Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-05-17
THU RSDAY.
FULL DETAILS OF THE GREAT
BATTLE.
The Rattle of spottsyIvania Court
House.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY oFTHE PoToMAc,)
MAR SPoTTsYLvANIAC COURT HOUSE,
Thursday, May IL. \

. |
the calendar as one Of the fdsts of the Re-
r public, for it marks the date of one of the
deadliest and most decisive struggles and
, one of the most brilliant victories of the
war. Knowing the ebbs and flows of battle,
l refrain from attempting to anticipate
! what the after hours of to-day may bring
forth; but If victory continues to smile on
this army as it has up to this hour-2P. M.
Tonight will see the greatest army of the
Hancock this morning, by splendid as
sault, turned heenemy's right flank, carried
both their lines of breastworks, captured
forty-two pieces of artillery, and from 5000
, to 1000 prisoners, and is now rolling up
their line. The other corps have Joined in
and engaged In furious battle, which con-
tinues at the hour Of writing. In the i'm
possibility of at present obtaining accurate
details, and desirous of sending the outlines
Of the battle at the earliest moment, trans
NIT the rough jotting of my note book,
which must stand until full recital can be
written out.
SIX O'CLOCK A. MAT midnight last
night Hancock with his corps changed from
his position on the extreme right, and went
in on the left of the line between the Sixth
Corps and Burnside, where there had been
a gap. At o'clock this morning he assault
ed the enemy's position, carried their sec
Ond line of breastworks, and turned the right
flank Of the rebels. 1t was complete sur
prise, favored by mist which concealed
our movements. He has taken 1900 prison.
ers and three Generals, namely, Gen. Stuart,
commanding brigade In Gen. JOhnsonis
division of Ewell's corps; Major-Gen. john
son, commander, and another Gen. john
son. commanding brigade.
The intelligence from Sheridan's cavalry
| raid, brought by q scout last night, shows
| that he has had the most complete success.
He destroyed ten mills of the Orange and
Gordonsville Railroad-the line on which
Lee has been mainly dependent for his sup
| plies-and destroyed three train Of cars and
| a large amount of supplies. He took sew
eral pieces of artillery and recaptured five
hundred prisoners, among them two Colo
nels, whom the rebels were Juggling off to
Richmond. .-.
SEVEN A. MA most Interesting scene is
now before us at headquarters. Major GEN.
eral Ed. johnson, who, with his whole di-
vision, was captured this morning, has Just
been brought up, under charge of an officer,
to headquarters in the woods, where Gems.
Grant and Meade and their staffs are seat
ed around bivouac fire. Gen. Meade, who
had been an old friend of Gen. johnson,
shook hands with him and introduced him
to Gen. Grant. u. .r... l..#
Formerly Of the Sixth Infantry" in
quires the Lieutenant General. "Yes," re-
plies the rebel General, 'You were of the
Fourth, and we were in the same brigade"
OF course, military etiquette precluded any
other inquiries than those of purely per-
sonal character. To the question whether
Gen. Wadsworth was dead, he replied that
such was his belief, though he was not pos
tive. Our Generals, Seymour and Shaler,
who were captured in the battle of the
WilnnrnaSC a r1au of
headquarters. Longstreet he reports as Sc
verely but not mortally wounded. Almost
all the staff appear to have been old friends
and acquaintances of johnson, and numer-
GUS mutual inquiries in regard to old
army comrades are being made. Gen.
Hunt, Chief of Artillery, when he met him,
had mind to make set speech, but the
old familiar formula, sd, am glad to
see YOU came out in salutation to which
johnson replied: "Well, Hunt, under the
circumstance, am not glad to see you."-
He spoke of the abomination of such a
country as the Wilderness to fight in; spoke
of the capture of his division, but said,
with quiet, good-natured manner, that
we would have a hot time of it yet. john
son is q stout built fellow, with strong,
rough face, but his dress is in bad condi-
tion, and his slouched hat, with his brown
ish gray hair sticking out through an ap-
erture at the top, is such as even New
York dead rabbit would scorn to sport.
An Aid who has just come in from Gen.
Hancock's headquarters says that when the
captured Gen. Stuart-G. H.-was brought |
In, Hancock extended his hand, but the |
high-bo captive drew back, saying That |
''his feelings would not allow him to shake |
hands"-an incident which has just created |
4 merry laugh at headquarters.
Thirty ty.-Hancock's fight continues, |
and Warren is going in. A furious rain !
storm is falling, and the thunder of the !
heavens mingles with the roar of artillery |
and the rattling volleys of small arms in |
way impossible to discriminate which is
which. The country is somewhat more !
open here than in the Wilderness, and per-
nits the use of artillery, which has been
placed in commanding pcsitio.
Ill along the line. .g.I
Warren's corps, forming the center of our, |
Inc of battle, Is now briskly engaged. No |
reports rs yet of his progress. The rebels
nave opened their batteries, and the head
quarters of Generals Grant aud Meade are |
being vigorously shelled. In riding along,
we encountered on all hands the proofs of |
bloody work that had been going on for the /
past four hours. From every path through \
,he woods wounded men emerging,
'ome In ambulances, some on stretchers,
'ome supported by their companions and
many poor fellows with every variety of I
lrightful wounds hobbling along supported
)y rude crutches, improvised from branch
s Of trees. On reaching Hancock's head
quarters we find his success has been grow K
ng steadily and his captures constantly roll /
ng up. He has taken forty-two pieces of |
Irtillery and already seven thousand pris-
,ners reported. A score or more of the
,aptured guns are lying In field at our new
pleasant sight to see.-
They are 12-pound Napoleons, Rodmans
md 10-pound PARROTS, their rude throats
in their deadly work. .l
TEN A. M.-The whole line is now en-
ragged, including the corps of Warren's
Fifth, of Wright's Sixth, of Hancock's Sec
md, and of Burnside's Ninth. From the
present position of headquarters, which is
rear enough to be under fire, we can distin-
yuish Burnside's and Hancock's line of bat
lie in our front, and Wright and Warren
stretched off to the right. 1t is too dense-
" wooded to see the manGuvres, or even
he line of battle, but we mark the line by
he margins Of smoke rising up above the
,rees, and the flashes of the artillery.
ELEVEN O'cLoCK.-There is lull along
,he line, with the exception Of vigorous
which continues. The rebels
nave been fighting with an obstinacy that
challenges the name of sublime, and Lee
mas been putting forth his best powers. The
situation at this hour leaves our line hold