The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-05-20

I see troop of horsemen riding rapidly up
to the perilous edge of battle, and recognize
Warren and his white horse, as Jehu was re-
cognized by the Prophet of old, for they came
furiously. With him are Generals Griffin and
Hunt, and officers of Generals Grant and
Meade's staff "a;
Hating at the frs. line, they dismount and
walk more than half a mile in front Of the
men, who are flat upon their breasts and firing
rapidly. We hold the woods on one side Of
an open space, perhaps One-fourth of a mile
across and the rebels lay along the trend ol
the woods upon the other side. Their in.
trenchments are plainly visible, and the open
mouths of their artillery peer over. -
No; it will not do to charge across. ! Nwere
tinue to reply to this, but no man shall start
across the plain and live. Warren had perhaps
hoped that his own judgment would be over
ruled by the officers with him, but all declare
that no advance can be made here. But more
to the left, where Wadsworth's and Robinson's
| divisions of Warren's corps lay up to Hancock,
the prospect is better, and there an assault is
ordered.
1t is noon, and Sedgwick's second fight is
over, and he again rests on the line of his last
nights bivouac. Wadsworth advances and
finds the enemy-A. P. Hills corps-strong
and prepared. The divisions on his right and
left become engaged with him, and the work
tangled jungle, and the soldiers push aside
the bushes and find mortal enemies bursting
through the adjoining growth of bushes. and
face to face with them.
Half or three fourths of an hour of alterna.
ting success and repulse, and Gen. Wadsworth
orders charge to recover his command from
slight wavering He is cheered loudly by
his men, who loved the gray haired chieftain.
One horse is shot under him. He mounts a
second and spurs to the front, hat in hand, and
we should have won then but his men saw him
fall He was shot through the head, killed in
stantly, and his body fell into the hands of the
enemy.
His command fell back to their original posi-
ton with comparative order. Wadsworth's
death is heavy loss-scarcely an officer in the
army but could have been better spared, and
none would have been more deeply regretted.
Yesterday and to-day he had displayed such
marked ability and gallantry as to compel his
recognition on all hands as an able soldier, who,
now that he is gone, can hardly be replaced.
He was true man, beloved, high. toned
gentleman to be- respected, an unshrinking
patriot to be emulated, an accomplished SOL
dier, dead on the field Of honor, to be mourned.
But this battle does not pause for hero slain.
From noon until o'clock a number of sharp
assaults at various points were made and inva-
riably repulsed, whether made by us or by the
enemy. Each one of these affairs were mate
rial for long letter, but find it simply i'm
possible, at this time, to ascertain and write
out correctly the facts in detail. 0i
Prisoners came in at the rate of 100 an hour.
The day was excessively hot, and the men were
much exhausted. We had neither gained nor
lost ground, but continued this thing long
enough, and we hoped finally to wear them
out. At half past o'clock Hancock was pre-
pairing for grand movement of our entire left.
He did not make it, for the enemy anticipated
him, and he had to repel perhaps the most
wicked assault thus far encOuntered-bref in
duration, but terrific in power and superhu-
man momentum. -"
The first few minutes we were staggered.
Stragglers for the first tiMe in all this fighting
streamed to the rear in large numbers, choking
the roads and causing panic by their stam-
pede and incOherent tales of frightful disaster
1t was even reported at general headquarters
that the enemy had burst entirely through,
and supports were hurried up. Grant and
Meade seated their backs against the same
tree, quietly listened to the officer who brought
the report, and corsulted moment in low
tones. The orders for sending reinforcements
were given, and for little time not word
was spoken in the group of more than twenty
officers. They but looked into each others
faces.
At length Grant says, with laconic emphasis,
II don't believe it." He was right Long
before that, Hancock had recovered from the
first shock held his own awhile, and now was
gaining ground. In forty minutes after this
attack, the eremy was completely beaten back
with tremendous slaughter, and the loss of
some hundreds of prisoners. .I.r
1t was now nearly sunset. From one end of
the line to the other not shot could be heard
The days work seemed over. Our line of to-
night would be that of last night. The augu-
ries were good. In two days fighting we had
lost heavily, but not more than the enemy.
Our assaults had been futile, but the enemy's
had been equally so; and it is by these massed
assaults that he has ever achieved his victories.
The inference was clear that we had over
matched him fighting at his best and strongest.
Men separated in the heat of the day, now
CHANGING to meet, congratulated each other.
The rebels can't endure another such day. and
we can, was the expressed conviction of all
hands, and this statement epitomizes the situ-
alton at sunSe-.
The sun went down red. The smoke of the
battle of more than two hundred thousand
men destroying each other with villainous salt
peter through all the long hours OF a long day,
filled the vales, and rested upon the hills of
all this wilderness, hung in lurid blaze all
around the horizon, and built dense canopy
overhead. beneath whicn this grand army of
freedom was preparing to rest against the
morrow. Gems. Grant and Meade had retired
70 tneir tents. Quiet reigned, but during the
Ieign OF quiet the enemy was forging thun-
|
Darkne's and smoke were mingling in dim
twilight, and fast deepening into thick gloom,
when we were startled out of repose back into
fierce excitement The forged thunderbolt
was sped and by master. A wild rebel yell
away to the right. We knew they had massed
and were charging. We waited for the volley
viii with which ,W We knew sedgwick would meet
to ascertain if we had changed our position.
We were mistaken-it was more. They meant
to break through, and they did. On Sedg.
wick's extreme right lay the Second BRIGADE.
Third division of his corps. under Gen. Sew.
mour, who had been assigned to it but two
days before.
The brigade is new to the 9Th corps and is
4 known as the Milroy brigade; connecting on
the Left of Seymour by Shaler's aud then Neill's
brgades, the latter being brigade of Getty,s
| division that had not been sent to. Hancock,