Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-08

army, advancing in force from the line Of the Antietam, covers and holds the long confederate front extending far to the south of the town Just whom to blame nobody will say, but, not until Hooker's right division is swept by Tapping fires and 1attened out by the fierce storm of lead; not until Meade and Ricketts, farther to the east; have charged again in line with Doubleday's left; not until Doubleday, not whipped, but brought to 8 stand, is fairly bat ting for breath do the brigades of Mansfield appear at the east, coming late into action, and even then by no means prepared. Many battalions are new and unskilled, and before the brigade can be brought into line, gal lant, gray-headed old Mansfield drops dying from his horse Williams suc- ceeds to command; but before Hooker half finishes giving his orders, he, too, commanding all troops at that moment west of the stream, is stricken and borne from the field, stripping it there by of both corps commanders, and leaving the right to the care of men ignorant of McClellan,s plans, and con- fronted by the best fighters in the southern host
 Campbell, the captain, is shot from his saddle. Half the right wing of the Sixth is gone. Half the commanders are now killed or wounded. Not a lieutenant colonel Is left in the Iron Brigade. Allen, Bragg and Bachman are borne from the line, the last named to his soldier grave. The lone effort is fruitless, save for it's glories and the fierce punishment given the foemen in fAnt There, indeed, is destruction equal to this in the cornf1elds and along the Hagerstown pike. No wonder old Jack bows his head in grief and sup plication. Again he has lost both di- vision commanders, Lawton and Jones being wounded. So, too. falls Douglas. heading Lawton's brigade, and with al- most breaking heart Jackson sends word to his beloved general that half the commands of Lawton and Hays and fully one-third of Trimble's are killed or wounded, as are all regi- mental commanders but two. Thank God, 'tis their last fight with the Iron Brigade.
 Before breakfast is over at the Pry house, where sit little Mac and. the big staff, Rockers fight on the right flank is over and done. Then another is started in front of the east wood, and later others occur along the line to the south, and wherever corps is sent into attack, Lee scrapes up corps to meet and repel it. Con- certed action might have given the union a needed, a much needed, vic- tory, but concert there is none. One splendid and disciplined corps has been held in reserve, and when toward the last the serene young general-in-c chief, never excited or hurried, never able to see flaw in his own dispositions, seemed yielding to pressure and about sending them in, he hearkens to the words of their brilliant commander, so said veteran regulars at the time: Remember, general, command the last reserve of the Army of the Poto- mac"
 And so night settles down and Lees little army, superbly led, has beaten back in succession the scattered at tacks of McClellan's overwhelming force. All through the hours of dark ness the surgeons are at work with the thousands of wounded. All through the following day Lee waits for renewal of the battle, but McClel- Ian has had enough. With the com ing of another night, therefore, gath ering up his wounded and prisoners, sending his trains ahead, the great Vir- ginian silently moves his columns down to the lords of the Potomac, and by dawn of the 18th all are safely across Lee has slipped away.
 There is significance in the greet ing accorded the little soldier still in supreme command when he rides his lines day after the battle. The corps of Porter, held throughout the combat in safe reserve, swings its caps and cheers with great enthusiasm The corps of Sumner shouts with modified rejoicing. The men of Mansfield rise and salute in silence. The thinned bat whatever.
 Witnessing this sight, Fred Benton contrasts it with another which it was his privilege to note the previous day. He and other officers had been sent un- der flag of truce within the picket lines of the southern army, to seek the wounded and to render aid. All about the barn and buildings of the Miller farm, where the brigade had rallied and hung so long, lay scores of stricken men for whom the surgeons were do- 1 ing their best, but so very many seemed past help. Along the pike the Georgians, too, lay thick, and gray uniformed officers moved to and fro among them, or conyersed in low tones, l curiously scanning from time to time | the two or three staff officials in blue who followed the surgeons, pencil and notebook in hand. Suddenly the talk 1 ing ceased, for, issuing from narrow 1 roadway that trended westward from l the pike, there came a tall. command