Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1864-12-22

total amount captured will not fall short Of
twe,ye hundred. Captain Grosveher, brother
OF Coi. Grosvener, commanding the 2d
Brigade, was killed. Adjutsnt Cls,born
and Lieut. Roberts Of Indiana were woun4
ded, One of our shells from Fort Negisy
fell short, killing four our wounded.
Interesting Account Of, GeneraI
10th. { : -
CINCINNATI, Dec. l9.--The Gazette pub
iishes vivid description Of the battle on
the 10th. The day opened cloudy with
an early hour, but this soon cleared sVay.
and at so clock we were able to determins
the enemy.s position. During the night Of
the 18th Hood withdrew both bis wings
from the river and contracted his lines every
where, and was holding a strong position
along Granny Whites Hills. His centre
was protected by two lines Of fentrench ments.
Our own troops were disposed in tho
following order: Wilson's cavalry on the
extren right; Sehofeld' ,!23d cor, ?, copsi.t-
ing of COUGHS and Cox's divisions. at first
held in reserve, but before the main battle
opened had taken a position on the left Of
the caSvalary, thus forming on the right Of,
our infantry line. A. j. Smiths 9th corps
Gsrrard and Moore, came next on the left
of Schofeld. On the left of Smith tho
fnagnifceBt 4th corps Of T. J. Wood,
consisting of the divisions of KimbaIf.
Elliott and Sam. Beatty, was formed in
close order of battle and partially massed:
Steadman with Crafts division and two
brigades Of colored troops held the extreme
left. }4t
Our plan of battle was continuation of
that on the 18th. In pressing the advan1
tage we gained on the enemy's left and At
about haf-past eight o'clock our batteries
opened from hundred pieces simultane.
ous:lly along. the entire lines. The rebel
artillery replied feebly. Scho6eld marching
ing his strength, placed his corps directly
upon the enemy'sleft 8 flank, while Stsadman
at he same time worked his way forward.
The enemy in the meantime strengthened
his line. This determined Wood to carry
this line without delay and in spirited order.
Kimball's first division moved forward to
charge, firing volley after voley, still they
pressed on within half mile Of the spot,
when the enemy fire became so deadly that
our men, in order to return it more effectu-
ally, came to halt, longer, perhaps, than
any troops over remained in such positions.
They stood and fired fast and furiously at
the enemy, but they could not remain there
and live A few gave way and fed in dis
order. The whole line staggered, and had
the rebels done nothing more than keen up
their deadly fire, we should have been driven
back. But they made a movement to shift
their artillery, which our men took as an
indication that they were about to abandon
their line and retire.
Raising loud shout. the division with
Fixed bayonets rushed impetuously forward,
and swarming over the works, captured
such rebels as had not fed. They had time
to get away two guns, but the rest tell into
: our hands
As soon as tbi, preliminary success was
,, achieved, Gen. Thomas, who was seen dur
ing the day in the very front of the line Of
battle, ordered a charge along the eptiro
line.
Schofed moved upon the left flank of the
enemy, and before his veterans the rebels
gave way like frost-woTk The assailsd
flank crumbled to pieces as Schofeld ad-
vanced, and was rolled back upon that por-
tion of the line which just now, was attack.
ed by A. j. Smiths troops, with q weight
and energy which nothing could withstand.
McNulsn' . brigade, foremost in>b battle 40
on the previous day, rushed right up in the
very teeth of three powerful rebel batteries, ;.
and carried at she point of the bayeneut
the salient point of the enemy's works. Ia
few moments their works were everywhere
carried, their forces utterly routed, thar
soldiers captured by thousands, and every,
, piece Of their artillery in our hands, Such
as escaped death or capture fed toward the
Franklin pike, and took refuge behind 81
! ID. Lees corps, which held the gap in the.
hills. Wood and Steadman on ths left;
!. were soon united and prepared to assault
; the rebel right, which was stil unbroken.
Colonel Posts brigade moved forward. -
Streight's brigade, of Sam Bsatty's divi-,
, sion. formed on his right. In support i'm.
mediateIy Of Post'sleft, Thompson g coloredl
brigade was next on the lefs The enemy
reserved their fire until Posts men com
menced to climb the hill, when perfect
hurricane OF shot, shell, and canister hoyed
through his ranks. In the face of this fire
our men steadily advanced. The colored
troops wed with the white in the persistent
energy with which they forced their way mp.
, the hill. Thompsens men 10 eudeavoring
, to pass around 10 the left, met with ter
rible flank fire which confused their ranks.
The troops on the right. torn to pieces,
paused an instant, and at this juncture the
brave Col. Post was mortally wounded.
In a moment all order was lost and our
meH, whose condnct had INN ortalized them
rushed back confused aud bleeding to the
ithe from whence they Starred. W cod soon
reformed his broken battallions aud issued
an ordered for renewal of the assault,
while Posts veterans again assailed the hill
directly, and Thompson's Africans moved
on the rebel right, Elliott's and Kimball's5
divisions we're hurled like a thunderbolt
against the rebel left. Wood himself ac-
companisd by ali his staff followed and di-
rected the charge. The rebel fire blsssd
forth anew, but our soldiers without hesita--
tion or pause carried the entire works with
all their guns, and drove the rebels iti dis.
may from the hill, This was the last sand
the rebels made, and their whole trmy vss
now fleeing in rout and panic. Had not
night intervened the army would have been
destroyed. The appearance Of the battle
field was terrible in the extreme. Rain wss
falling rapidly the ground thickly covered
with the dead and dying, camp esuipase
torn and trodden in mud, was mingled with
shattered artillery wheels and fragments Of
exploded caissons. The correspondent says;
pushed forward to the Southern slope of
the bill /; it was almost dark, the rain was
I oka. A., \ -