Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1874-03-24
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"REMINISCENCES OF THE wAR
OF THE REBELLI0N.
Battle or stone River

Battle OF stone River.
The many c~hequered events Of the
War Of tho Rebellion, by the lapse Of
time, are rapidly assuming the char
seter and proportions Of q romance,
and are seldom recalled to mind save
by some bereaved mother sitting BY q
desolate flreslde aud grleving still over
"ths unreturning brave" The fol-
lowing Interesting incidents concern
Ing the battle OF Stone River wcre
told to Us BY . surgeon OH the staff Of
General Roseerans, who at the time
QS62l. was In command OF the Army
Of the Cumberland. The Union forces
numbered $4,000 men, the Confcder-
ates mustered $4,000. The baltic Of
Stone River, IL will be remembered,
was fought in tho early part OF the
month Of September. Amer two days
hard fighting General Rosscrans call
ed q council OF war. There were pres
cnt ut tho council, Major Generals
Tom Crittsndsn, Mcdowell, McCsok.
Van Cleeves, Brigadior General Beatty
aud q half . dozen other officers Of
lesser rank, whose names we do not
remember. The council was called at
0 o'clock In the evening ; couriers
kept constantly arriving from the
front, bringing conflicting and dis
~heartenlng reports. The object Of the
council WAS to decide whether to fight
or fall back ON Nashville. The Con-
fedsrates were receiving reinforce
ments every hour. BY way Of Chat
tanooga. General Bragg was Com
mander-i Chief. At about 2 o'clock
In the morning Intelligence was
brought that the C~onfederates wero
massing their forces In solid column,
30 600 strong. In front Of n swag In the
mountains Tor tho purpose Of making
y general attack. General Rosecrans,
with 4 careworn expression on his
c~ountenance, was walking to and fro
In front Of his tent. A majority Of
his subordinatss counseled retreat.
General Resecrans turned to Critten-
den and Intercepted him ~ follows:
"Tom, what do you say about this
business" Crittendsn jumped up
and replied with animation, "Gen-
eral, we came here TO light these mon,
and I propose that we do It." Gen.
eral Rosencrans, with tears Ia his eyes,
replied, "By Cd, Tom, you're my
nan, we'll fight 'eIi." The following
plan Of operations was agreed upon.
All OF tho available artillery, amount
Ing to 80 pieces, was wheeled up near
ly to the top Of swaE In the moun-
tain. Tho artillery was covered with
a single brigade consisting OF fivs reg
lmonts.
When tho rebel column got within
six hundred yards the Brigade Com
mander was Instructed TO order his
men to fire. and fall back. The attack
Ing column was set la motion at five
o'clock A. II. The C~onfederates imag-
lncd from seeing only a single brigade
that the balance Of the Union forces
had rctreated. When the rebel column
arrived within the specified distance,
the men composing tho advance bril-
gade Of the Fcderals poured two vol.
leys Into tho advancing column and
Their fell back. AZ this juncture the
ilfty-two pieces OF artillery wcro run
I'D on the summit Of the mountain aud
discharged simultaneously. "A death
harvest was reapsd then aud there, tor
riblo havoc was Inflicted upon the CO.
horts OF the sxultsnt foe. and the
mountain side was strewn with corses.
The artlllerlsts kept up tho firing as
long as the enemy were within range.
The Confederate hosts. with unexnm-
Piled valor, faced for the third tlnic
that terrible storm OF grape and can-
nl.ter until their ranks were decimat-
ell. At this stage Of the battle, Gener-
nj Beatty, commanding the eleventh
brigade. was ordered to cross tho river
on the right and attack the Csniedsr-
ates In tho rear. Just "a he had sue
In getting 4 part Of his mon
across the river AZ Aid.de-Camp came
with an order from General Critten-
den directing him to recall his men.
The old Mexican soldier replied char
acteristlcally TELL Crittsnden to 60
to hi. Ile ordered me to take my
men across the river, and by Cd I'm
going to do It." The bold and prompt
Of the eccentric Beatty had
much to do with deciding tho fortunes
OF the day.
The Confsdsratss finding that the
Feierals had got In their rear. fell
back In confusion. General Rosc-
Grams ordered a general advance OF
the Union forces. A running fight ell
sued. lasting for three days. In this
engagement alone tho C~onfederates
lost six thousand men. The Union
losses were comparatively slight.
General Beatty, tho hero Of Stone
River, than whom hardly an elllcer OF
equal rank gained greater distinction
during tho war, Won his first laurels
the battle OF Rich Mountail Ia
Western Virginia.
At the battle OF Stone River, u in-
fornsnt. who at present resides In
Gold IIlll. had the misfortune to get
hls right leg smashed and his horse
BY = cannon ball hrsd from a
Confederate battery.