The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1884-08-28

I'll
Say, on outright
Final late in the afterno Jon the or
der for The assault was passed along the
right wing, and the deadly work began,
with the preli minary cannon shots AND
l thowiing forward Of skirmish ers, AND
4 instantly q crash and yell arose
e the tends from heaven that fell 4 d Il
Had pealed the banner, cry Of hel 4
as the first line OF the confe derates
swept forward ia the charge. 35s5s 5 .;3
Iii order III properly appreciate The
\ despe 81 this bait Is &c is necessary
sbreihy to ;describe the positionS held By
H Ger. Nee le1 Hans army The River
road, which at that time Yves avery we'll
sbIilt and wide Dad fol, that part Of the
country, for d compile mil es runs alone.
Malvern hill, which Is high bluff 81 q
hundred feet Or %, and which abruptly
drops into the plain below. Along the
crest the federal general had planted
cannon as thickly as could be- done to
work them efec tiyely Both Of his
wing siwereref fused; in military parlance,,
toward the river, and were protected
by gunboats SO anch ored as to- obtain o
partial emf ding fire on an assault
\ ing force M In fact, the position tax
an up by the federal army was
/. natural fortress, 80 to- speak.
hen, as above stated, battle was
joined on The right Kempers brigade.
I was moved mp to be within supporting
distance Of the Citing line, and here;
Ut remained, shelt tered by q point Of
woods through which only IN occasional
shell crashed during the battle q. Az
the roar Of the battle ,inc reased the
curiosity of The men to know what swas
being done became almost ffrantic.I
and numbers, the writer among them,
sought permission to shin up {" the
tallest trees in the vicinity to obtain Is
view of the scene Of action. "a good
sviewof the plain above described was
here obtained and il was easy to per-
ceiye that the batteries Oh the heights
were having thing all their own way.
The cannon fire Of the confed crates was
ftful and feeble Eat that point, while tho
batteries on the heights were ID 8
continued roar which was rapidly
%accentnate by the deeper 4 boom
OF The heavy art lsrY soffs the gun BOATS
as they pitched their (. camp KEITH 81 ii IN
to the opposing lines. Line after Line
cot confederates swept across the plain
with the char ing step, but theYsseld dom
attained the foot Of the blazing volcano
whose fire they were end eaYoriings to
.quench, and when they came q running
back defeated IN q conf fused mass, their
retreat was even more disastrous to
them than theirs ord erly advance. And
( this useless hurting of these devoted
rigades against 8 position even more
Simpregnable than Marye's heights at
I fredericksburg continued at intervals
until the sun went down. The confed-
crate atteries, which Ssucc eeded in de-
pIoyfng from the woods onto the plain.
were invariably knocked into smithe.
9reens b the time they had fred twoor
three rounds, al: S. ss
From time SO time "a lying aid. de-
camps, IDS they dashed by Us, would
shout IS All going we'll on; the right n
Their left wing ID; doubled M. & s jack
4 son is driving then, r and so on, but for
1 the life Of us we couldn't see, If al this
we're true, Why the sacrifice Of men
splainly visible id the cent was necess-
Sary. Thus matters went on until sun sun,
down, when the brig was ordered
attention, and I'VE supp posed that we
i were to be ordered into instant action /
and from The streams Of wounded going
TO thsrear, md ii eir tatements that
our troops had not gained q foot 81
ground and were much used mp, We; au-3
cured most unfayorab bly, for the result .
should Moo elan throw forward his left
! wing III full force. However, he didn't
! do 30, and when arkness closed in we
\ were ordered 70 staok arms and 60 to
sleep. Save now and then q rafting,
SVolleys at various points 81 the line, the
musketry had at this time, ceased, al
! though The bait eriies shelled the woods
and each other until 9 or 10 O'Clock,
when they too were hushed e
WEI passed into sleep that night with
j the unpleasant conscio nsness that I our
/ arms had sust aine a D. oddYrepulse, and
that In MI pr0ba bility We, should 8hays
I thsr sang bait on the morrow
with the Issue thereof very doubtful. tt
viii moi BE- donbted that this feeling was
sonaeYhat q lamp upon our martial
enthusiasm
The next morning ID apn MP We receiyed
the Welcome intelli renee that the federal
! army had retreated from its strong
position ia the nigh our brigade
was Id reserve the day before, Ii WAS s.
'sdered int hat nigh lit be- termed d tech
pipa1 pursuit very technicals Indeed. Ii
proved To- be, as no very energetic At
tempt WAS made DO far 40 Z could sae 10
! tackle tlie rear guard Of Their ting
ovf, u n, <.ys7 ~ ~, - -