The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-09-15


 rested and waited While Lee tough, simply to hold his own until help came. Smith was making ready 10 strike crushing blow. and Franklin's men were lying Tn the ieids within plain hearing of every cAnnon-shot.
 Along towards o'clock ;he conted- crates were ready, and the entire army Left the ridge in hzifie order and moved straight down upon Lee. The attack nc, only ass4iled Lees entire front, but on his right the confederate lines were four deep, and the troops picked for inc occasion. The plan was 10 keep ms whole front busy and crush his right flank The battle opened wi,h sudden crash. The heavy and continuous tire oi the skirnishers was suddenly swallowed up by the musketry of line of battle. h place of the thin line huggins :he ground and seeking the shelter of trees and s,umps along the federal tron;. line Of battle suddenly appeared ard the igh, a, once became terrine.
 The confedera,es had been encouraged to hope that Lee could be crushed te- fore Franklin could come up When :he advance was made Franklins neares; regiment was an hour away. ba: reports were sent along the lines that he was a; hand with division and the fesulse ei ,he confederz,es would result IT .. .eGefa. victory. Therefore. the ene advanced w.;h enthusiasm. and the other oDsun- a,ely prepared to hold ,heir position.
 for an hoas the fire o: maskc:ry ~as close and deadly. Everywhere along the iron, the confedera;es moved up gan and again, determined 10 break through. and on the ught II was alnos, 4 hand 10 hand hsht from ;lrst ;o last.
 < was Lees artillery which vas pro- ,ec,ing his right flank and repulsing ea9h desperate assault, and the confeGera;es determined to secure II. The famous Chicago Mercantile Battery was iigh,ing as never before. Within half an hoar after the battle opened il had los, half it's horses, and as the hght waxed hotter every man realized that the guns must remain where they were. A confederate column advanced against the battery with a rush, passed 1t on both Hanks, and every piece was encircled by wall of bayonets IL was complete capture of the entire battery and al its men, and was directly followed by the capture of portions of two or three others. The guns were !, once turned against the federals, and now Lee discovered that if he did not fall back that he would be lanked and surrounded. He had chosen his ground to wait for re- lnforcements-not for battle. When the retrograde movement was decided on the lines fell back in good order to a stronger position, and now Franklin came .I more promising.
 The federals stood strictly or the de fensive. and the new lines were not yet completed when the confederates repeated their tactics and sought to succeed by flank movements. There was not foo, oi ground along the whole front which was no; blazing with musketry. and for aH hour the defense was AS obstinate as anything ever encountered.
 My command made as many as five distlnc. assaults" says a confederate, and every tune we met such whitening ire that the lines broke and fell back IL seemed miracle that any one could face such hail of bullets and live 10 advance twenty feet. Twice we advanced so close ,ha; men struck at me with the bayonet. bat we could not get over that llnc of ire. The last time we were repulsed we were gwen breathing spell. and knew from the movements of troops around me iha; we were making ready for an assaul, tn BTxSye. IL was horrible sight 10 look over the field. bu, we had tough To, oi men in that army. and by this time each one was thoroughly mad on his own ac- count. The capture of the artillery and at leas, 900 stand of arms and lot of ammunition had pu, new vigor into the men, and we could see the white tops of the federal wagon train just beyond the battle lines. We wanted that train. and the troops formed with men cheering and waving their caps"
 Banks was there m person. and was satisfied tha, Franklin and Lee could hold their own until further troops came up. He was suggesting some slight changes when the roar of muskeiry suddenly in- creased, the artillery seemed to redouble IS iire, and the entire confederate army came moving to the assault The defend CTS had done their bes, when they re- pulsed assaults by brigades and divisions. There was no rush of towards and panic stricken fugitives to warn those m the rear VI 'hs"N "H9 @cutihb oHt diA aA pss'N whole federal army seemed to break ir,o fragments. Then there was a wild rush for the rear
 IL was Bull Run over again and worse. Here there was only one narrow high&ay leading to the rear. On each side were woods. dense undergrowth and broken ground through and over which an in- fantry man could scarcely make his way To add 10 the ierrors of the situation Lees whole wagon train, counting up nearly 800 vehicles, had by some idiotic command been pushed close in behind the batile-lines. Many of the wagons were so near that they were struck by the random bullets, and ye; Banks and Frank lin. who seemed 10 have general super vision while Lee was dolng the actual fighting, gave no orders to have the road cleared. It was not only impossible for reinforcements to come up n column. but with the knowledge ,ha, ,he federal position was dangerous and nigh, oe lost any moment the swn commanders