Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-04-09

tai wound, but before death closed his
eyes raised himself from the ground and
shot his assassin through tne heart. IN
death he was hero still
Hearing the firing At the door. Judge
Constable, who was On the bench, re
marked, What are they killing peopler'
1T seems so, was the laconic reply Of
Sheriff 0'Hsir, Who instantly whipped
oat : revolver. leaped over the railing
like = wild man, and dashed into the
fght, sho.ting indiseriminately at every
"blue Goa" be coald see
Il vas evidently the pre-arranged plan
Of the insurgents that The fir@ shot was
10 be the signal for the massacre to be-
gin Almost instantly when the FIRST
shot vas 6rsd by Nelson Wells. one of
the Captains of the Mighty Host =
dozen pistols rang out and dozen bal
lets sped upon. their errand Of murder
The soldiers, considering their small
number, (only twenty-five or thirty, in
clading several ofscers,) displayed won-
derful eoolness and resolution Such Of
them as had weapons lrought them in
st&ntly into use, and so rapid and we'll
directed was thsir IRE that the assassins,
somewhere about hundred in number,
hassensd 70 seak SHELTER behind Judge
Edwards's Office, q small brick bailding
on the side Of the square opposite the
Clerks Office. From this safe position
they continued to ere upon the soldiers
in the open square, or wherever blue
coat could be seen. One Of the latter,
. diminutiye Irishman named Einney,
displayed the genuine stuff of which he
roes are made. Being without any arms
Of any kind, be took position behind q
tree in the square, having 6rss gathered
q quantity Of briekbats With this am-
munition be continued 10 " blaze away
from bis solitary fortress whenever reb-
el head come within range. His tree
was in full view Of the rebel position ~
Judge Edvsrds's Office, and every time
he stepped out 20 "heave q brick" the
cowardly wrstehes shot ct him. They
did not succeed IN hitting him. bat mum
erous bullet marks in the tree show how
narrowly be escaped
Retreat Of sks Insurgents.
The fight vas over in about ten min
utss; the rebels seeming 70 be seized
With 8 panic at their own horrid work,
retreated hastily toward the country.
leaving many Of their teams and wagons
standing in the streets In The suburbs
they again rallied, or rather came to-
ge,hsr 10 q mass and made brief hals.
Il woaid seem that The death Of Wells.
their Captain, had left them without =
recognized leader, though Sheriff D Hair
had performed the business OF real
leader at this halt man named
John Cooper volunteered 70 become their
leader, and proposed 10 return and finish
the work they had began by burning the
town o. dying in the attempt Cooper
vas subsequently, eapiared, and upon at
tempting 10 escape was shot dead
The insurgents did DOT adopt Cooper :
advice, bat continued their retreat A
short distance from the town they met q
woman, driving in 9 wagon and two
horse team Some insurgents quickly
cut the horses <rom the wagon, and,
mounting them, rode OF in great haste,
leaving the woman and sagon standing
in the road A short distance beyond
they nsf a soldier named frsisner, who
waa eeEning from homs "a Jan his regi-
msnt They stFsightsay captured
bin, and carrying him away some four
miles, left him in q house under q guard
Of six men ne says that they talked Of
hanging him, but finally concluded to
parole him not TO take up arms again.
Before morning, however, his guard we're
prisoners and be was st liberty
Sach Is . general outline of the fight
The loss Of life TO the 54th Regiment
was greater than il has sustained during
the whole period Of two years service 10
The feld, though Il has been engaged in
g numbsr Of skirmishes and affairs Of
greater moment with the enemy in the
Sol But two Of its members have
bsen killed By rebel bnIlsts in the Sonth
Eve fell At fhe hands Of trAitorons assas-
aims 81 their own homes Several others
are wounded, one Of whom Il is supposed
will die. Of the insurgents, only two
we're killed. One loyal citizen was killed
By chance shot
Subsequent Operations
Reinforeements arrived at Mattoon at
Ave o'clock, aud moanted squads Of sol
| diers aud armed citizens we're at once
/ dispatched in pursuit Of the insurgents.
I half a dozen were brought in the same
/ night, aud fifteen the next morning
/ Nearly all Of these wers found, not in
camps or squads, but at their homes
l Reports continued TO be received that
large bodies Of insurgents we're gathered
in different places, bat squads Of troops
sent to those places invariably returned
without finding them. There is no re-
liable information that bat one such con.
gregRsion or camp had any existence,
and that did exist long The o Hairs
john aad James--are believed 10 have
made, after their retreat, strong efforts
10 induce o general uprising OF the
Mighty Host," but il appears the de-
ludsd wretches Of that darkIzntern enor.
nifty generally considered the better par,
Of valor to be discretion, aud pFudently
declined TO rush with headlong precipi-
fancy 70 the rescue Sheriff John n.
o Hair was last heard Of as having taken
dinner on Tuesday At the house Of his
father, some miles south Of Pars, in Ed
B&f NS41kFs zAet tokGAAEt Win US SoA'
sin james, and John Frazier, with other
riuglssders, have undoubtedly left the
State The evidence against them is 50
clear and positive that they viii probably
endsavor 10 escape from the conse'
qsenees Of their crimes By going q
Dixie, where their coufreres in the gull
Of treason and bloodshed viii with open
erus receive than.
The PrisoBeYE
Upward of forty prisoners have been
brought in, fhirty-seyen of whom are stil
in custody the remainder having been
discharged without inplicafisn ia the
riot The names Of those implicated 10
the not are ~ follows:
Frank Rszrd0n, Charleston, Coles
eoanty.
David Jones, Charleston Coles county
John P. Keller, Charleston, Coles eoun.
ty, formerly Captain Of Company @, 4sth