Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-01-08
rhe Esa.tlc of kern.town.

As the Dattle Ss hSTustoWH uaS te-t
Gently been referred TO by us. and some
Of our brother E.li;ors OF the Valley,is
connection with the f,allautry displayed
there by Col Richard Henry Lee, who
has been selected to read the Declara-
tion of Independence a; the approach
ing Centennial, We reproduce the fol-
lowing extract from letter which was
published dnring the war in the Rich.
mond papers, written by young SOL
disr of our town, to his father, desert.
bing the fight, &c. The Richmond Dis
patch, under date Of April ls62,publish-
ell the following
We are permitted 10 make the fol-
, lowing extracts from private letter
written by young gentleman belong
ing TO the "Rockbrdge Artillery" Of
"Stonewall Jackson's army"
CAMP BUCHANAN, March &c, 1862.
This is the first opportunity i have
had for more tnan week TO write you
a single line, ard now am compelled
to &c brief aud hurried in what | have
to tell you about our battle at kerns-,
town, on Sunday last. 1t was terrific
fight, aud all our men behaved like he.
roes. No one left his post until order
ed of the ground. Tile loss in our bat
terry was comparatively slight, being
less Than dozen. Henry aud CharlI,
are safe, so is George B., &c; and il il
wonderful how we all got off so well.
A round shot killed one Of our men not
far from me, and another cut a spoke
out OF wheel by which was standing
with my foot on the hub. Shells burst
all around us. One struck driver on
the leg and cut it off, then passing
through one horse and entering the
body of another, burst inside of ii and
mortally wounded its rider
The Second regiment (our cwn glo-
rious regimenO behaved magnif,ently,
and Colonel Allen proved himself wor-
thy Of his gallant command. Amongst
many instances Of gallantry which char
acterized the conduct OF our men, |
must tell you one or two. The banner
bearer OF the 2nd was shot down, kill
ed; whereupon lieut.. Richard Henry
Lee caught np the fallen flag aud bore
it onward i'll front OF the line until he
iell wounded in the thigh. Then Lieut..
Davis seized il, when ne, too, was shot,
ond as he tell another man caught ID
before it touched the ground, when he
also was mortally wounded. Col Allen
then sprang from his horse, took up the
tattered standard from the ground, aud
ga'lantly charged at the head of his
regiment, with the consec a,od colors
in his hand. The flagstaff was shot IN
two, aud bears, besides, the marks Of
fourteen bullet-holes
Harris Towner was killed, and John
Feaman also, Of Shepherdstowb. Poor
Selby Hantrainck was wounded in the
hip and left on the field.
Bushrod Washington vas wounded,
and, when asked to leave the field and
go'to the rear, replied that "nof so long
as he had" drop Of blood i,f IN has
body 1ouid he ctnss fighting for Tr-
gnin." His brother stood BY him and
assisted him in loading his gun, when
the enemys reinforcements came up and
both the poor boys were killed.
Our battery lost one gun aud two
caissons; but the execution we did upon
the enemy greatly exceeded the loss We
sustained. A regiment of infantry,
charging on us came up to within o
hundred yards Of our battery, when our
canister scattered them like scared
sheep, and made them run, oil that
we're left VI them, like 50 mapy--Yan-
KEGS!
The Minnie balls Of the sharp shooters
ratified like hgil around US, killing five
of our ho-ses,and woundiog some Of orr
men. But, as ! said before, our battery
escaped wonderfully well. We retired
in good order, at cur leisure, and regard
the result as by no means Iiscouraging;
fol with less than 1900 We fought from
three ~ five times our number OF fresh
troops until night put a stop 10 the en-
gagement Our loss was 400, all told,
that OF the enemy from 1 POO TO 800.
On the evening after the battle, my
gun, with Cbew's and BIakely's, were
ordered TO check the enemy's advance,
and cover the retreat of our men, when
a full battery opened upou rs, sud did
some very good firing. One shell struck
Immediately in front Of me. | threw
myself on my face, and the fragments
flying over me killed horse from un.
der Sergeant who was directly behind
me. Another GENE rushing over orr
heads, and, bursting behind US, killed
FIVE and wounded ten Of the infantry
who were supporting ns. We then let
loose upon column Of cavalry which
was cautiously approaching us, and cut
them considerably.
Yesterday morning my gun was
again ordered down TO picket with Col.
Ashby, and we gave the enemy few
rounds So you see how busiiy We sre
kept at our work. Within the lat i've
days we have marched I0J miles aud
have been 10 three engagements.
A. K b., Jr.