Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-05-25

.,,,o.t ;arhsd out OF his hands as ball
snrs sbsough the cloth. He hung on man
s,,i,, and though the flag had twenty
s soy, bn,let-holes through II and was
s $500 ~ ont Of his hands. brought her
ont omtv sate NJ last. The Virginia Legislature
gave him a sword Of honor, and he wore II
until he fell.
TEMPORARY PANIC.
Wa had now been about seven hours In
action acme two OF this particular point,
asS ,ha etrain was intense. on on the
rirht one fellow sprang up, dropped ms
o,,n 10 trail, and made on back into ,ne
woods like q quarter horse. Inc panic iii-
stantly spread, and up and down .n ,I i me
men took 10 their heels. To tell tne
honest trnth. / gave leg bail myself;
hit At the second or third bound
a reyered and gentle voice, now long
silent. whispered reproach,, ana i
wheeled about and caught at the nearest
fugitive. He tore loose and half Knock
"a me over. A young officer ran up 70
the rescue. and IA he nailed one man
seized another. They, too, broke away;
The officer presented his sword 10 the mex.
mans breast, aud throwing n5 husAet
arms-a-port halted two. For one instant
there was rally; the next theS sui sou a
over us and made off as II the devll was
hebind them. What became OF the young
officer know not. thought might AZ
we'll be shot front as rear, ana walked oack
IN NV tree. Two or three of our men were
blazing away. The smoke was lifting q ut
tie and the enemy were preparing 10 az
vance Half a dozen heads had already
popped up out Of the timber. BACK OF tneln
their main line was reforming. III was not
more than half its original sizei nh1 ~
oolors. and otherwise showed marks OF inc
pounding il had received. IL seemed very
reluctant to advance. and IN few minutes
this hesitancv was explained. There was a
rousinp shout behind: our men had REFORM,
ed as suddenly as they had run away a1 an,
here thew came back at a double-qulck, yen
ING yociferously. Down they went again
behind the logs. and reOpened most vlgor-
ously MS if rather refreshed than other
wise by the scare. II makes me laugh now
TO think of the whoop gave as they cams
up. Ii would have done honor 10 70
manche. Hope was almost gone, an9 inc
sight once more of these brave men la i!,1
and the cherry ring of their guns was IKE
the breath of life.
PICTURE OF A. 2. HILL.
In the midst of the renewed uproar Gen;
oraI Hill came down the line. He stood
holt unriqht between the contendng fires,
looked around awhile, then went OIL TO the
left returned. and looked once more IN
tentlv into the timber az if TO say this nest
mist be cleaned out and finally went OIL
mn the Hne. Years afterwards i stood Dy
the grave of this valiant soldier III the
cemetery at Richmond. Naught marked
the spot but slab with "A. 7. Hill" ana
nothing but the twitter OF little Dirds
broke the solemn stiffness; but as Stoou
there | saw him as he stood that day,
erect. magnificent, the goo OF war hiusei'
amid the smoke and the thunder.
The order came to charge. Or how we
GOT M and went into and through that
folled timber no man can tell. 1t was con-
fusion worse confounded now leaping
from one tree-trunk TO another;. now run
ming along this, and then crawling under
the other. But if IL was hard for Us to get
in il was equally hard for the enemy 10 get
ont. Some rough work was done IN there.
The edge Of the timber looked as II ,cy-
clone had struck it. In every angle bodies
were huddled. In the smoke and confu-
sion / lost the regiment, ana kept on
ahead instead of right-obliqulng. A terri
fc roar and lar and hot breath az OF a
furnace warned me of the uncomfortable
proximity of a cannon. 1t was an enhia-
ding battery which our colonel had avoid
ed by right oblique
CLOSE OF THE DAY.
One artilleryman was sprlnging. 10 the
mouth of his piece. and another Tightening
ON the LANYARD Of his. Down went as Hat
as possible. and wished | was a mole. The
dirt. leaves, and sticks flew all about, but
| was so close the position was more terri
fying than really dangerous: | could see
the fire leap out of the muzzle, and very
unsatisfactory sight it was. A gray wave
swept up over guns and cannoneers, ana
the battery was taken. got up extremely
4. 81 art find tho TpUITn0uf-
After wandering about awhile | met the
Adjutannt, who directed me and exultant-
ly showed me magnificent dapple-gray he
had got at the battery. / told him believed
| would go up there and get horse myself,
but on the way met the regiment.
After cleaning out the timber we had no
more fighting. The Federals brought up
some fresh troops, and COlston's brigade
was put in to meet them. We lay down
behind Colston, ready to rise and reopen II
needed, but no further close quarters en-
sued. The enemy coontented himself with
peppering away till dusk. The battle was
over. and about dark we marched back
into Williamsburg and slept there that
night. resuming our march shortly before
day.
That Williamsburg was a very stub
ornly-contested action is unquestlOnable,
and it is also true that the loss on both
sides was heavy, the proportion OF fatal
casualties being unusually great; but there
can be no question but that the Confede-
rate troops fully accomplished the object
for which the battle was fought. That OBJ
iect was to hold back McClellan's advance,
and, despite the most strenuous and per
severing efforts of his division command
ers. this was done. The Federal forces
were not only prevented from advancing,
but were steadily driven back throughout
the day. SALEM BUTCHER.