Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1863-06-18
Col. Thomas W. Humphrey.

ting to the reported death Of Colos<
Humphrey of the s5th Illinois Reg
ment:
Mr.. EDroR AS you 80 kindly II
quired last week concerning the wei
fare Of my brother who was reporte'
killed at vicksburg, perhaps the fol
lowing additional Information ma.
not be uninteresting-6rst, as show
ing how much nearer the truth. than
supposed, was the Journals statement
of his death and second, showing
the almost utter hopelessness of theil
assault, on that bloody 3d." upor
vicksburg, place almost impregna
BILE by nature. and by art quite so
save by regular siege approaches.
A letter received from mother says
"Adjutant General Fuller "a resi-.
dent Of Belvidere, who first telegraph.
ed the report Of his DEATH "called
here on Wednesday. He said the re-
port to him was reliable, and he so
telegraphed, and could not reconcile
facts when he saw tue ColonePs dis
patch in Chicago, until the day before
when he saw Capt. Andrus of the 18th
Illinois. He. {Andrus) said the &C
count in the Journal was true, to his
last words as he fell. He was on the
breastworks aud said Forward 95th
and fell, struck as they supposed by ;
shell which BURST nca: him. He wa
left on the Geld for dead /; when, to thu
utter surprise of all, six hours after
he came into camp alone and not much
hurt, but having been stunned by the
windage of shell. Adjutant Gener
| al Fuller continued l am happy to
give you this information, and to tell
you that your husband and son is
alive, and has won for himslf name;
no one standing higher among his
brother officers than himself"
The following is an extract from a
letter from my brother to his wife, un'
der date of May Gath:
General Grant ordered simulta.
neous charge of his entire army al
ten o'clock A. M. the 22d of May &C.
cordingly at nine o'clock the I'd Brig.
ade was ready the 95th throwing
thirty men in rife pits before daylight,
and forming column with 367 others,
making 4O5 officers and men in the en-
gagement. The whole brigade was
handsomely moved by the right flank,
ria two different ravines and gullies,
and formed under the crest Of the
ridge near the position we occupied
on the 10th. After charging across
the gulley we came within about 100
yards Of the eneym's works without los.
ing single man or having any wound.
cd. Thus far, all went as nice as
clock work. The 72nd Illinois was
formed on the right the l4th Wis
cousin next the 95th with the 18th
Illinois on the left. The nth Wiscon
sin was held in reserve. There were
$50 brigade skirmishers in rife pits
We were formed in this position abou
IL A. NJ. and waited patiently unit
quarter past two P. M. for support,
on right and left, when the word wa,
given to move forward. Meantime j
was considered impossible for the 72nt
to move upon the works on the right
and they were thrown in the rear Q
the 95th. The enemy perceiving on
movements, had rapidly concentrated
their forces from all directions upo,
our front, and were thus enabled t,
concentrate upon US, from the right
left and front, upon the clean crest o
that ridge just above our heads, ont
of the most dreadful and murderou.
fires ever known, as testified to by the
tried heroes of Donnelson. Shiloh AM
Corinth. Carefully had formed tGos,
choice men, for fully realized tn,
desperate conflict yet at hand, ant
molly had they taken their position
During those three hours while lyin,
there, several of those noble fellow
were wounded I; among them Maio
Avery. twas certain death to ris
up. / felt there would be terribl
slaughter. even if we were successful
l asked the boys if they would 70
low if would 60 ahead told them ths
my life was no dearer to me than thei,
to them that / would lead them I
glory if there was any glory in plan
, ing the stars and stripes above the rel
cl breastworks. Their response ca
be easily guessed. When the Gene
: al rose in rear of the column, and O
dered Second Brigade forward bad
; them forward with double quick an
yell and waving my sword aboy
my head started ON.
oh, that dreadful stream of seethin
lead Every one that started with n
+ lit the dust. saw they hesitated
l was getting too far ahead to do the
any good l could not tarry there OF
instant and live / moved little I
the right and forward, dropping for
moment behind large short log, whe
: was joined by half dozen of my boy
every one of whom were shot, sou
, with four, some with five balls. VIZ
!. in that position not to exceed one m
, ment. then called upon the boys I,
move forward. which they seemed d
termined to do. but we're appalled,
that dreadful storm of lead and the
falling comrades they however a
! vanced to the crest of the ridge ,
nearly so. expected my next mo,
would be my last. Imovcd about tw
rods to my left. which again brougl
me 10 front of the centre of my colum
and waving my sword above my hca
which almost seemed to cut the riff
balls. and shouting to tho boys
come ahead, started down tho sloE
toward the .resstwork. By the tin
had passed two thirds Of the wa
down the slope Of the intervening RI
vine, my momentum was such that
pitched Roadway ct least twenty fee
partially saving myself with my hand
4 .:usn~ e,a< Il vx,,ukcl a.. IL