Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-07-09

+ gle. In few minutes-scarcelv tn
: time occupied in telling-the field i
e strewn with the dead and the wounded
!. surrounded by the debris of battle
f The Union line melts away before tn,
: enemy 8 heavy volleys, until it appear
Q more like line of skirmishers than
! main front of attack. The horse o
3 every field officer in the Eighty-seconC
has been killed, the gallant leader O.
} the regiment, Col. Robinson, has beer
stricken down frightfully wounded
A0jutant Burnham has fallen twice
: pierced by a bullet, and out of twenty
two commissioned officers who went
J into the fight there are left but three
not killed or disabled. The troops on
! the right have already commenced fall
J ing back and are being followed by the
enemy toward the town. No time
must be lost or retreat viii be impos-
sible. So Lieutenant Colonel Thomp-
sOns iron-nerved and always perfectly
calm in the hottest fight, signals to the
little remnant Of his command to bring
away the eolors, and conducts it in
good order from the field.
II From that time on your speaker
could tell more authenticity what
happened within the rebel lines than
on the Union side. He could tell how,
in a few moments, the last blue blouse
had disappeared, and the grey battal-
ions, following but not pursuing, came
| lsWarminSg over the field. He might
b. C.
session OF the enemy, sweltering on
the field throughout that burning af-
I ternoon of our brave AdiUtant at his
side suffering the tortures of mortal
wound, and how, when at length the
sun went down. one Of the most he
Il The only witness of his last agonies, I
! would come short in my duty TO him
as a personal friend did not here bear
testimony to the noble life and glorious
/ death of StoWell Il. Burnham.
| 1t was four O'Clock when the shatter-
ed column, which a few hours before
had marched so proudly through those
streets, Joined the reserves on Gene
terry Hill. OF two hundred and thirty
! six enlisted men who followed our
colOrs into the fight, there were now but
e1ghty-nine left to answer to their
namess Nineteen officers and one hun
dred and forty-seYen. men had been
disabled and captured, most Of the
number being killed and wounded.
Such was our first days fighting at
Gettysburg. But two small Corps had
had been engaged, these, excepting a
division of Cavalry, being the only
Union force which had yet arrived
In the morning they had marched out
boldly and attacked far superior num-
bers in the open fields, and late in the
afternoon had been driven back. To a
casual observer it may seem that tht
day was lost, but on the contrary it
was glOriOusly won. The boldness OF
our assault had deceived the enemy,
who supposed it to be sustained by the
main body of the army, which was in
reality yet many miles distant. Not
venturing a direct attack in return,
the enemy spent most of the day in
preparing to force back our determined
little army by flank movement. Sue
eeeding in this he had yet plenty OF
daylight in which to have pressed his
advantage, but Judging by the recep-
ton he had met, and which was still
offered, that our main force had ar
rived, he desisted from assault, and
lost the great opportunity of the bat
tie. The Union forces, though re-
pulsed, were really triumphant, for
they had gained sufficient time for the
concentration of the army, and had
won that splendid position, stretching
from Culp's Hill to Round Top, which
contributed so much to the final vic
tory. A positive repulse of Ewell's /
advance would hardly have done more,
and might have resulted unfavorably
by leading to the choice of different
position for the main army from that
which was so fortunately taken.
believe / risk nothing in saying
il will be the verdict of history that al
Gettysburg was fought the turning
battle of the war. The best disciplined |
and most ably commanded army OF
the Rebellion had then attained its most |
complete equipment, its finest esprit |
and the summit of its prowess. It's |
success would have been our inevita-
bic ruin, for nothing would have re.
sisted its triumphant march. Wash |
ington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Har- |
risburg, New York, all would have /
ers Of these cities who, under the 1
training of rebel emissaries, were pre-
pared to cooperate in the invasion,
would have welcomed the invaders.
Across the path of this great peril /
there lay no obstacle save the much /
abused and often defeated Army OF /
the Potomac. Against its hrm-sei /
lines the rebel ehieftain flung his solid /
cohorts, and they were hurled back |
again, broken, decimated, routed
There were moments in the tremendous i
struggle when, had a single regiment |
of our line yielded, all would have been |
lost, The enemy was fairly beaten by i
superior generalship and valor.
That is the history of this battle, and /
whether it be call decisive or not, OF /
this we may rest assured, 1t SGved the |
country.
ness the events of the anniversary up |
on which we are assembled. They con-
stitute single chapter in an expert
ence extending over nearly four years /
of arduous service. The mind naturally /
goes back to-day to the time when, |
v
bled at this place and made the field |
out yonder classic with the name OF |
Camp Simon Kenton. Back upon my /
mental vision come Vividly now those |
clusters of Sibley tents at whose thres-
holds MANY of us met forthe first time. |
There is a pleasure in recalling those |
Novem ber days when in that camp we /
first put on the blue and first trained /
unwOnted shoulders to the musket. /
That was the childhood of soldering
and it comes back to us fair and beau
tiful as the recoIlectionS of youth. II i
has made the surroundings of this place
familiar, and looking about these
streets and out yonder where the old
camp used to be, many of US can say.
ttStill DER these scenes my. memory wakes
Still DER them broods with miser care;
Time but the impression stronger makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear"
Nor have we forgotten this patriotic
people from whom during our sojourI
here, we received so much kindness |
cherish deep interest in the soldiers
of the Eighty-second. None Ofus were |
counted unworthy of their sOlicitude;
none was too poor to have friend in
Kenton.
1t was bleak day in January, less
than month after our regiment had
been mustered into the service, that ii
left here for the field. 1t is amusing
now to remem Der the particularly OF
our equipment; how sfUncle Sam" Law
ished Unnecessary attentions by pro-
viding each soldier with the luxury of
a tin plate accompanied with knife
and fork; how Well-meaning friends
had stuffed our knapsaeks with bed
quilts for emergencies of climate, and
how, on setting forth, it required two
long well-Iaden trains of cars to carry /
our baggage, saying nothing of the
troops. The time came when the vet
eran would have regarded knife and
fork or even plate as a gastronomic /
nuisance, and when the regiment WIS
considered fortunate in having two /
mule teams, saying nothing of two
railway trains, to haul its camp equip
ments
We reached Grafton, Virginia in
mid-winter and there, beside the
mountain-girt river of Tygart's Val
lev pitched our first camp in the Old
Dominion. Many of our experiences in
that camp are probably forgotten but its