Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1864-04-02

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IN advance. and the artillery distributed
along the line of infantry 1t may be Of
fered as an objection that the column was
without fankers The only source through
which any intimation Of the eIemys pres
cnce could be received was the advance cav
airy guard. Ittweuld certainly be called q,
military failing to move a column of troops
without the proper fankers through any.
portion of the enemy's country, even If pos
five information had been obtained thatthe
enemy himself was long distance off, The
road from BARRIERS to Lake City lies paral-a
lei with the railroad crossing it at Intervals
On an average of five miles. 1t was at one
of the crossing points that the light was
commenced The head of the column reach
ed this point at p NJ The fnen had not
rested from the time they left BARRIERS, att
A. NJ. The usual halt of few minutes every
hour was of course observed, but we cannot
say the troops fairly rested. Neither had
they tasted ineuthful of food Thus, after
tedious march Of sixteen miles, over a
road of loose sand, or DOGGY turf. or covered
knee-deep with, muddy water the troops,
weary, exhausted, faint, hungry and ill-con-
ditioned, were suddenly attacked by large
force of the enemy, who had concealed him
self behind thick wood, waiting with com
placent satisfaction the entry of our men
into his ambush, very much after the man
ner that the spider would have the fly to
walk into his paf1er Before reaching the
battle ground, Col. Henry, with his cavalry
Of the Independent Massachusetts, Battalion
and the Fortieth Massachusetts, Mounted
Infantry, came upon party OF five mounted
rebels who were stationed behind an old
deserted mill, a little to the left Of the wood.
A few shots were exchanged and then the
rebels fed in the direction Of their main
force Capt. Langdon's battery of regular
artillery was with Henry cavalry. At the
mill, Col. Henry halted until Hawley's brig
ade of infantry and Hamilton regular bat
terry had come up. I will now attempt to
give some idea of the order in which our
troops came into line, and the character and
progress Of the
BATTLE a's ~
With the view of meeting the enemy's
piekets three miles in advance of the mill,
two companies Of the 18th Connecticut regi-
ment were Geployed on the left Of the rail-
road, while three companies were left at the
mill, for the purpose OF supporting the ar
tillery A small force of cavalry was sent
to skirmish on the right of tho railroad
Our skirmishers had not advanced q hun
dred yards when they discovered those OF
the enemy directly in their front. The re-
suit was brisk fire on both sides, which
ended by the enemy's falling back on sec
ond line of skirmishers. Our men contin-
ued to drive the rebels back, sometimes on
the right, andsometimes on the loft of the
railroad, but principally on the lcft. While
this was going on, two companies Of the 10th
Massachusetts were ordered TO the left, with
view of outfanking the enemy 5 skirmish-
ers In endeavoring to carry out that order,
the 40th Massachusetts came upon a heavy
! line of sl1irmishers and were compelled to
withdraw to their original position.
Capt. Elder, of the First Artillery, in. Or
der to ascertain the enemy's force and posi-
| ton, brought one Of his pieces into battery
on the right and fired one shot, but it did
not draw "a reply. The Seventh New Hamp-
shire regiment in connection with the
! Seventh Connecticut, was then sent forward
! to the right, and if possible to break through
the enemy's line. The movement brought
on hot firing, and it was evident that an en-
gagement was near at hand. At the time
our force on the field consisted the Seventh
New Hampshire, the Seventh Connecticut,
the Indedendent battalion of Massachusetts
cavalry, the Fifteenth Massachusetts mount
ed infantry, the Eighth United States col
ored, Elders battery of four and Hamilton's
of six pieces The remainder Of the column
was halted on the road. While our men
were at work on the right, Colonel Henry,
in person, went over to the left to recon
hotter, and much to his astonshment dis
covered that the enemy's right Tapped on
our left. This was reported to Gen. Sey-
mour who Immediately gave orders for the
advance troops and batteries to come into
position. The enemy watched the move
ment with al eager eye. and the moment
! Hamilton commenced unlimbering his piec-
es, his battery was subjected to agalling fire
Of musketry A number of men and sew
eral horses were shot before he could get
ready to fire one round The fact that the
enemy had a force far superior in point of
numbers to our own, was now beyond all
dispute. Tie fire became heavier and more
destructive as each moment advanced. The
railroad as it nears Olustee. takes bend,
and behind this bend the rebels had taken
their position. In the woods at the rear
were their supporters and reserves,
! + We had not a moment to lose. Our men
were within one hundred yards of the enc
my, and the only thing that could be done
was to fight. To retreat at that time was
! impossible, for the road was filled with
troops coming up, end the woods on either
side would not admit of passage on the
flank. BY dint of effort Captain Langdon
succeeded in getting his four guns IN battery
on the extreme left, but not until be hs.ss..
lost FIVE s,Y Sly mon. snd ahf,nt tka same
number Of horses 1t must be borne in
s mind our batteries were within one hundred
yards of the enemy front This short dis
lance rendered it 8 very easy task for the
rebels TO pick off a man or horse at every
discharge of their rifles. AT the commence
/ ment of the fight the Eighth United States
cOlored troops were supporting Hamilton:
battery, bat when their assistance was really
indispensable, BY some strange order they
fled 20 tie right in rear OF the battery. for
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