The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-10-27
FIELD, FORT AND FLEET.
gos Ashby Led and How He Died-
 S;uart's Dash After Pope.

'. Quad. in Detroit Free Eress.
 Wh!ie Stone xall Jackson was retiring non Harrisonburg, pushed by fremont ,si watching out for Shields, the rear of -,. Nry was defended by General Ashby. <; -ayalry fame. His immediate com -acd numbered less than 900 horse ~,n. and until ,he last fes miles of the ~uch he checked all assaults with cav
 ...y and artillery.
 gas highway admirably laid oa,
 ,o, s.ccessful defense by rear guard
 ,s says narrow-full of sharp deseen,s
 ,s6 sudden curves-na,ural ambasca5es
 ]. every mile-it needed only a dozen -ta a; certain spots to hold regiment !. oay for quarter of an hour. Jackson ,..hed ahead d, a famous rate. and the -as of the guns of the rear guard was ser n his ears. At one point nine dis -o.n,ed oavalrymen held the narrow rsaG nntll the iederals had advanced tSo f.l regiments, and 100 men had worked heir way up the sides of the mountain to sank the little band. These nine men led and wounded twenty-three men oetore they were pushed back. and though dozen shells were fired at them as they re;rea,ed along a straight stretch of road, 70, man was injured.
 During the afternoon of the las, day of .he retreat the federal General Wyndham. xho had command of full brigade of cagaly, was pushed 10 the iron, to drive through the confederate rear-guatd. The spo, chosen was where the highway .:.e,ched across levet. this giving the ava.Ty room to deploy and maneuver. No, quite half a mile beyond the confed- .fa:e rear-e uard was holding the hill over which the road wound Two pieces |. artillery were posted in the road, and eisnounted cavalry supported them When ii was seen tha; Wyndham brig- ade was massing for a charge Ashby hastily collected abou, -oo of his men md massed them ln the highway. The ,.ns were then drawn aside and the asaly caroines slung and depending spon tAe sabre alone, rushed down the highway in a mighty mass. Wyndham sas struck in the center and the conied- a,es passed clear through his lines, vhse,ed al the call of the bugle, and. di-
 ..aas 10 the rlgh, and left. they fell upon ,ae :So wings with such fury as ,o rout bon. It was sabre work almost entirely, a-1 in that fifteen minutes hgh, i,o men sere killed or wounded. Wyndham and sx officers captured, aad two flags. thirty ;4o horses and forty prisoners taken. ashby led the charge. and men W. fol- oTed close after him aver ,ha, he struck is many as six ditferen, men with his sa- 9re. In that fight a confederate, now islng on a farm near Glendale, Va. had als right ear sliced of close to his head. and he sabre sunk into his shoulder Tn d say to forever disable his arm. The sound m his shoulder was felt at once, ol, the loss of his ear was not noticed lntil the hght was over. Wyndham sought to excuse his disaster by talking of the cowardice of his troopers, but his own sabre was without stain, and men who hear no orders of command cannot De blamed for falling into panic. The confederates rode right at 9lid lines and he shock of meeting knocked down numerous horses and disabled a number of men,
 Half an hour later fremon,'s advance o' infantry was pressing so closely ,ha, Infantry had 10 be sent back to oppose hem. Ewell ambushed three or four regiments in the woods and rields q, a ilra of the road, but the advance scented ne trap and deployed righ, and left. and lcyaneed 10 the attack Tn two lines of aa,,le, most of the force being composed d Pennsylvania Bucktails. To reach the onfederates the blue lines had 10 cross slde. open fields, and as they left their sael,er they received such fire that all '1r.her advance was checked. The men sere seeking the cover of rocks and ctehes, and holding their ground well, shen Ashby ,hundered down upon them si,h his cavalry. There was no time 10 'ofm squares, and the charge resulted in aront. The infantry were driven back -pon the reserve, horses and men fed eral and confederate intermingled, and again the sabre and bayonet inflicted ter Hsle work. Almost every cavalry horse rss wounded. some three or four times, aac many of their riders were thrust with ne oayonei and pulled out of ,heir sad | les.
 How strange iha. so few of he cavalry .eaders on either side died as they nigh, lave wished 10 die-leading their con- hands in some glorious charge. Ashby had courted death hundred times as he 'ode a, the head of his men. Here on .aS lonesome road as night came dewn ae formed another ambush with infantry. The trap was we'll set, bu, as its jaws were about to spring shot fred al random by Federal struck one who had risked his ae dozen times that day and laid him ow. Jackson was Lees right arm. Ashby sas Jackson's nigh, arm The tribute paid him by the eccentric warrior was not ezgthy, but it outweighed the boom of cannon, the long processions, the bur aeas of flowers. and the efforts ef orators When . courier rode up to Jackson and announced the sad news he dropped the aans, his head bent low, and he whis- pered:
 Poor Ashoy. am grieved."
 The cavalier of the south was Stuart. de was born to the saddle. He looked spon infantry as a sort of necessary evil, nd whenever he attempted to handle | Aem in continuation with cavalry he was