorsYIls is In his.
tory, never to be edaced.
Our new line was now SO for established ns
| to render it safe to withdraw all our forces on
that front, which MAS accordingly done, and
| At 11:30 8. N. the uusketry firing ceased
| The engagement had lasted SIX hours, but
had been the most terrific Of the Nar. GU.
artillery had literally slaughtered the enemy,
in men themselves, but the guns were all
| saved.
| The enemy was now no longer in onr rear,
but bad hxen showed down directly in oui
front, and is now directly between us aud oul
forces in Fredericksburg, and we we're agalr
| in an entrenched and fofmldably fortified po
sition. The enemy has gained some ground
| 1t is true, but at the sacrifice Of the flower o
his force, five Of his seven divisions having
been cut to pieces In the effort, aud orcr3, ,oo'
Of them hare fallen into our bands.
Our right wing, under Gens. Reynolds aut
Meade were not engaged, eave the division 0
Gen. Humphreys, which went Into the wood
on the enemy's left tank, and fought valiauti..
under their brilliant leader, until their ammu
| nition WAS exhausted.
During the afternoon the enemy has mad
several sttempts to force our lines, par:icu
lnrly at the apex OF onr position, near tn
Chancellor House, but Capt. Weed has masse
large quantity OF artillery In such position
as to 1epu1ee with great loes eyer. thing place
within its range. The enemy tried severn