The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-04-15

| otherwise criminal. In hiul nlone
centered all the Information OF col-
stantly occurring chances. To him ,
alone was reported each new circum-
Stance. HE subordinates know but
the partial truth. They relied Oh him
for the initiative.
At p. M, then, the situation was
this: The left and ceUtre lay As before.
Howard held the right, the t'key of
the position," with 10000 mon. y half
brigade of Devens only astride the
pike, the rest of of Devens's and
Schurz's forces facing south, and
Sleinwher massed at DoWdall's. How
ards best brigade wac gone and there
was not man to support him between
DowdalPs and charlottesville, for |
| this portion Of the line under Sickles |
had been advanced into the woods |
nearly two miles. On the right flank |
OF this little force lay Jackson's corps
OF over 10000 men, whose wide wings,
ike the arms If gigantic cuttlefish,
were ready to clutch it in their fatal
embrace. To cover Jackson's march,
Lee at intervals during the day tapped
at the lines i'll front, principally where
Hancock lay.
During all this afternoon Hooker
had chance handsomely TO redeem
his Fridays error in retiring into the
WILDERNESS. rWhatevef the.s reaSen,
z theifact that Lee had divided his army
remained clear. Lee, with the right
wing, had but $4,000 men. Hooker
knew that he could not have more than
25,O0O. He himself had 10000 eplen-
did troops. He could havo crushed
{ Lee like an egg shell, aud then have
turned OH Jackson. But, with n
| knowledge of Jackson's habit Of mys-
i, terry, of his wonderful speed aud fight
ing capacity, and of his presence on
our right, with all the means of knowl-
, edge that this same right flank was
T. isolated 10y two miles Of impenctrable
t woods from any supporting force, he
, sat still, folded his hands and patiently
= waited events.
Tho 1lth corps was eating supper.
a Arms were stacked as the breastWorks
Il looking south were but fairly sub
stantial. Facing cast were none. Some
carelessncss was apparent, in that
D ambulanccs, ammunition wagons, pack
t mules, and even q drove of beeves
@ were close behind the line. Every
Il one was ut ease, though u few were
b not wanting in anxiety. Little Will
n dcrncss Church, near by, endeavored
C TO stamp peaceful air upon the war
: like scene. The general feeling seemed
t To be that it was too late to get up
Q much of fight on that day.
z jackson, in three lines, Rhodes in
0 Eadvance, Colston next and A. =. Hill
h still coming up, lay close by. lie had
r caught 1Iookcr's right in fagrante
e delictu. AT 6 p. m., tho order was
8 given, and $4,000 of tho best infantry
I in existence closed rapidly down upon
c the flank of 10000 OF the least hard
Y cned of the troops of tho Potomac.
Y Not the Old Guard, not Fiedricll's
Q automata, could have changed front
3 under the staggering blow. The fight
d was short, sharp, deadly, but partial
l. only. All that man could do Devius
d did. Wounded, he kept the saddle
l. and commanded; but the force on the
,i right was swept away like cobwob
lc by Jackson's mighty Bosom. Some of
~ Schurz's regiments made gallant
show of resistance under the terrible
,n ordeal of friends and foes breaking
nc through their hastily formed lines
lis some melted away without burning
y. cartridge. Buschbeck's brigade threw
k" itself into some brcastworks con
ry structcd across the road of Dowdaii'
lOt and made n desperate resistance.
to was here that Howard had asked lcav
of to place his line, but had been refused
to a ridge made the line well avnlnbl
le for defence. The whole situation wa
&C. confusion worse confounded. rh
)s, attack had been 40 sudden that tn
ut stampede of the regiments on the cx
nc treinc right swept away many Of thos
lc- which were endeavoring to form nca
ed the fork of the roads. The drove q
az bccvcs, the frightened teamstcrs an
II. ambulance drivers, officers, servant
i, and hundreds of camp followers wer
u rushing bindlV, seeking All escap
~ from the murderOus hail Of'lead rh
l., enemy came on with remorscless stead
il, tnsthcss. Never was All army NOR
nj completely surprised, more absolutcl
IL overwhelmed. Few, even among th
le old soldiers, preserved their calmness
G., but many did their duty. The highe
cs officers were in the thickcst Of the fray
" An occasional stand would be mad
ic only to be again broken. Every wher
le appeared the evidence Of unprepareu
y | ness.
D. 1t is small, wonder that the corp
20 made no resistance worthy tho name
Ill ltather wonder that, under the Gil
TX cumstanccs | have detailed, the onsc
ly OF jackson was actually checked b
Is, this surprised and ovcrmatched, thi
at trIcscoped force, considerably NOR
H. than an hour, at u loss Of onc-thrd 1t
1t, effective strength. Could more hav
li been eXpcctcd1
he The WOrthlessncss Of Hooker's dis
" position now became apparent. Jack
o. sons small rear guard had been play
ing with Sickles, while his main bod
AT had cxtingushed Howard. Nothin
bv now lay between jackson and tn
or headquarters of tho army except
I'd difficult forest, through which mas
k. of panic-strickcn fugitives were rusl
ed ing in dire confusion out of range
ch Happily night was approaching, an
er 9ackson's troops had TO be halted an
Is reformed, his three lines having be
", come incxtricably mixed.
er Anderson had made serious attac]
in ON our centre SO soon as the guns O
OF JackSon's corps were heard, so tha
IN Hooker had nothing at hand to throw
on into The gap but Berry's division O