The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-20

SO FAR from selecting the bat tleneid, all
that General Early could do was to rusi,
his men TO the rescue of Rainsepr, VINO
was battling with many times his nuin1'cr
ofamen Though they came as soon as
posstbie to his aid, the lastsdid not arrive
i,rpn the field until between two and
A SUNRISE DASH.
" When our division of cavalry which
%was about one and a half miles south
or Winchester, was awakened at dawn
and hurried through that town and OUT
the Berryvllle road remember the sun
was just rising above the horizon as we
emerged tlerefrom, ana was tllreetiy ~
our front. we found lanmseur hotly en-
gagged with heavy columns OF Sherldan's
men. hard pressed but holding his own,
and General Early not yet on the ground.
Finding General R;lrnscur standing firm,
aided Nv a part of Io1nax's cavalry on
his right, General Fftz. Lee moved us q
mile or two To the left and deployed US
in line or battle near the orchard Ut
tlIackwuod in sudden depression or the
lrroi,nd where we could not be seen by a
direct advance in front. Just behind US
was n spring OF clear cold, sparkling
water, gushing ont of limestone ledge
In volume sufficient to turn a mil. -,
large pond and morass Is formed by us
waters. Here some of us Watered our
horses and ate such apples as we could
find In the orchard, the only breakfast
we had that day.
We remained here Tor some time, but
were not engaged, though Ramseur's
guns were getting louder and louder.
Some Of Rodes's men. coming up behind us
from their march Oh the 4Martnsblrg
road close by took our places, and we
were moved d little further to the left
across the pond alluded to-. Soon after
Rpdes's men had taken our places and we
had taken another position across the
pond we saw three heavy lines Of the
enemy rush out Of the woods over our
slslrmishers OF whom they seemed to take
no notice. and intent on capturing our
artillery behind Rodcs's line, but his men,
lying concealed in the depression alluded
or four to one, gave them such q volley,
that, aided by the artillery aforesaid, as
we'll as the horse artillery their three
lines were sent back In utter confusion.
Some were even said to have fallen
wounded into the above mentioned pond.
Rodes's men and our cavalry following
them for some distance, met another
heavy line Of. battle coming UP. Some
said there were two lines Here occurred
the heaviest lighting OF the whole day.
THE BATTLE RACES.
General Rodes was killed, vet his men
remained firm and held their own until
the envcloping Of our left flank some
hours after In the evening. Our cavalry
was dismounted and fought as sharp
shooters ana suffered considerably. Some
Of the men, when wounded We're carried
off on the backs Of others. crawling on
their hands and knees to escape the bull
lets. From this point TO the Bcrryville,
road the battle ragged without change
until tho evening was well ADVANCED,
except that Wickham's brigade Of our
division was detached and sent to Lonax
Oh our right, who was hard pressed.
About 3 o'clock the last of Earlys men
C3rcckenrldge's divsion) came on the
field by the Martinsburg road to our left,
but they were followed by a whole corps
or Yankee Infantry. who had not been
Ienga Sed, and a division of cavalry, at
least 5000 strong TO meet this host Cen
eral Early stopped the last brigade COM
ing in Colonel Patton's) and ideploycd
them In line Of battle, and. withdrew our
brigade Of cavalry back to Patton's line
We'll do rem elnber how their bayonets
glistened in the evening sun, forming into
line Us VIC came back, q handful among
thousands. Mr.. Paxton says: "ln1bodcn's
cavalry covered our left wing on the val
ley pike. and did no! wait to clash swords
with their cousins in blue but made a
gallant charge to the rear Now, this
Is news to me, and If 1t be true, must
nave occurred uCul +NV4IlCllCSlG!, N!lCIc,5 -
suppose, Mr.. Paxton was, and after the
Yankee cavalry had passed us. Our
small brigade (Payne's) made charge on
thcm and lost heavily. | can recall the
names of several of my own company
little impression was made on them, the
brigade recoiled to the east Of the road
and the Yankee cavalry swcpr' along the
pike towards Winchester
PattDn's Brigade was run over, lo him
1.il I,{r ,,.tr
heavily. The enemy's cavalry would have
entered Winchester but that Wickha-m's
Brigade, which, as said above, had been
sent to our right, was hurried across q
shorter line in time. to get into our
.breastworks on Fort Hill before the
Yankees could. and with the assistance
OF the artillery, stopped them for awhile,
SHERIDAN on, THE LEFT
BY this dash of Sherldan's army on our
left, and q simultaneous move on our
right beyond the Berryvle road, the
Confederate lines We're bent back on each
flank like u horseshoe, and IN some
places tho enemy were much nearer Win
chester than ourselves. With such odds
and In such a situation there was but
one thing to do. and that was to retire
with as little loss ns possible. TO show
how mixed the lines had become, Gem
eral Merriu'S Md, carrying dispatch.
rode into our lines all unconscious of SO
doing. He WAS soon Informed Of his err
ror. dismountcd and sent back q prisoner.
our men gradually fell back on all
sides, and when we got near Winchester,
General Flz, Lee was wounded and his
horse killed Tho artillery at Fort Hill
aidcd in helping us to get away, and,
finally, about sundown, he town was
cleared and the lasl Confederate army
thnt ever entered Winchester passed out
never TO return
Night let down Its sable curtain, and
concealed, by It's shadows the bleeding
and exhausted Confederate army, With a
loss Of more than nno-tlilrl Of Its NUM-
| hers, yet still defiant, made its way to
/ Fishers Hin, twenty miles away, n posi-
! ton which could be easily defended