Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-03-18

ieei4DS MS v 81 10 tue llOuN, III t-toe
WOOL looGs C-linous. SSirmishers say
CANDLES Gisnounted troopers, Who
have held il two hours against their
best shooting. are strengthened now
by infantry, thrown forward by old
Cutters first line. which can be seen
stretching out over the pike, relieving
Devins worn men. and letting them
scurry back to their waiting horses.
But Archer sees that in so doing, Cut
Ter has thrust it's right flank Into the
air''-that Davis. with his Mississippi
battal!ons, is sweeping upon and
around it, and is already in turn far in
advance of his own fellows; so. most
eagerly. Archer orders forward, for
ward, and the gray lines leap at the
word Beautifully the battle opens for
the cause of the south. Cutters men,
in their eagerness to relieve Buford's
thinned and wearied defense, have
rushed full 500 yards out into the open,
and Davis catches them in flank with
his yelling southerners; wheels his
Mississippians to their right-Cutler
barely having time to slip his Skin
mfshers cut of the clutch-then on
ward come the Johnnies. full tilt for
the guns of Hall. unlimbered in place
of Calef, on the Cashtown pike. Then
two wonderful things happen and two
new feathers so to the cap of the Iron
Brigade.
1t is Fred Benton's luck this day of
days to be riding with Reynolds as the
corps commander spurs to the front
Reynolds has borrowed him as an aide,
and Benton, burning with JOY and eX-
element, rides after him into the
grove, just in time to see Archer's
foremost line come calamity sweeping
down the opposite slope. Hang on,
men! Keep up your fire! Meredith's
right behind you!" shouts Reynolds,
as he darts swiftly in among the trees.
Hang on, men!" goes the word from
center to flank, but things look risky
out there to the right where Cutters
ranks are drifting back Then, l 400
strong, the charging ranks of the Iron
! Brigade come on with rush. The
east edge of the wood is reached by
the leaders on the right of the line,
just as the southern force bursts
through the battle smoke and into the
brook; but even as these latter reach
| the wood, and Archer is cheering them
/ forward, he is amazed to see his wing
Keeling back, and a blue-capped. blue
| bodied human wave curving round the
| southwark end of the struggling tim
| Der. Before he can issue an order or
strengthen single battalion, Fair
child and the Black Hats have burst
! through the sheltering grove in his
, front, and sprung lii e tigers on his
| halted and astonished line; while
/ Badger, Hoosier and Wolverine. swing
| ing round him from the south. COM
, plete the demolition of the brigade
! He and half his force, 600 at least. are
! prisoners of war. while the rest are
| chased to the rear by Meredith's men.
First facer for Heth as he glares from
the opposite woods. where Pettigrew
and Brockenbrough are aligned in
support -kcr. him, however, there is
comfort TO the north of the pike. for
there has Davis swept the field and is
| bearing down on the union guns. Now
! is the time TO support him, but Wads-
worth is too quick. Archer disposed
| of; the Iron Brigade halted and
reforming under Reynolds own eyes.
the general commanding turns to sue
/ cor the right. He has seen the trouble
in single glance; has seen, too. the
way out of it: and in another minute
the Sixth Wisconsin is "double-quick-
! ing" away over the fields to its right
in support OF the men from the City OF
Churches. now in sore need, for those
lank Mississippians have swept for
ward into the long cut of the unfin-
ished railway, and, fiat On their bellies
against the southwark slope, are pour
ing their fire into Fowler's men.
A fatally good place is a railway
| cut to shelter a line. when the foe
| stands fast and contents himself sim
ply with shooting. fatally bad
| place it is when the foe won't stand at
bay, but comes charging full tilt in
| spite of the fire, and that, to the amaze
OF DaSis, is Just what these Infamous
Badgers are doing this day. With an
onward rush no mere muzzle leaders
can possibly check when firing
"oblique," the Sixth comes sprinting,
taking the Mississippians in turn
| square in the flank and almost in a
twinkling, doubling up and driving
together, huddled. helpless, sheep
like. one astonished battalion. Down
go the red battle flags. Down go the
rifles in answer to shouts of surrender
Some dozen. perhaps, bending double
and ducling, manage to scurry off to
the west. But Gen. Joe Davis has lost
two of his colors and all but few men
of two misguided regiments; and here
too, has the Iron Brigade done more
than its full share. Wadsworth is al.
most weeping with joy at the sudden
stem of the torrent and the magnif.
cent stand of his little division. while
Doubleday, seldom given to praise. il
wr!nging that veterans hand in heart,
fashion. DoubleGays own men nov
are fast hurrying up in support of tn,
First division and there is soldier tri
umph mingled with no little anxiety
as the war-tried leaders note through
their glasses the long columns in graz
NGA1