Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-10-23
AT COLD HARB0R.
THE ASSAULT UPON THE coNFEo-
 eRATE EARTHwoRKS.

A Charge When Union Veterans puaiIe"
 r,,.r inc Awful storm of shot and
 sheII-shot by Hundreds In Retreat--A
 Bloody RePulse.
 Refore davbreak of June the light artil- 1er1-u,eu were aroused We ate our scahty breakfast and took our positions around 'he guns All of US were luath Co go into acton. In front of us we could hear the murInurs or infantry. but it was not sufficiently light 10 ses them. We stood leaning against the cool guus or resting easily on the ponderous Y-beels and gazei intently into the darkness m in. direction Of the Confederate earthworAS How slowL.- dawn camel Indistinctly we saw moving figures Some on foot, reaT"aru hound. cswar,is hunting for safety; others on horseback riding to end fro near where We supposed the battle lines to be; then Orderhes and servants came in from out the darkness lsadin, horses, and We knew that the reisi- mental and brigade commanders were gong into action on loot
 FROM gHE THBEE-tSCH GUNS
 The darkness faded slowly, one by one the stars went out, and then the Confederate pickets opened fire briskly; then we could see the Confederate earthworls, about 6Oo yards ahead of us-could jus; sc them, and no more They were apparently deserted, not man was to be seen behind them. but 1t was still faint. gray light. One of our gunners looked over his piece and said that he could see the sights. but that they blurred We filed our sponge buckets with water and waited, the Confederate pickets firing briskly at us the while but doing no damage. Suddenly the Confederate works were manned We could sec q line of slouch hats above the parapet- Smoke in great puffs burst forth from their line. and shell began to howl by us Ihelr pllnners were getting the range. We spranS in and out from the three-iEch guns and re- rlie,I anc-rilv. To our left, tO our right, other batteries opened. and along the Confederate line cannon sent forth their balls searching for the range. Then their guns were silent.
 IL was daylight We, the light artillery men. were heated with battle. The strain on our nerves was over. In our front were two lines of blue-coatcd infantry. One well m advance of the other, aEd both sSIng down We were firing over them. The Confederate pickets sprang out of their rifle pits and ran back tO their main line of works. Then they turned and warmed the battery with long range rifle prastice, knocking man over here, killing another there, breaking the les of a horse wonder, and generally behaving m an exasperatinc manner The Confederate infantry was always much moro effective than their artillery, and the battery that got under the fire of their cool infantry always suffered severely. The air began to grow hazy with powder smoke We saw that the line of slouch hated heads had disappeared from the Confederate earthworks, leaving heads exposed only at long intervals Out of the powder smoke came an officer from the battle lines of infantry. He told us tO stop firing. as the soldiers were about to charge. He disappeared Co carry the mes sage to other batteries. Our cannon became silent. The smoke drifted off the field. noticed that the sun was not yet up
 CHARGING THE EARTHwORKs.
 Suddenly the foremost line of our troops, who were lying on the ground in front Of Us, sprang to their feet and dashed at the Con fetlerate earthwOrks at run Instantly those works were manned. Cannon belched forth a torrent of canister; the works giowed brightly with musketry; storm of lead and iron struck the blue line, cutting gaps in It. S,iU they pusbe,l on. and on. But, God. how many of them fell, They drew near the earthworks. firing as they went, and then, with n cheer. the first line of the Red division of the Second corps tBarlow'sl swept over it. And there in our front lay, sat and stood the second line. the supports; why did not they go forward and make good the victoryf They did not We could see their officers urre them. but the men sulked, or they were appaIlei bv the frightful losses the first line had suffered Al any rate, the men did not go forward Intensely excited, l watched the portion of the Confederate line which our men had captured. l was faintly conscious of terrific firing to our right and of heavy and continuous cheering on that portion of our line which was held by the Fifth and Sixth corps.
 For once the several corps had delivered a simultaneous assault, and l knew that 1t was tO be now or never. The powder smoke curled lOwly in thin clouds above the cap tured works Then the firing became more and more thunderous. The tSps of many bat tie fiags could bs seen indistinctly, and then there was a heavy and fierce yell, the thrill inc battle cry of the Confederate infantry fioated to us Can our men withstand the charger I asked myself. Quickly I was answered They came into sight clambering over the parapet of the captured works. All organization was lost They fed wildly for the protection of their second line and the Union guns and they were shot by scOres as they ran The Confederate infantry ap- peare,i behind their works and nimbly climbed over, as though intent on following up their success. and their fire was as the fury of hell. We manned the guns and drove them to cover by bursting shell. How they yelled. How they swung their hats And how quickly their pickets ran forward to their rife pits and sunk out of sight. The swift. brave assault had been bravely met and most | bloodily repulsed. Twenty minutes had not passed since the infantry hal sprung to their | feet and 10000 of our men lay dead or | wounded on the grUund.-Frank Wilkeson in | Chica~p Times