The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-06-11

than that Of the enemy, amounting t
about ], 500 killed, wounded and missing
The substantial fruits of the days worl
are gain of two miles Of ground, givin
US a favorable position, two pieces Of ar
tillery, and q better arrangement of tn
line for subsequent operations.
The fighting was conducted by Genera
Hooker, on his fav0rite plan, and with hi
wonted dash and audacity. At one tim,
the Ind division alone was exposed to tn,
attack Of the whole rebel force, but tn
General, who was, as always at every
right place at the right time, instead o
halting for assistance to arrive. or fallins
back, which would have insured an attach
and route, dashed the division headlon8
against the rebels, and, what with the be.
lief this inspired within them of larger
force, and the stun and panic Of the shook
drove them before him at will. Supreme
daring in this case was supreme safety
The Generals peculiar and admirable tao.
TICS were here clearly shown. Forming
es them on by continual sort of revOlu.
ton. AS the front line becomes exhaust.
ca, it is halted, and the extreme rear is
hurried to the front, which is thus KEEP,
constantly fresh.
Night put an end to the firing, but all
night trains and ambulances and artillery
were rumbling to and fro. Troops were
|
promise OF stern work on the morrow
But it did not come. The woods were
| thick, the Notifications had all to be built
the lines OF troops were immensely long,
winding of to the left and right into their
places, and SO the whole OF the Goth of May
passed away and nothing was accomplish
eel. save getting into position. But this
was much, TAR more than one who has not
seen i: with his own eyes can believe. A
continuous front of many miles in extent,
in dense forests, over creeks aud hills and
| valleys, with only few rugged and mar
| row parallel roads. out of which to deliver
the huge masses of men and guns, is not
during the night part OF the 4th corps
had come up, and gone in to the left, and
in the morning, Gibson's brigade (Witlich's
old, was thrown out as skirmishers. Du-
| ring the day, the sd and part Of the l4th
corps advanced to the extreme left.
but Major General Mcpherson failed TO
come up on the right, as was expected;
scattering shots Of musketry flew either
way all day, and two or three batteries
were planted ON commanding ridge Of
ground, which failed to elicit any reply
from either side, beside an occasional an
cry shell. The rebels were chary with their
powder, saving it for sterner uses, and
anxiGus to conceal their pieces that they
might employ them Mt a range of their own
very quiet, and concealed themselves in
the thick underground to such an extent
that our gunncrs must fire pretty much ut
random, and seek to discover their where
abouts. Evidently they had not completed
their preparations, had not yet received all
the reinforcements they expected, and felt
that they could afford to bide their time,
while their skirmishers were harrassing
ours, and their silence was emptying our
caissons 10 no purpose, till everything was
well ready. Some prisoners brought in, in
the evening, and examined vigorously and
apart, disclosed the fact that they had re-
ceived reinforcements from Florida, and
now claimed an effective strength of 20, 600.
As their stories agreed, it was concluded
that reinforcements had probably arrived,
but not in such numbers as represented
1t was accordingly expected that the next
day would see a general engagement, but
either they or we were not even yet ready.
The skirmishing was sharp and continu-
Gus, but neither party seemed to advance
or retreat. A few of the rebel rifle pits
We're carried, and in the evening the lines
got afoul OF each other, and small squad
of prisoners was brought in. The under
growth, which covers the whole face OF the
ground, prevents the lines from seeing
each other till very close, consequently
many of the wounds are very severe
About hundred may be set down as the
MAY 1.-THE expectations OF the day
before We're not destined to be realized, for
operations on both sides were confined TO
desultory artillery practice, fortifying
and maneuvering into better POSITIONS
Mcpherson was expected to haye closed
up the gap on the right, and his failure, for
some reason, to do so, postponed still fur
ther an active work Of any magnitude. A
general attack was to have been made ear
ly in the day, but with the whole right
wing floating loose and detached, ii was
utterly impossible. Gen. JEFF. G. Davis
division of the 18th corps, however, occu-
pied Dallas, and, late in the evening, in
telligence arrived that Mcpherson had re-
ported himselfm Davis right, and that the
latter had ''side stopped TO the left, so as
TO fill up the gap intervening between him
self and the 10th corps.
On the right, then, all was as it should be.
On the left also, connection was made be-
tween Schofield and the three infantry d.
visions under Elliott, commanded by Muir.
ray, (Kilpatrick's division), Garrard and
Ed. McCook, General McCOok connecting
with the infantry. Gen. Stoneman had an
independent command. also, on the imme-
diate left. At daylight the monotonous
popping of musketry and occasional bel
lowing of artillery opened again, to CON-
tinue the whole Of another stale day of
Early in the forenoon the monotony was
sadly broken by the death of Major Hamp-
son, of the l24th Ohio, and aid to General
Wood. He was struck in the left shoulder
by musket ball, which broke the spine
and ended his life in few hours. He was
q general favorite, and his death produced
unfeigned sadness among wide circle Of
friends.
The play Of the artillery was, for the most
part, necessarily aimless, and consequent
" harmless. One gunner, however, BY the
telling of trees, at last discovered an invi-
ting target, and succeeded in throwing into
it couple of shells, most handsomely. A
house was discovered about two miles dis
tant, in the yard Of which the rebels had
planted q battery, and whose tall red chim-
ney stood out among the trees too tempt.
ingly to be refused. A piece was trained
on it, and the first shell went home with
out bursting, and left no indications except
its effects. These were sufficiently obvious.
prodigious fiutter was visi-
BILE about the premises, men vigorously
running away among the trees, and most
ludicrons and yet most cruel Of all, wo-
man, in white, fleeing out of the house in