, 1864-12-22


eccnc, And amidst all this hell Of smoke and
thunder and fire our mcn steadily advanced.
Ever and anon their loud cheer rang above the
dcafcning roar of battle ever aud anon you
could catch g1impses through the thickening
vapor, Of our flag still moving OIL.
ITS FAILURE.
The colored troops wed with the white In
sternncss Of determination, and in the persis-
tent energy With which they forced their way
up the hill. But all around It the rebels lay
behind their works and poured into our un-
covered heroes the deadly hail But, hark
the cheering has ceased The roar Of can.
mons and the crash Of musketsis 10 ldcr, dead.
l{cr than tefote! There are signs Of Wuvcz-
ing on our left Col. Thompson g men, in en-
dearoring to pass around to the left Of the
hill, have been met BY terrible flank fire
from the enemy's works on that side. In their
fierce desire to storm the position, they rush
one ahead Of the other; and thus their order is
broken. They do not yet retire; but under
the whitening fire which is destroying them,
they become confused mass. The troops
upon the right, torn in pieces by the internal
fire from the summit of the Hill. pause an i'll
slant, confused By the appearance Of the left.
To pause under such circumstances is to fail
The brave Colonel Post is just at this juno.
ture mortally wounded. Ina moment all or
der is lost, and thaTallant legions whose con-
duct, even In temporary failure, has ihmor-
izcd them, rush back confused and bleeding
and exhausted, to the line from whence they
set out. =.
WILL WOOD RENEW THE A1rAcKs
The clouds have been thickening al1 day,
and the rain begins to fall rapidly. Shall We
acknowledge defeat at this last and vital
point? Shall the blood Of our slaughtered
soldiers not be arengeds Has Wood ut last
No! He will take that hill 1o,r, If Hood
himself with his Whole army were concentr:.-
ted upon it. Calmly, quietly, with the same
pleasant emfle as before, he superin,ends the
reformation Of his broken battalious and is
sues lis orders.
Pour into the rebels your shot and shell
agnin, altillerymeu! Give the truitors upon
that hill not o moments restl No matter
though your tired horses sink halfway to
10 their knees in mud, let them pull up the
pondcrous cannons to such positions that the
liery products Of their wonbs will be more
electual. No matter though your men be
covered with mud, beg immed with blood and
powder, and soaked with rain. let them re-
sumo tlcir task, ram home their cartridges,
and send them on their work Of death!
Ering back your colorcd soldiers to the
charge, brave Thompson! Posts heroes
must have an opportunity to ayengc his
death! Kimball, and Grose, and Kirby, and
Elliott, auda all the rest, must have chance (!
The thunder Of artillery, rendered more aw-
ful by the approach Of night Cfor it was now
nearly III the afternoon), sounded more
deateninE and continuous than before; and
the rebels, anticipating another charge with.
drew number Of troops from the left OF
their position, md marched them toward the
point which had previously been most lcrcely
assai1ed.
TIE CHARGE EKESEwED-ES7;nE SUCCESS,
The eagle eye Of Wood at once detected his
advantage. While Posts veterans again as
sailed the hill directly, and Thompson's gall
lant Africans moved on the rebel right, the
1nlk Of EllIott's and himball's divisions were
hurled like q thnuderbolt against the. rebel
lett. Wood himself accompanied By all his
staff, closely followed, and directed the charge,
In vain the fires Of hell blazed forth anew.
In rain the terrified rebels, discovering. their
error, cndeavorcd tu shift back toward their
weakened left. To attempt any maneuyer in
the face Of the mighty Storm now bowling
column and in line, deploycd here, in IN ,sses
there, our soldiers rushed npon them; and al
though the hillside was wet with the blood
OF many martyr, they neither wavered nor
hesitated nor paused until the hostile battery
was in their hands, until every portion Of the
opposing works was carried, and such of the
rebel 1egionsas held them and were not killed
or captured, were fleeing in Wild dislnay from
the hill.
It Was the last stand Of the foe that even
:. Rout, ruin. panic scattered ALL" and /
really believe that had no night intctyened,
the rebel army would have been then and
there totally destroyed!
OPERATIONS OF sATuRDAT.
fFrom the Nashville Union, Dec ISL
The rain poured down In torrents yester-
day afternoon, and the roads were almost in
passable. In the fields, a horse would sink
ut least SIX inches, and wagons could scarcely
be drawn across them, entirely without loud
As pursuing army must frequently be drawn
up IN line of battle, its progress would be in
deed slow, at the present time, and the re-
treating torccs would have materiai advan-
tage, unless there were large streams to cross,
over which there were no bridges. In that
case, the fngitiTes might be penncd up, but
not otherwise.
Our cavalry, however, can be hurried for
ward, on some OF The roads nearly parallel
with that followed by the rctreating army,
and can constantly annoy its tlanks and
the service, ut present, VIC shall expect i'm
Pottant results.
Already it has done much. By blockading
the roads, md holding them, ut least ono
Thousand prisoners were captured on Friday.
who would otherwise have escaped aud the
ycrely handled. Hatch's division, yesterday
morning, attacked Gen. Chalmcrs' command,
OF Forests army, defeating it, aod wouading
and capturing Gen. Rucker, and also takitfEa
number OF other prisoners.. Gems. Johu-on
earoirv restn-1ov w rnor1;n% p'10oae'S oS 'ne
It.is ,nnnssihIe t6 orc-r5te Tho ,nonor+.,co
of the sperations of our monnted rnrp Thev
nre oIways inst where they shonii hc at ~
oct]y t1c rislt time. and Hood viii yct r..
ccive many severe blows from them. Several
battlc-Aaes were captured and scnt in by them
one Of which was Gen. Rucker's 6,irade
standard.
Generals prisoncrs-Smith, johnson, Rucker,
jackson. md another whose name ne lid nof
leau.
Tile direct pprsuit. bv Gen. Thomas vas
kent m til near mIdnirht Friday. til l,is
forces lad reached the uej9hborhood Of Brent
wood - About o O'Clock lie captured nearly d
whole brigade of rebels, belonging, We under
stand, to Stewards corps. At midnight the
men bivouacIed, and ut daylight were again
in line The cavalry were out early rcconnot-,
tcring, and the iufantry moved forward as
fast as they could, under the circumstances.
Gen. Thomas captured large number Of
prisoners soon after starting out Yesterday
morning and a report, bearing tue mir Of
Drnhnhility. fixes the figures at three thou
land viii one General. Droyes Of The John
T,;ts are eTriyingr here bour1y.
l1n u 49, ~ ~ A5 - - - -! .s:no4, 4L4
HoaS w;,i make anotber Stand nt HotInw
a1oou W.. f,,,,. -,;,as +1is 49, ~ E-on1-I;
L, LEE 9ap, iout t.'ee e .as a1ue =. 1.aHa; 15
The place fs very stfong one, enu as Hood
Tennessee or bury his army within its limits,
it ;s h;rhiv prohable fhaf he wIll once more
1;.,,.t =. 1E n!Tnosi oIrcnca II iii ha n ,ar-
dispute laos W. ~ a,,es VII ~ " ~ ~ pr
,e5 anu 5 ELY ~ su H. We
EelteTe he WILL uEuL Ut every 1eahlDlE pOinL.