St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-12-29


LETTER FROM sEkar. MAJOR HARTLEY
HEADe'Rs STH Mlxx. Vols, ia ! &,
FoRrREss RosEcRAxs, TENN., Dec. 9Th
FRIEND W1LL.-We have been, and
are still cut of from communication
with the North, but are constantly ex.
pccti"g a" opportunity to send through
to Nashville. Our Regiment has par
ticipated in two engagements with the
rebels (under Gems Bates and Forest)
our forces being under the command
Of Gen. Milroy.
The 6rst engagement took place on
the 18th inst Sunday and the last one
yesterday. The first fight was attend
ed with trifli"g loss to either side.-
The casualties in our Regiment were
2 wounded. The fight Of yesterday was
a very severe ole and our Regiment
suffered badly. l will enclose you a
correct list Of the killed and wounded
Of the Eighth : We fought Forests
cavalry aud Bates Infantry combined,
and drove them from their entrenched
positions, capturing battery Of three
guns and u large number Of prisoners.
The exact number captured 1 have not
ascertained. Our Regiment took City.
l am proud Of the 9Th Regiment for
its conduct yesterday under as CALLING
a fire as men ever stood. We were or
dercd to charge on the rebels, who had
taken position IN a body of timber.
In order to d" this We had to charge
across an old cotton field and take their
FIRE, which was done with a resolution
that was almost superhuman. A large
number Of our men were placed koys
d" combat in this gallant charge, and
when they reached the woods they com-
PEELED the rebels to fall back in disor.
der. They made severa! Intellectual at-
tempts to check our advance-we drove
them through their entertainments,
which We had unwittinsly fanked, and
captured Two pieces Of artillery-24
Founders.
Col. Thomas had command of the
brigade, consisting Of the 6lst Illinois
Veteran Vols 18th New York Batter,
18th Ohio Battery, lslst and l74.h
Ohio Vols. anu S.h Mimi. Vols. ...s
| an very sorry to communicate the
sad intelligence Of Lieut.. Col. Rogers
being wounded. If lie does not lose hi.
arm (thc right o"e) it will be almost
useless to him. We had only $40 1uen
engaged Of our regiment, aud suffered
a loss i" killed aud wounded Of ninety,
which is almost Is per cent 1t is ob-
tanning glory at u great sacrifice. 4
considerable number Ut our wounded
will die in the course Of few days.
= Our Regiment has been
assigned to the 23d Army Corps, under
scho6eld. It's a fighting corps, and
the assignment gives general satisfac-
ton.
Allow me to recur to Lieut.. Col.
Rogers once more, to say that he is as
brave an officer as ever lived. lie
was in command o. the Regiment and
rode along the lines, giving his orders
with GOODNESS hardly imaginable, coo-.
siderins the terrific fire Of musketry We
were under: The Regiment fairly idol.
ICES him. ..5- 80: ~'.53H.a, -,...'
enclose the list Of casualties to you,
as = great many of the Regiment en-
listed from Wright, Stearns and Sher-
burne Counties, and their families
would like to be advised Of the actual
state Of affairs. Several from Clear
Water are killed andwounded. am
slightly wounded in the leg, but can
"1ocomote" without any difficulty.
wish you would occasionally send
me copy Of your paper. I feel great
interest in St. Cloud affairs aud would
like to hear from there occasionally.
Lately Chat is 70, two ,weeks) we have
not been able to hear from Nashville
even, and we are considerably alarmed
for the safety Of a detachment of our
men, sent through there previously to
Hoods advent in this vicinity The
probabilities are very strong that We
will remain shut out from the world
for considerable lapse Of time and if
anything Of importance occurs I will
advise you Of it. In order to do so l
will keep this communication open., -.
DEC. 18TH, :SUNDAY.-We have
just received news through courier
2 ia >