The National tribune., 1900-09-20


On his right. Wofford, following his sue
cess, beans to the eastward to take ii
flank the enemy's regiments that are hold
ing kershaw i'll check. 1t requires les
than an hour for the Ccnscf'Aratcs Il
achieve this success, which changes tn,
aspect of the conflict. They have TIVE
hours of daylight to take advantage of it
| The consequences of the loss of thi
| Orchard are as fatal 30 Barnes's Division
of the fifth Corps, AS to Humphreys. Til
ton brigade, BarneS's Diyision) has agaiI
| formed his line further up on the grouni
| which has already been captured from
him. rs on that occasion, his right wins
il without support. 1t is against this
| wing that Woiford, after the capture OF
| the Orchard, descends with all the intrep
idity that recent success has given TO his
soldiers. Tilton's Brigade, not yet recoy,
| cred from the combat IN which it has
| been engaged, succumbs under their eff
iogt. kershaw (being on Woffold's right
| Immediately takes advantage of it TO re,
sumo the offensive against Sweelzer's BTi
gade, Barnes's Division, and looks Bri.
| sade, Caldwell's Division, Second Corps;
Semmes, being on kershaw's right, joins
MIN. Sarnes's two brigades. hard pushed
IN front and in flank, are driven out of
the woods. Caliwelfs soldiers, who i'll
turn are placed in the same position, are
| moreover menaced on their left by Hood 5
troops, evacuate the wood and Wheat
field, tie Bloody soil of which is covered
with the dead and the dying. Hook is
killed; the losses are enormous. The Con
federates posted in the woods command
all its approaches; their artillery, descend
ing the slopes of the hiilock of the Or
chard, takes the Union:sts i'll Eank. Brooke
Second Corps charges it with his bri-
gade in vain; he is repulsed and seriously
wounded. The Federal line is irrevocably
broken, and all the forces which until then
held Longstreet in check, are unable to
reform it. Out of eight brigadcs brought
INTO action by the commander of the First
Confederate Corps, six are making des
perate attacks upon them. The Union
troops, most of them in complete disOr
Ger, fall back on the wooded billocks
which line the left bank of Plum Run.
But kelshaw and Summes, exhaust
ed in their turn, have halted in the woods
whence Barnes and De Trobriand have
been disiodged. Only two brigadeS have
passed over the Millerton Road. On the
left, that of Wofford pushes forward i'll
order to support Barksdale on the right"
In the meantime, what had Barksdalc
been doing? Had it been q question of
straight marching between Wofford and
Sarksdaie without opposition, the latter
would have arrived ahead of the. other,
the ground being more open and favorable
turned the scales OF victory to defeat over
the whole southern base of our line. Equal
~ would BaYhsdale have turned those
scales for the defeat of oUr whole army
had he rolled up Humphreys right wing.
THRILLING MOMENTS.
And now the last witnesses | shall
summon are Brewster, the commander OF
our brigade, and Humphreys, of our di-
vision. Though both are no longer in the
land of the living, their words and works
still survive. humphreys went through
the war after Gettysburg as Chief OF
Staff of the Array OF the Potomac and
later as the commander OF the Second
Corps, and both lived for some time after
its close.
When we executed the change Of front
which has been referred to, stragglers
remnants of the shattered ranks of Ora
haDD passed through our lines. Wit
them was Brewster, who had gone wit
his five regiments to help Graham, an
humphreys, who had gone to the from
with the larger Part of his division.
brewster, dismounted, turned in Wit
oar regiment and acted as a file close
with our own line officers. Humphreys
mounted, also turned in the rear of on
regiment, walking his horse up and dow.
our line. With them stopped Il few stray
Slers, it matters not how many, for Their
was only one regiment there and one Ula,I
10 command that regiment.
AS humphreys often crossed my path
as we were pacing up and down the linz
behind. more than once tried to converse
with him, FOR it seemed intolerabIe thai
our regiment should be exterminated while
Cars regiments seemed to be idle, neithe.
he nor Brewster opening their mouths
during that tedious combat. But BreWS-
ter ard Humphreys knew then what
could not know from our isolated position
that Carr was in extreme peril, and that
upon his maintenance of the position even
for a short half hour, depended the safety
OF the army, and to keep Barksdale from
his flank 1t was proper to allow a whole
regiment to be eXterminated; and brave
old heroes as they were, they stayed
there to die with US.
Fortunately, Hancock saw their peril,
and to him more than any other man is
due the credit of bringing to success
ful issue the combat of that day. / say
more than any other man, but at the same
time it is known hat our success was
mainly due to the individual feeling in the
army, doubtless inspired by Providence,
that ut any hazard the field must be won;
and it was won, thank God, for the sal
walton of the greatest Nation the world
has ever known!
DAsHiNG WARRIORS.
And now, my comrades, what else can
| say! | remember when the 100 guns
opened upon Us of turning my horse to OBJ !
serve the effect of their fire upon the regi- |
!nent. We were marching in close col |
umn massed upon the center, very
pretty mark to withdraw the fire Of ar |
tiliery from dePloyed lines. l saw the |
ranks closing to take the touch Of the |
elbow: and eyes of the men fixed upon me, |
expecting an order TO deploy-an order !
Seon given, and recalled at the instiga- |
ton of the brigade commander. | men
ton it as the last order received by me |
on that day.
You seemed proud of your men," said |
Lieut.. Gray. afterwards, recalling the |
scene. 1T may be So" replied; but |
distinctly remember groaning at the |
thought of taking care of the restless /
spirits who were always ridiculing my |
especially as to barricades |
and rife pits"
/ remembered the wild cry OF the regi- !
ment il the woods OF Charlottesville |
while charging TO find the line CT Jack |
son, and when found, the difficulty of |
stopping them even with the most say !
age threats. | knew precisely what they |
would do when ordered to lie down in Sc |
cure places. and / was not surprised that |
some OF them were shot down while
standing up TO brave the eremy's fire. !
But this | will say, that they marched |
with uafaltering step through all required
cyoiutious, ever into the very Jaws of |
b3atl with !