Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1864-09-07
he suburbs and saw the spires and stssplss Of Pc

AZ uAo W our noOlo S1SVef 6tate-~NOfGN-CAfO1l
ns-to say that the entire infantry coumn engaged
III the assault on tho left Of the railroad was CON-
posed Of her sons. Never did men move forward |
with aRmer step when ordered to chsrge and |
never dld troops fight with more distinguished gal
nntry. Any one who will visit the battlefield As
have done, and see the character of the work they
thsd 70 perform, will concur with me in the opinion
tnat the msn who carried them in the face of such
fearful nrs, from both infantry and artillery, are
Eortny q boing cassed among the bravest A.
Frglnnn. am proud to award this humble tribute |
70 the gsllanty of the brave North Oarolinisns who
participated in this desperats fight It is true that
shsy have fought on every battle field since this
1851, and closing ct Resms Station, August 1864
with IS much gAllsntry and discrimination - the
troops from any ether State, bat on yesterday, ~
none but North -Caronlans participated in the a.
sault on the loft there can be no dispute to who
did the work. Amid the lsaden hail and iron
storm they rushed directly on to glory and to VIC
tory.
The Troops Engaged.
The cavalry engaged on the part Of the enemy,
were commanded BY ths noted Colonel Speer, who
is believed to have had brigade All accounts
agree that they were soon routed, and that they
moved out Of the way ~ fast IS their horses could
carry them.
The infantry consisted of the famous Second
corps, (Hancocks) and all prisoners concur in the
thousand men, They fought more valiantly than
the cavalry, but were finally compelled to give way
before the impetuous dash of the brave North Car
olinians, and although the engagement did not be.
come general until about three o'clock, before night
the entire corps were utterly routed and flying in
Of Prince George
They left all their killed and wounded, over two
thousand prisoners and nine pieces Of cannon in
our possession.
The ensmy's dead lay thickly scattered in all di.
rections Friday morning. Many Of them had fallen
before tho terrible FIRE Of our artillery, Psgram's
battalion,) and saw several who had been cut in
wss unusually large, and at the locality where most
OF the artillery were captured, We counted sixty
one Of these animals piled up and lying around on
about qua:ter acre Of ground.
Hancock's corps, it will be borne in mind, is con-
sidsred tho very best in Grants army, and more
than one prisoner with whom We convsrsed, stated
that it was regarded a. the 'Stonewall Jackson
corps of the army of the Potomac. What an
equivocal compliment to that deeply lamsnted and
illustrious hero and ptriotl 1t Hancocks corps
that made the attack upon Johnston's division at
SpottSylvania Courthouse, and gained some advan-
tage. It was there, too, that the jubilant Ingalls,,
Lincoln's Inspector General, telsgraphed TO Wash
ington, Hancock has made . ten strike to day
He has used up Johnston, and is now about to pitch
into Early
The army correspondent Of the Richmond Dis.
patea speaking of the i'.ssls Of Rss1ns' station.
says:
About o'clock, all arrangements being complet-
ed Leutenant.General Hill ordered the line forward,
! and the command was promptly obeysd The line
| thus formed, and in motion, was preceded BY two
squadrons of the seventh Virginia cavalry, under
Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, of Faqulsr. This lit
tie body drove the enemy's pickets back in gallant
tu1n s~kn h~iu in hknfk khn
main line of battle In this affair Colonel Marshall
was slightly wounded Having arrived in frent Of
the ensmy's line Of works, Gen. Hill determined to
assault them at once, and accordingly, ordered
Major General Wilcox to take two brigades and as
sault the enemys work Scales (North- Carollna)
and Andersons Georgia) brigades were selected for
the work in hand. The dispositions being made,
moved forward in good style, driving in with ease,
and with great enthusiasm, the enemys skirmish-
ers and sharpshooters. At the moment they began
their advance the enemy opened with artillery and
musketry most rapidly. The result briefly told,
was that our column was repulsed.
General Hill was determined, however, net to
give up the struggle without another effort to dis.
ordered forward with Cooks and AcCrae's North
Carolina brigades, 0he latter Psttigrewg old brig
ade,) and Lanes North Carolina brigade (Wilcox's
division commanded by Conner, Of South Carolina,
was ordered to unite in the charge AcGowans q
brigade was on the extrsme right engaging the On.
emys pickcts and sbarpshooters. The second charge
was made somewhat to the right of the point whsrs
the first was engaged, but still very nsar it The
second assaulting column was formed-Lans on the
left, Cook in the centre, and NcCrae on the right
Again, about P. NJ, everything being arranged
and our officers having gone repeatedly up and down
i the lines and encouraged the men, telling the.l
what they had to do and what obstacles they would
meet the order was given, and the men bounded
forward with yell that made the welkin fairly
ring again, and plainly told in advance, of deter
mnation to achieve success which could scarcely fa
ofgrand results. And now the enemy, having massec
their artillery, pour forth deadly, rsklng fire o
shot, she'll grape, shrapnsl aud canister but oul
brave men heed it not and press onward, deter
mined to win victory or fall in the effort Ths
abattis and underground in front of the enemy:
works hac to. be parted and avenues for entrance
mace in the face of deadly musketry as well a.
artillery fire, but our braves, needles Of danger
and resolved on thuse works. push aside Tia brust
and destroy the abattis and reach the works ID sl
squads and not in line Here q vigorous hand-to
hand fight ensued over the works with pistols, bay
onets and the butt ends Of the muskets until = suh
cheney Of force had gotten up to form the line
battle anew; then, springing over the enemy
works, they swept rapidly down them, capturing
and driving before them all of ths enemys forc'
engaged in the fight to point some distance south
east of Reams station and, in order to encourag'
their hasty retreat and to increase their speed
whilst so audably engaged, our infantry boys mann
ed the artillery which captured, and poured int
the retreating foe rsk;ng fire. And here, a
Ream's station, just as daylight was fast passing
away, the fight ended with the following results
The enemy driven from mile and half at least
of their lines and their breastworks CONSTRUCTED
doubtless for permanent occupaticn) wressted from
them, with loss Of, at this writing, ninetesn hun
dred prisoners representing all four divisions o
Hancock's crack corps, including quite sprnkllns
Of heavy artillerlsts. Among their prisoners, sey
sntyfve commissioned officers, not the least o
which is Lieutenant Colonel Walker, assistant I'D
infant general to Major General Hancock, command
ing the Second corps; nine spleodd pieces of srtil
I lery-five of them being elegant brass Napoison'