The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1897-01-07

regard to it?'' inquired Ames mo, =
replied Terry. "You understand ths
situation and what it is desired to ac
complish. I leave everything to you
! discretion. =
Isl went to the rear at least twice,
! says Carleton. and saw Terry, report
! ing the condition of affairs as they We're
and he told me he had no Instruction.
for Ames. intimating that he left ev
erything to his Judgment !
sThe only other order Ames received
during the battle was in these words
General Terry orders that you make
one more effort to capture the fort, an6
if you fail to retreat This order was
delivered to Ames by staff officer some
hours later.
ION the first order General Ames act.
ed in the successive steps Of the prolong-
ed struggle during the rest of the day.
He twas who directed the battle, shar-
ing the exposures with his officers and
men and inspiring them with new cour-
age by his GOODNESS and self possession.
When ready to advance in order to di-
rect and lead the assault, the general
said quietly to his staff. Gentlemen,
we will now go forward As soon as
he and his staff appeared on the level
place In front Of the fort the enemy Sc
lected this bunch of officers for tar
get. Ames, noticing the circumstance,
said, We had better separate somewhat
from each other. Before this could be
done Captains Dawson and Keller were
hit, Dawson dying Of his wounds. The
writer Of this paper received a severe
confusion on the head, disabling him for
some time. Ames was thus left with
but two Of his personal staff, Carleton
and Matthews, and Carleton was the
only one to accompany him when he en-
tered the fort and the only one not either
killed or wounded during the assault. !"
Colonel Lockwood narrates in detail
the charge of Curtis brigade into the
fort. This splendid achievement gave
the division foothold. Pennypacker' s
brigade had followed closely upon the
heels Of Curtis and Ames placed himself
in front of it. In passing the palisad-
ing Colonel Pennypacker fell wounded.
This column was met with murderous
fire, but succeeded in joining Curtis,
and the two brigades fought together
along and on the parapets. Bells bri-
gade moved forward over bridge that
had been repaired. The leader fell NOR
tally wounded. Two brigade command
ers were down and the third was about
to fall.
EAT this time, - says Colonel Lock-
wood, "the herculean General Curtis,
who had been fighting with his men
all the afternoon, approached General
Ames, who was standing on the interior
plane Of the fort some little distance
from the left bastion. Ames was en-
gagged in giving some general instruc.
tions as to the battle when Curtis sud-
denly threw up his arms and fell to the
ground. He had been struck in the eye
by fragment Of shell.
AT last Ames stood within this cir
cult Of fire amid the fragments Of his
division. Every brigade leader and al
most all the regimental commanders
had fallen, as well as the most Of his
personal staff. Until the close Of the
action the general remained there, fight
ing among his men. No advice to re-
treat, no suggestion to postpone the en-
gagement to the following morning,
found a listening ear with him. 'Ad-
vancel Drive the enemy from the
works. were his repeated orders.
''It was now quite dark, but the bat
tie was not ended. At some points the
brigades were mixed up. Here it was a
soldiers fight. The men would get to-
gether for charge, then rush up trav-
erse and over. When they came against
the enemy, it was cold steel or the butt
Of a gun. At 8 o'clock, however, gen.
eral assault was made, and the garrison
Of the fort fell back in retreat along the
sea face, the rear guard keeping our
forces engaged as they advanced in the
darkness as far as Battery Buchanan. :"
Battery Buchanan was an outlying
work of Fort Fisher and had been de-
serted by its fighting men during the
battle The wounded of Fort Fisher had
been carried there for safety after dark.
The Confederate General Whiting and