The National tribune., 1902-07-31

to day as the lines were drawn tighter and
tighter around the doomed city. Under
date of May 80, Lieut.. Burt wrote:
"This is the 18th day of the siege, and
the rebels still hold the city. We cannot
get in yet, so as to secure them all prison.
ers. and they cannot get out, for we have
them entirely surrounded, our army being
intrenched on all the surrounding hills,
from 200 to 1000 yards from their line of
forts and rifle pits, and our gunboats IN
the river. We have driven them from
Haynes's Bluff and all their outer works,
opened communication via fazoo river
with Young's Point, so that we have pleh-
tiful supplies, and can stay on these hishis
lust as long as Gen. Grant thinks best.
.The rebels may have three days, three
weeks. or it may be three months ratlohs'
hut these cannot last always. ferhaps
they think they will be reinforced or or they
can cut their way out, but they Will Ian
in both. We can prevent elthef; no, ;,.. :,
"A charge was made on the 22d inst, IN
which our brigade participated, Col. Cnarles
r. Woods commanding. but our FORCES
could not carry the works, the ground was
so unfayorable, and they were repuisSsu
with considerable loss. You have propaDis
heard all of the particulars ere thls. lne
\ 18th was not in the charge, as we were
holding very important position on u
biyh hill on the right, near the bend OF the
river. which commands two roads where
fhe rebels would be most likely to try TO
cut their way out. Our regiment mas oc-
cupied this position since the second ia!
of the siege, and has been practcihg sharp, 2,
shooting at the rebels all the time, until
the Johnnies hardly dare 10 nu raise art;Il I'LL
heads above their rifle pits. Their artil-
Iery seems TO be silenced, as they nave
fred only few shots for several days
along the line as far as we can see 10 Tue
left. We have two 3O-pounder Pafrotts
and six 6-pounders on the hill we occupy,
from which we can give their WORKS an
enfilading FIRE. At first they had cotton
hales nut up around their guns to protect
fhe punners, but our shells soon knocked
them TO pieces and set them on fire, SO
they found King Cotton would not answer.
"Since we have been here We have lost
one killed Gieut Charles Luther, one sup
uosea 10 have been mOrtally wounded, nav
ing been shot through the head; passins
close behind both eyes, but still hvins'
rational and doing well-James Taverner,
Co q. and seven wounded, as follows:
Corp'l Otto Uhlendorf, Co. i, hand, slight;
Moses S. Harrison, Co. d, thigh, severe;
George Spellman, Co. D, head, slight;
Frank Streper, Co. A, severe; Leonard
Cook, Co. g, upper lip. stlgnt; Miehaei Sadars
III. !
% H hin. severe The several wounded
have been sent to hospital boat. . =,
"Iieut. Luther was killed by rlfe pail.
which struck to the right of his mouth ana
passed out at the back of his neck. ne
was watching the effect of the shots Oh
our Parrott guns on the rebei Works a. 'Hs
,fme. He never spoke AGAIN, and dled IN
ehout 20 minutes. His bereayed faIniiy
have the sympathy of the host OF, warm IN
friends he made in the 10th regiment: ne
was faithful officer, and gave his NE ior
II have now told you where we are,
and what we are doing; now l VIII give
you a brief account of how we got here'
MARCH TO vIcKsBURG.
"On the morning of the 18th we ad-
yanced two miles. when we came 10
bridge, across a deep ravine, that the reDeis
had set on FIRE: h Ineir ont snafpsnuydet foppmard to
make a bridge and cut the banks Tor a
road. and a considerable skirmish followed,
lasting half an hour, in which Ia men OF
our division were killed or wounded, when
the rebels retired, and we crossed the ra
vine and found several Of their dead ana
wounded. IL. j.
mile to a plantation, we came in slght OF
the rebels, who seemed disposed to make
stand. but as soon as they saw our forces
In line of battle they skedaddled. Ad-
yancing a mile further, we came to
bridge that had been torn down, but
road was made in the banks of the ravIne,
and we crossed and bivouacked on the
other side. The men had drawn but little
over half rations, and they went for every
thing they could find on the plantations.
There was not much Growing OF cmcKens
there the next morning, and the NUMBER OF
bows that were feshy about the eyes mace
it probable that there were not many pee
hives in the neighbOrhood filled with money.
.sThe next morning (Monday, May ls)
we took road leading TO the Haynes
Bluff road. and when about noon we had
got within FIVE miles of Nicksburg, ana no
cannonading had been heard, the opinion
began to prevail that the rebels were gong
to give up the city, and some talked quite
confidently of taking supper there; but
when we had advanced mile or two far
ther the first booming of cannon was
heard to the 'front.' and our division was
turned from the Vicksburg road to a cross
road leading to the river, and our batteries
soon opened on the enemy's first WORKS
and an artillery fight was kept up nnti
night, and at intervals through the nlght
''In the morning it was discovered that
the rebs had evacuated their works anC
fallen back to another position. Moving
ND TO their evacuated works, we found our
selves once more in sight of the Missis
Eppi. We were glad TO see IL, iOr IL DtouSH
hopes of full rations, having had but three
days rations to do us seven days. hearc
q good many of the boys offering 70 cents
for hard cracker, without succeeding II
getting it. But that afternoon they got
few, with a promise Of more as soon a:
they could be brought from the boats OF
the Yazoo.
''In the afternoon the fight became gen
eral all along the lines, and about O'CLOCK
d. m. the 10th ran the blockade of thu
rebel batteries, passing along at the foo
of the river bluffs and to the top of thu
hills we now occupy, with the loss of onl!
one man severely wounded-James Taver
ner The enemy fell back about mil,
during the day, before our division. Col
Charles r. Woods is becoming very popu
lar with the officers and men Of the bri
gade he is commanding, and enjoys The
confidence of Gems. Steele and Sherman
His cool bravery is admired, and his car
for the preservation of the lives of hi
men make them regard hins with affection
His promotion would be hailed with de
hight.
"This morning, May 81, Col. Woods
Orderly, George Mckinney, died Of pneu
monia, after only about a weeks illness
He enlisted in the gun squad and wa
afterwards transferred to Co. ID. Th
health of the regiment is pretty good. Ra
tons are plenty now, and the Sutler is her
with all his good things, so we are farm
pretty we'll"
EHARPsHooTING.