The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1864-05-26

The Great Conhict..A 4 Resume of the Bat.
/ wa ties up 10 the llth inst. ~ ~=r
s-,a,.E WAsnlSarox, D. c., May Is, 1864
70 the Editors Of the Chicago Tribune: @
GENTLEMEN-On my return from III.
front three days ago, l found your favo,
Of the 9th inst, urging the forwarding
Of reinforcemeDts to the greatest possible
extent. ! can well appreciate your in
tense anxiety, but you will have seer
that the very thing you suggest is being
done. The campaign Of Lieutenant Gen
eral Grant, now in progress, must be re.
garded as one Of the most important and
stupeudous of which history makes men.
tion, taking into consideration tho grea,
numbers of both armies, the character oi
the troops, the country to operate in,
and the vast results depending. It was
my fortune to be with General Gran,
from the commencement of the move
ment, the 4th of this month, through
the six days of battle, and into the sew,
enth, when l left, as the bearer of i'm.
Portant dispatches from the General to
the War Department..
/ cannot pretend to give you, in the
limits of hasty letter. any just idea Of
the great movements and battles of the
six days witnessed. The experiences
of more thsn lifetime we're crowded 10.
to those eventful aud exciting days.
arrived at Gen. Grants headquarters, at
Culpcpper G. H., Va, on Tuesday after
neon, May 3, 1864. So we'll had the
General guarded his great secret, that
hardly an officer, and none of the troops,
knew when the movement was going to
be made. After dark on that night, the
orders were given to move at precisely
midni sht. So quietly and Silly was ev.
erything done, that the people of the
village knew nothing of what was going
on, and when they awoke in the morn
ing, what was their astonishm ment to find
that our whole army had disappeared, as
if by magic.
The great thing was to seize the prop
er fords, and get the army across the
Rspidan, before Lee could interfere to
resist the crossing Of that river. So
completely was the rebel General deceiv-
ed as to where We intended to cross, that
by Wednesday night, the entire army of
the Potomac was safely over, while
Burnsids's corps (nos belonging to the
Potomac army was coming up as rapidly
as possible. His first troops came up to
the river early Thursday morning. Lee
hndlng Grant on the move, "onward to
Richmond" by the lower fords of the
Rspiian, was obliged to como out from
his intrenchmeuts at "Mine Run" and
attack on Grants flank in order to pre-
vent our forces getting between him and
Richmond, and fight him on equal
ground. The two armies came together
iu the "Wilderness" about noon Thurs.
day, May 5th. Grants orders were to
attack the enemy INSTANTLY at every point
where he appeared.
By three o'clock in the afternoon the
lines of battle were formed along the
whole line, and both armies heavily en-.
gagged. Both sides attacked with great
fury along the entire line, but SO dense
was the wilderness, and 80 thick the un.
dergrowth, it was absolutely impossible
to see anything of the battle at any point.
The enemy knowing the ground, knew
where it was best to attack. He COM
menced early his old tactics, by massipg
his entire force upon = particular part Of
our line. It was Hancook's position on
our left, which it was necessary for him
to win, as he { (Hancock) held the road
towards Richmond, aud with him once
driven from that position, our army
would be at great disadvantage. Long
street and Hills corps pitched into Han.
cock with great impetuosity, about 4
o'clock in the afternoon, with the full
expectation Of driving him away, aud
getting possession Of the coveted road.
Bot Hancock was equal to the occasion.
With several members of General Grants
staff, / rode out to where Hancock was
at the very height Of the battle, and
never did a soldier meet an attack with
more courage, GOODNESS and skill, repell-
ing every assault upon his lines with
great slaughter. As We rode back to
headquarters, some two miles, the road
was literally filed by our wounded SOL
diers, making their way back to the hos
pitals, and it was . most ghastly aud
art-rending spectacle. The great mum.
Der who fell on that field told Of the des.
perate struggle that had taken place.
But the great fight Of all was on the
next day, Friday. The rebels opened on
the right at 4:45 .. M, and our attack
along the whole line began at o'clock
precisely. Hancock went 10 on our left
with the dash and courage which belongs
to him, and which has rendered his name
immortal. He attacked with unsurpass.
ed fury, and drove the enemy for mile
and half, taking one line Of works and
capturing many prisoners aud several
aags. The enemy finding his right like
ly to be turned by Hancock's mastery
attack, saw that his salvation depended
upon pushing back Hancock and turning
him.
At about 4 o'clock, p. M, Lee again
massed his forces for last and grand
assault. 1t came and it was terrific
The rebels seem to have staked I'll on
that attack-up. mp, up, they pushed on
our columns, which ovsrpowered by nun.