The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-10-27
DASH INTO FRED
 ERIcKSBURG.
NJ. Quad, n ncroa Free Press

M Quad, n ncroi Free Press
 -olonei Ulric Dahlgrens cavalry dash
 ..c fredericksburg, Va. has been re
 srded as one of the most brilliant affairs
 ger accomplished by small force. In
 November, iS6c, Sigels corps, to which
 .hlgren was attached, was encamped
 ..ound Gainesville. Burnside wanted
 .iormation as to the strength of the
 enemy in Fredericksburg, and Sigel de- i aailed DAhlgren to secure 1t. The brave soung officer was rendered Sigel's body .aard -ffty-hve men belonging to the First Indiana cavalry-and on his way to -edericksburg he picked up seventy five 5, eighty men belonging 10 the Sixth hlo cavalry.
 Dahlgren could ooun, on the town be- rg occupied by a, least twenty times his sxn force, and when. after an all nights ade. he reached Falmouth in ,he full sh; of morning and found the tide III 4ad the regular ford too deep to cross.
 s men looked to see him order re-
 'ea,. Instead of this he al once took the lpper ford la crossing so dangerous that ne citizens never used II. aad with 500 .0nfederates looking down upon him he tossed with his body-guard, leaving or .srs for the Sixth Ohio 10 follow and -aard the Fredericksburg side 0: the ord. A few shots were tred d; the cross F column. but no one was injured. Con- -.derates who were in the town a; the alle assert that the column was supposed 70 be confederate cavalry returning from raid. The crossing a, the upper ford
 seemed to bear out this idea. and many i those who would have fred d, the .o.gmn were restrained by orders.
 There were nearly 800 confederate sol
 .lsrs in the town. most of them cavalry.
 lac as Dahlgren reached the shore d, 1 ,ne upper end his identity was no longer cOgbted. A part of the force mounted to 'eceive him, and the remainder took
 sch positions as promised good de 'ense. Dahlgren waited only long enough to form his men in squadrons and then rode straight down into the own. having given orders to use nothing but the sabre. lust below where the main street turns to the left to strike Iayre's Hill force of zoo confederates Lad gathered to receive the advance The half hundred men fell upon them n furious charge, troopers shouting and sabres whirling. and in three min a'es the street was clear. Again and again did the confederates rally at stree. corners, knowing their own strength and realizing that II was but dash, but each :ime they were furiously charged and quickly dispersed. The panic felt by everybody when 1t was first realized that he federais were al hand were felt when- ever stand was made. and many of the -onfederates hid themselves Tn barns and :ellars and took no part in the actioo When the town had been cleared the confederate officers made one more ap- real and succeeded in rallying about I,o len, who returned 10 the defense. but acre charged upon and scattered.
 Captain Sharra was the company com -ander of the body-guard, aided by a
 :eutenant named Carr. In the hours aght Sharra killed five men and the lieu :enant four-men who were struck with he sabre and inspected after death. One Otthose killed by Carr was captain. and als first stroke cut ,he brim of the lieu 'enant's hat. In half dozen instances he charging squadrons were stuck fas, sad surrounded by mob, who punched slth the bayonet or elubbed their guns, and nearly all the wounds received by he federals were inflicted in this way One confederate had his nose sliced Of. an o'her was scalped by blow. and third lad his chin shaved away.
 Through some misunderstanding the six,h did not cross. They were supposed Q be over, and as fast as prisoners were -aptued they were sen; 10 the nver 10 be 'aken care of As there was nobody 10 'eceive them, the greater share made heir escape. The confederates twice succeeded in passing to DahlgreL's rear 's force, and having his command di-
 lded by the river should have been able 'o capture the portion in town. That hey did not do so was probably owing 70 the hot fire maintained by the Buck eyes from the northern bank, and the imgesing suspicion that this was but the advance of large toece.
 Dahlgren paroled . dozen prisoners, aeought away score or more, captured asout forty horses, a confederate flag, a qnanfify Of arms, and lost in killed onl y oae man. He inflicted loss of thirty eae Elled and voanded, held the town esr two hours, and secured all the in- nsmaiion desired at headquarters
 Although the cavalry battle at Rev. 9iy's Ford, Va occurred in the early eays Of June, 1883, two years afier the oeginning of the war, 1t was really the arx occasion on which the cavalry of ether side in the eastern department had q fair show at each other beyond the cAzrge of single regiments
 J. E. B. Stuart, then commanding the angades of Lee, Hampton, Jones and Roberts, was encamped along the Rap