, 1865-04-08
Winthrop"w into sei1e service as simple
color bearer. He 1ud a Breyet Briradier.
SUHpENnEn OF 1uR Rxnrrn

SVAgENDEn OF THE REDErg.
At Ecveu o'clock the rebels came to tho
Conclusion that they were cntaaakcd aud
i whipped. They had ocen so ousily engaged
| that tLey were o long time finding out how
| desperate were their circumstances: but now.
we1,i,d with persistent assaults In front.
| they fell back to the left, only to see tour
c'ose nts Of ba't!e waiting 10 drive them
i across the field, dcelmaNd Az he riebt the
horstmcn cha'ged them in their vain attempt
70 nsnt :ons, ana IN the rear Struggling
slant dre, cross fire. and direct fire, by ille
and yotley rolled In perpe,ua1iY emitting
| down their h1ayest officers and strewing The
fields With bleeding men; groans rcaoun led
tn ihe intervals Of exploding powder, and to
oi,erT aod 10 snes c,ntn eof eod despair their own
their OWN ranks. from its old position, IN
grateful grape and canister, cntliadinr their
brcastu orks, whlzzipg and plupginr nv air
line and rcchet, and at last bodies OF cavalry
fairly mounted their intrenchments, and
ecna,gsa a. o2wn .H the parapet, elash,ns and
confusion. They had no conmanders. 1T At
least no orders, and looked In vain for some
guiding hand o1ead them out ofo toil into
which they lad fallen SO brnvely and 80
bllndiy. 4 few more rolleys, new and ire
: mand to dic"r surrender, and, with sulIen
and fearful impulse, five thousand muskets
are flung upon the ground, and i've Thousand
bot. exhausted, and impotcnt men are Shcri-
dams prisoners Of war.
THE cPT1v8 AND FLYING REBELS.
Acting with his usual decision, Sheridan
plac. hts capttses in charge Of provost
gauid, and sert them Mt once to the rear.
Those winch escaped, he ordered the flcry
Gustav to pursue with brand and vengeance;
and they were pressed far into the desolate
forest, spent and hungry, many falling By the
WaS Of wounds or exhaustion, many pressed
down by hoof or sabrestrokc, and many
f Rieked nP a! IN mercy :, and sent back to rcjoin
ialy 5000 prisoners. Gen. s6erissa estimatt a
cd them modestly at 5000, but the provost
marshal assured me that be had a line four
abreast full mile long. entirely bear him
out, having ridden for forty minutes in di-
rection opposite to that they were taking,
seeing them: They were tluc, hearty fellows,
almost all Virginians. aAd seemed to taxe
their capture not unkindly. They wore the
grey and not very attractive uniform Of the
co1iede1acy. hut looked to be warm and fat,
trees conveyed at most romantic idea Of
grief and tribulation. They were put in q
huge pen midway between Big and Little
Five Forks for the night, the officers sharing
the came fare with the soldiers, from whom,
indeed, they were undistinguishable.
A0A5 lAOCA t0t etlEuAlu flCtOTy VI rive
Forls, the least bloody to us, but the most
successful, proportiouate to numbers engag-
cd that has been fought during the war. One
man ont Of every three engaged took pris-
cner. We captured four cannons. an aulbu-
lanee train and baggage teams, 8, GOO mt1skets
and iWcnty~eight pattle-dags. Gen. Long
street, It is thought, commanded. Neither
be nor Picket or Bushrod Johnson, division
commanders, were taken; they were wise
enough to see that the doy was lost, aud imi-
tated Bonaparte after Waterloo.
SUMMARY OF TILE RATTLE OF FIVE FonKs.
Fattsibut G this victory almost entirely to
Sheridan it was won by strntcsy and per
sisttncc, md in great part by men who would
not stand flfe. The day before. The happy
distribution Of duties between cavalry aud
infantry excited finc rivalry, aud the con-
sc1 ,uencss of Shcridan's guidance inspired
confidence. Has any battle SO successful
ever betn fought In Virsinia? or indeed, iu
the East? I think not. 1t has opened to us
tue enemy's flank, 20 that NC can
sweep down upon the Appomattox
and inside of his b.eastworks, enabling
us 10 shorten our lines Of intreuch-,
ments onc-half, If no more, and putting out
Of Lees Eel yice fifteen thousand OF his choic-
tsts troops. And all this, Gen. Sheridan tells
me, has cost him personally no more than
500 men, and the service no more than !, 500.
Compare this with Charlottesville, Williams
burg, the Wilderness, Bull Run, an,l what
shall NC say? Tnc enemy must have lost In
this f1nft 8 600 in Killed and yynunief1