, 1864-05-30

and the remaining force Of the rebels Hills corps
works, eane up directly in Wright's Hont an
| attacked. They succeeded IN breaking bis skii
| miah line IN one place, but Wright opcned heay,
| artillery Ere upon them, which checked their ad
vance. Hill committed an error in making the at
tack IN 'front.' for had he crossed the river lltt
| above, he would hare stEuek the right aank Of th
| rep, and would have had an enaiadlng are o.
Wlleht, which wonld have been difficult to With
much persistence, and was probably designed sin
heht WfsSt wihdfeT. lii lii id The saae, -, ID
tke Tesks of Spottsyyanls ce2sed a. to DO TIE o5ee
parts Of the paraeie, that fom tic 1lspldan mp t.
cur present FROM. stand AZ monuments of the mos
desperate campaign III history.
TILE RACE Fo1 TUE xoEru ANNA.
TIE two armies oacc fairly on tho march, theE.
cFerattcEs belong to the domain Of etaate ~ whi:,
deeie with tho movements Of armies ont OF s..at o
each other. The frst obvious goal Is the Norts
| Anna. Forth Of which it was not deemed at al
prcbab'e that Lee world not attempt to make d
| stand. From the drst, however. 1t was matter o.
certainty 1hst Tue enemy would reach ], Ia advance
Pms; io5 haElng possession OF the telegraph road
On Satnrdag night uaurock bivo1ackcd at Hill:
ford: Thc 9th followed thesd syes .ho came road
Tnn @ 1sh1 s,hfins Quincy stati9p wsea il ysn:d to
- ut GtlEey Grldge, and at Q ?. m., hiyoaacSed
Etur tic old Academy, ha3ing made Il march oI
Eileen miles; The othaud 6th followed over thi
The next daY jsruday, Tho asJ) tho 4nsrch was
resumed. Warren crossing tho II ind striking intr
| tie tsltGssph road, down .shich the rea. Of the
co.umrs Of Longst1cet sud Ewcll had short t,11t
hefcsc disappeared, He hid e!lrm1sh With tbs
ent my rear guard OF cavalry, eoEs=tlEs OF I:ossl
rnrt1ng DUO waatwarti frola Milford i've mics
struck The telegraph 1oad ut Harris Store. san
d"F's mrrch brought our army forward an atji
tscnal fourteen miles. and wi,hia few miles ol
lEe Meth Anna
CROSSING THE EKvER,
Kes uEn1nE the adTnnce on Monday morning, Msy
2Se. march Of few hours brought the bead ol
sEr column 30 near to the North Auna that opera
f!ons EcEsed from the dominion Of strategy iu:0
tsc tactical question OF e!cctiug the passage oI
tEs riysF, alwayza dIftcalt Que when vigorously
10 fnppcse for the reason that Il tho snemy pro:
pesed making etsnd on the Soath Anua, be would
E.h 1hs to gSin oil TIC TING possible ia o.sr
the reseon that the North Anna coycra the Vfrsipl1
Contra! Railroad, which here ruus the general
6sesen oi the stream and pt em 5an oae to to tree
PEELED to sacrifice this important line Of comnuuf-
ca1tor, be would etil 1t was reasonable to argue
attempt hold u until after the sebs:
ltat ha'c been In the Valley ehou'd 10 drawn IN.
~ this anticipation wc vera not disappointed.
Not only did he contes. the passage, bnt made one
Of bis ntsccst nssaIltt, with ytew Of crushing
crossing
ilc fires on which the army hat, been adyancin:
brought Gilt co.Emrs to the Gr;h Annl, ata point
at which the Fredericksburg AID Ktchloul Rail.
load cruises that strran,. uanco2L's column,
which had the 1et, strutk it less taan one mile
,hu west Of the rallroad crossing, Warren's col
Ford, ahont four miles hl2hcr.
BY an apposttc fortune, Warren Tas able to effect
passaSe ";thoet anx resistance, bnt WIS say1:eiy
fight On tee north side for the passage. but once
oVrr bas thus fur found little to bur his progress
Ihs heaa q t4e column Of the 5ta Corps, Grit
p. Mondsy, ard Within ten minutes alter hls ST.
rival began to cross. The river at thls point IS
fcrdab]c, but has very rocky bed, wtib peeeipi-
The rebels appear not to have reflected that tdu
passage would be 1latle 10 high up the stream and
hence Lad no great fotee IN the Immediate vicinity
IN taet, tley Lad 20 9, Iis to bring up mnsh Of
most at the came time with the head Of Wa1ren's
column.
Immediately On crosslng, Gsiaan'a division Was
baying the advance, willie Aytes took position on
the seIt, and Dartlgits held in reserve IN the
ccntEe Of the line. Cutters division formed the
right OF Griffin, and Clawford's Pennsylvania Re-
a:oTIug rapidly up acros; an opea space Of go or
s{1 ya,dF 9litlll toos position IN the woods WhSre
the heavy ssisn,ish iDe wL8 soon met. At arat tho
Mci'owan's Brigade Of W{cox'a- division, Hiii's
9neF OF CO. 1 the sa
.f1ee brigadee Of Nllcoxs division. yiz those OF
sca'e.; Gordon, and Thomas while I1eth's division
that Erccktundge's division afte7wara came up.
REBEl ATTACK REPCIsED-
sh.rrish lipc, which WAS all onr advance at first
met, had been easily driven bacE. Tho command
received orders 10 intrench, The rst preparations
for which 1t vas making, when GritIn's division
at 5:15 P. N. was 'nrioasly assaiIed By The rsbsl
edi two ines of battle. viii heavy sEhmish
lpe Ia front. Vollcy ane1 yolley, fierce and sharp,
was poured to. and the enemy opsned from three
sion, though without works, successfully reaisted
the attack, and repulscd 1t with great slaughter.
Our men, n fast, scrEea them With ne e same ne
numerous attacks they have been compelled to
make, and illustrated aftesn the enormous advau-
taee the defensive has in such, coun-
low, covered thc@selves wei, allowed thae ta
rebels to approach, and, wien the whites ofthe.7
eyes wcse visible. raked their line with whitening
!ost yeIy hea7fy, it appears that tie Tese: Jon,
m1nder, while continuing, to hold three Of bis brig
AIDES in GFifin's lon', detached ctlonel B:own's
ssS Rs ea ca'Gs aess sas c. erf t. ns sst sta a a n
which be made this hare from Col. Brown bn-
self Who. not halt an hour attesward> m, pits
h b
haze seen, MAS formed On The right Of Griffin.
wien brown attacEed viii I'D &nc6 I'M H. vtsoF is le
eave way, aud lie whole command vas consider
by truEsn and throw into much confast'n.
This, Of course, nncovored tho rfsht Of GritIla's
LING, held q. We hare eecn By Ayers hrt .adc, aud
exposed hia to the en1nsnt danger Of having big
acmewhat, and Ger. Griffin threw forwlrd three
regiments oI Darsletts brigade, which arrived jass
IN time to earc the exposed flank ftom being
turned. In the re-establishtuent OF the line oc-
eurrcd one Of thcee odd encounters which occaa-
ionnliy hapEen in complicated actions IT battle.
One Of 1Attetts regiments, the B34 Pennsylvania,
i.,cIt Gel. Mscoy, commandfns, IL mana:oS ; mp
tie. ran pinIap against Browns line. watch was
or1u@ to follow up It's success against onr right.
It way oue of those c1itiea! situations +, which
moment will lcclte-the decision in fact depend
nrst volley. Raptd as . lash, Mccoy SWING bus
s1Es M s a: n nre see sed @ Ss
commander by the collar andu ged hin in. The
sd poured In .yotle7 On tho enemy's aank and
order. The repalse Of tho rebels vas most com
pcte.. During the eugag. naent the tolowin. mo.u-
ing. not less than ~one thousand prisoners were
taken. IN addition to this, the rebel loes in ked
ext.nt eouh not be asceftaiDed as during the night
tue enemy made q torc1b1e attack on our plckess,
and, under cover Of this succeeded In carrying of
siderable. GriGlus division, which bore tho brans
the attack, may have lost 2Q0; Cutler about 1aQ:
while the logs OF Crawfo1d's division. which hold
lue IE1t, AIu HAusE stlluIsu uut alo4e Haa tu-
i XII ;hinsa Hs Co consso ed th,e may ,ussybo resnrd
cd ss one of the must beal tifn detached engage
aes9s K a
merits the pralsc accorded toll By The commanding
General II q aeepa!ch sent 70 Gen. Warren tbe
Tsnn a aS Els N aaae
nandEome manner IN which the cncmy's attack
wps 1epulsed. Although the commanding General
ions vii Willingly eeknowiedga tat il lelongs
more particularly 10 the 1st Division tGrtd1thfs}
which received and sepN.sed the 1naln attack Of
ace q thie division, commanded By Col. 8: Welt
zcr, though equal enlogy is claimed by the Brigade
Of Bartlett, which 90 promptly checkmated tho
Qankiug n1aneuIer Of Brown.
HANCOCK EToHAB AND CARRIES TIE RIDGE.
Passtn: now nom the po3itioa Of Warren Oh
fhc right to that Of Hancocks LEFT: We foand Ills
9s passea he 1se @
had to carry bis crossing aganst the seTerest op~
position. as have already mentioned; Hancoeks
s a6oye 1o tse 1aesd bss
Here the rebels had strong, position and tets de
pont, which had been taken before passage could
be edsete si1 ., eigh! hundred yafls, 5G5th of
river and empties into 1t east OF the railroad
bridge. These streams. therefore. form species
Of island, and L Is hero the rebels have
|asps'fNS |ns. Neaa tBs h h1dgehea9p p'i + al estsnd
ed redan with vet ditch 10 mont. The gorge Is
swept BY rifle pite in the rear. On the opposite or
southern bank Of the river IL smaller work and
other riaepita, while the southern hank commands
the northern, and was swept BY the rebel artillery,
These works were but a year ago, Immediately
after the battle Of Chancellorvl1e The leland fs
perfectly nat aud barren plsfn, and across this it
Nae netiessry to advance in order to carry the
bridge. The position was held BY McLaw's diyi-
sion Of Lencslreet's corps. TO 0en: Bennsnss 1 a.
ously pesiloua task Of carrying IT,
On the left wae the brigade of Col; Egan On bis
right, P1e1ce'e brigade and Gen. Mohls brigade on
the Right Of Pierce, the 4th bi9ade-the Excelsior
commended By Col. Blaisdell, Of the 11th Massa-
chueette came partly in the rear, Its LETT to the
right OF the redan.