, 1864-10-13
NORTH Of TIE JAMES. =.
1HE REkEL ATTACK on I GIG 7th.
Ger. Birs ey's Command Rstrleuss tha
Disalter-CnmpIete Bout Of
the ELemy.

l Dave al1PaH3 1u6QtlHuEN III LILY ul3p1EHn
of List hight The 1Scs that our cbmmaoders
bud tull sud accuratc kno ~ieose OF tns reoeI
mos osemenrs aud tnteutlous. For tuti CON.
| preh henelOn Of them q map ~ould be Valu4 4ble.
| but tine prtvtAts my ORA ain. one to u1yb
! tielt's division OF rebel lufll try, coaslstlur
| OF four brigades, with GearJ's cavalry nrI-
sate, up7ed ont OF Richmord at IN early
| They marched I'll night, ~ va Well knew
| they woulo. and by'a clrcnt 'ous route 'ell
| upon Kanrz's division Of cavalry on the Cau-
tTsl road ut daylight. or little 'sfteF. this
| mnIDluE. HoRe's division, OF equal strength
With Fisld'e, moved ont from the leoot line
our inf.ntry line and advanced down the
| Central road.
| FIRST E1PECTAT10Ns.
The first iden of this movement eater.
| tat1 d on our ride was thst 1t Was designed
to etlike at the New Market 1eignts, uad.
bdvauciug up tue New Market road, str,ka
| us IL the rear. At that time ne kne Y
| ro,hing Of, the movements Of Hokv's di.
TIE SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS
Of their plans stow this to have beea an or
1oneous idea. Field moved out on tue York
river turnpike only far enough to plsa arouad
the right tlaLk OF Kuntz's cavalry, aud then
strucK across the country to the Central
ropd, and moved up tnat thoroughtase
agnInst the cavalry. It was their deaigu, as
p1leoIers inform u.s. for acke to move down
mands to meet behind Kautz's picket line.
4nd so cut them of Forluuatels Huke WIS
two hours behiid time in making bis move
meut, and SO, The scneine failed.
GEN. KAu1z ENGAGES THE ENEMY.
Kautz, discovering only the NOV smeut of
F1+td's column, pitched Into It, tasiac TIM
ehancee OF battle OF c.vllry against intan-
try. LIE had. With hin two batteries OF
States and the Fifth WISCONSIN, battery.
These were brought irt, play aud were
hsndle3: e11lciG1tly, ana for nearly two hours
The rebels werr held in coeck, daring which
tina our cavalry made Gnc ur Ro spirited
charges. The cAval5y under Gcary also
figured In this exhaustive skirnishln.. =.
TIE ENEAY MASSES.
Fina1'g the enemy maesed his iufsn.ry to
chNge upon the cavalry. Kausz, surprising
the ma6se1 forces to be dismuuuted c4Yaitg.
6ismounted portion Of bis men to mees thn
charge. The rtbtls came On with their usu II
masters Of the f.ld.
oun CAVALRY FORCED DAcK.
hautz's men were put to confusion, aud
broke In tle widest disorder. At thu same
time The announcement WIS received ut
Htke's advance, which increased tue panic
AID caused :di-e1aceful stampede. Men,
lofees, wagons, &c, started for the rear ut q
THE ARTILLERY REMAIN AND FIGHT.
The artillery a1one maintained It's position,
cou1agtousIy fighting az inst the fearful cd :s
opp scd 10 It, fhe guns were served very
rapidly and handled efficiently; but tbs
rebels advanced steadily upon then until
within forty feet, when the arttlteriats
mounted their horses, cut traces and started
na. aftsr the cavalry: 4 single regiment Of
Mcunted Rifles, remained upon tho field.
These displayed their valor and the efficiency
OF that particular arm Of the service by
maneureling before the enemy long cnuugh
5or Gen. Btrney to torn his corps and ret
T'scy to meet the rebels, and then retired In
gooa prdder.
For this isolated display of real courage
and skill in manuverlng troops too much
credit cannot well be given TO tue comm aud-
er Of tue regiment. Col E. Y. 4uMnsr, sod
Of The late Major General Sumner. Hh.n
B'rney advised him Of lis readiness to re-
ctire On attack. and not till then, Col. Sun.
Fer ithdreW his command.
PREPARATIONS FOR IN ATTACK.
During the early morning Gen. Birnez was
bus'ly engaged forming nte troops to receive
the cneet Of the rebels. During the previous
day and throughout the night he had been
suffering from malar15us fsrer. and was 40
seriously i'll as to have htnself placed In care
OF u physician, the medical director Of ills
cSrps; but When tbe alarm sounded tU bat.
tfe he was up and In hts saddle, despite the
emorstranccs OF his medical adviser, aod
throughout the day remained with his troops,
though during the Afternoon he was con-
pe1led to leave his saddle und accept IN ore
comfortable medns Of locomotion in al am-
bulance.
DISPOSITION OF OUR FORCES.
Terry's division was assigned the post of
honor for the day, it beng formed on line
IDg along parallel With the New MurEet
rohd, about five hundred yards north Of til It
thorcugltare. Tue right OF this line was In
deep WOODS and partially strens sth-ned with
Inde and hastily constructed rias pits-
The left stretched ACROSS an open d.ld and
structed previous t. this affair. II these
works Ltent Colonel jackson. Chief Of Ar
til1ery, bad placed four batteries OF six guus
each. From this position clear view cJuld
be had Of the fields over which the rebels
must pass to rench the woods on tue right,
In which the right of the Inns was posted,
Which fields we're Illegally swept by these
The formetion Of the lire gayo tho Sd br,.
gaae, Col. z. II. Piaisted, of tue 11th Maine,
commanding. the right; the "a brigade, Col.
Joseph G. abbott, Of the 7th New aaup-
brigade. Col. F d. Pond, OF the 9a4 Oato,
commanding, the left.
TIE nruE1s MISTAKEN AND SUFFER- ACCORD
NGLY.
The rebels in their prevfous reconno!ssan.
cEs had discovered, as they supposed. the
right Of our infantry line, and tue cavalry
being etampeded they now pressed on In
what eeemed to them the shortest route to
pats cur right and strike In our rear, The
position held by the I'd aud Sd b1igades they
supposed to be unoccuo oied, and 90 it was
untll nlteen minutes btfore the attack c4me.
In this course, therefore, they headed.
WREN THE ENEMY coMNENogp Tu8 MOVE:
MENT.
A.ten O'Clock they commenced thtif move
ment, and ar the same momtnt Our formi1a-
bic army OF artillery opened upon them, en-
tl'ading them more and moro perfectly US
they advanced, and doing great execution.
They brought out two batt-rits into little
pint of woods opposite the position OF our
guns and attempted to silence onr deadly
fire; but Col. jackson met this attempt BY
planting couple OF f1l. batteries in the rear
Of the main line, which, firing ever the 9th
err, did good execution upon The rebel bat
| teries, causing one Of them to llmber up aud
get ont Of the way In hurry, its hurses be-
ing 60 badly used mp that it became neccssa-
~ to drag the piece AWAY by hnnd. In the
! Il reantime the fire upon the advancing rebel
lfne of battle was not Blackcned, nor ~as tta
execution less fearful. But still the reoela
| Pressed on, and were soon In tbs woods, be.
Z; Jond reach Of our artillery.
TIE MAIN ATTACK
/ fill upon the I'd, 'or central brigade, the
j br,4aots Gu either 114nk being lightly Ell.
; ghgtd. The "a is about half armed With
! Spet GERS repeating carb!nes, aud had q
strong Ektr@teh line, composed wholly oi
! nlrn with ibis weapon, thr0~n we'll ont to
Al, Theoa tor lad hoA$ $4A a
| thtcket Of 1nderbru6h until the enemy waa
| IN close range; then, suddenly rising, they
poured Yol1ey after IolJeY Nitn> great 8.eadt'
| ness into the rebel 1ines, causing moment,
| afy halt But again the line advanced, and
onr sktrmiehe1e, having exhausted their car.
btnes, steadily gaye way TO the rear, and un'
| covered the Eain line Of battle. here were
more carbineess, and mora meu who under.
| stood this terribly destructive weapon.
TIE ACTION BECOMES GENERAL.
| The action now became Intensely hot, The
| woods were filed with continuous roar ol
| mufketry, and the eavage. work OF butcnery
Nas going on With marked rapidity. Oal
men displayed eteadiness and GOODNESS sci
| dom eqnalrd and never sufpasssd-
THE REBELS DRIVEN BACK.
The rebels were obstinate and determined
men hom their position, finally gave way
ard retired in confneion. The battle had
lasted about half M hour, but during thai
| short Ep1ce Of time over one Thousand OF the
! rebels 1efr their bones to enrich the sacred
coil -
| OUR LOSSES.
Our own losses iu killed, wounded and
mifeipg were a trile over a hundred. 1t
was the cheapest victory ever won on bat
| tie field.
THE RoUr OF TIE ESEME COMPLETE.
The Icut Of the en5mY Was complete, 60
1 much SO that their officers Were utterly una-
Bile to rally them for second charge, thus
admitting the day to be ours- They went
| harlz leaving many Of their dead and num-