Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-07-27

commanded by Leut.-Col. Bloodgood, of
the 22d Wisconsin, were hotly engaged, but
thew stood" their ground. No sooner were
his brigades in line, than the blunt ard
warlike old veteran gave the word For
sodrd."
In superb order his division mounted the
hill, and over the crest 1t swept taking the
sldrmishers along. Portions of the hostile
lines halted at close quarters and fought
for awhile, and on the right so great was
the momentum of the counter -charge, sew
eral regiments became intermingled, the
rebels in such cases exhibiting the greatest
disorder, and submitting to capture without
debate. The rebels opposing Ward, promi-
nent among whom was General Feather
ston's division, were totally unprcpared for
| the fearful shock which came upon them at
the crest of the hill, and to great extent
they were unnerved byit Our line poured
in deadly vollcys, and steadily pushed the
enemy, now in confusion, across the field.
The attack on Ward was virtually over in
fifteen minutes, though he had not so much
as piece of artillery to settle the matter
with sharp turn. The rebels came on In
double lines originally, but the moment
Ward struck them they showed signs OF
confusion, and both lines became inter-
mingled. Seven battle-fags were wrested
from the severely whipped foe, and are held
by Ward as his tangible trophies. lie, too,
had done the lucky thing at the lucky mo,
ment; in addition to which his personal
bravery during the fight was the theme OF
enthusiastic comment among his men.
In front of this division the slaughter of
the rebels was very great. In riding over
the ground next morning, was astonished
to see the long winrows of their dead, col
lected for burial. Many of their severely
wounded-of whom 154 fell into Wards
bands-were still scattered over the field,
though the ambulances were all engagedin
carrying them to our hospitals. General
| Wards own estimate OF the rebel loss In
his front, is from 1000 to $500. He cap
tured over 300 prisoners. His victory was
the most pronounced of any along the line,
and his loss, though severe, is probably
much less than it would have been had he
not met the enemy half way.
CHARGE OF GEARY's DIVISION.
At noon on the 2Oth Geary advanced his
tete de pont and with the assistance OF sec
tion of fMcGill's battery, succeeded in taking
| a ridge in his front, to which he advanced
his division, formed with Colonel Candy's
brigade on the left, Colonel Jones' on the
| right and Colonel Irelands in the center,
and proceeded at once to erect barricades.
The 33d New Jersey went forward and
occupied another hill, some one hun
dred yards further south, where they
began to erect works. They had
just fairly got to work when the fierce
Shout of the enemy and the confused sound
of their myriad tramp struck the startled
ear. More than half of Gearys line was in
dense forest filled with underbrush; the
remainder faced an open field. Across the
latter, it was brave but terrifying sight.
When we remember that the entire rebel
attacking column reached along the front
of but four of our divisions, it can easily
be conceived how massive and deep their
formations were. In the forest the thickets
fairly wilted and disappeared under their
feet, so closely were they packed, and so ir-
resistible their progress. They came on
without skirmishers, and as If by instinct
struck Geary's right flank where gap ex-
listed, that Williams division was endeavor-
ing to close. The four regiments forming
the right brigade were enveloped on their
flank and rear in moment, and cruelty en-
filaded. Subjected to half dozen cross
fires, the brigade fell back hastily to the
trenches it had occupied in the morning.
To remain would have been annihilation.
Portions of Col. Ireland's brigade were
also torn to pieces by the whitening cross
fires, and fell back after repeated gallant eff
forts to reform their line to return the fire
on flank and rear. The moment was des-
perate one. The enemy were almost with
in grasp of Lieutenant Bundy's battery on
the right, but he wheeled one section from
front to right, and, by double-shotting the
guns with Canister, succeeded in repelling
the greedy vermm in dirty grey. His gum
ners, however, were shot down one after
another, until detail of infantrymen from
the Goth New York were called for to work
them. The fire from the enemy here was
whitening. A sergeant in this battery fell
pierced with seven balls. A corporal re-
ceived nine, seven of which passed through
his heart.
So bitter was the enfilading fire to which
Geary's position was exposed, that the cais-
sons of the guns that had been taken to the
rear for safety, were driven back to the front
to escape more deadly fire than was sus-
But the remainder of Geary's brigade stood
firm as rock. The enemy in vain charged
and recharged it from front and right flank.
| Until nightfall the unequal contest was
waged, but Geary held his hill inflexibly.
The enemy sullenly left his front during
the evening, firing spitefully as he retired.
The regiments that had fallen back were
reformed and sent into action again on
General Williams left, aiding materially in
checking the rebel column that was pour
ing through the untoward interval and
| 10OQlng Geary s rear.
have seen most of the battle-felds in
the southwest, but nowhere have / seen
traces of more deadly work than is visible
in the dense woods in which Geary's right
was formed. Thickets were literally cra-
died by bullets, and on the large trees, for
twenty feet on the trunk, hardly square
inch of bark remained. Many were torn
and splintered with shell and round-shot,
the enemy in their attack on Geary and
Williams using artillery which they did
Il not bring into action on other portious Of
the line. Knapp's Pennsylvania battery
was engaged from beginning to end on
Geary's left flank, and contributed vastly
to his success in holding to his position, as
it were, with his teeth. Captain Elliott, of
Geary's staff, was instantly killed during
the action. The Generals staff has suffered
heavily during the campaign, having lost
five of its members since the movement
against Dallas.
The 33d New Jersey, which was advanced
to fOrtify q hill in the skirmish line, lost
more than half its number on the first on
set. Gen. Geary was on the hill with it
when attacked, and had barely time to reach
his main column.
ATTACK ON GENERAL WILLIAMS.
The rebel attack rolled along the left un-
til Gen. Williams fine division was fully en-
gagged. It.had advanced to close up on
Gen. Ruger's on the right, and Col. Robin
sons on the left. 1t fought from A O'Clock
till1ong after dark, in dense forest, with
out yielding foot. 1t was fair, stand-up
fight, in which Williams division lost more
heavily than any other in the engagement
III When they first advanced against Col. Rob-
inson's brigade, the rebels held up theil