Connecticut western news., 1883-11-14

thlcket, and the ground IS almost suc- cession of rocky terraces. Over this difficult ground the great blue wedge forced its way at a rapid pace, but no cheer was heard-no shouts were given.
 ''Crack crack crack!
 It is the alarm from the Confederate skirmishers, who have crept down al- most to the base of the mountain. They are posted behind great rocks and hid den behind lodges. They cannot retreat; they must surrender or fight it out. They choose the latter course. Nine out of every ten hold their positions un- til the point of the blue wedge reaches them and brings savage death with it.
 All along the sides of the grim moun- tain the skirmishers bar the way, seek ing to detain the wedge and alarm the defenders of the salient Here and there Federal throws up his hands and falls back, but the column makes no halt. Up, up, up, and now an officer in front waves his sword as the slopes of the parapet come into sight. Here the cover suddenly ends. From the bushes to the salient, distance of 200 feet, the ground has been swept bare of tree and bush, and rocks have been rolled aside.
 At the foot of the parapet is a palisade outside of that an abattis. Behind the works are thousand muskets--a thou sand Confederates with fingers on trig- gers. At regular intervals along thi E line-250 feet front-are six field pieces , each one loaded with grape and canister. The men within are waiting, Not an order is given nor a head appears in sight until the first line of blue is out of cover.
 Now, as if one finger had pressed the thousand triggers, great sheet of flame leaps forth and scorches and blisters and shrivels the advance. The second line crowds up over the dead and dying, the third and fourth cheer as they come. Now, with crash as if volcano was breaking through the crest of the noun tain, the six guns belch their contents into that mass of men sixty deep.
 The effect was horrible. What were men a moment ago are now bloody snreds blown against the rocks and scat tered far over the ground. Some of the gory fragments fall upon the lines yet halfway up the slope.
 The advance halts in confusion-the rear lines crowd up. There is another bloody feast ready as soon as the cannon can be charged. Then comes the order to break lines and divide to the right and left to get out of range of the artillery. The men rush forward to the abattis- = some lie flat down-others take cover behind rocks.
 For fifteen, minutes heroic carnage holds them before the salient. The Con- federates have them at their mercy. Men take deliberate aim and send 0 bullet through the heads of the living targets. When the burial party comes to do its work it will find that seven out of every ten Federals lying before that abattis has been killed stone dead by 8 single bullet.
 The fire of musketry might have checked the assault, but aided by artil- lery the check became 8 butchery. Grape and canister searched out spots secure from bullets, and men in the very rear ranks, who did not even catch sight of the abattis were struck down by the iron missiles. No assault could have brought out more nerve and hero ism, but it was the wave dashing against a rocky cliff.
 When the men had fallen back to their original positions the roll of dead and wounded was shock to those who had escaped. No one had blundered. John ston's lines were there, and they must be carried by assault. Sherman was looking for weak spot to drive wedge into. That salient was one of the strongest points on the Confederate line.
 M. QUAD.