Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-11-10
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
THE HELENA eNeAeEmANT.

THE HELENA ENGAGEMANI l..
One of the Last and B1oodiest Battles OF
the Civil War.
OF all the battles that We're fought in
the southwest during the war, that al
Helena, Ark, on July 4, 1868, ranks as
high as any, every thing considered.
Not simply because Helena, with all its
government property was saved. but
because the confederacy on that day re-
ceived its death blow. The main at
tack of the enemy was made on the Lit
lie Rock road, where they staked every
thing on enforcing an entrance. They
captured Battery c and drove the gal
liant Thirty-third Iowa from its sup
port; but when our other batteries and
infantry got a cross-fire on them they
had to abandon their dearly-won prize,
for at this point they left the most OF
their men on the field. Our pickets
were driven in at $50 a. IN. and the
fight lasted til II a. m, when the enemy
retired, wiser and considerable less in
numbers With our little band of only
three thousand Ave hundred actually
engaged on the field, we killed, wound
ed and captured almost our equal in
numbers. and drove the enemy pell-
nell from the field, and saved those
commissaries from falling into the
hands of the enemy; and all with
small loss in comparison to that of the
foe.
We were not caught mapping, for we
were in line, with stacked arms, three
mornings previous, at $3.50 o'clock, and
when the pickets were fred on the
fourth morning, we were up and ready
for the fray, with eighty rounds to the
man to start in with, and it did not
take us long to get from camp to the
front line From the best information
we could get from intelligent prisoners
land afterward as a prisoner myself |
Learned that we had six times our num-
Der to contend with; at least we had
the entire trans Mississippi department
to fight They admitted that Holmes
left one-ffth of his entire division dead
and wounded on the field. About $50
our gallant commander came galloping
up to his headquarters on his almost ex
hausted steed, to exchange for fresh
one that was standing ready. The
prisoners we had captured were going
aboard the only steamer that was at
Helena that day. when the captain of
the boat informed our commander that
he could not put all those prisoners on
his vessel. The general replied:
Store them in the hull!"
When the vessel was stocked full,
from the hull to the top of the pilot
house, she steamed up and started for
Memphis, while the cannon were yet
booming
When we turned our eyes toward the |
river and beheld the prize, a mighty |
yell went up from the Yanls that could |
be heard above the roar of the heavy |
siege guns at Fort Curtis, gunboat Tyler,
mortars and field pieces. helped to
bury the dead, and some of those ravines
were SO full Of dead bodies we just dug
trenches and rolled them in. Every |
canteen we examined contained whisky |
and gunpowder, and the dead confed- |
crates were as black as Negroes, and |
very much decomposed. 1t was a hor-
rible task. One thing was very much
in our favor-we had for commander
a man who was in the army for pure
patriotism; one who had the entire re-
spect of every soldier under his com
mand, and after the wounded and dead
were cared for he called around him his
little band of soldiers, and with smile
on his countenance for those around
him, and tears in his eyes for the dead
and wounded, he told us he hoped soon
to lead us across the state, and drive
the enemy therefrom; but it was not to
be, for in short time he was relieved
Of his command r, Gordon, in Toledo
Blade.