The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-05-23
Qhe 2ntfllialente,.r..
nt.es Nos. 10 and " Foartscnth Street.
FIGHTING THEM oyEll,
a Was story OF Interest to tho Twelfth,
N West virginia Volunteers, tilJfff.

eWg. lcoNriRrED fRoa YsrERpAY.l
Allght bombardment OF Gregg enaue
and then In solid columns Gibbon
men nurged against Gregg. The battl
ments were wreathed in smoke, and h
men went down by the hundreds. I'll
smoke waited, and from Wbi.wos.h "
could SEQ tho ground strewn with many
b!ue'ciad fellow, while tho rear was fu
9! iugitives. Again and ngain came RI,
III hiring, and Gibbons men iecoiled,
second and third attempts wee likewis
beat OF, with tremendous loss 10 tn
Federals. Each defender has two O
more rifles at hand, and while the rea
rank loaded them tho front rank hand
leu them with most deadly execution
In fact the rapid firing conveyed tho ide
mat the defenders had repeating.ritlee
Alter n short lull another column Il
due came charging boldly to tho IRON,
This was the brigade OF Gen. w. b. Cur
lis, known as the Second Brigssde, Jude
pendent Division. Twenty.iourth Corps
consisting OF the 9th Pa, SD III. nnt
the 18th W. Va, General Curlis's owl
reRlmenO, the latter regiment leading
md being, with General Curtis, the Nrs
to tho fort. g5 Hf5
| When they reached the moat. the,
found 1t full OF Federal soldiers, who hat
sought safety there from the deadi,
swatch Of bullets. Nothing daunted BY
the terrific slaughter OF their comrades
these brave men swarmed mp by cling
ing to the sides Of tho ditch and by push
ing each other up. AS the first raised
themselves to the parapet they were
swept away to man by rapid volieys
and rolled back dead and wounded
among many others Of their comrades
distinctly remember seeing stand Of
United States colors thrown up and into
the Tort BY tho Federal Ensign. It was
done to stimulate tho men, and did it;
for by combined effort they swarmed
up, around and over the fort, and poured
in a volley which killed aud wounded
about 10 Of the defenders. General
Curtis then commanded "cease firing"
and Captain Jones lat present our ell.
Client Chancery Clerk surrendered the
fort to him, Colonel Duncan having
previously been wounded in the head.
Thus Fort Gregg was lost, as was two
OF our regiments, and Harris's brigade
was reduced to about 200 men. AS our
men were marched TO the rear they lad
to pass over the front OF Fort Gregg,
and witnessed the terrible realities Of
the attack, and they declare that the on
slaughts Of Fredericksburg, the Wilder.
ness, and Spottsylvania were as naught
to it. -
The Federal loss is estimated from
Fedora! sources 10 be about 700, some
estimates placing itaboye 1000. Gem
ernl Grant, in his "Memoirs," places it
at III, believe. Some Historians" say
that the fort was So obstinately defended
that only thirty OF its defenders were left
alive. This is inaccurate, as the loss did
not exceed seventy men. While the as
sault on Gregg was in progress, we in
DatteIy Whitworth We're ilett not Idle.
We piled our loug-raugo rifles with some
effect on the solid column Of Gibbop,
A Georgia battery Of Parrott guns was
placed in this battery to assist in the
haycs lbecn in Jericho AZ there for
their fire of riiled shell and shot were
utterly useless. A few Napoleons would
have accounted Tor themselves in short
meter. I glanced at piece inst at nv
right, and, though not n nraci;cal .rI;I.
leryman, i had sense enough of tle arm
to know about its elrscti yeness II nron.
erly used l noticed parlicnlarly two
shots from the piece The rapcs w u%s
about GOO yards, and the elevation If ihe
piece was enough to throw tile bali one
mile; the shells exploded HIGH in Ihe mir
and beyond the columns of attack Wa
vented our displeasure Mt such mo,ts.
manship, and freely expressed our on;n.
ion as to "what sort Of stuiI constituted
proper artillerymen," Why. in fact
these fellows wadJed their ,,irces wh;Ie
on their knees, and when nm onler
came to move to the rem thew did so
with so much baste as 10 oyerturn one
OF their pieces at tho gorge and we had
to put it on its lccs'' again. A good
battery there would have been worth
1000 men, as the column was easily on.
tiladed. as soon as Gregg fell va NJ
Whitworth saw that .'our turn came
next" and eirdetl our lions for the frov
The flag Of the 4Sth Miss. fIoated ahnve
us, ana many balls pierced its folds that
day. and twice was It shot from ;ts staff
The third time it was attached to n Yj5je
and deGantly Haunted in Tho faces of
our assailauip. Gen. Harris mounted
the parapet and waved the fac over orr
heads aud shouted, "Giye 'em hcli
boys" tried 10 give some one hell a.
leaned against sappliny sunnort hut
caught it myself, ns n bali strurl Il and
made mo ",ired" Of the aiiray
The column that attacked Fart Whit.
worth in conjunction with the assault
on Fort Gregg was led by Brio Cen S r
NJ. Harris, whose commission was thcn
only five days old. His command con-.
sisted OF the 10th, :ll.h, l5th w Va
9th Pa, 3lth Mass, llGth and 1eSd
Ohio, and the came tumbljnr over ,be
works .'like they were in n hnrrv ahant
something's" or as Gen. Harris u s A.
writes. "that We seemed ehy oI,e,,t onah