Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-08-13

~" nsNef peen known to hesitate ,.L
u Uhen u seemed reluctant to move hit
wiz wien an was ready, with the vel. kno Du'
~ ~ - .ney rushed forth with that imnet,1osA
d;ff on ,aen determined to do or die. Three
shat,anoa ZINES were we forced to retire
and aoa;n 'orn' M bleeding, only to rallyy
the wos gaan make the attempt to capture
histor;a VI Dreak the lines on the now
foot;nn ~ Mound Top. Once we gained a
lines OF the Federals, but for ffhe M 'ne
support were forced to retreat 1ond s,,oh "
retfeatl; out of about a Thousand rnnna
men engaged in that charge only abort haiff
reached a place of shelter, only 10 be co1iad
on 10 again face death. At the close Of the
second days fight my battery, on roll cali
ous ol nlnety.two men, had forty seven to
ans"er to their names, the other fortv-fve
oeing either killed or wounded Aftar
aghting two days, one without eating from
Iour until nine o'clock, We were further
from taking the heights than ever. Earlv
Inc next morning, July 4, we were a"a;n
called on to repeat the previous DAVIS
work, but we were discouraged. dis
neartened, and almost demoralized
The Army of Northern Virginia had
never known what it was to be whipned,
n almost considered themselves inyinci,
pie. We again moved forward, only to be
shot down and at last to retreat. but we
again rallied and after one more effort we're
compelled to give up.the contest. NV bat
Terry had fired six hundred rounds from
each gun and were out of ammunition. all
our commissioned officers killed or wound
ed' only twenty-eight sound men out of
n,nety-six, and only by borrowing a few
from another battery were we able to man
our guns. Now commenced the retreat in
earnest, q race between Meade and Lee for
old Virginia. Men perishing for WANT of
ratlons, worn out with fighting, dis
couraged and compelled to retreat
through a country where a few DAYS
before we mad marched in triumph
was humiliating. Meade's cavalry out
marched us, got between us. and the
pontoon bridges, and for awhile it seemed
that we would be compelled to give up; but
the Federals were either too badly crippled
or did not know our strength, or that we
were comparatively out of ammunition.
At length We retook the river passes, after
lying at Hagerstown for q week. Nv corps
crossed the river into Virginia at Williams
port, some of the teams being lost in the
rapid current while crossing. also two men;
being hard pressed, we did not have the
time to try to save them. After crossing,
we were formed on the Virginia heights,
and opened an artillery duel across the
river, so as to protect the rear. We lost
several men by this unnecessary action.
The Federals being too badly crippled to
attempt to follow us on our own ground,
as we were now at home, we could
choose u own position, but we con-
tinued to retreat until we reached
Culpeper Court House, where we
went into camp for q few days, and
finally crossed the Rapidan and took up
our permanent camp. We were cast down,
but not subdued-could still! show a bold
front, and had we been again led forth we
would as willingly have tried it over again.
Our confidence in our commander was un-
bounded; we believed that he could make
no mistake, if the government at Rich
mond would let him pursue his own course,
but that it would not do, and we were left
to become careless by inactivity. Many of
the men were discouraged, yet determined
to stick as long as there was hope.
Thus ended a campaign, which opened al
Charlottesville with so much promise, in
disaster and failure. We were crippled and
could never recover from the battle OF
Gettysburg. Never more were we to be
able to act as a whole on the offensive.