Washington telegraph., 1864-07-20
NO. 81

line, called on each colonel in turn, ard.
in hearing of his men, told him tie oE-
ders he had received. and his determine
ton to fight to the last, and exac,ed 4
pledge that each regiment should hold IL
position at ali hazards, unless Ordered
away. The pledge was readily giv"n'
and ratified by tho men with enthuslad-
tic cheers.
The attack commenced BY the hon
bardment Of the fort. which, rs bef''r~.
enfladed our whole line, and was terrible
/ for raw troops TO stand. From the front
the enemy kept Up. from their rear lineF.
and their sharpshooters, who had cTa.'r!esi
near TO our defences, 2 hnli Of bullets.
and under cover of his cross fire OF shells
and balls, hurled from FIVE 10 ten iaous-
and men Mt time on single pants 2. cnr
line, some think seven, and others c.eT-
en-, times in succession. They tried tha
left, then the right, then centre, repeat
edly; sometimes al three tcgRlher- III
every assault they we're rcPai5ed o7siir.
with great slaughter, ana but h.ao i5S5
to our side.
After the fight had continued ap7ut
two hours and half, twoc. egun a9l.s
passed the fort. goi in ourrear. and s'elieI
Us In the back. But cur menr who #cnt
in tie fight with many apprelansioHs' oF.
account Of the overwhelming numbers oI.
the enemy, full ten to one, il not hiiean
to one, had become .iubi.aIt from repeat
ed repnlses Of the foe, and we're Jumping
up on the rifle-pits, after every assault.
waving their hats, and calling to the an-
L. -
1t was il this stl'e0f things, about e.
hour by snn, ill night, e ar tie last a.
saalt had been repll ed, and The enemy
yG.hed, their whole line having retreste1
in confusion, and no harm being done to
our line but tn fow Of the shells from
the rel-, that a white hag appeared about
the centre Of ore Of our regiments. u ho
cry was sent, simultaneously, to the reg
nents on the right and left of il, a. tol-
lows: RAISE the white flag. by Gen.
Charchill's order; pass the word down
the line" The commanders of both
these regiments refused to raise the lag.
but the effect was to cause the whole linn
gradually 10 ceaze firing. and the YanEes
line tO advance. Immediately after the
flag was raised, the colonel Of the regi-
ment where i had appeared was seen
walking rapidly ont In front XIII orr line,
with & soldier by lis side bearing whit!
flag. He met the Federal officer who
commanded in his front. Shock ir nds with
him, and seemed In conversation with
him. The most Of our mon saw The Fed
e-ai white flag before they saw the one
on our libe 10 which Il wRs ihs response,
~.
our dsfenses, waved thei. L@,s, anc;
shouted that the Van i..es la4 El-randerer.
Gnti. Undece;red u their o.icg7- When
they foa1d cut The truth. they threw down
their guns, dashed their hats On ths.
ground, wert. and declared ~ H-an had r.
ght to surrender them, TINT hey did
not enter the service 10 sI;TsnSer, that
they had whipped il the fg',. so far, and
could have whipped to .lc prl Of thr
battle. The sigut Of Tia d.airesses Of
the poor fellows vas hear. .rchilg. Gen
Churchill, hearing their mistaken shouts.
and believing tie enemy to be- falling
back. dashed to the front, q En- that his
command had been surrendered without
his consent. The enemy we're % near
us, and in such masses. that - attemp:
at further resistance woni! lave beca
madness.
What is stated aboveis tic truth about
this sad affair, to which the narrator was
an eyewitness, haring participated il the
fight, and having hal better opportunities
Of knowing Gen. Chulchili's pans and
intentions than G Sharp coEld have had.
In the light Of these f4cts, who does not
Al.
instead of feeling disposed 70 reproach
himf But for the white AaE- i'll one hour
more, lie would have cot away with bis
whole command, with but little loss, hav-
ing punished the enemy dFea1iri!Y. Not
\ Gen. Churchill, but TIL man who raised
tie white Gag, is responsible FOR the mur
der of the more than {" thousand Tex
ans" vino persisted in Northern prisons.
How II il that raising the white tiagsarc1
the commando The enemy Lad done
his utmost, uasuccessfIliy, FIR nearly five
hours; his beaten troops could have done
no more in the next hour. How j. Gen.
Churchill responsible for ih5se who died
in prison, when they were sent there by
the man who raised the HGE- and who,
according 10 G Sharp, was tire saver Of
the command 9 Sharp ii mistaken
when H. says Gen. Churchill lift the
brigade because The men lis'.ked him.
They had 4 high opinion Ct niIn. He
also says iii ~ not known wi0 raised the
white flag. Ire i mistakenly II i known;
and becoming more GENERALLY known
every day.
This much have tboaFtt due W the
truth of history, and to IL uajus. : re-
preached fe.!ow-citizeEs. justice.
E-y7 We learn with sincere regret that
Mr. J. Z. Talbot. special nal agent for
this Department, dieI III haz at SL-ove-