The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-01-28

taat day, our 20 Founders had been idle WITH
i in our breastwork, aid all she artillery fighting
had BEEN done by Landphere's battery, which
had IehaYed splendidi5: As soon as the gebel
cannon opened, We we're ordered fprTaEd into
the woods, and then began the most terrible
: cannonading Lever witnessed. The line was
a continual blaze, and the snlpRurous breath of
/, our rifcd monsters hung above, as in dark
/ murly y clouds. Meantine Sh .ldon' s and Tfndi
seJs brigades had come up, and taken part
I in the battle, on the right of our position,
I building pontoon bridge across the bayou,
and crossing into dense thicketaf vhes,, in
/ which they formed, and commenced the attack
] under CALLING fire of musketry and artillery,
1 By this time the darker pictures of war were
i visible on every side; ambulances hurrying to
i the fesT With their ghastly loads, surgeons at
! and bloody corpses lying here and there,
eiutehlng thesground or some shred of cloth
ing IN their last agony, while around and over
them ratified the caissens and wagons with am
mqnttron with which TO proiong the relentless
strife, -2s ss-sss.t
All day the heavy firing on the right told ms
that Smith division was engaging. the, enemy,
with what success We could only guess: The.
division of Steele, which had landed above Us,
had attempted to penetrate to the enemy's
position on our left, but had become entangled
in the swamRs and bagous, and obliged to halt,
SO that it took no great part in the fighting of
| that day. The stiffness ola bright .moonlight
night settled down at length upon the combat
ants, and the weary troops lay down beside
| their gnps and slept. We had gained nearly
half mile, aud were now, directly in front
and almost under the rebel works. 81 ffsis
The next day the bayou that had checked
our advance would be crossed, and all fell. that
on. the morroE the crisis would come. On the
| right seen. Smith had fallen-.Co Wyman,
of the 18th Illinois, and several other gallant
| officers we're among the dead. i
That night we heard the Iumbls4sf rtiAery
that the rebels were putting In position. and
had it been day we could have seep, 1900
reinforce ments from yicksburglh filing into
the .enemy's camps and rife pits, nntil every
foot of available ground hustled with men
But we knew it not, and with eager anxiety
we awaited. tks fatal q
pa g MONDAY.
By daybreak the entire Federal camp was
astir. Orderlies gallopiag here and there with
orders for the different commands !; General
officers riding about our tours of inspection;
encouraging the troops and directing the dis
tributon .of ammunition; 'gunbets training
their pieces upen;tha hostile batteries, in short
every one from General to private busy with
preparations for q day of stern active duty. j
| About eight O'clock our Parrott's opened
knocking the earthworks. about their ears and
silencing several of their guns. t,
During the taorpflg magnificent shot frcm
Lone of our guns exploded q caisson in three
gan hn ttAza Of lied all thezcan.
neaeers and rendering the works useless.
WITH TIE eannonading and the usual skir
mishing between the outposts, the forenoon
.wore away, rnd at twelve o'clock the grand
charGe:was ordered = This, though il, ended
in disaster /; though it costs us many: gallant
officers and hundreds of noble msp, must live
in history as one of the grandest, most glorl-
Gus exploits of the war. As the regiments fell
in at their places and prepared for the final
assault, there could have been seen in that low
muddy swamp sight that should make every
loyal Anne rican proud Of his government, eve
ry Federal soldier proud of the army to which
he belonged, and Of the cause he was pledged
to sustain. Comrades looked in each others
faces with grave tforebodings !; strong '!rncn
whispered 20 their fellows that off anything
happens, tell father aud mother that I died at
my p5st.'S But there was no unmanliness, no
craven misgigings. They felt that mighty IN
terests were staked upon heir; yalory and to
die thus, if need be, was glorious. - W.
The assault Vas prade by two brigAdes; that
of De Courcy, comprising the l6th,i and AID
Ohio, and the 22d Z Kentucky; and Blair
brigade, consisting of the 18th and 29th Mic-
souri,, the 4th Iowa, and the 58th Ohio.
The Distance .tolhe tfaverssd tol the foot Of
the bluffs, along which stretched the hostile
rifle pits, was three quarters of mile. For
the first eighty rods the ground was covered
with thickly clashed timber, Beyond ithisiap-
peared a cornfeld apparently good ground for
a charge to be made upon. Lindsey and Shsl-
don, with their commands were to attack On
our right, and BY drawing part of the enemy's
fire, sustainthe. assault. At length came the
command "FoRwARD !" Do Courcey's veter-
ans lead the way, and with a long, echoing
shout they go in Ike blood hounds. pashjpg
across the fallen timber, they find an almost
impossible BAYOU before them. But there is
no halt they plunge through, somc sinking
to their waists in the soft, oozy mud and tur-
bid water many falling forward, plunging. in
their arms to tLe, elbeYs others seeing this,
threw their guns across and then iounder
through as best they may. In a moment they
are across and formed Forward again Blair
follows stubbornly, and the baltis fairly ope-
heda Aiterrifc storm of shell, grape and mus
kerry opens upon the advancing column. Can
mons blaze forth from. places. Where not the.
Fwisest of our officers dreamed they existed
every rock, bush and stump conceals a foe.
But they go on. Color bearers fall, but their
standards are snatohed up again, and with a
| shout they press forward. New batteries belch
their pestilential hail upon them, and that
treacherous morass becomes vide carnival OF
death. - - r. 9:e
Our own batteries are playing on the stub
born foe with an incessant roar So rapid is
our firing that the guns glow with heat, and
when the damp sponge is drawn :qlltat; -stealns
and Kisses as though drawn from an oven. The
besiegers still advance Breathless with ex-
fhaustion they reach the ride pits. SeeI they
/ leap over the breastworks the gray clad trai-
tors run before them ! But half of their work
yet.remain to be done, and they are exhaus-
1 ted. =
The bluff is yeste.be climbed and the bat
1 teries taken. Hotter and fercer pours the
canister, sweepibg, down for a moment both
friend. anasfoe. moment and thetTench is
filled with dead. Kerchner, of the 10th, and
Monroe of the 22d have fallenj their regi-
ments are without leaders. i They glance off
to the right sshen Sheldon and Lindsay were
). -. .harerad h,,t ..theaa. have~ been kent