, 1864-09-02
TIE WAR IN VIRGINIA,
BATILE At BEAMS gTATI0N,
Desperate Attack Of tf,a
=. Rebels.

| SG1&5Ca a<V A%EaCK OF tf1E
=. Rebels.
[Co7espondence Of the Th,IsdelohIa Euoni,er
| AAaf o. TUE PoroAAu, Au.. 96,
COMMENCEMENT or TUE pArrLK.
On THURSDAY morning General Gibbons
| DiVtettn was 70 have moved south ward from
Keam s'auor, to continue the drstructio
OF tts toae stiu further to w1rds Stony Creek
airy, Which "a. picke.iog ID that directio,
| ottng attacked BY the enemy and this cir.
| cohstaace 1Dttmntlbg the prob ability that
our ouetauona ON tho railroad misht meet
WIN Interruption. The order to noye out
was couLtermanded,
1orca The &C emy had there was cavalry A..
! pears to have been formed, and General & Is.
bon "s1 again ordered to move down fha
roau, which Ae commenced to do 1t apont
htH past nine. g. n, Colonel Smyth's Bri.
gaae baT,ns The advance, and regiment Of
1It gg's CayslrJ preceding the division.
Starting along road running to the 1eft
OF east OF The railroxd. they turned to H.,
right and crf,esed the latter about palf = mia
below Resln'a, and had not proceeded half a
mile furtser tefore the casairs was chected
by meeting = line of rehti sklrmisoers III.
onel snyth then deployed 81 akirmishars b tps
First Delaware Regiment, supported by thu
T~ eltth New jersey Regtmeat in re.r .nS
the Tenth New York on tbs right flank. ~A@
Advanclrg this f9trntsh iinc parallel viii
that oh tue right Of the railroad, It's LETT a.nt
resting neAr the same. Col Biuyth nushsd
back The epem, e bkirmizhrts uutii. on e apriv.
ing In sight Of nsrruw swampy rapEs ~,
I. .DuinE from the ralltoad oblianeiy r. 80
right, AID With ths acute. angle or fhe aida
ne1t to us, he found their troops In lima ~
battle beyond il and protected py-smsI
brea6tWOrkR.
nnet,,p -
sli1mishefs. aud dfoye them back to onr
main body. Col SmJth now reported to
Gen. Glbboo the fact inst the enemy had a
considerable 1orce of Infantry present and
xwaited further rinstructio6s He was ordsred
to push forward again aud ASCERTAIN wf,t
fierce thcro ~as oppused to ua, aud Accord
i1gly dello, Ing the 7ti Virginia (Uutonl In
again drove back the Enemy to the tayiue
and ut tnat potat was again brought to
stand AID compelled to retire.
This Was between l and 2 o'clock P. Ii.
About an hour later. sk1Fnlshlng commenced
In front Of the lat division, which occupicd
the works at Re ms Station.
TEE ATTACK ON GEN. MILES PosITroN.
The pick ets Of this division were driven In
and charge Was then made ou the tntreHch-
mente, which, however, was quickly re-
pulsed.
The form OF this line of lntreDchmcu1s ia
that Of eeuIcircle, Segment Of which In
cludce section Of the railroad, tbs works
Srcssios tho lattsr ahprt distance north Of
Ream'e Station, aud curyiug back 90 "a to
crofs It again south Of TINT pisce. Along this
curved Inc the 1ss Division wts posted nv
Gen: Miles, RI follows: On the left vas tne
4th New YORK neavy ARTILLERY, Col, Alcock:
next to this the 18th BRIGADE Of the aiyision
York; than the Sd Brigade, under MaIor By.
ron, OF the sS1h New York and On the rlynt
the 1st Brigade, under Col Lynch ~ 2hs
1880 Pennsylvania The ID Bri gade docs not
appear By name, but was nevertheless in the
engagement, being consolidated with the Sd.
az soon ns II became evident By the atsark |
on General Miles position that the enemy
were tn considerable force, General GIbbon
Was orae1sd 70 tall back from hts advanced |
postum on the lett, aud copnectine Ills rjsht |
with the lett vi the First Div,ston, to form a
line for the protection OF tbs lett lAak and |
M iear: ne 1uoetion Of his tight with Miles'
lett Was uear this poiut where our breast
works crossed the railroad. and thence hts |
line EXTENDED In such curse aa to brtu. his I
lett nearly opposite Niles right, the lin5-Df |
the latter ftoltipg towards the west, wiuls
that OF Gibbons faced to the east aud eouth-
east On his right, General Gioboa placed
bis Second Brigade, Colonel Murphy. and on
his lett ths Third Bitgaue, CoIousl smltn
With the Nisctce.ta Massachusetts and tue
Nineteenth Maine, of the First Brigade. in
the centre
TIC remainder Of the First Brigade, com.
prlslpg Eve regiments, supported the centre
ii The tast Disision, and were under CON-
maud Of General Miles. HaytoR thus ala
posed his line, General Glbbon at once CON.
mcnced the CONSTRUCTION Of breaatworks
along its entire extent
TWO ASSAULTS UFoH OUR 1tSk
As above stated, the first charge OF the
entmy on General Miles' front occurred
81 n Tk,n
Ing been lepulsed, cur skirmishers joileYei
them 81 they fefl pack, advancing ns.r]y to |
the position they had formerly held, and cap
turing number Of rrisone1s- Shortly after
the Enemy again ndvnuced, a1d Here again
driven bscK With heary loss, and their third
ed With Ike satisfactory result.
TIE REBELs OPEN WITH ART111Enr.
In the fret three charges the enemy used
no artillery, bat about 5 F. m they opened |
heavy, concentrated are from number uf
batteries, pouring sturm Of shell and other
missiles over tnc entire smphithratre in-
clnded within our 1tues- At soue points our
their fire, while nearly the whol. Of General
Gibbons Glv1aIon Ess subjected to au ex.
Ien.t}y troublesome fire especially the rear.
its line biting within Inrge Of sl9t and shell
thAt had Pa STD hxrmleesy over the intrench-
Ments he'd BY the 1st division. To escape
wDintrcncbm-nts into . position Of nearly
equal danger from the IRE Of Bkirrishass
tn own Out towards our left flank
AFTER about twenty nl'"ates OF this artil-
lery fro, tac eneps szai9 ,5l 5nads tner appeas-
assa..t ueisg cirected mainly 'against hls !
centre Along nearly the entire line, and
in front Of the Fifth Brigade, the
woods aio very c1ose TO our intrcnchmeuts,
which circumstance w.s favorable To the
enemy in that it enabled them to form com.
parhiiFelJ near our works Tithou: being
discovered. s
CAPTURE OF OUR 1s7RENcuurs7a
Emerging from the woods sl,ey advanced I
In Two i'Iee OF t'attls, with furce thought
to hare comprised Wsfcox's entire division.
Our artillery and musketry greeted them. AZ
before, With rapid frc, but without check
ing their progreEs- On they came, with pav.
onets fixed A,,u without tlripg shot
They approached our lines, gained the out.
stce Of our tntrenctmente, anu at some
points Land to hand conflict ensued over
the top Of the breastworks, cur men beating
back TIE rebels 18th their pa}ouets. as they
attempted to climb over. But soon 1t Has
tound that our line Was broken near the cen.
tre, ana The gap once made rapidly grew
wider, until nearly the entire line wa swent
back, leaving our breast works md srtilleFy
N the bands cf the enemy, from thu 1sft Of
The First Division to point copsfderabiv
% the right Of the centre. TheSe7euth New
fork Infantry Is said to haye been tho trat
o giTe Far.
Tic batteries LETT behind were Batter1c. p
st Rhode Island, lieutenant Perrine: Can.
ain sjeepers' Battery, 10Th Massa:hasetts,
nd Mcknfglts Battery, the 18th New York !
ndepenceut- Their horses bad all been shot |
arly IN tie action, and the tuldcnness with |
.hleh our me1 fell back rendered 1t tmpossI-
le TO get off the guns. CAPTAIN Sleeper. Of
h h1A /