The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-07-15

MY recollections of service with N
army of the Potomac as a. reporter ofte
eeeiH IKE those of a play, a stirring re
rance or a memorable dream wa
iere' indeed, so fierce an Olympiad O
oiooa and iron? Had I any share in If
SHclnng turmoil? But at times / an
again young and light-hearted news
Taper man, doubtless sufficiently light O
I - Wluhali a war correspondent in tn
virginia campaign, longing to chronicl,
victories, too often forced to make tn,
oest OF needless defeats; always eager t.
oeat my friendly and able rivals of tn,
newspaper corps. Yes; L realize offer
tnat my experiences in the field. under
McDoweu, Mcclellan and their successors
with the ceaseless fatigue and liberty an6
1est OF action, made up something more
, silan one OF life's episodes. They lifted
me out OF the commonplace. They still
are what l would not have missed. and
M Mhat could never occur to me again
Inen successive pictures formed an indie
at5isvStip oie gallery in the brain, and still
s19u 70 the worth of those memories which
after al, constitute ones seIfhood '-iiO4i'
as cast about for some reminiscence
No MorIn aii attempt to interest others with
rls tellng OF 1t, a bit of art news in the
papers gives me the needed cJevI ~ ~ Tt
seems that ElwelFs colossal eCneS+,.;o, -
f51aLue 81 Major-(Ieneral Winfield Scott
tt1allcoeh IS ready for casting, and ere
IQhg VIII be set on top of Cemetery hill
az IeJtysburg. From the beginning Of The
ss.el,; t1tancock was notable among those
5 SSsoclaIed with him. But mis- public fame
!psesan, think, with accounts of the ha f.
tlS OF Williamsburg, fought on the nenin-
fhe ~ wen I'm tne York and James rivers
Witnessed his share in that DAVIS victory 1tto1
anu now recall what impressed me 50
mater of 1I1e tlIne almost as if it were
OF on sun, SUNDAY, the 4th of May, when Cen
S FL MCCLELLAN at last was ready to bonn
ssiG 4 orktown, Longstreet's corDs had
shhLluiIy stolen away from that entrenc l1,aCi
prdce ana It's line of peninsular defense
enc was retiring on Willian1el1l,rer I.,itI
our advanced column in fnII i,1r9,5g,+ WIN
H4sHOlall our cavalry, etc, had
FALLEN FOUL OF THE ENEMy,s
REAR,
discovered q new line of vvorlss s+-a+,,
bi3,,- across the isthmus below Williams
~. :, ana suffered a slight check tn tba
reconnaissance in force Furf1es- NJ, ~
b HieSs was not attempted. The infantrv
plsOuacked as they came IN a dri9zii ~
ram began, instantly making t11o q 1 LiIl5s
ana nelds almost impassable with ,H O&LS
Inc ne troops, exhausted and mostly ration
The NJ, Wv mat d contest was booked for
l say they went into bivouac. but ,vba+
e fal nlshL 9I misery Those who could Get
i iSellce rams. or even stones. to keen ttIei,
nIankets and themselves from sg;n LII |
il,to sHe Iueq were fortunate. No ciyilia5 |
seemed ssi@ r. Amy an mud is. 1t often |
norses, the passing of arfiIIer IJ1 1riq |
, ragon rs would make many sinkhoies IN y
rainy spring of 1921 II is ,i lrllu. IN me
ne open ground where our adVaneee ' boIe'
,e;,- vas Larm land, much of it pioWed.
1155lIy wheat helds stretched ne5r ~ -.
.Sslagfuoer as that large earthT1o,lIP or ~
4 - OF Williamsburg was called Tn M
Tha Ss,- dn9 morse alike sunk knee deem
nI,eo ~ oI me battle, and on this disrnai
plecsaln2 night every soldier tb u1StIl5t
III ~ MS munger, of the rain above ap5
11-srI,oS.,5 Ds.oM IMAM of his chances in fha
o,- ne battle of Williamsburg was not
Nt 9seb{{ a soldiers battle" but If was
q ngnt Carried on by several c6,,1r,o mds
eTs almost Independently of ono ar IllIdno-
5ncCleIlan not arriving on the fieIj 14:;;
mo ISsuit T. was decided Early MondsV
sseIs, a Mell-to-do farm house tvTn LII III
1--ol.5s " llnaInsburg and separated nv
eneTIS,,s rom ON the open ground along the
enemy 3 works. Here We're CSenaraI s. -
ner' the brave and stubhorp , S1 SUN
the me ranking officer, with HeintzeIT,aanl'
Eyes smith, Hooker and varions ean,
also you may be sure vera 1Tre,,d a.eLe !
spondents, who at such crisis r1a,7e o,,.
81 eSires stan officers by brevet, and plum
gu ourselves on permitting no orders - :
90 out, no important rl1oye 10 be 81 - ~ {
v B,Ithout our knowledge and consideratio,n,i
between headquarters and what
WAS TO BE THE BATTLEFIELD h
sstT1e5tched forest on either side the c
frr-S,l )
miles in length and half as brosJNs+riMt,o C
IlgIy adapted for the traditional nano- n
"a lama ma now SO obsolete, of a general en-
Sagement. Beyond the forts fbe 1,-ooI. I
again extended their cover oneniner oTII2 a
AZ spot through which WilliaTnsb,IrS, t
s. approached. Sluggish streams. crossed V
oy several dams, and rising near eac6 II
other emptied into the York river on or ~ C
lsht and the James river on our left a
especClVety- These with their marshes | n
n the tangled thickets formed a naf1 d
al defense on each side Of the confeder- a
tie redoubts. e
Sumner was. our. ranking officer. it is
rue. but on this day he certainly failed n
If his inherent vigor, for he did not snc d.
eed IN enforcing concerted action by the Of
unior commanders. I remember that "
AeyeS and Hooker'S forces with soma oil
eguIar cavalry and artillery. had come W
ID ana were neutrality-suspicious. 80 900 men m
2 all. At daylight picket firing began in If
he woods. 1T was useless to advance di- in
ectly upon the formidable central earth al
york, Fort Magrader. But Hooker felt | OF
be need of instantly attacking Long &C
treet and therefore undertook a flank
Movement through the jungle on our
stt, became engaged in a fierce battle
nd SUSTAINED the main conflict of the
ay- In those drenched and dismal woods
nd in the abattis strewn beyond them &c
e confirmed, with dire loss on his part til
Pq the f enemy his subriquet of he
BILE TO get his artillery INTO service eli
trough the swamp and thicket We to
new nothing OF the forces opposed to US
I. Z
Overing the retreat to Richmond or 81
neither the entire confederate army of ~
irginia held this second line of defense Mi
lockers fight was brave, logged, I'M "a
easing, murderous. All day long he III
alted for the support and reinforce -.
ents which would enable him to turn IN
ort Magruder. None arrived until the -,
id-afternoon. when Phil Kearny, with on
art of his division, came to his COM a.
Lde's aid, seeking the hottest fight to AZ A.,
I've the day, as he dIG again at Seven ~
Ines-Kearney, the eagle-eyed, brave of = 4
lie brave. impatient of delay, stupidity y
to bear a charmed life until one fatal g.
Wight at Chantilly. But as he reached ~
ooker, the battle had already been de-
rmined, and this sketch is concerned ny ny
ief1y with the Lax
PICTURESQUE INCIDENT Y
at marked its close. General w F. gu
NTH at noon was ordered to make the wi,
ntrai attack which was to be .feint /" | o,,,
General Winfield S. Hancock was as ~
yned flank movement against the en- s--
lys left, thought to, be the most haz-
douS movement of the day as it was ~
be made in ignorance of the ground III
d by a small and isolated force. 1t
is now afternoon and the weather was Ia
Il of dreariness and foreboding.
yer knew q more Wretched drenching
in. Every moment the mud grew deep
But Hancock, the handsome Murat
the army (pius the typical American ,
idity of mem and temper). then a brig
Ter general, with his little force of Wis
ssin, Maine, Pennsylvania and New ~.
rk regiments, and couple of bat 81
1000 men all told-passed
istiy to our right for a mile along the
mt covered bv-the forest from the
the hostile line of works Here there =
SoaS q AID ia aoye the narrow W. ea1sewaV will
wned an earthwork commanding it,
Ia fy1r