Saint Mary's beacon., 1905-06-01


Yettoac TdUerR-Aortal Roaading Of
Major General j. e. B. Stuart,
| Mayu, 1864.
The enemy attacked Stuart about l2
NJ. on the Telegraph road, about mile
from the Yellow Tavern, but he held out
against great odds. wiekam's brigade
and Breathed's battery had fiercest
gle to hold their own, and fought des-
perately to do 50. Among the killed was
Col. Pate. Of the 9Th Va. cavalry. Gems.
Sheridan and Custer, Federass, IN speak
ing of Col. Pate's death, mentioned him
as the notorious Col. Pate, name that
should never be applied to him. He was
never notorious, but very noted. Thep po-
sition Of the Confederates was this: Wick
ham on the right with two of Hart's
guns on his right flank; then came Breath.
eds battery, guns, under LIST 1t. Dan
Shanks; Lomax on the left of these guns
with the Baltimore Light Artillery sup
porting him on his left, with no support
for the battery on their left flank. The
other piece OF Breathed' was posted near
the old mountain or Louisa road by Gen.
Stuart in person. The gallant Lit. j. W.
Cosgroye Tor Bill Cosgrove as we used to
call him) in charge, supported by squad
ron OF the Bird Va. cavalry. All were
dismounted except a portion of the 1st
Va, which was held as a mounted re-
serve. About 3 p. N. the enemy advanc-
ed in three divisions, with batteries of
artillery. 1t. Heaton, with batteries B
and l. of the End U. s. Horse Artillery
was engaged in Lomax's front and left.
The cavalry and artillery striking Lo-
max's line simultaneously, the fiercest
kind OF a contest ensued, artillery on
both sides taking a spirited part. Lo-
max was forced back in consequence of
his left flank not being properly protect
ed. The Baltimore Light Artillery, which
was on Lomax's extreme left, lost Sec
ton Of their battery and quite a number
of men, among them Griffin, their cap
tain. Those that remained were forced
back across the Telegraph road. This
flank attack tina: proved so disastrous
to Lomax and which he had not guarded
against, was made by brig. Gen. Custer.
and may be found in Vol 80, Part /, of
the Official Records OF the War. Hesays.
in part:
ION the morning of the 11th of Nav
the enemy's cavalry, under Major Gene |
raj j. +. B. Stuart, was met at Yellow
Tavern, near the intersection of the Tele- |
graph road with the Brook pike. The
second and reserve brigades were first
engaged. Afterwards this brigade was
thrown in ON the left of the reserve bri. |
gade, connecting on my left with the
right Of the third division. The enemy
was strongly posted on bluff in rear of |
of a thin skirt of woods, his battery be- |
ing concealed from our view by the woods. |
while they had obtained perfect range |
OF our position. The edge of the woods |
nearest to my front was held by the enc |
my's dismOunted men, who poured in a |
heavy fire into my lines until the 9TH and |
9th Michigan was ordered to dismount
and drive the enemy from his position, |
which they did in the most gallant man.
ner, led by Col. Alger, of the 9TH, and Ma |
ior Kidd, of the 9Th Michigan. Upon
reaching the woods directed Col. Alger
to establish the 9th and 9th upon line |
near the skirts of wood and hold his no |
sition until further orders. - Horned
the 1st Michigan cavalry in column of
squadrOns under cover of the wood. At
the same time directed Col. Alger and
Major Kidd to move the 9TH and 9th |
Michigan cavalry forward and occupy
the attention of the enemy en- the left, |
Heaton's battery to engage in front,
while the the 1st charged the battery on
the flank. The bugle sounded the ad-
vance and the three regiments moved
forward. AS soon as the 1st Michigan
moved from the cover OF the woods the
enemy OWNED our intention and opened
a brisk fire from his artillery with shell
and canister. Before the battery of the
enemy could be reached there were i've
fences to be opened and a bridge to cross,
over which it was impossible to pass
more than ut one time, the intervening
ground being within close range OF the
enemy's battery. Yet, Notwithstanding
these obstacles, the 1st Michigan, Lieut.
Col. Stagg commanding, advanced bold
ly to the charge, and when within 200
yards of the battery, charged it with yell
which spread terror before them. Two
pieces Of cannon, two limbers filed with
ammunition and large number of pris-
oners were among the results of this |
charge. From facts obtained on
the battlefield and from information de- |
rived since, | have every reason to believe |
that the rebel General ]. Z. B. Stuart re
eeived his death wound from the hands |
OF Private John A. Huff. Company f.
9TH Michigan cavaly, who has since died |
from wound received at Haw's Shop" |
We were hotly pressed, but Wickham |
and the old battery held their own. We
had parts of Gregg's and Wilson's divis-
ions and q battery of artillery in our |
front. They charged us repeatedly, and |
at last when they made it too hot for us.
we retired one piece at time, crossing |
the Telegraph road and resuming posi-
ton near the Meadow bridge. In the
melee just before we left the field, Breath
ed had a .handto-hand encounter with
"A FEDERAL offieer killad hin, .,,~,o,a L.: