Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-05-15

the iron hail.storm Of December "a iss2.
ihe very spring ont Of which MANY 4 poor
soldier filled his canteen for the last time
etil bubbles on the right OF the road, be-
meath the roots of q great tree. Emerging
from tho run you are again on the plain.
ieaIs ago there was quaint. implanted
caoin over the fence. 100 Yards 70 the left.
On May 8, 1853. Just before charging the
heights, the sergeant~major, who writes
TINS report. took from the deserted cabin
"a volume OF Shakespeare over 200 years
OLD. The cabin is gone, and tobacco
Darn stands near its site. Hero, on TO the
r,nht, on the left Of the second rad. was
hexalner,s Battery. TWAS in front OF this
vVa,tery that the Twenty-sixth New Jersey
volunteers. of the Vermont Brigade,
formed for the assault upon the heights.
Inc plain Is much the same II was then,
covered with whea.-feids and meadows
lhere IL the railroad cut INTO which the
wounded crowded when the long charge
TO the heights was made Beyond il there
Is new railroad-the narrow-gaugc road
70 Orange Courthouse. II skirts the Con-
federste rihe-pits at the foot Of the steep
slope. up which the charge by the Vermont
brigade was made. OF 10 the right. seam
ing tho heights. You see the path down
winch the Napoleon guns. captured from
the Washington Artillery of New Orleans.
were drawn IN triumph.
Passing along the ridge we reach the
National cemetery. The graves OF 1900
dead lie IN the terraces rising from the
plain 10 the summit OF the ridge. Each
soldier, known or unknown, has his little
tombstone. The marble tablets stand In
ranks, as the volunteers themselves stood
when on dress-psrade. The American flag
floats above the shade-trees dotting this
encampment OF dead soldiers. Robins are
chasing each other between the tomb
stones. and the grass has livid-green
freshness.
Descend the ridge to the entrance of the
cemetery. Here is the beginning Of the
stone wall against which Meagher's Irish
Brigade was hurled. Most persons lm-
agine that 1t is upon bill. II really sup
ports the base of the hill. The Confede-
rate infantry dug the earth out from be-
hind the wall making IL an available
breastwork. The female college and the
Marye mansion are above 1T on the top Of
the ridge. The Confederate batteries were
planted along the road IN front OF these
buildings. There were hollows behind the
ridge for its whole length, where, horses
and caissons were sheltered from the fire.
What place for battery." shouted
the Sergeant In admiration.
wHKRy COBB WAS KILLED.
Look at this granite monument at the
marks the spot where General Thomas II.
Cobb. once Congressman from Georgia,
fell during the fight. He was the only
Confederate general of any note who was
killed
The wall itself is so high that any man
who reached il would find trouble in
climbing it, Here is the open space below
it where Meagher's Brigade and others in
the charging column formed after march
ing mp the streets leading to the river. 1t
must have been great sight to have seen
these streams of humanity forming on the
streets running parallel with the river and
then pouring up tie side streets TO form
columns IN this open space.
The whole space Is about thrice the size
of a baseball field. II was hopeless
fight from the beginning. The best troops
in the world could not have carried the
position. and no general acquainted with
the ground would have made direct at
tack at this point. The main road TO
Charlottesville ran through cut TO the
left Of the Marye mansion. Batteries
stood on each side of 1t. A Confederate
officer says that on the morning of the
18th General Lee. In riding along the lines,
called General LOugstreet's attention to the
fact that all of his guns We're not in posi-
ton. Longstreet replied Il have no use
for them. The guns already in position
will rake the plain below like fine-tooth
comb"
This officer. who was in the fight. says
that his comrades never could believe that
the Federals would make an assault here.
Their hearts sickened as they saw the
doomed men form and march TO their fate.
The buildings on the heights are little
changed. Most of them are of brick and
are freshly painted. The Marye mansion
is embowered in shrubbery. and the road
graded through the heights is as yellow
and as dusty as 1t was when the Union
troops marched over II after the capture
of the heights ON MAY 5. 1868.