Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-11-17

the hope that they and the whole State may
also do this,
/ remain youIs, SC, R. C. E.
/ From the Thirty Eighth Regiment-Its Part
! in Grants Reconnaissance.
| HEADQUARTERS, Co. G, 3STH WIS.,
! NEAR PEGRAM HoUsE, Nov. l..
| RECONNAISSANCE IN FORCE
! We broke camp about o'clock A NJ. on
| Thursday morning, the 9th ult., and waiting
! for the 9Th aid I'd corps to get well under
way on the left, we took the right and about
| 6 o'clock drove in the enemy's skirmishers.
pushing them back upon their works. The
| 9th corps held the gap between the 5th corps
/ and our Notifications, while the 9Th and I'd
| corps swung round upon the Boynton plank
! road and engaged the enemy on his right
flank. These corps met with varying success
! curing the day Gen. Hartrauff's brigade,
| lst division, 9th corps composed of the 37tb
! and 3Sth Wisconsin, Sth and 9th Michigan.
| lO9th New York, 59th Pennsylvania and 18th
| Ohio cavalry, held the woods on the left of
| the line There was brisk skirmishing all
along the line of the 9th corps but no gene
raj engagement. The enemy used one gun
with some effect upon our brigade. One shell
| struck Co. G, 3Sth Wis, wounding one man,
| David NJ Harmed. About O'Clock we com
menced to throw up breastworks, and before
dark had good protection for the night
Just at dusk, Lee Balou, Ordnance Sergeant
of the 3Sth, was severely wounded, the ball
passing from the back bone nearly half way
around the body.
By the way, this trenching has come to be
science in the Army of the Potomac, and
we have learned it partly from the rebels and
partly by that peculiar "quailing of the flesh"
which a fellow feels when a rebel gun is
pointed at him. You will remember that
when the war first broke out skirmishers
were as often thrown forward into an open
field as under cover, and the man who hadn't
nerve enough to stand it was marked as a
coward. Now, skirmishers have small Shovels
strung to their belts by which they can dig
Me,r way into safety in few minutes. The
Johnny rebs are adopts at this Their work
has been mostly on the defensive with an in
ferior force, so entrenching is their forte.
We found them heavily entrenched-not
only their line of battle, but their skirmsh
line, and they worked very hard all night up
on these works, notwithstanding the severe
cold storm of rain that fell. AS soon as the
object Of the reconnaissance was accomplished
preparations were made for Withdrawing the
troops. The I'd and part of the 9Th corps
first retired, taking their prisoners and refu-
gees with them, and on the following morn
ing the main body of the army was moving
back to its position. AS soon as this move
ment was discovered by the enemy, they
threw down their spades and heavy force
commenced massing on the left wing of the
9th corps. But they had their labor for their
pains, for before 2 o'clock p m. our forces
had steadily fallen back and were in a safe
position.
The whole affair seemed to be conducted
with admirable skill, 20 far as your CORES
pendent could observe, with the exception of
one blunder, occasioned by the drunkenness
of the division officer of the day. He drew
in the skirmish line of the first division too
soon, exposing the flank of the right wing of
the 9TH corps As soon as the Lieutenant in
command of the skrmishers of the 3Sth
Wisconsin discovered the position of affairs
he reported the fact to Gen. Hartrauff's AID,
and volunteered to re-establish the line. He
re-established the line, and held it under a
brisk fire of the enemy. W. 81. Brown of
Co. FL was severely wounded in the affair.
He held the position until the enemy had
passed both tanks of the line, and nearly cut
off the retreat, when he formed and brought
his men in on double quick. In this affair
he was aided by 1t. Wright, Co. G, who
showed himself to be a true soldier.
This was the first trial of the 3Sth Wiscon-
sin since the new organization, combining
the five companies of raw troops brought
down by Col. James Bintliff and the old COM
panes commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Pier, and their conduct in face of the enemy
was admirable. Both officers and men were
cool and steady. 1t is sufficient to state that
A., IL. Of
troops.
The fruits of the reconnaissance may be
briefly summed up. We took about 1000
prisoners, large squad of refugees, and got
pretty good knowledge of the country.
We are back in our old position, going
through With the same old routine Of duties.
Life in the trenches is very monotonous. We
get used to the crack of the rife and the roar
of the cannon, and do up the requisite
amount Of grumbling with as much Zest as we
would in Camp Randall" or Washington.
The health of the regiment is good, taking
the weather into account.
THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.
There is an intense interest manifested in
the regiment in the issue of the present
campaign, and the voice of the intelligent
soldiery will be unanimous in support of the
experimentation Old Abe and Union, and
against Mcclellan and treason. There is
nothing wonderful in this. The soldier has
more at stake than the citizen. He has not
only wife, children, home friends and proper
ty at stake, but for that undying love of
country that has illumined every avenue of
his great heart, he has thrown his life into
the scale, and he feels that to erect the base
and ignoble abortion of the Chicago Con-
vention as the palladium of our liberties and
to enthrone upon it the little great treason
plotter of the nineteenth century, would be
to crush the last cherished hope of his heart
and induce him to either throw down his
arms and go home or rush madly upon the
bayonets Of the foe.
THE ATTEMPTED FRAUD,
1t would startle you to hear with what iu-
tense bitterness the attempted fraud on the
soldiers vote in the New York election re-
turns is spoken of in camp. l can think of
no punishment meet for their crime, unless it
be the whitening scorn with which the out
raced soldiers will meet them when we cha II