National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-02-07
sDectai Letter.

hominy river, and moved in tho rear Of
Savage's station, on the York River railroad,
in the direction Of the james river. Early
in the afternoon Of Juno 80, tho head of the
column arrived within two or three miles of
Frazier's farm, near White Oak swamp. 1t
was beautiful day. and no sounds of battle
had up to that time assaulted tho ear from tho
direction of the line Of march along which
we knew tho army of Gen. Mcclellan
was retreating. AS the division lazly swung
along through the dust, under the bright
sunlight, wondering what was the destination
and where and when tho next blow would BIO
struck at the federal column, suddenly there
was boom of cannon and a crash of muskotry
not far in the 'front.' The loose order of
march was forthwith closed up, and very
soon a regiment of confederate North Caro-
lina) cavalry camo tearing along at full
speed from the direction. of the noise
of battle, many Of the men hat
less and seemingly scared to death. Ac-
cording to the custom Of the infantry,
the cavalry were mercilessly jeered as we
stood on the side of the road to allow them
to pass, and they were asked what they had
seen down the road TO scare them 80. The
reply hurled back was you'll catch partic-
ular hi when you git thar to see." 1t may
here be remarked that the cavalrymen were
not far out Of the way as to our reception
when we did git thar"
Gen. Longstreet Immediately threw out
skirmishers and galloped forward with his
staff to rcconnoiter, although the position Of
the enemy was pretty we'll known from pre-
vious knowledge Of the lay of the ground
and the direction of the roads. More than a
mile and q half was cautiously covered be-
fore the skirmishers were engaged, and then
the leading division was deploycd on the
right and left of the road, and the artillery
was brought up to the front and placed in
position. A considerable portion of the after
noon was taken up in these dispositions, aud
ID was deemed best to defer the attack until
A. r. Hills division, which was far in the
rear, had come within striking and support
ing distance. While the brigade5 were
lying in the line of battle awaiting the
order to advance, details were made to fill
canteens at n stream which was at the right
and rear of the eXtreme right wing of the
confederates This fact is mentioned to show
chat Longstreets right was far outfanked
before he advanced his limo OF BATTLE for as
we afterward learned these detailed men
could have been easily captured while getting
water by the federal line lying in ambush
within a hundred yards of them, but it was
forbidden by their generals This was one
of the occasions when it would have
been well If Longstreet had done d little
more accommodating, especially MS the coun-
try was thickly wooded. He was in pretty
little trap before he began to fight, and the
result at first was disastrous to the confed-
crates. Instead Of tho federal line being per-
pendicular. to the road leading from Richmond
TO White Oak swamp, rs was the confederate
line. it formed an acute angle thereto, the
left of the line reaching off in the direction
of Malvern hill. Behind an open space on
the road not far from Frazer's farm power
full battery in earthworks had been planted,
and to reach this battery the confederates
would be compelled to struggle through a
mile or so of tangled thickets intersected by
streams, ravines, an d morasses.
About two hours before shutdown the ad-
vance was ordered and the men were glad of
it, as their position had been searched con-
tinually by the shells from the battery above
referred to, and the hot sunshine was almost
unbearable. Kemper's brigade was the right
brigade of Longstreets line, and the 18th
Virginia infantry ito which the writer be-
lopged) was the right regiment of the brigade.
As we moved forward it was exceedingly
difficult to keep any sort Of alignment, as
from where we started nearly up to the bat
terry against which we were directed, were
the obstacles above stated. The line moved
forward steadily enough, however, until
within 400 or 800 yards of the battery. and here
the canister came rafting through the scrub
pines by the bucketiul, men began to drop
occasionally, and we were halted to get in
some sort OF order. When the order "for-
ward" was again given the nth Virginia
found itself ut the top of an abrupt ivy cliff
some fifteen feet high. On scrambling to the
bottom, under u rafting fire, they found
themselves knee deep in marsh with u
stream and another ivy cliff perpendicular
to the other ON the right, and dense
thicket Of laurel and thorn bushes on the
left. Here the bullets of the enemy's in
fantry line began to be felt, although the
line itself could not be seen. The regiment
pushed forward as fast as possible,
but as there was no room in the
ravine to deploy in full regimental
front, the companies began to DO inextricably
huddled up together, like flock of sheep.
We had gotten nearly to where the edges o +
the ravine were bordered by the open fold,
where tho federal battery was posted, when
men began to appear on either side, and as
they did not fire into us il was doubtful
matter to us whether they We're not some of
our own brigade in retreat. Some of the
regiment fired at them, and instantly n hub
bub arose: Don't fire at them" "Thoy arc
our own men" by Cd they are sur
rounding u.s."
Confusion reigned supreme and the officers
could not maintain any control over the men,
for the companies were all mixed up together
The color company was the only company in
line with the Colors. Suddenly regime mt
drew up to the thicket on either side, and the
stars and stripes floating over them showed
who they were, even before an officer rode
forward and demanded our surrender. The
men of the 18th, although in a trap,
began fighting OH their own hook, aud u
shout arose, save tho Colors, anyhow ~
The writer, who was tho loft sargent,
of the color company, seong the color bearer,
Tom Hayes, dart back with the colors, fol.
lowed closely on his heels, although the COM
mand, Throw down your arms, Johnnios ~
frequently came from both sides of the ravine,
followed by whisting bullets Despite the
marsh and the mud those of us who succeeded
in evading the first pinch Of the trap, except
Il few whom bullets stopped In their tracks.
nude such good timo that wo were soon out
of gunshot. On reaching tho ivy elf we found
the old colonel trying to rally tho remnant
OF tho regiment for n stand, but II was only
pitiful handful that gathered about him, and
many Of these were wounded, though not dis
abled. Hardly had the diminutive line been
formed upon the rescued cOlors before some
of tho men came running in, declaring that
tho whole brigade had been beaten, and that
the enemy were already on the left flank.
so demoralized way that before two hum
dred yards had been covered in the thick
underground tho colonel WAS left with but
a corporals guard. This WAS the first time
that tho 18th had been compelled to fly from
the face Of tho enemy, and the bitterness of
defeat was on that account intensified Tho
men were sobbing and cursing, in breath,
as they hurried along, while the old colonel
hobbled along in his great jack-boots in u
da2ed way moaning and throwing up his