, 1863-07-11

!: The GETTYSBURG BATTL
!, INCIDENTS OF THE F1GH'
Desperate Character Of Il
i Fighting.
Correspondence Boston Jouz1al1 :,
GErrIsBUnG, July 4, 1863
TIE VICTORY,
This morning, the anniversary OF our ind
ttnuence,n )abilant one to the army. The
nave mex the enemy md defeated him. Il
no ordinary defeat, but one which viii prov
daIaglug blow to the Confederacy. 70
Will have e1traVagant 6tories' reports and RI
mors- Let Us see how tho acco8nt :probahi
, stands. Lee. cane into the State with sbou
| one hundred thousand men. The most n
the number which crossed the Potomac q
one hundred and four Thousand. A brigad
wcs left in Maryland
This ls independent Of stuart's cavalr
force, which may be set down at eight thou
sand- Up to this date q fair estimate Of prfa
onets Is eight thousand: The loss in kilIe'
and wounded cannot be less than fifteen thou
sard: Add to this desertions, slr7gglers, Q
Which there Is always large per centage to
defeated army, and you have at least thirt,
Thousand to subtract from the sum total; I'll;
9 oem9Tallzation 1al VIII go on. Gregg, Bufore
ano fleasanton haVe orders to harass the real
Of The enemy. They will cut Of slice aftel
elice: The distance from Gettysburg t.
Wl1!iamsport Is from 6fty-hve to sixty mile:
"a hard two days march. It cannot be made
IN TWO days BY 1etreating army. His los:
by the time he reaches the south side Of the
Potomac will be not less than forty thousand
There are good grounds for such an estimate
Gregg and Fitzpatrick are in their element
now. Their harvest time has come, and from
what have seen Of the operations Of the
| troops under their command, anu confident
thu ! will do Lee great damage,
HRen Lee Is at Williamsport he Is still d
long distance from Richmond, his base of sun.
Plies, If he makes rapid march his troops
Will become demoralized. Thousands ot
Btragglers will fall out, to be picked M by
the cavalry. He will be harraszed all through
the Shenandoah Valley. His strength viii
1an daily. He Is On the downward road. De-
morahzation has set in-a disease hard to ar
fess 51 n aeisated, retreating army, pursued
win Meade follow him, think not. A
| significant order has just been issued to the
corps commanders. 'tRepozt Immediately
% Wnas amount OF subsistence you have on
rama, and how long you can make it last on q
!org march, It Indicates thai the General
II. command does not intend that this army
shall lie sill and ALLOW the rebels to escape,
Although Lee is moving of his tra1ns-you
fse item moving upon the trot down the
h n has rk.
SOME officers desired to attack today. mo.
that is n bat Lee wants Us to do, and I am moi
going to do it, WAS the reply.
With his force concentrated, Lee could re-
Sist strong attack, as We did at Malvern
1Als: Lee is growing weaker, Meade stron-
The other side Of the mountains, with ten
thousand men, ready to be In at the proper
moment. French is near Harper's Ferry, and
In 0 day or two Meade Will have III. army up
to the maximum before the battle.
y fhould not be surprised If Meade did not
attempt to pursue Lee. It is possible, on the
other hand, that when Lee arrives ut Chester.
Iho1nton's and the luray Gaps Of he BIue
Ridge, through which he must pass to reach
Rlehmond, that hn may find them in The pos
Looking at the map you will SEQ that Iea
las march Of one hundred and seventy miles
fom Gettysburg to Culpepper, By the! near
est possible route. Meade can reach Culnen,
per BY march Of one hundred and lffesn
niles. Meade can receive supplies contln.
s uaiIy from Washington by zail at Frederick
covers Washington by his movements.
have 2 conviction TINT the army Of Lee
lever will See Richmond again. All that Ii
needed is celelity of movement, coucentra-
ton Of available forces, prompt delivery Of
supplies, and under the blesains, Of God, the
brave men now In the Army Of the Potomac
Will destroy the rebel army now fleeing for
the Valley Of the Shenandoah
~ aATTLEFn1D. +;
At daybreak was in saddle for ride over
the battle field Reaching the top Of tho hiil
st the cemetery, found the men of the 1sr,
tions on Wednesday, still In place. Tney had
not moved. There was still T. rattlius fire
along the picket lines. Gen. Howard and
staff were IN the cemetery. How Changed
that spot On Wednesday It's gra7e1ed ralks
we're smooth qnd clean: the fswers were in
monuments undelaced: the marble slabs as
pure and white as snow. There Here broken
wheels, splfutered cAitsons-horses. shot in
the neck, In the head, with their bowels tom
ont, !ega oroken-here and there was dead
colder, wrapped In his blanket. The marble !
the Enclosures of the dead broken, tho Ground
FloWed mp where solid shot had struck, holes |
excay4ted by exploding sheu-and inde:crlb-
able scenes Of desolat1oh. !
Fearful was The fire upon th.t point. Fifty
shells l minute exploded around that spot,
OAoorne's batteries. Not for moment was |
thtie thought Of abandoning that position-
HOW those batteries famed and smoked In |
tlat Inst terrible attack yesterdaJ afternoont |
It vas as sinai-fearfnl to behold. The'earth /
quaked and tremb1ed. How destructive the
II ?tnf = rf3 |
remetery dswn past the I'd and 81 corps to- /
0ald Konnd Top. There, fifteen Or twenty t
rods distant VAS the left Of the rebel columns
Of anl and Lopgstreet, near the little whtte- |
Eashed cottage on the EmmettsburgE road.
lhers.5 ION gee the "inrows OF dead, lying Just
/? Osborne's grape and canister raked them in
piles, as If thunder bolt had fallen upon the
'ne living mass.
he centre Of the &c corps. Look into Vondar
ield. Those blackened forns were living
nen yesterday. They moved over the mead.
W west Of the Emmettsburg road Ia martial
fray. They came up leteFmlnedly. Here,
y me Atf!e th1cket Of scEubby oaks, stood
ink n men lying as theJ fell ben. .ath the leafy
nade. They would not rim. The line Of
'lue Was thin here-no supports. The line Of
,ray- Was thick-three thicknesses- three
*ases rolling in upon the determined men
;o"eIiul enough and strong enough to sweep
iie blue back from the slght breastWork IS
ne cannon, but no further. Here. just where
he ground begins to slope toward the rest,
{ me muzzles Of the guns, WAS the high
F9ter mark toward eonq1efing the North
Here stood the 10Th and 20th Matsachusetts
be men who fought their way u 0 lis stcenso
fredericksburg on that December. night Of
,st year: They arc .sa1,; reduced Here Is !
ae soth, mastering, this morning .dtsy;esau
1tns hss, o3iyl On me 18th aud 22d are close By.
80 the 12lh, 18th and the 9th. Fuffher
OWN was the Cd, also terribly eaahed. AwaV
on tho right the 22d and Esd wera in: tho I
'ftest fire. Cut there toward TconseTs
ouae, on the Emmettsburg pike, BIgelow's |
.ttery had its terrible fight. NeareF. Phil | e
pn pna tormel1y a, Aliens poured ont its tremen-
ong this ridge there i n Massasbnssfta seshu Aa
ood, freely given to the Union-to the q
nntry. Every step you take is enriched Il
- ~ the costly offering and sacrifice. t;
rive olstlnct and separate attempts were | O
ade to carry this position, but The men n
Iardlng it were Of adamant aud Iron,
y ~ WI % e2sy for stranger to traco this n
tile line. Commence at the cemetery and h
TX along the crest of the ridge to Round /
r, END you will have the exact locality, Tie b.
, "a, 9th and 9Th corps did the work below s.
Iane5t town good At times the I'd and 3d r
re IN front, the 5th and 9Th supporting aud
n the 9th and 9th camo up and gaze thels
nrades chance to rest in the rear. F
CHARACTER OF TIE 11ourrsa.
There Was determination on the part of tho
'els TO Wln-equal determination on the
2 OF the Union men to hold the position. y
zen the fight was hottest, q gunner in one In
osooInes batteries was severely wounded ol