The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-01-11

"tle OeSlieV W pawn IuS"A w
in the act of advancing, and to form,
thus armed, the head of the storming
party. The 44th regiment dsobeyed
the orders given to them. They led
us, indeed, into the field, but they left
all their implements behind them, as If
no such implements had been needed.
On our left again, General Kean, with
his column, was commanded not so
much to attempt anything serious, as
to divert the attention of the enemy
by demonstrations. In case, indeed,
any unlocked for opportunity should
occur, he was expected to avail him.
self of it; but the great end which he
was designed to serve, was that of dis
tracing the enemy's councils, and
divertlng part of their attention
from US.
l have said that long before we ar
rived within musket-range, the day had
begun to dawn upon us. The same
light which exposed us to the view of
the enemy, served to inform Sir Edward
Pakenham that one of his most i'm
portant directions had been disre-
garded, and he instantly dispatched an
aid-de-camp with orders to Colonel
Mullins to lose no time in remedying
the evil. But before the aid-de-camp
came up, the enemy had opened their
fire, and the 44th, broken and dispersed,
had become completely unmanageable.
Nothing now remained but to press
forward at once, with the regiments
which still preserved their order. We
advanced at double quick time, under
fire which moved US down by whole
sections, and were approaching the
ditch, when suddenly regular lane
was cut from front to rear of the col
umn. There was thirty two FOUNDER
gun exactly in our front. This the
enemy filled up to the very muzzle
with mu>ket balls, and laid it with the
incest accuracy. One single discharge
served to sweep the centre of the at
tacking force into eternity. In the
whole course of my military career, |
recollect no such desperate and imme.
date slaughter as then. The 2lst,
which led the way, was broken at once;
the corps which followed were not in
much better order; but we still pushed
forward, and, at last, about two or
three hundred OF us gained the ditch.
1t was in vain that We did cur best to
mount the parapet. The works were
not, indeed, very high, nor the ditch
deep, and had we been more numerous,
without doubt we should have passed
them; but the soft earth gave way
with us, and rs often as we succeeded
in arriving near the summit, we regu-
larly slid down again. Satisfied at
last, that till further support should
arrive nothing could he done, we shell
tered ourselves as we were best able,
and kept quiet.
Whilst thus resting, as it were com
paratively safe, was enabled. by look
ing back, to obtain a tolerably correct
view of what was going on. Our col
umn remained where it had at first
been checked, and was now mere
mass of confusion. Between it and us
the ground was literally covered with
the dead; they we're SO numerous, that
to count them seemed impossible; but
what astonished me above all things,
was to behold General Kean's brigade
in full march across the plain, and
hurrying to the support of that which
had suffered SO severely. General
kean is as brave an officer as any in
the service; and beyond all doubt, his
zeal and bravery tempted him to take
the step; but never was any step taken
more imprudently, or with less judg-
ment The advance OF his own corps,
consisting OF the light companies Of the
7th and 93rd, with one company of the
43rd, had already stormed and taken a
six gun battery upon the road. Had
General kean supported them, instead
of seeking to support us, there cannot
be doubt that the American lines
would have been forced in that quarter.
But he did not support them; and
these brave men, after having main.
tanned themselves in their conquest
till they had been almost cut to pieces
were compelled to retreat. His arri.
val, besides, in this part of the field
only added to the general confusion
a desperate attempt was, indeed, made
to renew the chargc,-but Sir Edward
Pakenham having fallen, General Gibbs
b, ing borne mortally wounded to the
rear, and General kean himself dis
abled. the attempt failed of success
Both columns wavcred, retired and, a,
last, fed.
In the meanwhile our little corps
with few struggling fires of the rifle
men, continued to occupy the enemy:
ditch. Not willing to surrender al
once, we endcavored, in conjunction
with the advance of the column, tC
force our way within the lines; ant
about 20 men succeeded, | believe, il
tt attempt; but of the circumstance:
which attended their capture, for cap
turel they all were, | know nothing
| | had clambered to the top of the para