The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-08-12

works an open space must be trsversed. owe,
MHcu que man In every twenty was to be
1rougnt do"n oy the cross-d.e which swept
Iomitted to say that when the rs sr d,r;,
ion advanced to the charge they were SIN n H
| ed On the right of the Prince Genrro T",'s.
House road by Turner's division of tho IN.h
corps, which gallantly advanced a lone wov
beyond the spot where the negroes broke ana
strOve unsvailingly to breast the storm of their
| retreat. The list of casualties In this division
| was heavy. forwarded the names of those in
| hospital
The losses on both sides, considering the
numbers engaged, were very severe. The
| wounded In the hospitals are more than one
thousand. Probably eighteen hundred were
taken prisoners, and the killed would swell the
list materially. r.I.
The losses in Ledlie's division are roughly
put at 200 to 500, though there are no cor
rect means of getting at the facts as yet; com
petent judges saw the DAVIS operations has cost
US between 600 and 8 600 men.
The negro division alone lost ffty-three Of
fcers. .. -. -.
The Worlds Account.
It was then that the negro division was or.
dered in, to charge the next line of the enemy
and decide the fate of the day Their officers
took the lead. and from the manner in which
they started it was believed they would easily
accOmpis h their task. On arriving at the first
line however, they seemed to waver aud hest.
tate. AMI finally the great tnass took position
behind the earthwOrks and in the forts where
the other divisions were massed. Quite a
number, however, kept on their course and
those who we're not killed or wounded, were
taken prisoners ere they could save themselves
AS soon as the rebels discovered the line halt
ing they made desperate charge, which was
as fiercely met by volleys from the white
troops while the negroes fed in wild disorder
to the rear. .t
Many brave officer lost his life while doing
his utmost to rally them, and, although por-
tons OF them were got together and led for
ward by these gallant men, they could not in
duce them to attempt another charge, while it
is said by many that they broke no less than
three times, ca h time suffering the most
ffightful loss. The enemys batteries were go
placed as to enfilade the ground over which
they had gone and perfect showers of canister
were sent among them each moment they
were in range. 1t soon became evident that
the effort to carry the hill was useless, SO much
t me having been lost in trying to get the dvi-
sion to do the work and about o'clock the
order was given to hold as much of the ground
in our possession as possible while the remain
der was to be evacuated. As soon as this be
came known, everybody felt that the entire Oh
ject of tho movement had been defeated-and
80 it turned out for the enemy being able to
throw cross fire into the line of works each
side of the fort, our men had to fall back from
time to time. till about noon there was no part
OF the ground in our possession except the fort
itself, and our men there were. in fact, prison
ers, and not able to get out without an almost
certainty of being killed or wounded in the at
tempt. Gen. Bartett's brigade was principally
at this part Of the line, the General himself and
staff being inside the works, and, his patent
leg becoming useless, he was unable to move
around to command his men here they re-
manned some time, and no relief being sent
them, they were finally forced to surrender to
the enemy. About half the number taken,
some two hundred were cOlored, and only one
officer Of Gen. Bartletts staff escaped.
Gen. Hancock is said to have been anxious
to rush his men in, as was Gen. Warren. but
the order was not given, and at the present
writing the lines Of each party are in the
same place they were before the attack was
made.
Officers claim the explosion of the mine was
complete success, and our failure to accom-
plish the object in view was owing to the bad
conduct of the negro troops. After capturing
and holding for some time the first line of rebel
bfeastworks, division of the Ninth corps,
which is cOmpo ed of cOlored troops were Or
dered to charge, but being exposed to an emf
lading fire, they broke and ran and pitched pell
nell into the supports, causing considerable
this, poured grape and canister on our forces
with terrible effect.
The I'd and 18th Michigan regiments lost
heavily in prisoners, 2s did also the colored
troops. 1t is reported that Gen. Burnside was
slie htly wounded in the arm in an attempt to
rally the eolored troops. Col. Curtin, of the
Forty-tifth Pennsylvania regiment, is reported
killed.
The Tribune Account.
1t was impossible to rally the men, piled to-
gether in the pit made by the explosion. Out
of five staff officers belonging to the 9th corps
who were sent to rally the men, three were
killed and two wounded while On the parapet
of the fort. waving their ewordS and calling
the men to make charge. But the men were
each other, afraid to move an inch, the mortars
(shells) of the rebels falling in among them,
dealing death on all sides.
A gentleman who was with Gen. Leddies
staff during the whole affair, says the ground
in 'front.' Of our line was literally covered with
our dead and wounded.
Everybody who witnessed the transaction
concurs in saying that it was most miserably
managed that the rebels had not onc-fifth of
our force within their treastworks, and that
the rest OF the army were silent spectators of
the scene of slaughter. They say that the af-
fair ought to have been success if rightly
managed. The assault which was intended to
ndSC uCCu d tIiOuSu OILY dEtlatIS
successful in that respect. could have been sue
cessfully executed but for the laundering of
somebody. '' .'.."'
The worst troops in the army led the line of
assaUlt-trOops who heretofore had acted bad
~ on various occasions
Our dead and wounded yesterday morning
at 10 o'clock had not been removed. They
were lying fostering in the sun within less than
500 yards in advance of our lines.
Tho ETeralh AceOnnr
To-day is black day in the calendar of the
9th corps. Repulsed, bloodily rcpulsed, at
last, when victory seemed SO sure-when the
prize seemed within grasp! 1t is not the time
to lament what might have been done. The
fact stands clearly forth that our lines tonight
are where they were before daybreak this
morning, but thinned by the loss of several
Thousand of our most gallant men.
The cOlored division had been formed with
view to passing the other divisions, when they
had gained the outer line, and making this
q starting point for tile continuance of the
the charge. The first dlvis on held the centre,
with the second and third on either flank, and
now the fourth advanced beyond. Tue troops
were in two columns, each brigade CONSTITUTE
ing column. Their splendid discipline could
not bu' be observed, and in the early part Of
the contest No soldiers behaved more gal autly.
They charged upon the next aud an Interior
line of the enemy and f.: time gained dtci-
1s.d adyanfaves "a il 0ttoStQd in tv., r..k,ol h,e