Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-01-20
The Tale of Sheridan's Ride Re-told


The Tale of Sheridan's Ride Re-told
On returning to the regiment. some
one in the ranks was heard to say de-
spondingly, Boys this is bad busi-
ness, going back rs we are. and Sheri-
dan ut Washington. too" 1t is dltli-
cult to describe the feeling of hope
icssness these few words produced up
on all who heard them. Strockcy, the
captain Of olr company, confirmed
their truth by adding, .'lcs; he went
to Washington two or three days ago. =
Who is commanding the army:" was
asked, and the inquirer was told it
WAS Wright" The old Sixth knew
Wright well As an officer; by the
death of the beloved Sedgwick he was
called To its command We knew
that he had led us often since then in
to and out of the thickest of the fight !
but he hal never commanded an army
and We felt that the present was not
safe occasion To try 4 prentice hand"
There was at the moment painful
anxiety manifested as To the chief com
mand though We might have spared
ourselves this inquietude, for it is
doubtful whether any one could have
acted more skillfullv. under the cir
cnm,tanccs, up To that juncture. than
Wright had done. What he would
have done further is a matter of con
lecture. a. the opportunity was not
presented for any further developments
of strategy on his part.
The foI had now dispersed, and the
sun Wa shining brightly. We were
IN the fields about a mile north Of Mid
dletown, and had held tins position for
nearly an hour. Looking back along
the road that sloped up toward Newton.
both it and the adjacent fields were
dotted with Stragglers, servants Lead
ing pack mules, wounded men getting
to the rear, with a good many of that
peculiar cla>, known to their worth;cr
comrades aS coffee boilers" The gen
cral direction of this sporadic tide was
toward Newton, the goal being Ilar
pcr's Ferry. which was upward Of forty
miles further on from the enemy \
few wagons Mcrc ambling diagonallv
over the fields toward the road. as
though retiring from the hanks but it
was strikinglv notable that there was
nothing, man or beast. moving back
from the village to the line of the army
The firing in our front was now becom-
ing quick and severe. as if the enemy
were making use of their own guns.
captured by them in the early move
ncnt Of the morning. On the other
hand. our artillery fire seemed, as it
was N fact. proportionately weaker,
from the loss Of at ,<ast fifteen pieces.
Occasionally our men glanced behind
them toward Newton. muttcred impre-
cations lcaped from their lips. directed
against the 'bunmers' and coffee
boilers" that could be seen constantly
and very distinctly retiring to the
rear, As there was an uninterrupted view
all the way up to the village.
just at this crisis the first Rhode Is
land battery, or a section Of it, gallop-
ed at 4 splendid pace just along the
rear OF our line, and was soon lost to
our view in ravine beyond, in which
there was a tract of timber. In few
seconds after terrific ..slumm" came
booming out of the woods within two
hundred yards Of our flank, while
siIsbInn of tyttfn srnf,i-n
pulling up over the trees. Good God
they are getting range of us with shell.
Another conclusion of the air and
"slumm" rs before. followed bv the
clouds of smoke, made him knit his
brows and compress his lips. 'Slumm'
again. and rs the smoke cleared |
raised myself slightly on my hands,
for we were lying down under orders,
and saw the CLEAN of a FURNISHED Par
rott, and ralnm L. with Il sponging
rod on the shoulder of blue blouse
Strockey saw it too, and with veil
shouted out, by God :" It's the Rhode
Island battery" How those splen-
did fellows served their guns and the
guns seemed to understand what was
required of them, for never before was
metal known to speak more oppor-
tuneiy than those pieces did. '.Spang?
spang spang spang !" and metallic
twang and whirring whistle was heard
at every discharge, as the iron-lipped
dogs belciied out their gyral tongues
of steel. 1t was worth a division of
reinforcements to hear it. for it was
the first artillery We had seen that
morning on the Union side, while, al
though we did not see them, we knew
from experience that the rebels had
used theirs with terribly destructive
effect.
just then faint cheer was heard
aiar oil i'll our rear, as from the strag-
glers along the Newton road. ''Gus,"
glancing over his shoulder, growled
out mechanically, "Listen to those
bummers Where's the provost guard !?
| too looked back along the pike, and
saw the tide of .'strags" and retreaters
moving off as before, all going north
ward. Everything not with us at the
! front was retiring in the same direction
toward Newton. No, not every
thing a single horseman was seen
gallOpin0 down the slope of the hill