The daily clarion. [volume] (Meridian, Miss.) 1863-1866, 1864-06-10

| Confederate array became, Itself s1bsec
= OF more or less seIiogs threatening, Sw
$ lines Of battle emerged from tho wood
; in front OF Wilcox; but weie met fly sh
. fire eta lreagy liue of s4Sirtnishers, sut
n by laundering cannonade tcoua hat1er
les posted adV&ntagcously in taaat off
GERS Immediate rear, Having ccctFibu
led ats victims to the carnage of the Held
, that threatening advance broke into a
, retreat. The attack on Field diivc.s back
about the saMe tiRae, night CLOSED upon
the two armies in iepcso that was uu.
broken, outside the lines, save t94e ven.
omous whirling Of bullets fram sleeptess
i sharpsiooters,
i The morning.of the llth, broke unhcr.
aided by the shock OF arms. A feeble
4 demons ration against ogc left, and anoth.
er against our centre, deepepes (oy u
! brief time the volume OF tho skirmish.
4 fire. During the weak show of attack
made thus on EgelPs LETT, the country
lost for y tinle the seyices of that gallant
! fellow Brig. Gen. Hays. lie received a
wound which, though not at all danger
Gus, appeared, when saw him, to be
very painful With the exception of
some thseatenings, the battle dragged OH
throughout the day in the Indian like war
fare, that, during the pauses of the
heavier collisions, ragged, apparently
without intermission, outside the oppos-
ing lines.
On the 18th of May the battlefield lay,
before dawn, enveloped in hazy fog,
At 4 o'clock in the norning OF that
day tho hostile lines burst, asslnder the
sudden bidding of an electric wire, inte
fierce cannonade. An explosion in its
suddenness, it ragged from the first mo-
ment ofits opening, in the full depth of
its furry. The metalic peal of the solid
shot, the sharp clap and the fiat crash OF
the shell rose from side to side with ra-
pidity- They seemed to. shake The very
earth with their thunders. That terrific
storm, while undiminished in depth, un-
derwent Immediately after its first out
burst change in character; for the
sharper peals Of shot aud shell were sue
ceeded in a moment by the duiler thulls
that, hurting forward grape and canister,
told of a struggle deepened ipto the
sternness of close quarters,
The suddenness ofthc thunders with
which the ARTILLERY rent the air was not
greater than that which the daafenine
storm burst from the infantry. The
that followed Immediately at
'er the very first gun,, was SO great in
foluine from its opening that it bespoke
,learly the presence Of large masses of
nen. Rising in q roll, one and unbrok-
n, its blended ringing declaredl that the
hostile thousands from whom it swelled
Up must have met in conflict, hand to
Iand. The peals the quick succession of.
he artillery, did not drown its voice;
RL on it went distinctly, flowing roar
hat rose TO Heaven, like the constant
ulcry OF rushing river. Divination
'as not necessary with all those eviden-
es to tell me, as rose from my blank
/ in the rear, that as in the case of our
wn conflict at iukefman, an attack, pre-
ared with deliberation, in close. proxim.
y to the Confederate lines, had moved
lddenly from the cover of the morning
,g.
The field works that protect Ewell's
ght.o the morning of the 18th extern
ed through wood. They occupied the
ne Of u low ridge and, by what appears
me to be q grave error, lay somewhat
own lis reverse slope. An enemy gp-
coaching them could not be seen from
me part OF the works until he had ap-
cared over the rise, in their immediate
ont. Retreatng from them he receiy-
|, once behind that swell OF the grpund,
'otection from the fire of part Of those
fences. The course OF the breastworks
lowed that oil the ridge, and according
formed, atone place, a salient with an
gle SO small as to be almost acute.
ley consisted of two lines which'ran one
rallel with the other; and containing
tween both, space sufficiently wide
"a line oil battle, would be described by
litary engineers as a double sap"
lanlmcnts were placed in suppart of
e whole at several points of tho line; ,
d, at the salient. sufficient for so many
twenty-guns. A general understand
: of position may be obtained from
is description, after, it has been
ted that the sides of the salient, sub
It, as they were in the event OF an At,
TX, TO enlilade from its apex. were ppo-
ted for some distance down the. hne,
Ia series of short traverses.
len. }. NJ. Jones' brigade occupied the
lent. On the left OF Jones MEN were
med the Stonewall, under Walker;
next in order of the line of battle,
Touisianians under Hays. The right
Jones who, be il recollected, held
salient-rtsied on the brigade Of
art. Sdeh was the distribution OH
morning of the 18th, behind the
of -Ewell's right wing, of the
n constituting the division OF General
ward Johnston. On the right OF this
ison was an unoccupied part Of the
ks about two hundred yards in length,
further on that staunch brigade OF
cox's diysion-Lane's, Jones' brigade
sent one of its best regiments, the
Virginia, from the salient, TO cover
gap between Stuart and Lane az
Two others were a.s0 sent
of the works in the same capacity,
i the view Of protecting the apgle of
position from sudden attack. But
,e regiments of the brigade remained
efeud weak point that had been
| previously by six. OF twenty guns
, had been planted in the salient.
cen had, under an expectation enter
ed during the night OF sn attack
n the extreme right, been withdrawn:
h was the array and strength OF
lis right on the morning Of the lZtn.
CONCLUDED ~ OUR NENT.