Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-06-18

? 4rAGh &QA- AA0411 fA45E4 IAEE ana
said, +" an sorry. bot / can do nothing
/ for you" Yes" said Moody, one
thing, stand By the men Never fear,
said Thomas, 'Tll do my dHsv. good bye,
Moody" but poor MOODY cUad not 40.
swer, he vas dead Fife fainutss later
regiment made its appearance withia
+ twenty yards Of them Don't FIRE on
those men, exclaimed Lieut.. Col Pool,
don't you see their Gag 2 And sure
enough. there vas the stars and stripes
bot they we're rebels dressed in blue
pants and bearing our flag On they
came 70 within ten steps Of our men, aud
then delivered a most Tnurderous fse,
right ia their faces The men wavered
bat = moment With fixed bayouets they
plunged into the fhicket after the mur.
dering villains and drovs them back
Col Pool had received three muskst balls
ia his right side, mortally wounded He
lived but an haur. Col Thomas still es-
capped Eleven times were his men
driven back, and eleven times be rallied
bis mentor the unequal contest, and
then came the order, too late, TO retreat
The enemy had surrounded Ehe brave
little army. Col. Thomas vas nov called
70 the command Of shattered brigade.
tie left Capt. Swift, brave and gallant
nan. in command Of the regiment, with
orders never to surrender, bat to Gght
out or die in the attempt The history
of this regiment Is the history Of each.
/ Never did men fight with truer valor.
From this time on there was scarcely
any command, regimeniai or General.
They faced TO the rear, pressing the reb-
els who had cut of their retreat, until At
last they broke through, demoralized,
routed. regiments all mixed in eonfa-
sion, every man endeavoriag 10 save him.
self
The men in their desperation broke
their guns sver stumps and trees
throwing away their empty cartridge
boxes, coats and even shoes, everything
| that would impede them in their flight.
Words cannot picture ths horrors Of this
retreat Not q moathfui Of provision
IN the whole army, the eoaniry barrrs
and desolats waste, the cavalry Of The
enemy hnrrassing them on every side,
Worn down and broken in spirit, Ghsy
trudged on all the hive long night throagh
| the mud aud mire. ] Jazt st daylight IN
the morning n column Of rebel cavalry
| dashed through the lines Of these an.
armed wearv ss,s, sabering AID shoot.
| ing right and Lift All effort 10 escape
was nov abandoned they sank down in
the road and yielded themselves prison.
efs, poweFless 10 make another effort for
| liberty Some Of those in front scatter.
4 a EF. -.
| ling ia. Aottwo thousand will be saved
OF that brave little army, By marching
eighty miles in thirty ak hours,
The horses OF all the batteries were
killed, bat sueTy piece Of artillery scus
brought of TIE field 6y hand They
could not be saved Captain Miller took
an axe and cut dowa the wheels aad
spiked his guns, The ammunition be threw
into the swamp The same vas done
10 all the other pieces
One hundred aad sixty wagons fell
iato the hands Of the enemy, five haB.
dred thousand rAtions, bali million
rounds Of ammunition, eight hundred
mules. twelve pieces artillery, aad about
three thousand prisoners
Col Thomas, Capt Courvoidsor and
| Lieut. Mooney and eigbty.fve privates
have returned from the 93d Indiana
Three hundred and eighty-Gve vent out
The 72i Ohio Jared befter--many others
much worse.
A word for the negroes. I have told
| Jon that the lat brigade formed the eff
aai The 2nd the right wing Tbs mig
| gers" were placed in the centre N0w
then We have at last showing Of wbai
negroes viii do 10 sn open field With
/ those who witnessed their actions on tAfs
memorable day they are hereafter not
niggers but black men They shot away
| their last round OF ammunition. never CIV
ing one inch They charged haYonets
three times against numbers vastly sups-
rior. They captured two stands Of col.
ors, and the last seen Of them they were
entirely surrounded, fighting with their
bayonets 60 the death. They are slaugh
tered, Of course, but they died like brave
men, vsleBtly. Within 6ye minutes I
heard Colonel say. my greatest desire
is to command brigade OF black men
cannot say much for Gen Sturgia
His conduct will BE- investigated. OH
/ GERS, soldiers and citizens here condemn
hin. The rebels undoabtedly numbered
from p, 900 10 $4,000, commanded By
Maior Generals Forrest, Polk and Roddy
The battle was fought At Baldwiu's
| Cross Roads. and viii hereafter be known
as the most disastrous defeat Of the war
Ny letter Is already loo long 70 enter
into farther particulars will say,
however, that the 7th Indiana Cavalry
behaved splehdidly Lieut Col Brown
is wounded, though not mortalIy, aud es-
capped. The Sd Iowa CAvalry also de-
serve great praise. but 8 New Jersey
cavalry regiment deserves the mosl praise
Of all They rode throagh and through
and over the enemy time and again, their
Colonel always IN the lead
The cavalry did not leave the field
until they were relieved l, is rare
thing to hear infantry praise eaVslry, but
they do 50 in this instance.
Yours, J. e.