The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1895-03-07

hold gained, and the battle on the rlgh
ceases for the night. 1t is $50 o'clock
Then we begin to gather up thu
prisoners. One, two, and half dozer
in squad our boys bring them in. A
bright, smart, straight, fne-looking
young Virginian came in close by me
and the first question we asked him was
"How many men have we been fight
ing?"
The reply was: " "Johnson's Division
of at least 1000 muskets actually pres
ent in the attack"
One thousand two hundred muskets
against 1000, we said to ourselves; and
again we thanked God for the breas-
works. Such was the seeming chance,
such was the providence of God which
saved the Republic at Gettysburg.
AS Gen. Meade hardly mentioned this
affair in his original report of the battle,
and did it scant justice in bis supplement-
ary report, and as it has never been ade-
quately apprehended and stated by any
writer, so far as / know, / may be per-
nitted to try and give the exact facts in
full.
The left of our brigade was about so
rods from the Baltimore pike, and the
right was nearer. We had no support
whatever.
IN THE FIRST CHARGE
the right flank of the attacking column
was about opposite the center of our
regiment-that is, about 80 feet from
the corner. Bearing in mind this fact,
Que standing on the spot will see at once
that if our brigade had not been left,
there would have been no obstruction
other than that of the picket-line be-
tween Johnson's Division and the Balti-
more pike, and then he could easily have
reached this by 7:30. Or had there been
no breastworks, our line must have given
way inevitably, and the same result
would have followed. Once on the pike,
the rebel General would have been full in
the rear of one-third of our army, firmly
planted on the center Of the chord of the
arc, upon which that portion of it was
posted. How quickly he could have
captured that third under such circum-
stances, and what would have been the
effect upon the whole army, one can
easily imagine.
About midnight our corps and divis-
ion commanders came back, leading the
balance of the corps; and, stumbling
upon the rebel pickets, found out what
had taken place; of which, up to that
moment, they were entirely unaware.
Thereupon dispositions were made to
recover our lost defences and position.
Ammunition was brought up and dis
tributed, and sleeping ON our arms in
the pale, cold moonlight sitting through
the trees, we awaited the morrow. Il
About $3.50 o'clock the next morning
the dropping fire Of the skirmishers On
our right aroused us, and, shortly after,
booml boomli went the cannon, and
the battle was fairly renewed. From
that time until o'clock in the afternoon
there was
CONTINUAL ROAR OF MUsKETgY
along the line of the corps. By 10
O'Clock, after severe struggle, We had
repossessed ourselves of our whole line
Of breastworka 1t was after this success
ful movement On our part that Gen.
Ewell uttered Of the story told is true) his
celebrated proiane vow, that he would
water bis horse in that (Rock) creek or
in he'll Nor was it an idle threat. He
made every exertion TO fulfill it. Massing
his troops, he hurled them again and
again upon the coveted position. But
this only resulted in wasting precious
human lives At the angle in our breast
works, where they turned squarely to
the right, and ran off down toward the |
spring, | saw three dead rebels lying |
across each other in pile; and close by, |
along the slope, on place about 80 feet |
square, as counted them, lay "a more.
A company seemed to have been struck |
down at one fire. Lieutenant. Sergeant,
Corporals, privates, Lay. there as they had
fallen, like swath in meadow. A few
rods to the left from this spot is the |
place where Gen. Johnson's Assistant
General, Col. Leigh, was slain.
1t was somewhere about ii o'clock in
the forenoon when body of the enemy,
while charging to carry our lines, got SO
far up into that hollow and slope ip-
closed by our cross-fre, and were SO out
of reach of all support, that escape or
attack were alike impossible,
and upwards of 200 of them threw down
their arms and surrendered. Seeing this,
Col Leigh, being exceedingly angry $50
the story was current among us at the
time), rode his horse straight into where
he saw them surrendering, not having
any adequate sense of our breastworks
and position, and both be and his horse
were riddled with bullets AT the anni-
exercises in 1893, / met there a
man VINO was by the body after the battle,
and especially remembered the bowlder
just by where it lay, and he refreshed
my memory by determining the exact
spot, as We conversed there together. /
am frank to say that | wish the name of
Col Leigh could be engraved upon that
bowlder, to mark the place where brave
soldier fell, just the same as a stone
marks the place where Gen. Barksdale
fell, hard by the clump of trees which |