The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-05-12

I
ren's line to the left, Getty's Division,
of the 9th Corps, was ordered up, and
took position between the turnpike and
the plank roads. Very soon came the
4th Division, General Carr of the I'd
Corps, and closely following were Han
/ cocks other three Divisions They had
scarcely reached the front, and gone
into line, not an easy operation IN such
a forest, when the attack of the enemy
burst upon them 1t fell heaviest on
the left flank, where the troops were
longest in coming up, and was so inn
petuous that for a while it was doubt
full if steady line could be formed
/ Quick requests for aid went back to the
rear, and General Meade heard from
/ those hurried messengers that the enc
my had massed again, as so often before,
in one solid body against his line, and
was striving as never before to break
through, but the line still held Fresh
troops came up, and went straight into
the fight, and brigade after brigade
\ opened its thick yolleys. 1t seemed
as if the rebels must desist from their
attack, but still they persevered. On a
line of not more than mile, the strug
/ gle went on for three hours. Not less
4 than twenty thousand men were mass
/ ed against the extreme left wing 1t
was impossible to use artillery on either
side, and equally impossible to man
ouver The fight was all small musket-
ry, and it was long before any ground
was gained or lost.
g., Early in this action Alexander Hayes
| Brigade had become hotly engaged,
and Gen. Hayes had sent back for rein
! forcements. Hancock answered, "you
i shall have them in 20 minutes" but
/ before the time had passed, Gen Hayes
was killed and was carried to the rear.
! By and by the rebel musketry grew
! heavier, and on our side the line began
to waver Wounded men were carried
| fast to the rear, and from the front
comes the gloomy report that the am
m1nition is giving out Fresh supplies
are sent forward, but come too late to
prevent the line from going back a
/ little. Where we stand, the bullets
begin to drop faster and the sound Of
/ the Yolleys is close. Hancock goes for
ward and holds his men in hand Along
all the front a new line is formed and
| as if new courage came with the sight of
their General, the men stand fast The
/ rebel advance is once more checked,
/ but Hancock knows now that in this
short half mile of battle, he has put all
his men-all the ID Corps. Warren and
| Sedgwick, where are they2 Coming
up fast, is the answer, for the crisis Of
/ the battle is reached, and Meade has
ordered both corps forward. 1t is A. ?.
Hill whom Hancock is fighting, and as
Hill meant to take him in the flank,
his own flank is now threatened by the
steady marching forward Of the center
under Warren. Warren will perhaps
do better than merely reinforce Han
cock; will fall on Hill, and force him
to look TO his own defence But Hill
sees his danger, and grows cautious
The firmness of his attack subsidies
Hancock sends word that he can hold
ground now, and the danger is over.
1t is almost 9 o'clock at night So
obstinately has the rebel onslaught been
pushed, that even as the darkness
closed over the two armies, the fighting
ebbed but slowly. VOlley after yolley
crashed along the line, till at last, with
the bitter knowledge that his efforts
had failed, and that his best chance OF
victory had been wrested from his hands
the rebel leader sullenly drew off He
was not permitted to escape unframed
WadsWoTth's division Of Warren's
Corps, went forward to the attack, and
in its turn was confronted with q pOr-
ton of Ewells Corps, and the action on
the action on the right of Hancock's
Corps became also as hot as it had been
on the left
The I'd Division, General Robinson,
moved up, and taking the place of Cen
Griffin's, whose ammunition was ex-
hausted, renewed the fight and closed
up the threatened gap between the 9TH
and I'd Corps, and finally Sedgwick |
sent forward his first division under
Wright, and in the darkness in which /
the attack of the enemy was dying
away, charged furiously against the re-
ceding columns. Had daylight been
left, it seemed as if the repulse of the |
enemy would have turned into an over
whelming defeat In spite of every
disadvantage our men fought every
where with unequaled steadiness and /
courage, and held finally all the ground |
which they had attempted to cover in |
the beginning But a long day march !
and the night made it impossible to
push their advantage. The first days !
battle was over. 1t was was fought, not !
by any wish Of Grant or Meade Their |
forces were only in such position as to |
allow them to come slowly, and with /
difficulty into battle A misfortune was |
Ill. l..
the danger was past and the foiling Of /
Lees attack was complete The losses /
are imperfectly aseertained, but proba- /
bly, do not exceed on our side over four |
thousand men killed and wounded |
We have taken many prisoners and lost /
few There was no loss Of guns on /
either side, for almost none were /
brought into action.
WASHINGTON, May 9-The following |
is condensed from full accounts re- /
ceived this evening from the front a /
column or two Of details are left out I
through fear that on account Of the /
storm along part of the line, the wires /
may not be able to get it through
FRIDAYS BATTLE
The bat.le on Friday lasted through /
all the hours Of daylight but ended /
without decisive results. Sedgwick, I
with two divisions, Picketts and 4
Wrights held the right Next to him I
in the center was Warren with his |
corps, and Stephens division, from /
Burnside's corps. On the left was Han /
cock with his own division, and Gettys 4
from the 9th. Burnside formed the re- /
serve, and his men were thrown in from .
time to time as the exigencies Of the /
battle demanded The right had I
orders from Grant, through Meade, to 4
advance at five pollock, but Ewell, who /
lay opposite, took time By the forelock
and himself advanced a quarter before
five, much to Sedgwicks disgust A
spirited action of an hour ensued, and
by six o'clock the the rebels were
pushed back, each side holding ground
upon which it had spent the night
The loss was severe on both sides. This
action on Ethe right was hardly over,
till Hancock, on the extreme left, be
came engaged, Longstreet and the rest
of the rebel force opposite, having all
attacked him Several hours Of heavy
fighting followed, when this rebel at
tack was repulsed like the other, By 2
o'clock ali was quiet. and Lees
attempts to turn first our right