Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-07-09
aken without opposition. This was

4 ~
| of the e gbty-Second began in earnest
/ After a few weeks spent. in picketfni
1 aud scouting, in the course of WhsC
1 Colonel Cautwell led us in a chase afte
/ Harness guerillas over in the wild re
gion Of Lost River, the command Q
| General Sohenck began its advance u
| the Valley of the South Potomac. Oi
the 5th of Nav we arrived at Frank
lin, and on the 7th pressed forward Il
reinforce General MilrOy at Mcdowell
where with few regiments the latte
was being beset by the army of Stone
wall Jackson. MilrOy was reached OF
the 9Th, and it was immediately deter
mined to make a bold attack upon Jack
son in his chosen Judgement on tn
Shenandoah Mountain. It was a 59lC
adventure, those two. brigades assault
ing ten Thousand rebels in such a posi-
ton as that. But in the yOu8g ent husl
asTn kindled by the first sight Of thS
enemy and the first smell of gURpOw'
der IL saemed matter Of course thai
that towering stronghold must be ear.
ried, no matter what force defended it
At the word of command Obe Eighty
Second and Twenty-fifth Ohio, lead
ing in the assault, charged up the pre-.
cipitous side of the mountains, as re.
rardless of the eneIny's vOlleys as i
they had been pelting snow balls
thrown from a schOolboy's fort.
What enthusiasm was kindled by the
first bang of our En6elds Tesounding
along that wild mountain gorge in tha
daring assault Even Yet their remem
bersd echoes make the heart leap an6
the blood tingle.
At the head of the Eighty-Second Il
the brave Cantwell leading the clam
bering soldiers up the steep slope. The
rebel OuIposts are driven back in a mo-
ment and The charging regiments seize
a position close to the enemy's. shelter
ed line, and there for three hours, pour
an incessant musketry fire into his in
Greuched camps. A rebel brigadier is
slain and over three hundred of his
command killed and wounded. Long
after darkness has. settled upon that
mountain wilderness the fight cOntin-
ues and the deep gorge is vocal with the
roar of muskeIrY. But to attempt to
maintain the unequal combat would
only be to give the enemy time to cir
cumvent our little force and intercept
its communications. The assaulting
regiments are therefore finally With
drawn aud unmolested march down
the heights they had won, bearing
away their score or so of wounded.
This was our first battle. j need not
stop to describe the night march back
to Franklin, and how, stretching our
line from cliff TO cliff we then held the
pursuing enemy at bay until General
Fremont 8 arrival with re-en nforcemeut's
ms Of his presence.
A fortnight's sojOurn in that wretched
Separated from supplies by sew
venty miles of nearly impossible road,
had brought upon us incipient starva-
Gion when the rather startling news ar
rived that our contemplated advance to
Staunton must be abandoned, our ser
vices being required Immediately in
the Shenandoah Valley where jackson,
having turned back from us had sWoOp-
n On
nim from Winchester, and was now
hreateniug, as was supposed, an adj
vance on Warrington.
The next morningsaw US off bright
and early. On the second day we are
It Petersburg where each soldier re-
pIenishes his iscartridge-bOx and drops all
equipments save gun aud blanket, pre-
Daratory to a swift march over the
The tinecessary3 articles
Of camp furniture which loaded two
railway trains at KeutOn have t'grown
small by degrees and beautifully less"
The soldier is fortunate now who has a
good rubber. pOnchO to turn of the cold
Spring rains by day or to spread be-
tween himself and the damp ground at
night. Still more fortunateis he if his
is filled with gOOdly store of
''hardtacl1 and BOW-helly,''
for the mountains will be barren fora
gfng ground, Welding nothing even to
yLlE 6t34LCuAAAA AAlCAJ0G GAA1 lt1AA hGA9et
On the 18th of May the column cross
sd the Potomac at MoOrefield and
into the mountain defiles. On
he first of June, after tOilsOme
march over VillainOus roads. it emerg-
ID at Strasburg, there encOuntering
he flank of Jackson's army already in 4
uu retreat. The enemy, after slight /
withdrew under cover ofd
he night, which soon ensued, and 1
Fremont followed in swift pursuit. /
AL supplies were now exhausted, the /
rains left far in the rear, and the army /
to subsist from the country /
IS well as it could in its flying march. !
)ur soldiers afterwards had some ex-
)erience as bummers" in the army of
General Sherman, but their first prac-
ice in that line was had in this cam i
1aign. The 8 bummer's2 equivalent /
% our necessitOus cOmmissariat the /
anne useful genius which. shed such |
uster on the famed foragers of the |
Vest. Jackson was eneTgetically |
chased to Harrisonburg and then to |
Cross Keys, where Fremont gave him !
lattle. The story of the enemy's es-
ape across the Shenandoah, and the |
edious march back to Strasburg and /
need not be repeated. |
Neither must dwell upon the cam
,aigns which followed, for if under
ook to tell
How we fought and how we tramped,
Too long tale perhaps I'd spin We.
But, first and last, think we eamped
In every field in old Virginia.
Twas a gay oIdIife, but, Lord, twas hard,
No rest for the good, no peace for the wick
When you didn't fight. you We're put on
And when you came or you went on pick
et."
July found us at SperryviIle, east of
he Blue Ridge, and part of MilroY's
independent Brigade of Sigel's Corps.
Carly in August General Pope COM
nenced the forward movement which,
Lfter the battle of Cedar Mountain and
,ur pursuit of Jackson to Robertson's s
liver, was very soon turned into back
ward movement by Lees army let
Oose from Richmond. Then followed /
WelVe DAYS of continuous fighting
long the Rappahannock, the hostile
,oIumns moving nOrthWard on oppO-
lite sides of that stream and graphing
With each other as opportunity pre-
ented. Finally, on the 29th the con-
ending armies arrive at Manassas,
md then on the field of GroYeton, join
n a general pitched battle. Here the
already reduced to a
handful by the terrible campaigning,
s plunged into the fight by Milroy in
me of his impetuOus dashes, and In a
moment mas 1USelt am DuSca0e0s uank-
d and in imminent peril of capture.
While directing, under the terrific fire,
change of front to meet the Hank as
atlantis our heroic Colonel Cantwell
alls dead from his horse with the
words of command and encouragement
N his lips. So fell the gallant leader
round whom we first rallied for the
ield and than whom we have none
,raver or more lamented, dead upon
he field of honor. His soldiers car
led him from the field, together with
,allant Lieutenant Litzenberg, who
vas also one of the slain of this
bloody morning.
Later in the day the Eighty-secOnd
las the satisfaction of repaying the
nemy with interest for its heavy
osses, and of sharing in one of the
ignaI successes of that sanguinary
ield. Under cover of the night the
rmy is withdrawn to Centerville, its
etreat being compelled by the treach-
ry or inefheienoy Of Porter and Frank
in, not by defeat, the troops having
leld the field until after nightfall. i
Sigel's command is now constituted
he Eleventh Corps and sent to Arling-
r1,f 10 T