The National tribune., 1906-12-06

battle the positions which it first cap
tured despite allIdhe efforts of the
enemy to recover 1T. 4
/ Col. John NJ. Leomis. 26th H.. who
commanded the Ffrsts Brigade of Ew-
/ ing's Division, had placed under his
command Ruschbeck'ai Brigade of the
4 Eleventh Corps, (which Howard had
brought up from -Ctico Creek with a
| couple of guns. Cen Ewing ordered
| Loomis to push forward and drive back
| the enemy's skirnishefs. in support of
Gen. Corse's attack, which he did,
coming under the heavy cross-fire of
artillery from thd' ridge and over the
tunnel. The skirmishers Of the enemy
| in his front weres in; the house, log
barns, and negro quarters of the Glass
place. but Loomis succeeded in dislodg
| ing them by the fire of the two guns
which he brought up. AS Gen. Corse
made his second assault. Loomis moved
| forward in support with Buschbeck' $
Brigade supporting him. He succeed
| ed in carrying the log house on his
right and the railroad at that point,
driving the enemy from the Glass
house and adjacent buildings, which
were burned The enemy was now
swarming down the hllsides along his
front and left flank, but the 9th and
| I'D Pa, under the command of Lieut.
| Col Taft, made gallant charge with
| out ORDERS, WHICH drove the ldiiisiilss
| force of the enemy back and up the
| hill Gen. Matthies came forward with
| his brigade to the support of Loomis,
and made spirited assault upon Tun-
| mel Hill, from which he was repulsed
| by the masses of the enemy. which ad-
vancing captured part of the 73d Pa
Gen. Matthes was q battletried vet
| eran from the Army of the Tennessee,
and had won laurels at Vicksburg. He
nj lnI Gun ,nrh hyter
| ing of the 93d ILL.,, 26th Mo, 5th and
| 10th Iowa Upon receiving orders TO
| support Col. Loomis the brigade swept
| forward and came under the heavy
artillery fire from three points. wide
ditch impeded the advance, but the
men got over it and pushed on with
the deadly guns on Tunnel Hill and 10
the right and left getting better range
on them at every rod. The march was
directed upon the Glass House, which
was now in flames, and the 5th Iowa
was especially directed to secure that
position and hold it. The 9th Pa. WAS
calling for reinforcements. and its Col
onel said that with one additional regi-
| ment he could hold the position. Col.
Putnam was ordered forward with the
| 93d H., and coming to the crest OF the
hill found himself within 20 PAGES of a
| breastworks of logs and stone. behind
| infantry. all -viciously firing into the
assailants Col. Putnam wavered no.
an instant, but snatching the colors
from the hands of the Sergeant rode
forward cheering his men on, when he
fell with shot thru his head. The
regiment recoiled before the whitening
blast of fire and secured the shelter of
the hill Gen. Matthies led the rest of
the brigade steadily up the hill in the
f1na nF ha nf 1pti no
too, was struck in the head by q bul-
let, and fell to the ground. He recov-
cred consciousness in a few minutes,
and gave his successor in command in
formation as to the best means of with
| drawing the brigade, since the rebels
were pouring out of the tunnel and
| down the hillsides. to take it in flank
Col. Jabez Banbury, 9Th Iowa, rallied
the brigade in the breastwOrks, but
found it sadly shrunken from death
and capture. The;-5th, Iowa had suf-
fered most. Out Of 227 men and 2I
officers. two officers We're wounded and
eight missing and two. men killed, 20
wounded and "A missing, making to-
tai of 106. The small brigade had lost
five officers and a. enlisted men killed.
IL officers and 133 men wounded and
II officers and 1O9 men captured. Co.
Green 3. Raum's Brigade, seth ILL.,,
18th Iowa, 10th and 2tth Mo. and S0.h
Ohio, moved straight towards Tunnel
Hill in support of Gen. Matthies, until
struck on the right by a heavy force OF
the enemy coming up at the double
quick and firing a volley at short range,
which disabled Col. Raum. Col. Clark
r. Viewer, the next in rank, was also
! wounded shortly afterwards, and Col.
F. G. Deimling withdrew the brigade
| to the cover of the earthworss. In the
| brief period it was under fire 1t lost
three officers and 81 men killed. IL
officers and 12S men wounded and three
| officers and 81 men captured.
| The exultant enemy rushed in pur-
suit of the retreating brigades, but wer.,
brought to a speedy halt by destruc-
| tive enfilade volley poured into their
| ranks by Corses and Loomis's Brigades
End of the Assault.
East of the ridge Gen. Morgan j..
Smith had pushed forward until he
came to the Confederate line of works
reaching to the Chickamauga, but did
not attack them, as 1t was Shcrman's
plan to pierce the center of the line on
the ridge. Bragg was hurrying every
available man to that point, but dill
not dare strip his line in front of the
Army of the Cumberland in face of its
threatening attitude Stevenson's Div-
| sion from Lookout Mountain and
CheathanlS s from Chattanooga valley
reached Cleburne's rear in time to be
of effective service, and were posted by
Gen. Hardee where they could be used
20 the best advantage
Never had the men of the Army of
the Tennessee fought better, but they
were attempting an impossibility. AN
real chance of taking the ridge van
ished when the enemy had sufficient
knowledge of the movement and time
to fortify. The enemy's position was
such that an unlimited number of men
could be used in the defense, while only
Il very limited number could make the
attack over the narrow ground in front
of the heavy works which had been
thrown up during the night.
The bloody stIuggl. was viewed from
the summit of Orchard Knob by most
distinguished group of spectators. Gen.
Grant was there accompanied by Gems.
Thomas and Granger Quartermaster
General Meigs and many others Of
prominence. From that hight they
could see the mistake Sherman had
made in the position taken, and could
watch the progress of the fight. When
Raum's and Matthies's Brgades Were
driven back it seemed a disaster far
greater than it really was, and Gen.
Grant hurried Gen. 'Biirds Division to-
Gen. Sherman'S assistance. Howard also
brought up the remainder of his corps,
but Gen. Sherman had seen by this
time that hn had aIep36v moro IN