Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-06-03

perate work before Is, but we viii dis
charge our daty % ths best Of our abih
/ ty." In this duty, leading and cheering
! bis regiment. he gave up 20 his country
his young life, so fau OF hope aac
promise. Colonel John COons, OF the
l4th, fell as hero would, in he moment
of victory. Having led his brigs, fs over
one breastwork after another. the -
one vas reached. Mounting IT. revolver
I in hand, firing as be advanced. he vas
shot through the chest, aud fell forward
into the midst Of the foe. The fruits Of
his daring and the cost Of his life were
the forty to fifty cannon and the division
Of rebels captured on that occasion. I
would nos be invidioHs, nor make one
remark detracting from the heroism or
glory Of any one OF the gallant dead, but
for want OF knowledge / must be silent
respecting the many ehivalrous deeds Of
Colonel Grover and others, during most
Of their brilliant career, and am able TO
say only Of them, they we're Always ready
for duty, brave and capable, aud on
many hot fields have written historT OF
which any one may be proud. Being
familiar with the career Of Colonel
Coons, can speak Of him more at
length, aud in detail he 6rsk, Is Cap
tain in the 18th, met the enemy at Cheat
Mountain, Va, and although in over
vhslming Numbers yet he repslsed hinL
Then 81 Blues Gap and Bloomery Fur
mace. Again on the bloody field Of
Winchester; next on the Peninsula, then
At AntieiaD, where be was Eve times
wounded before leaving the field: at
Fredericksburg at Gettysburg, at Chan
ceilorsville, and lastly in the Wilderness
how hravely, let history speak. WIN
chester was the first decided victory TO
our arms, after TIE Rich Mountain sue
ces, and where the most gifted rebel
General, jackson Commanded in person.
Kimbalrs Brigade let McClellaa's army
out Of the swamps on the Peninsula in
less than forty eight hours after its ar
rival, composing part of which Was
the 18th Indiana At Antietam four
hundred and fifty rebel dead attest the
valor of the same regiment, after an en-
gagsment Of two hours, during which
they held the center, aftsr two other
brigndes broke. To do this, oai Of three
hundred and twenty, all told, Of the reg
iment, one hundred and eightyseven
men we're killed aud wounded At the
frst Fredericksburg fgbt they left their
dead nearest the eaemy sentrenchmsnts
Terribly they suffered there, bat we're un-
conquered. At Gettysburg they dehed
the flower Of the rebel army, and though
outnumbered by thousands, maintained
"a unbroken liae, infiietng terrible
punishment upon their AssailantG Their
own loss, however, was frightiul Col
lseting toge her what remained 0f their
regiment, they met Stenewall Jackson
for the last time at Chaneellorsville,
saved by their gallantry General Hook
sr's headquarters, and inflicted upon
Jaeksoa hia death wound Once more
they are marshallsd for battle, their pc
riod Of enlistment being within q few
days OF expiring, yet enthusiastic and
valiant As ever They are in the center
tho immortal brigade 4th and sgh
Ohio. Tth Virginia and l4th-indiana, are
formed for perhaps the last tine. With
five other regimeais, they compose Car
rolls Division Of the. "a Corps, Oven
commanding the brigade.
They advance on his center, bat untold
Numbers Of LongstFesss vefrans are haFl-
ed against them al last FIVE regiments
are broken, the enemy i. working through,
word has gone quickly 10 Grant that the
center is pserced--in 8 moment the peril
and gcrisis are comprehended by Colonel
Coons, and quick as thought the order
is given, BY which his devoted men are
made 10 al the dreadful gap-the shock
is awfnl, bat he brigsde does not waver.
Longstreet and his thousands are held
as never before, and though the odds are
fearful yet Col Coons aud his men BIZ
shouts aud their steady Ere, defy their
advance, aud word goes quickly to Grant
that the gap il agais filed, BY Major
Houghton. The General says, How Is
shis, here Is dispatch saying il 10 bro
ken, you say il is not The Major re-
plies 1T was, but Col Coons has 6lled
Il" Grant replies, 'Ah, this is horse
Of anosher color, land sends np reinforce
menss. The fate 81 the day was saved,
but coan. the members Of the fallen and
thus endesvor to make up the sam Of
our. indsbtness. Da{ after day, these
same scenes were enacted ard are still
re-appearing-hut alas Colonel Coons
and many Of his braves are no longer
aetors
Colonel Williams Of the 19th. with
flag in hsnd, cheering and leading his
faithful followers into the thickest Of the
conflict, fell-,hs Gag he loved so well
waving over him. He was proud 20
bear il; il was glorious 10 fall under It's
folds.
What shall we say Of The dead and
musilaied Of these Fegiments2 OF the
line officers and men, more than half
have been killed or wounded All hon
or to the dead and prsise to the living
Ii may be truthfully said OF these regi-
mentss Ifscouting i TO be done, they
do il; IF the enemys lines are to be felt,
they feel them; II skirmishers are 10 be
driven in they drive them, if the lines
are tosbs watched while rifs-pits are be-
ing dug, they watch them; in a word,
wherever honor, duty or fag calls them,
here they are found, nobly doing their
whole duty In hospitals, the hardest Of
all places, they are accomplishing, pa
tieat and hopeful, and death is never a
surprise.
If yonr Exeellency viii turn to an ac-
count Of the recent battles, yen viii see
that the ID Army Corps and the 5th
have almost invariably opened the en-
gagemen.s LastThursday, one week ago,
the I'd carried everyentreuchmeut, but
the 9Th falling TO support In time, these
veterans were uHable to hold the position.
as they eoutehded against nearly the
whole rebel army. So Of the 9Th Corps,
they aeTer falter nor hesitate. Our
only Colonel Taylor Of the 20th, led hiH
regiment day after day in this Corps till
be was finally prostrated BY severe fever.