Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-06-07

General, who was, as always. at every right
place at the right time, instead of halting
! for assistance TO arrive, or falling back,
which would have insured an attack and
rout, dashed the division headlong against
the rebels, and, what with the belief this
inspired In them of o larger force, and the
! stun and panic of the shock, drove them be-
fore him at will. Supreme daring in this
case was supreme safety. The Generals
peculiar and admirable tactics were here
clearly shown. Forming the men In sew
eral lines of battle, he pushes them rapidly
on by a continual sort of q revolution. AS
the front line becomes exhausted, it Is halt
ed, and the extreme rear Is hurried to the
front, which Is thus kept constantly fresh.
Night put an end to the firing, but all
night trains and ambulances and artillery
were rumbling TO and fro, troops were
marching into line, and every thing gave
promise OF stern work on the morrow. But
1t did not come. The woods were thick,
the fortifications had to be built, the lines
of troops were immensely long, winding off
to the left and right Into their places, and
so the whole of May twepty-siXth pass
ed away, and nothing was accomplish
ed save getting into position. But this
was much, far more than one who has not
seen 1t with his own eyes can believe. A
continuous front Of many miles in extent,
IN dense forests, over creeks and 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 the
creation of an hour, nor Of a day. But
during the night part Of the 4th corps had
come up, and gone in to the left and in the
morning, Gibson's brigade (Willich's old,)
was thrown out as skirmishers. During
the day, the 23d and part of the 14th corps,
advanced to the extreme left, but Gen. Nc
Pherson failed to come up on the right, as
was expected. Scattering shots of musket-
ry flew eitherway all day, and two or three
batteries were planted on commanding
ridge of ground, which failed to elicit any
reply from the other side, beside an occa-
sional angry shell. Tbs rebels were chary
of their powder, saving 1t for sterner uses,
and anxious to conceal theirpieces that they
might again employ them at range of their
own choosing, as on the day before. They
were very quiet, and concealed themselves in
the thick underground, /, to such an extent that
our gunners must fire pretty much at ran
DOM and seek to discover their whereabouts.
Evidently they had not completed their pre-
parations, had not yet received all the REIN
forcements they expected and felt that they
could afford to bide their time, while their
skirmishers were harasing ours, and their
silence was emptying our caissons to no
purpose, till every thing was well ready
Some prisoners brought in, in the evening
and examined vigorously and apart dis
closed the fact, that they had received rein
fOrcements from Florida, and now claimed
an effective strength of 10000. AS their
stories agreed, it was concluded that rein
forcements 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 continuous, but
neither party seemed to advance or retreat.
A few of the rebel rifle-pits were carried.
and in the evening the lines got afowl OF
each other, and a small squad of prisoners
was brought in. The underground, which
covers the whole face of the ground, pre-
vents 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 days losses along
front of three miles.
May 27.-The expectations of the day be-
fore were not destined to be realized, for
operations on both sides were confined to a
desultory artillery practice, fortifying and
maneuvering into better positions.
Early in the afternoon long lines Of dust
were seen about four miles away to the rear
and left, rising over the tops of the trees,
and about five o'clock we received a con-
elusive and stunning explanation of their
import. 1t was simply rapid cOncentra-
ton to strike our extreme left, which was
still weak and unsteady, from its having
been continually showed out in that direc-
tion, and from the distance and the rough
ness of the way over which supporting ar
tillery must pass. The rebels had evidently
discovered this state of affairs and meant
to thrust heavy column in between Scho-
field and the cavalry before these could be
united in strong line. They were at their
old work. Fortunately the game was de-
tected and our combinations made in time
to save the line, but not a minute to spare.
The blow was parred but we staggered I'M
der it. Woods division of the 4th Corps !
had been relieved from line of battle on !
right in the forenoon by the di- |
vision of Gen. Stanley, and had rested but |,
a short time whenit was hurried over to the |
point of danger. The ground was very |
rough and the bushes almost impenetrable, 1
but boldness was here again the safe policy \
and the division was soon engaged /
The ground on which it must fight !
was peculiarly bad. Two parallel ridges |
hemmed in its flanks, and directly in front /
was another, on all of which the rebels had \
guns which delivered at once direct en- 4
tilading and cross fire. Their vOlleys were /
quick and terrible as cross-lightning; grape, /
shell and round-shot pouring in I
all at once, and musket balls flying thick as
hail. Out of Woods division, and Scrib-
ner's brigade, of Johnson's division, which
was supporting on the left, four hundred
men fell in thirty minutes, when darkness
happily intervened. Our lines held their
own stubbornly in the face of this terrible
slaughter, but by ten in the evening were
drawn back so that they could be support
ed by batteries which had meantime been !
planted. Here lay four hundred wounded
and dead men in want of immediate care,
and the amoulances and stretchers were
,hree miles away and the road between was
very bad. Despite the best endeavors of
Captain TOusley, Chief of Ambulance
Corps, who ordered up the whole corps at
,nce, nearly hundred men lay on the field
III night. Those who could dragged them
elves wearily along, with the aid of COM
aides, to the hospital. This number of
wounded and killed were found on the field,
md others may have been left in the retreat.
Among the missing is Col Payne, of the
4th Ohio, who is either aprisoner or kill
d and fallen into the hands of the rebels.
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