Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-04-12

through Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, |
and the bones " thousands Of brave men were
ef 10 moulder among the hills and valleys
sad monuments Of accomplishing sacrifices
and uf unrequitcd toll. This wa, no fault Of
the soldiers who carried muskets and manned
our cannons. They gallantly and sternly fol.
lowed and rallied around the old flag, but
there was mo- chiehains to lead them TO vic.
tory.
General Buel was now removed and the
command transferred to General Rosecrans,
who came freshly crowned with aurels Of bril-
liant victory in the State Of Mississippi.
When General Rosecrns assumed com
mand, he found the powerful army Of the
Ohio, which had been renowned for discipline
nd steady vaor, greatly wasted from wear-
some and fruitless marches aud thoroughly dis
couraged As he reviewed the shattered
columns OF disspirited men, he keenly felt the
responsibility he had assumed. 1t required
almost two months to dll the skeleton regi-
necessary supplies Of war to justify moving the
army on the enemies stronghold.
The latter part Of December General Rose
Grams, slowly aud cautiously moved his forces
to the front. On the goth day Of December,
! the battle line, were facing each other for dis.
! lance Of tive miles and little more than mile
| apart. On the morning Of the 3rst the battle
Of Stone river, the first decisive battle Of the
war commenced.
! Comrades have no heart to speak Of this
terrible battle in detail, and point out to you
the agones OF our wounded and dying. There
was one action, however, in the engagement
that | wish briefly to refer to, in which the
| Fiftyhrst played an important part, and in
which the writer had occasion to be present.
General vancleave's division occupied the
extreme left wing Of the Union army, opposite
which, the rebels massed their forces on Fri
day afternoon OF the third day OF the fighting.
General Beatty's brigade containing the Sth
and 2Ist Kentucky, and the 5Ist and ooth
Ohio, were at the head of the column Imme.
diately to their right, were General Grose's
and Fyfe's brigade and the line continued
almost unbroken for miles to the right
The battle line composed of these three
brigades crossed Stone river, a small stream,
and advanced half mile to the centre Of
cotton-held in front Of the enemy, that were
concealed behind belt Of timber on the oppo-
site side of the field. Our skirmishers were in
the timber. AT O'Clock in the afternoon, they
were driven out, and the rebel skirmsh line
/ al 10, he :,
| down
Then poured out Of the timber mighty
masses of infantry, forming three lines of bat
| tie, one Immediately behind the other. Each
line OF battle was six men deep. They marc he'd
solidly and steadily towards our three little
brigades, their banners flying and steel glitter.
ing in the sun. The Union line lay flat on
the ground and did not rise and FIRE until the
enemy was within hundred yards. The first
volley deliberately aimed shattered the front
line of the rebel mass. The second line deliv.
cred volley, bayonets were fixed and they
braced up ior time, but the Rebels had too
many bullets for them. They were obliged to
fall back and reached the river in disorder and
confusion.
In the meantime sixty-eight cannons had
been massed on the west side OF the river.
General Mendenhall was holding them like so
many cooked pistols, and just in the nick of
time the power of cannon was cast into the
balance. Those sixty-eight eannons shook
the earth and in few minutes the solid col.
umns of the rebels were torn to fragments.
Those that were not killed or wounded ran in
wild confusion and fright back through the
cotton.6eld and took refuge in the timber
After the engagement, which lasted but 40
minutes three thousand rebel dead were found
on the cotton.held, and double tina, number
were wounded. The Union dead on the field
were fully thousand.
Every effort possible was made by the sur.
geons 10 mitigate the suffering Of the wounded,
both on the field and in hospital
On the next day Saturday was detailed
by General Crttenden to 60 to Nashville to
secure suitable building and organize hos.
pital for the wounded OF General Vancleave's
division, When arrived in Nashville was
fortunate IN finding an empty business house of
immense size--4 stories high, ISL feet and OF
sufficient width Ia accommodate a thousand
patients The wounded were hrough, in on
ambulance trains and in railroad cars
This hospital was known as Hospital No.
10 and was kept open until after the close of
the war. remained in surgical charge of this
hospital Tor three months until was attacked
with typhoid. Then in order to get home