, 1864-10-21

assault commenced. It was SO energetic
| ard deadly as to treak the lines at once
hlen Of both divisions were swept from thei
bresstIorks, into which the 1nfaatS CAM
flooding like The sea. They entered the en-
canpments in the rear of the works, th'
weari=d soldiers scarcely wakened; sant
more of them actually rising ftou
tEcir blankets. To faye the artillery at th
brehstworks q desperate conflict begai
wien the assault Was frat discovered, bu
| the nature OF the ground rendered this mex
to impossible. Battery B. 9th Pennsylvania
ei1 guns, was captured entire. By super
human efforts all but one gun Of the 5ts
regular battery was saved, leaving seve1
| guns in the hands OF the enemy. In th
meanwhile the enemy still advanced, com
pltte1y tearing tho left faux Of the army
| and were nearing The pike on the height
| above
now OUR ARMY WAS SURPRISED.
The whole army Was by slts tftae aroused
Wsgous, ambulances aud artillery were max
| ing for the rcar. The 10th corps. which IL:
stood firm during the assault on Ceook, no 4
found iteelf confronted by the SECOND di
! vision OF the enemy, which had moved NJ
the pike, and attacked 1t 1ercsly in front an5
fink with mueketry and artillery, Col. Mc
Canly's brigade, Of the I'd diVisiun on til.
| letr, swinging out Ct its position in front IT,
| receive The fink fire OF the foe: The assault
| INCREASED iu tisrctness. The whole s:tvlsioc
| reformed itself to meet the shock Of tae
| works 10 its front, and with whitening vol
| ley forced them out In Retreat
The entire 18th Corps tu ablndoning all it,
| works, low fought retreatsng nnd partially
broken. The lett Of the army completely
turned half Of :he army, Of Western V!r:
camps and greater part Of It's camp m .rerlal
| wsb in possession Of the enemy.
! a remnant, together With part OF the pro.
| slelopal division and Col. Kitchen, which
bad been caDped In rear Was hgatto:, still
| for possession Il OF the pike. The 18th Corps
| fshlirg mere or less stubb0rnly, failing tack
| abh constantly passingin et1agglers.
The entire country about Al,ddletown and
beg ond, in the reur, ~as populated with de-
motalized soldiers. The crsck Of rebel mus.
kelry camping farther up on the left toward
Mi 'dle1o~n, hurTyiug wagons, amoulauces
the enemy IS shells from batteries planted in
1sont OF the 10Th Corps, gave ap
peassnces Of defeat and an isnpend.
| ing dl:astsr a1moet everywhere, sucn as
might have shook the hope OF fauatlclsm It.
SELF Gen. Wright, with whom 1t was Lett to
/
diemal aspect Of Il ings, vas not a whit dis.
| coursged. The moment that the army oi
| ". IT. III Virginia ami tie 18th Corps wer
| t, und to be 1edat tly falling back, he sent IN
OF. er to the Legion, init Aercr yet on aay
field hid failed to achieve . victory,
the right, wrs orcersd to ctaa;e
from, swlg a.ouud, and stem the I'd.
Scatcely nomelt naa elapsed when it.
| column Wae seen moVi' & majesticafy by The
1ett flank straight into the heat Of the conflict.
| Opening for moment Ior tie passnye Vi
a:s :u1ts that still had not been stayed. bui
like wiliow witnes tempest, 1t bent bnt dc
Lot break. For mouent .: least. the ca
re.r OF the rebels In the centre waE
brought to pause. The artlller,
OF the corps unlimbe1ipg rapidly
to .h.iE sheNs.. This brilliant movement
ceu:d not, however, check the moyemsnt q
cur Left Somt OF their cavalry had already
pens irated into Mtddls ton, capturing for
lion OF Gen. Crooks ambulance train, an:
IS reported to bave seriously wounded Col
Thoburn, of the Cd Division Of that coin
rDArd. Onr i1fantry had swung around
and were iuet possessing the pike ab3ve.
MtnitI'r, Powers and Custar's division
Of eayalrg were withdrawn from the rikh
anu tent to ete.a the dlsastr2us advance Q
tut enetny.
Capt. Adams, with one corporal and or
m6u, stood bs this piece when ut Other cup
port had left. and uutil every horae Was shot
and the corporal and mAu were shot dow
beside him. Colubel rompsins, Chief Of Al
tillery, while assisting In til. removal OF on
OF the guns OF Co~au's battery. Was s1isht'
wounded by musbet ball The infaner
were al6o Suffering heavily, Particularly 1
| officers.
IL the center :he lines of the 9Th aud 19t,
corps reformed. The 9th on the left, the 10
; on The right Of that. 1t was fennd nece:
sary to withdraw TIE whole line so11e dis
who were just advancing to drive the snem
. fron TIC Iike o. the left aud hold the tlsl
| at thnt point. This retrngrade movemsr
! Hus net accomplished without loss RI
ertmy followed up clcsely and ysngefu}l1
Their bullets rnin. d IL upon our aftiilcr,
rasfing the attempt Of Tho artil1erynen I
no1e their guns to the rear. The guns wei
fought Eplcndfdlr, mud fought every whel
until the last moms1t, when 1t Was foqn
;Is:eY could nG:s s:t removed. TTo Of Cap
Stevens Guns we're lost, five OF Mcknight
aud tn Of Adams.
Wh:n :ee Jiues hid reached the crest, ju
to tue right and fear Of Middleton, whe
: the second stand was nndet and when tss
terrific caarges Of the enemy Were Tep9.se
! nearly every field officer in the frat dif:=io
S 9Th corpe, was wounded. General Ricke:t
+ commandirg r the corps, had been so badl
: wounded. that he was forced to leave Il
! field. Gen. B'lwell, commanding the
q brigade. edt3iEiEtoD, was MORTAL; ~oudd'
! by shell, which tore his left shoulder
:. pieces, and shattered TIL. lett ara OF c.:
!, tain, cne Of bis aide.
C1'. Han1in, commanding the 1ss brlga:
i Of Upton'E lst division, wus wound ID IN tV
( pIucss- s-throngh the thigh and shoulder-b
? did Eot leave the field until afternoon.
! Gen. Getty, maadin g"tha "a dtTlsto
hhd bis 1oset shot under him.
e Gen. Wright, commanding the army, b
: been slightly wounded fr the chin.
: The 10Th Corps also Suffered severely. Fl
battle liue OF ibIantty Returned on the Gre
! alluded to just1 after Gen. To1bstt, with {
!, cavalry, had s0 ept Oh the lett, pitching In
; the tnemy in thar direction, establishing
j lire In conjunction with it, and loldi6E |
onn sgafnst some Of the nercest s1clll
J. ever thome cred on devoted soltiets.
l A GLOOMY LOOK.
|, at this time {10 q. II }, although the q
: pe:,rance Of things in the rear Was sffll y
|. that ceneIa1ly seen in the Icae OF yictorlo
Z army, ind although the appearance OF
T. tr.at prevailed aloEg sope portion OF O
: litcs in trout, the srmy had ior the hr1t til
u irribg the day so far WOE victory over
opetiI,g disaster as to huye disposcd Ct
esunt sid Wi@ldy frobt towards Its #
= ldlclDg it, oNn In the 1na!n ag Inst 1artf
attack.
TIE resuita Of the ccntss! vera othcfw
J elaon1y We bad been ur2rised and driV
s ont OF splendid position; had lost heay
). aftiliery hu6 thirty -four ambula1cse, inclr
Ing Ill tte medical wagons and the medl
;, supplies Of the 19tlf corps, and several hct
l. Quarter waRoEs. We had yielded over t
n | miles Of tie battlefield to the enemy, Ma
n Of our finest officers were killed and 9l
!, bled, md the billed and wounded thi
= around Us. The enemy on relfnqnlshins'
Z stack coLtented himself with lively Use
:. " - 1RRR1vAL OF SHERIDAN,
- At this moment fat2t cheers echoed alo
= the line in the rear. Gen. Sheridan, +
~ had ridden post haste from Winchester, 2
q approaching. Hts appearance created =
liEe he rode along the whole front OF the
MY, waving bis lat amid uproarions chez
E The retreat was stopped In IN instant.
From that time until ?. NJ, every nel
was strained to get the: army into an of
10 sivs position, and at o'clock the whole
1915 co1rs on the right, Crooks c3mme
on the lett, and Merrltt's cavalry division
this extreme LETT, sud CQstar's division
the extreme right. made one magnificent
sle1less charge, which swept tie enemy
ba the tace Of the earth before 1t.
~ AN As1os1suED ENEMY.
- Eyeryrh here the enemy had actually be!
} ing to 60 into c.anp when the charge !
ut nace. He was driven back at double gu
Mt through Middleton, across Cedar Run, VII
m be came from. and thence pursued by
- cavalry through and beyond Strasburg.
{. Fo1ty-three pieces Of his artillery,
his we're Captured at Strasburg. also over b
49, | dred wRrnne and AmhulancPe and cnfSs