The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1894-02-09

- ~-.~ .-~ss-,a,. ss-s~,-~- -
in the sors east of tho cut. In the brush
around ~ woshs wers l5O slSir1ai isheps of
the Eixhssea4A wisconsin. General Corse
sent over 30 The ssss ridge $50 of the Twelfth
lllsnoie md 10 ct she Fftic$h 10 be held
in reserve behind sAe works ready 10 move
anywhere ~ call On the west ridge 800
1llinoirms of ths Ninety third were seat
tered - piskess and picket reserves all
ground tho senicirele The seventh Hi
nois, 967 strong, and the Thirty ninth Iowa.
aumb boring 80, formed a line of tr,t-ie on
. spur Of the vest ridge IN the pits and re.
doubts covering the main fort.
FDsnsh plahsed u pieces of artillery on
the south of the cut to sweep its whole
lauRth and bomb bard the ridge rs we'll
A brigade OF Missou.ians under Colonel
Cockerell and one Of North Carolinians AID
Texans under General Young climbed the
steep activity Of the west ridge to storm
the main fo-t, and General Sears Mssissio-
plans marched sauarely around the pass 70
the north and destroyed the railroad and
telegraph, SO IS TO isolate the garrison com
pletely. That done, French summoned
Corse to surrender In order to save need
less effusion of blood" allowing five min.
utes for deliberation. Corse replied at once
that he was prepared for theneedlcSs elIu
sion of blood whencvcrit was agraeabe"ta t.
General French. He told his men to pre-
pare for the worst. The ditci, outside the
main fort was filled with rifiemen, and three
companies of the Ninety third Illinois were
posted in trench overlooking the store
house In the cut, with orders to keep the
enemy's torch.nen away from it ut all haz-
nrus The moment the saucy reply Of the
garrison commander reached French he
gave the signal for an assault all along ths
line Emerging from the woods on the west
ridge and threading the tangled abetis and
felled timber, Cockerells Missourians ana
Young's Texans dashed forward, Their
lines swept by the fire from the pits and
the fort. The Thirty-ninth Iowa and tn.
Seventh Illinois bore the brunt of the first
attack. Two companies OF Iowans were far
to the front skirmishing, three companies
were posted in observation on u knoll out
side the works, and three companies lay in
thetrenches. French lines overlapped the
defenders. and the Iowa shirnlishers with
their supports were driven back on a tan
gent Colonel Redfield and four lieuten-
ants were killed, scores Of men were killed
and wounded, and Il few survivors got back
to the main fort. The three companies lying
in the rifle pits were overrun by Il heavy
massed column of Confede.ates, and all but
nine were killed, wounded or captured. The
color guard stood out until the last man of
them was bayoncted The color compan es
having been dispersed, the flag fell into the
hands of the Confederatcs The fighting
was chiefly hand to hand, with bayonets,
stones and dubbed rifles, and was desperate
to the extreme.
Out OF six Iowa officers shot down five
We're killed, and out of s6 men hit 35 lay
dead on the field. Colonel Redfield was
shot four times. The Seventh Illinois,
fighting beside the 1owans, suffered equal
slaughter and lost G7 wounded and 81
killed outright. The bloody work on the
west ridge lasted over two hours. In the
heat OF it Corse sent an aid across the cut
to the east fort for help, and the Fiftieth
Illinois reached the west fort just as the
hard pressed fragments of the Seventh and
Thirty-ninth sot back to the shelter Of its
walls. Before the assailants Of the west
fort could recover from the staggering
blows delivered by the Iowans and Illinois
ans and form Tor q regular assault the para
pets and trenches OF the works were lined
with men. Even the rough ground, the
rocks, ssumpS and logs outside the forS
sheltered marks1nen waiting ooolly for the
onset. Whom it came, it was terrible, and
the fire poured in on tho north, south and
west forces Of the work, sweeping the bitches