The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1864-02-06

AuOANuic. mere tley A3!teu, formed In
line Of battle, and again slept on their
arms, passing another night Of hunger,
wet, cold, and weariaes,, the rain pouring
pitilessly On their untented heads. The
enemy had crossed the river and over>
taken them, and all knew that the NOR.
row would be critical day. The aues
ton was, should we reach Knoxville or be
overwhelmed before arriving there?
Again our bravo fellows wero up from
their ram drencned beds and away before
daylight, and this day they were closely
pressed. The rebel. were upon our heels
anxious for fight, which Burnside wa.
anxious to defer until he had passed the
Kingston road and with it all danger Of
any embarrassment to our retreat. We
were still twenty-five miles from Knox
; vile; westruggled on for ten miles longer,
and then, hurrah /! the Kingston road was
reached-there was no more danger OF
our retreat being cut OF With alacrity
our brave boys halted aud prepared for
factlon. Just then o4r~ssaS.8aa<6a- --cAgas
up and its gallant commander, General
Fer:ara, on seeing the main body thus
drawn up in line of battle exclaimed
| Thank God" And So the battle OF
Campbell Station began. The rebels
charged with a yell; five batteries, Of
whom Henshaw's Illinois Battery was one,
opened upon them at once they broke
and He'd; again they came to the charge
again we drove them back in confusion +;
| and yet again they cndeavored to break
our lines, with the same result They
were certainly splendid figh ters, aad well
sustained their reputation they sought
- flank us on the left we shelled them
off They ,soaN not be beaten; they
4 81.
mauding our position We could scarcely
believe it, but 50 1t vas Then a hail
storm Of sho. aad shell set in ten horses
and two men Of Ieashaa s Battery lay
dying in few moments Ammunition
grew short and We we're ordered 10 fall
back Infantry, Cavalry. and Artillery
fei. back rs steady as veterans, and formed
aeE line Of battle Tns enemy contiH-
ued MS e.i0rts to break our line but we
repealed his every attack, At last night
IEte-yensi between us and the enemy,
and under It's cover we fell back - hncy-
vile, having fought aul II eli AZ bay three
times our number Of old troops, the pick,
in connani>r and R-n. Of tua old Poto-
mac army. Our noble fellows that day
marched twenty five miles, and fought
eight hours. and no Young Indian brave
with his first scalp ever felt p.oa3er than
ihey did, on gaining haaxvi.Ie. They ca
tered that city. uncertain w4at awaited
them there, but resoiTsd never to aban-
don it--neveF 10 surrender They had
drawn LonEstreet into the Eet-Grant
was now free 10 attack Bragg
The anxiety oT = siege ike that can
hardly DO es;imlteI Feeling certain
THAI II LDngs:reet (Which II -Lt happen
at aay monen') shou!d learn the danger
OF Bsag- lie would at once make aR as
sault, they kept themselves prepared, not
kaow.ng what moment u u.lgh! taIe
place. Horses. arms. cIrs, and men,
were kept il co.t.nuj1s readiness. clothes
were uureln )vsi l.. diy Or by night, the
little fool atta.1a5.e, Vas eaten .rregu-
larry and hy saGlcass. while ali kept Oh
the alert looking for a. assault ItIa.oed
frequeatly-a cold, dreucE;rg raiu-the
troops had aoas ionei ,ea;s aui blankets
and were ulsuelterea Tns sIt'cgiugS e.
dared by those ha.E-cled, half-shod, half
starved, blank k-t,~ss, tsnt.ess iaen, 10 ysR
can describe tins cries and inarticu!a,e
gro1ns of the starving mules and horses,
added 4 melancholy misery 70 the scene
OF constant eXc.teWeat.
Meanwhile VIII. sas going on IN the
oa.er world? Had Grant made L:s -
tack. frau ,At with sJcii Gom-utous COPS
sequences . them Had lie won or losH
D.l Loagstreec uu-sr thus over his task,
bccaa,o he ie.t susoo Of MS prey, or becag-e
be knew no. the dIa.er of Bra-g p
Where were the promised endorsements p;
W ny iwerc they d. i5aE coming? Was all
lost. and was Libby their sole reward for
all this endurance?
Three weeks wore on and tne.e and q
thousand similar questions were still un-
answered. Meanwhile cane the attack
on For. sanders a BRIEF and frantic strug
gle on the part of the ret,els TO gain the
city, and 10. AZ last S!eruuaa was nsar
with rsnforcsments. y csar.er, the
twentieth sent by Grant, all the rest hav~
iuG been captured. announced the victory
Of Chattanooga. \ dsafeuing cheer went
up from Knoxville, and aaon LJngstreet
VT, sona; the siege was over: East Ten
.sresssee WAS saTei