Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-08-17

position. where the fOurCet'nln again Jnilltu IL
The streets and fencing look now as they dld
then. Only Il hedge has been allowed to gro"
up and spread on to the north side of BnuIl-
darv street by which the Fourteenth PASSED
into town.
Gen. Rodes' Division of Gen. EWrll'S Corps
now coming up, the First and Fourteenth
were ordered back and joined the Twelfth and
Thirteenth between the town and Seminary.
where we rested.
GEN. LEE AND THE CARnIGNIANS.
Gen. Pendrr was at the Ridge where we
first entered the battle and SAW the close fight
ING throughout. lie SAW the Brigade as it ap"
p.ared from his point to almost mlnglc with
the Union Soldiers. and passing the Seminary
and the Ridge almost together. he supposed
that the Brigade was captured. riding Tor
war,l however. he met Lieut. Simmons. OF
the Twelfth. who was wounded, and nl whom
he made the inquiry if the Brigade was cap
turr,l. To which the Lieutenant answered,
''No. it is over the hill yondrr.' i'rhr large
body of the enemy known to ln' there Just IIlrd
his fears. The General then rode forward
with sper,l and ordered the Twelfth and
Thirteenth back to II point between the town
and Seminary to protect the right flank, and
then into the town where he overlook the
Fourteenth and First, as above stated. Gen.
Lee then came up, and all honor was then
given to ''thc South Carolina brigade that
captured Grttysburg.'
THE LOSSES.
The points of the greatest danger were hrld
hy the regiments on the right ANA lett. me
Thirteenth on the right and First on the left.
The Thirteenth was nearest the cavalry with
repeating rifles at the stone fence, and lost
more in killed than any other. Col. Brock
man, although too sick for duty, was at his
post. hut the movements for that reason were
largely conducted by Lieut.. Col. |. +. Hunt
1t added to the regiment $ already high rrpll-
tatiun acquired under its former gallant Com
manclcr. Col O. Edwards. who fell command
ing the brigade after the wOundng of Gen.
Mc(iowan ut charlottesville.
The First, being on the left had to rnrolln-
ter Il long line of infantry overlapping It's lclt'
and was nearest to the artillery.
The centre comprising the Twelfth and
Fourteenth. WAS swept hy the same enla'llll9
that rntilltled our llankimg regiments. and
the LOSSES in men were nearly equal to all the
regiments in proportion to the number en-
gagged The Twelfth sustained heavy loss
from the artillery fire directed towards the
centre.
1t would seem impossible for any Of the reg
jmcuts TO have sustained more than il had to
meet or to have borne more than it had to
encounter. There would have been enough
glory in any one of them to have carried IT'S
own front. All of them had more than this
to do.
40 ESCAPE FOR THE WOUNDED.
The LOSSES were immense. The Fourteenth.
which WAS the largest regiment. lost over 2'N)
in killed and wounded out OF 4IJ carried INTO
aci ion The Thirteenth had SiXty-four Killed
or to die of their wounds. All the regiments
lost over on third. There was no loss Of prIs-
onrrs They were all killed or w"lndrd. over
six hundred had fallen in front OF those breast
works. The thousands Of hostile laynlrtH
that appeared and passed around the SiucS "l
the Seminary building comprised what rr-
mainc,l of fifteen hundred carried into action.
The nature of the ground WAS such and the
contest 50 brief that the wounded could not
he mnvrd and were wounded twice, thrice
and as lll;lly as four times after first beng
stricken down. Large numbers died OF Their
wounds \ few who with shattered legs or
wounded bodies ran back IN safety 10 IN"
surgeons have not ceased to admire Their legs
for the good service rendered. II was the only
battle field in which all avenues of escape lnr
our wounded were closed There was moth
Ing that the ambulance corps rollld do. ne
ground was swept at every point ny lhr d,'an-
" minnie balls. The artillery fire IS terrible.
hut the almost silent whirl of the minnie ball
is the drat-drallg missile in battle: Not Il
foot of ground presented Il place OF safety.
! The Union troops tired low. and their balls
swept close to the ground in the dISiI-like irld
! i'm their front. The terrible strife WAS over
! i'm Il few minutes fifteen, say twenty ut most.
Men newer fell faster in this hrlG;lr a'l.l per-
! halS never cIualcd. except III Orr 5 regiment
! at GainrS'S Mill. On our side the iirllS was
not slack nor wid The trees in the Seminary
grounds where the Union lines ram are SUI
thicklv covered with sears. from thr grn,l'il
/ to the height of Il man. made with the bullets
Of our unrrring rifles. They az" well marked
! on their western sides And the gruIlhd
! Strcwn with their dead and Wnnndrd well al
( tested the accuracy of the dcadly aim.
THE GALLANT ENEMY.
! 1t was no ordinary soldier that WE had met
The prisoners capt urru were more lhlelllE'nl
( than ON other fields They were mostly Penn
syIyanians fighting for everything they held
dear. The celebrated Iron Hrigadr was in ollr
/ front. The l3lSt Pennsylvania, l4id l'rnnSy-
vania, llNh PENNSYLVANIA lJlSt Pennsylvania
and others not remembered Maine troops
were there. who stated that they came III not
more than fifteen minutes before the action he
gan. Then the artillery on nllr right. citVllII
behind the stone WALL all holding to the death
But there were no crossing of swords ana bay
oncls for this is seldom dome except ON paper.
II WAS no line for Il thousand lEll-blridlll rs
calrs with nobody hurt. 1t w;lS not the emp
ping off of cnthing bul the hmlirS OF men
that were struck While the LOSSES III Inr nl
officers and men were great. il was rrmarkahl'
that not Il single field officer WaS dIS;tDlrtl l"r
duty though they did not rS'lrr 'llI>tr'Irk.
INCIDENTS or PERSONAL DARING.
The Rev. W. b. Carson. chaplain "l the
. Fourteenth Regiment, remained Win the
Wumdcu of whom ninety Ui his OWN regiment
were too badly wounded to be removed III anl-
bulancrS south of the Potomac. lie went mt"
the heavily SIrllcd woods for blankets Tor ms
wounded men and remained to administer u
their wants until death freed nllny from
their Suii'rringS.
Dr. Louis Y. lluot. the eminent surgeon ol
the Fourteenth, performed many Sklsllnl "pr-
rutiuns. drawing praise from Union surgeons.
He returned with us Oh the final retreat.
\ soldier boy Of the Fourteenth captured the
large lag of the l49th Pennsylvania III the
works. where all its guard were slain. .\n"th,
rr captured Il smaller one. and folding 1t III ms
bosom, fell two days allrrWaru advanrln% III
the picket line in front Of Cemetery Heights.
Il. Owens. color bearer. son of Capt. Il. >.
Owens. of the Fourteenth, who had fallen i'll
ErnZrr's farm. wis shot dead while carrying
Ih,. 1lar of hisrrrimpnt, and all his color guard
but one WAS slain.
In the Twelfth Regiment one cnl"l-bealrl
after another was shot down until four were
Killed and two wounded. And scarcely les
fatality attended the rulorS Of the other rrgl
mrnls. The land Of the Nlamr"rk. lis III "t
,r fields. contributed its quota on the strongly
contested ground.