Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-03-04

Shrunk to half their ORIGINAL strength:
there, shoulder to shoulder. daring. de-
faint, indCmitable stands the brigade.
the swart faces of the men lit by the
flash of their guns. and Ewell. grim
old soldier borne to the rear with a
shattered thigh, eroans to his mourn
full aides that at last the division has
met its match.
Jackson's pale face is rigid as he
himself bends over his loyal second in
command, and his lips move in prayer,
never in imprecation. ere they issue
their next order. Try again" And
this time, Trim1le. too. drives in with
Lawton. only to see that machinelikc
regiment to the east of the Black Hats,
despite the numbers dropping in their
tracks and dribbling away from the
extreme righs under the deluge of
shrapnel from the southern guns. doing
more fancy drill in front of the foe.
changing front forward by company
under command of that gamecock of
lieutenant-cClonel, and then pouring
whitening fire into the left of the Louis
lana men. Try again" saws Jack. and
try they do maGfully. loyally-but
heavens. what can human yalor win
against iron resolution? Two of Doub-
ledayS battaliOnS. one a mere s. eleton
like most of those of BaylorS and
Taliaferro's. have ranged up in the
gaps of the union brigade, shadowy
fabric now. visible only in the fash OF
the guns, but as Paul Ladue trots
through the groups where surgeons and
CT oh e., g.
vast Numbers of wounded he locks in
vain for a division commander to
whom to deliver JAG sons last order
and the news that Ewell is down
Taliaferro. too, has been borne to the
rear, and L3due rides on after Starl5e
to bid him ia commend Gods. what
a sight. what a sh'mbles. he finds at
the rear OF that line,-dead. dying and
crippled by scores of the "Stouewalls."
Three colonies. Neff. Grisby and Bolts
have been shot from their steeds. two
of them STRAIGHT to their graves; four
majors are down of the VIRGINIA com
mand, and Waller. colonel of ITALIA
ferro's Tenth. Full half the fighting
force of the Second and Fourth Vir-
sinia are stretched on the field. as.
wi NiAV lt1S' 'lluts lNtN NlOSe III Oh lNe
center in front of the now almost in
visible line of their foes, and with
strength. cartridges. hope all spent
and gone. they drop their useless rifle
butts to earth and lean exhausted on
the hot. blacl, muzzles. At least they
hold the ground.
So. too. does that stern. silent. iron
command across those so Yards Of
smoking void. with ohstinata. deter
mination." writes Old Jack. in rueful
admission of the stubborn valor of his
foe. And after all what has he ac-
complished? What has he not done this
night but blunder? All he had TO do
was TO remain there in concealment
beyond that unfinished railway grade,
resting in the shady woods. and. all
unconscious of his presence. the union
brigades would have passed him by.
leaving RicSetts FAR in the rear to be
cut off, crushed or captured But the
sight Of 5000 Yankees marching along
almost parallel TO his front. all unsup-
ported. was too much for even such
piet.e as JAG: sons Ordinarily he had
done wonders with a dozen regiments
nearly as small as these Tonight he
sends in twice that number to assaiI
a smaller force, and is fought to a
stand within an hour. He has gained
nothing. lie has lost one-third of his
best and bravest-hiS Virginians. He
has betrayed his position to the enc
my, for Sigel, away to the southeast.
has heard the sound of battle, and Nc
N hf.sax g
American brigades, watches the des-
perate struggle from Ladue's old look
out at the Henry house. and Pope
skillfully directing his divereing COL
unn TO trap Jackson at Centreville.
hears over the left shoulder, far over
Bull Run, the furious caunonade long
league behind him, the storm of a
pat'ie that only dies out at nine, but
that tells him the tale of one more
trick OF JackSon'S-the time honored
tale of the lrishman's flea.
But II opens Popes otherwise blinded
eyes, changes in toto his plans for the
morrow, and bios him turn his col
umns on Groveton. Jacks sons blunder
has taken much from his own fame,
given the Badgers and Eoosiers the
title they rejoice in ever thereafter
the name of the Iron Brigade.
Sore times are these, this black,
moonless night. as, within hailing dis
tance of each other, officers and men
OF the opposing forces so Eroping about
with slimmering lights, looking for
friends among the slain. Sad hearts
are these beating in the bosoms of the
group of union generals in the fence
corner back of the moaning wood, for
II is full of woundeI. The reSimental
commanders are slowly Withdrawing
their wearied men to the line of the
pike, leaving strong picFets to protect
the surgeons and their Stre-cher-bear-
ers at the front 1t is a dramatic scene
when that dark-eyed soldier, COM
mander of the Seventh. rides in to re-
port to his brigade chief concerning
the regiment that caustic regular"
has sometimes misiudsed. What do
you think OF the Seventh now?" is the