Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-12-14

muSketfy-WaS poured INTO their very faces
as II were, but nothing stopped them. The
3D. Corps, those heroes of Charlottesville
and other bloody fields, led by Biruey, Hum.
phreys, De Trobriand, Ward, Graham and
Carr-never fought more heroically
\ word of criticism here. At one period
Of the battle, Birney, being hard pressed,
called upon Gen. Sykes, in command of the
9th Corps, for assistance. Sykes had been or
deTed to aid the Sd if called upon but he re-
turned for answer that he I" would be up in
time-that bis men were tired and were
making coffee !" They did come up in
about an hour, and, says Gen. Warren, in
his testimony, " the troops under General
Sykes arrived barely in time to save Round
Top, and they had a very desperate fight to
hold it." And again of the operations next
day. When the repulse took place, Gen
Meade intended to move forward and as.
sault the enemy in turn. He ordered an
advance of the 9th Corps, but it was car
ried on so slowly that it did not amount to
much, if anything" Gen. George Sykes is
a brave man, but entirely ''too slow" so at
| least Gen. Grant seemed to think, for in the
subsequent reorganization of the Army of
! the Potomac, the services Of ''Tardy Geo, y
No. ,, were dispensed with. The 9TH, as a
| Corps has a glorious record, and never
failed to fight bravely when properly ham
| died
| TO resume the captains narrative. As
| the afternoon wore on the pressure became
greater and greater, until at last our whole
corps, with the exception Of Carr's brig
ade and few other regiments, were hurled
down the slope, broken and discounted, the
rahalS f,IIoUip.r II, hot rurSuit
were frightful. In our division, of 5000
men, or loss was nearly 1000" "WeIl,
Captain. you saw most Of the heavy fight
ing done by this army, tell me, were you
ever in hotter place than this 2" "Never
but once-and that reminds me of little
story. In the attack upon the enemy's po-
sition at the first fredericksburg, our divi-
sion was ordered to storm the heights. AS
we were preparing to move, Gen. Hum
phreys- very polite man-turned
round to his staff, and III his blandest man
her remarked, Young gentlemen, intend
to lead this assault, and shall be happy to
have the pleasure of your company OF
course, the invitation was too polite to be
declined. That was the toughest place
ever was in, and | can't conceive, even to
this day, how any Of us ever got back
| alive" Our division lost nearly l. 100 men
| in about fifteen minutes. In this cump of
| bushes my horse received second wound,
and fell dead under me. managed to
scramble over the ridge, where our men
were being rallied, and soon after the sun
went down and the rebels were beaten
back beyond the road"
Capt. Chester, of our military family,
,,.o., sao,, 70 90 IgY-,, I'm u,nIao aGt
nightfall party started out in search Of
him. We found him near that large fiat
rock, alive, but previously wounded His
horse and faithful orderly both lay dead be-
side him, and across his legs rebel sol
dier, whom he had killed with his revolver,
while in the act Of plundering him of his
watch. He was taken up tenderly, and
conveyed to the hospital on Rock creek,
where he died next day.
With heavy hearts we now set about
the task of buryinG such of our poor fel-
lows as were within reach. Always the
saddest Of a soldiers duties, it was pecul-
iarly so upon this occasion, for all felt that
the rising sun would bring with it a repe-
ttion of this days horrors, and that, per-
haps, at this hour tomorrow, some com
rade might be performing this same sad Of
flee for us.
Few and short were the prayers We said
And spoke not a word of sorrow,
As we steadtastly gazed on the face of the dead,
And bitterly thought on the mOiT0,r."
In the course of the day we paid visit
to Mr. Shertey's house, where we were
most Hospitality received This house
stands about the centre Of the field, and is
riddled, from garret to basement. Traces
of the conflict are to be seen on every side,
including the last resting place of many
poor Southerners Mr. Sherfey's barn was
burnt during the fgh:, and some Of the
wounded who sought refuge there perished
in the flames. These" said Mrs Sherfey,
producing some tin cans, contain peaches
that were growing III our orchard over
there at the time of the battle These are
my trophies" In the front garden grows
the beautiful shrub known as the burning
bush" luxuriant with its crop of bright red
berries, typical Of the blood shed at its
roots. Take some Of the berries with
YOU and plant them,' said the kind old la
dy they will grow anywhere, and will
be pleasant mementoes Of Gettysburg"
We next made our way to Little Round
Top, where we had the pleasure of meeting
CDlOlltl l'hlOHtluti. lllS StIlitlildl 10 til-
gagged in collecting the details of !, the bat
tie, and will, no doubt, produce a book of
equal interest with his great map / was
sorry to hear him say that he intends dcs
ignating this as q Weeds Hill, ;" in honor of
the general who fell on its top. Honor to
tie memory Of the brave man in some other
way, Colonel, but don't seek to change this
name. AS Littl2 Round Top" it has al
ways passed into history, and 50 it will be
known forever There are few finer views
Of the whole field than from this point, and
here took place the closest and most san
culinary fighting of Thursday In front and
to the right the 5th Corps had a heavy
thing of it. On the height fought two of
the noblest soldiers of the army, Vincent
and Rice. The former laid down his life
here, the latter at Spottsylvania the year
after All the little stone walls thrown up
between the huge boulders are still here.
In fact, nothing is changed. Would that
this could be said Of other parts of the field
Inscriptions upon the rocks mark the spots
where Vincent and Hazlett fell. Here, too,
at the early age of twenty-five, fell that
accomplished soldier, Col. O'ROuke, of the
I50th New York Graduating at the head
l. 49,