Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1865-11-10
DELAWARE, OHIO. NOVEMBER 10, 1865.

of the Union army IN front of Petersburg.
Even the abandoned camps of our sol
dlers evinced the same industry, taste, and
skill. The cabins, neatly built of pine
! logs, were evenly arranged beside tidy and
wel-kept streets, and contained many a
convenience the pattern of which was
doubtless taken from some cozier and
happier home far away I have seen
friendless families of the defenders of
| secession living IN novels as compared to
which these were enviable mansions
Near this part of the line stood an i'm
mense signal tower, pyramidal in shape
and constructed of heavy timbers inter
laced and fastened together with bolts of
iron. 1t was not less than one hundred
and seventy feet in height, and the look
out at its top afforded a magnificent view
of Petersburg and the eircumjacent coun-
try, together with the vast line of defenses
stretching for many miles to the right and
left. When this scene was animated by
the presence of two hundred thousand
combatants engaged in daily and nightly
si 5rsare Il must have been inspiring in the
extreme. a prince might have envied the
privilege Of the lonely watcher who kept
his vigils pinnacled in that dizzy eyrIe
and overlooked the ''pomp and cireum-
stance of glorious war" enacted like a gi-
gantic tragedy over the immense land
y
experiences OF the tenants of that little
aerial cell were not so pleasant if we may
believe the inscriptions pencilled on its
narrow walls. It is bitter cold to day.
Whew how the wind blows, said one of
an unknown date. 1.-THE Johnnies are
awake Their camps are alive. There s
something up" said another. Again,
''Rebs are all quiet to-day. Guess they
are frozen up. It's awful cold n
With careful steps we clambered down
this huge frame and then galloped away
toward the locality where the Ninth Corps
had been trying so long to burrow and
| sdEtpeter its way into the ancient city of
Peter. Here truly the two vast armies
had marked the harmless earth with scars
eloquent of their giyantic wrestling. In
many places the combatants had pushed
! their main lines up to within two hundred
yards of each other, while from one
skirmish line to another it was in most
places easy to toss stone. The ground
was entirely open and much of it level,
affording no special advantages or shelter
to either party But what forts what
breastworks what traverses what
ditches Guns that would carry a ball
| two miles and half were firing at each
other at distance of two hundred yards
Sentinels with muskets that would carry
bullet with effect twelve hundred yards
were watching and shooting at their op-
ponents through loop-holes scarcely larger
than the muzzles of their pieces and with
in easy speaking distancel
Everything alive had to be kept under
cover Both parties literally buried them
selves beneath casemates and covered ways
! The magazines, eommissaries, stables
kitchens, sleeping places, and fighting
places, all had to be surrounded and Gov
cred by thick walls and roofs of logs and
earth. Even the roads and passages com
municating with the rear and with the
different parts of the line had to be sunk.
en- low enough to bring passing objects be-
low the plane of the parapet
The point of most interest Immediately
on the Ninth Corps line was one signif
cantly and appropriately named Fort He'll
Directly opposite on the rebel line was
/ Fort Damnation Thus through the long
and bloody days of the seige these Tar
tarean compliments were mutually ex
changed at short range. With quick
flash, sulphurous breath and wrathful
echo our 'mortars, paiXhans, and petards'
vomitted their death messages from the
cavernous depths of Hell, while the Nc
less fierce and vengeful rebel spitefully
replied from the dark portals of "Damna-
ton" And doubtless while these mur
derous combats were in progress many 1
poor soul with the quickness of thought
was hurled unexpectant and unprepareC
down to the dark regions thus SO ftly
symbolized
To appreciate the splendid valor of the
veteran heroes of the Ninth Corps as dis
played in their grand and successful as
sault on Fort Malone, April I'd, it is nee
essary to see the ground. Before reach
ing the enemys line it was necessary fol
them to first dislodge his strong and well
F. L. elyi !, An hran
through his formidable lines of chevaux
de-frise and abattis. then to leap hi
bitches and scale his parapet, then to dis
lodge him from his covered ways ant
traverses, and all this in the face of
whitening cross fire of musketry ant
artillery Yet they accomplished al
this, and most CALAMITY too, though a
the expense of many precious lives. Th
rebels under General Hill vainly attempt
ed to dislodge them and recover the los
position, but it was too late. The vas
Gordon of rebel defences was now hope
, lessly broken and all efforts to restore
were but the frantic convulsions of de
spair.
: terest on this part of the field Is the seen
) of the tragedy of the mine. Accounts Q
/ that unfortunate affair have been SO ofte
| published that it needs not to be repeated
yet deep aura cGlOn Will ever nnge
) around the locality where it happened
) The crooked and labored sap across tn
f dreadful hollow, the subterranean passaR
) under the hill, and the deep, funne
5 shaped crater where was once the rebt
t fort, still remain almost as they were whe
i our discounted troops withdrew to th
q shelter of their works. In the meado
p Just below the crater many scores Of til
e negro troops who fell in the assault al
! buried. Their resting place is overgrow
f with grass and has no mark to designat
o it save here and there protruding bon
' But let it be observed that these despise
V champions of human liberty were swel
n down close under the enemys guns an
! that even there is their glorious thoug
e unnoted sepulchre. Though intended
S an inhuman sneer, it was nevertheless
/ compliment to the gallantry of our colort
j. soldiers, when some rebel news-wrlt
n stated that the African "carriou" lyil
q near their works made them offensive
IF OCCUPY. But ah how near those assault
IF ling lines of slave borne bayonets came
q making that even then the last fatal dit
Is in which to bury the putrescent remai
'e of an efFete Shareholders rebellion
q Several rebel officers still sporting the
al tinsel uniforms stood about the crater
n mouth discoursing to admiring fema
AZ friends of the battles, sieges, fortune
le they had passed. and of their
ID sT4ar br eadth escapes y the imminent deadly
m or being taken by the insoent foe."
10 Probably many a fair and credulo
L 4 i