Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-06-02
CHAPTER I.

y
The day and date is the a1ss Of July,
Tho srrnr Is tho battle-ground of firA
nail Run. field made memorable for
ever.
From daynreak TO high noon the Fed.
,-aI prniv under Mcdowell has beer
,nrrinr down on the Confederate posi-.
,.,r selected weeks ago by the generals
AM in IN, strategy of war. On the TANKS
l,,gadcs have grappled in the open
s.LIs. regiments have dashed ut each
,,ber in the forests aud thiCkets. Here
little ground has boon gained, there a
g,tlp lost. IL has been the skirmishing
which prtccdcs every battle, locating the
encmv. testing his readiness, drawing
hi. strrngth and uncovcring his designs.
The hour is high noon. The Confed-
crate front has been pressed back. the
Lft wing shattered. Men looking down
an the battlefield from the hills of Gen.
tar,ilu have every movement in plain
view. At - O'Clock the battle is won
for the Fcderals. Bee, Barstow and
Evans. who have held the Confederate
cfu,rr. have been beaten back by Burn
side. :, kcs and Porter. They give way
Slowly and grudgingly, fighting rs they
break back, and they are trying to rally,
when there is a CHATTER Of bayonets be-
us fixed to muskets, and thousand
men rush forward ut the double quick.
Il Is The New York Twenty-seventh, and
Colonel Slucum leads it, the first bayonet
charge Of the war-"Forward! For
warl," And the wedge drives into tho
Confederate center and rolls the frag-
mrut. right and LETT.
The cheering is heard a mile away
above the noise of battle. The Federal
center moves forward to pursue the shat
tartd enemy, and couriers ride away
with the news, I'VE have pierced the
Confederate center and won the day."
Behind the flying Confederates is a
plateau of 500 acres, comprising two or
three farms. There are two or three
,armhuuses, orchards, meadows, thick
els ot pine, barren fields. Here is Stone
wall Jackson with 1000 men in reserve.
The fragments of brigades. regiments
and companies are hurled back to the
slopes OF this plateau to be rallied
and reformed behind the reserves. Cou-
riErs ride away to Besuregard to ask for
morc artillery, infantry and cavalry,
and while the Fedcrals pause TO replen-
i,h their cartridge boxes and gird up
their loins for q last struggle 5000 fresh
Conicderates are hurrying forward to
the plateau.
Noun becomes / o'clock. The Skin
mish"rs are Mt work all along tho front
Of the plateau, but there is no fighting.
Another hour slips away. The Fed
erals have waited too long. At moon they
could have Carried the position with a
rush. At | o'clock they would have met
with stubborn resistance. but victory
would have perched ON their banners.
Now rs the FCdcrals are ready to move
the Confederate 5000 have become TO-
600, and their 10 pieces of artillery
have become 90.
y majority of the troops arc fresh
and their nerves mistaken, and all IRE
ready for the grapple.
Thirteen thousand Fedcrals move
AGAINST the plateau ut different points
almost a. one man, and the battle opens
with great crash. Under General
dacEsoa's Immediate orders AFRO i've or
siN regiments. On the right Of his line
Is Virginia regiment. On the right of
mat regiment IL n company from the
Shenandoah valley. They have not been
IN action yet. As the Fedcrals move
NJ tc the attacl; Ricketts, Federal bat
terry '1vporte4 ~ Minnesota rcgi.