American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-08-10


in blue on that field,
"Wasn' n'tit dusty" exclaimed Gen. New
ton, as he came riding back, his face aglow
with triumph, and his horse laboring fol-
breath. Up and down his division he
had ridden during the fight, just as gall
ant Phil Sheridan used to ride, when ne
marshaled the same battallions. W NhateY-
er of regret there may be in that diyis-
ion for the loss of the little corporal now
Mt the head of our cavaliers, and whatey-
er of coldness new commander encoun-
ters after replacing a universal favorite,
both we're dissipated that day by General
Newton, such courage as he displayed is
carte blanche tothe affections Of his COM
mand He may have won it by other
means. He bought it that day in good
sterling martial coin.
For once, stragglers were put to some
use, and distinguish themselves. General
Newton caused all he could find to be put
with his batteries as a support. As such
they contributed materially to break the
Rebel line when it dashed nearest the
guns.
1t was in Newton's front that General
Stephens, commanding a brigade in Wal
ker's division, Hardee's corps, fell For
every casualty in Newton's division, two
dead Rebels were picked up.in his front
the next morning; and it is safe to say
that the loss in the two Rebel divisions
that assaulted his position cannot be less
than 1900.
Among his prisoners is Rebel surgeon,
who unsuspectingly drove into Gen. Kim
balls lines with an ambulance and 4
brace of splendid mules. He asked the
first Yankee he encountered where he was
captured, and could hardly credit his
senses when he found the brogan on the
other extremity.
1t is superfuous to say Gen. Kimball
gave fresh instance of his heroism, that
Col Bradley was cool, infexible and in
trepid, or that Col Blake added another
leaf to his laurels as a gallant man and n
competent leader. Their brigades did not
yield an inch no higher eulogy could be
pronounced than that.
Gen Thomas witnessed the heavy fight
ing under Newton. He warmly COM
mcnded Capt Goodspeed for the celerity
with which he brought his guns into ac-
ton. Though Gen. Thomas face is one
in which benevolence and majesty CON
tend, those who were with him during the.
bloody twenty minutes on that portion Of
the line-under heavy fire, be it under
stood-say that the majesty was little
in excess while it lasted
ASSAULT ON WARDS DIVISION.
Ward in command of General Butter
fields division, had left his trenches, and
was advancing to close upon Newton's
right.
lie had reached the base Of HILL
along which his column was resting, when
he received message from his skirmish
line deployed along the summit of the
ridge, that the enemy was approachingin
tremendous force From the crest of the
hill the country in front is open, though
broken, and in all the panoply Of war,
streaming banners, and even swift-step-
ping ranks, came the enemy, pouring into
the fields, filling them densely as he adj
vanced. 1t was but the work of mo-
ment for Gen. Ward to form his line. The
next his skirmishers, commanded by It,
Col Bloodgood of the 22d Wisconsin
were hotly engaged, but they stood their
ground. No sooner were his brigades in
line than the blunt and warlike old voter.
an gave the word " Forward"
In superb order his division mounted
the hill, and over the crest it swept, tax
ing the skirmishers along Portions Of
the hostile lines halted at close quarters
and fought for awhile, and on the rightso
great was the momentum Of the counter
charge that several regiments became
commingled, the Rebels in such cases eX-
hibiting the greatest disorderand submit
ting to capture without debate The reb-
els opposing Ward, prominent among
whom was Gen. Featherstone's division,
were totally unprepared for the fearful
shock which came upon them at the crest.
of the hill, and to great extent they
were unnerved by it.
Our line poured in deadly volleys, and
steadily pushed the enemy, now in confu-
sion, across the field The attack on Ward
was virtually over in Is minutes, though
he had not so much as apiece of artillery
to settle the matter with sharp turn
The Rebels came on in double lines orig
inally, but the moment Ward struck them
they showed signs of confusion, and both
lines became intermingled. Seven battle
flags, were wrested from the severely whip
ped foe, and are held by Ward as his tan
gible trophies He, too, had tSne the
lucky thing at the lucky moment; in adj
dition to which his personal bravery dur
ing the fight was the theme Of enthusias-
tic comment among his men.
In front of this division the slaughter
of the Rebels was very great. In riding
over the ground next morning, l was as
tonished to see the long winrows of their
dead, collected for burial Many of their
severely wounded-of whom 164 fell in
to. Wards hands-were still scattered over
the field, though the ambulances were all
engaged in carrying them to our hospit-
ais. Gen. Wards own estimate OF the
Rebel loss in his front is from 1000 to
$500. He captured over 500 prisoners.
His victory was the most pronounced of
any along the line, and his loss, though