The National tribune., 1906-10-11

AS darkmcsE c-tcisd GoGr. the enemy
reco!ling from tnsir last reDL!se settled
| de.wn i.rto. tu;eteLe. acknowledging
themselves ft,alfy wf:,:
| SteaITn ans Division nd won de-
| cided victory, bot purchased it at fear
fni cost. CIaLTeI'S report is one OF
the few that giva the nLrnoe: taken in
to action. He SAYS l.c had ZIG officer
and 3,s97 men. OF t"ese he lost 100
| officers. or ain,-st s.Actly Ialf, and
| 1,e53 rnen; totsi. 1892. mere were
| 235 killed. 926 Wounded md 5s1 1n's-
| sing. Cfzrcsr's An:litant General
Capt. RDsgeu. was tiite&: Cor. Eteed-
man had has lioi Sc shot uh5;-r .,'m. ana
was bsdly l.yrt: G.n. Hhit-Har was
wounded and three IF LIS staff killed.
The ether commands suffered accord
ingly.
G7 Gtaer F.,-ts oc the Line.
Whi.e IGEdman v.as L.ing bcaten
back On the extreme right OF the Union
fline, LonEstreet aud PolE We're re-
doubling their cfTprts T. carry the resr
of the line Fierce ~ the fighting nai
previously been at ot,ler POINTS. it now
sweiled into a far.h:she- r2nge of fero-
ciocs determination. me whole OF
Frasg's army was 3w concentrates.
In that marrow sJsr.e, desperately de-
tc1 mined to crn La the victory By
! overwhelming ani nshig the stro-
Eora rcnnnarts of the U,if.n army. Tho
Union soldiers were also wrought dD
to the highest pitch of deadly rcsoiu-
ton. TheIpr9Tiops Fighting, instead Of
unnerving them, had filed them with
fiercn. urorfinR!ng inhaxibility. They
realized al that was depending upon
their frrnness in holding their sr ,ind
Behind thow stalled Thomas, towering
IN moral hight TO n very god OF battle.
Calm, controlling, unshakable without
the least posing or sensational;sTr., nev-
er even raising his voice or fastening
his steps. he was Immediately at every
point where the battle conferred, with
his cool p2ssi1nleSs. but infexibIe COM
rani
This point must be held men. Peat
them bactF2 bept then, back:"
Lougstrtet 4hd Polk brought up all
thFir artillery, and r1asSed their fnfan-
trt for a, yeTlsETal Of the assaults Mt
every pofhfil The artillery was pushed
up to within 200 yards of the Union
guns. and at that short range both
sides beat each other Tncrcfle5sly with
the deadly tearin% canister
Preston's fresh division was Grzfe-
mated b. Lc4%Street - renew the battle.
by an assault on Horseshoe Ridge:
Breckirridge Cheatiian1. Clebur,i", !. T.1w.
Kershaw. Stewart. Johnson and Lid
dell were 10 attack directly in front of
their positions
A little after O'Clock the storm
broke out afresh. but everywhere the
assaults were hloodily repulsed.
\ Carnival of Slaughter.
The Conrederntns wArn in,r ed,s tolv
rallied in the woods to which they fled
bleeding and broken, and led back 10
the assault. " was very carnival Of
slaughter, and in that last hour Long
street saw his regiments shot down -
fourth or even = fifth Of their num-
ber. At some points as manv rs seve,
distinct charges We're counted IT took
men of no ordinary courage to charge
time and again over their own dead
and dying. and onlv men Of the high
ct mettle could have successfully re-
pelled the assaults of such enemies.
The main fear now on the Union side
was as to ammunition. All that Steed-
man had brought MP was gone. MAN.
of the regiments could only meet the
assaults with bayonet charges. which
they made with a gallantry bordcrfne-
on desperation.
Cen. Garfield. who hid made his :yav
to Gen. Thomas By running n dannerou.;
gantlet, arrived on the field at 3:f5 D
m. and Immediately sent n note to Gen
Rosecrans giving the situation Rose
Grams sent back an order to Thomas TO
take command of everything. and with
draw tt Ross Gap. whittier rations
and ammunition would be sent him
AS soon as It became evident that
the enemy had become tired of their
useless slaughter. and were subsIdjng
into the quietude of defeat. Thomas
proceeded to obey the order. REYNOLDS
whose front was the stiilest was to be-
with him to show where he wished the
line formed to cover the withdrawal of
the other divisions. The country to the
rear suffering from the iong-contfnued
drouth. was ready for the flames which
the firing had started, and was every-
where ablaze. A force of the enemy
had worked around Reynolds's flank.
and appeared across his path Thomas
directed Reynolds to charge thru at
once. and this was brilliantly executed
by Gen. John 3. Turchin's Brigade,
which drove the enemy clear around
beyond Baird's left and captured 20l
prisoners. Reyffofds's Division and VIII
lich's Brigade took up n good position
on ridge, and Palmer's. Johnson's.
Baird's Woods Brannan's and Steed-
mans Divisions successfully withdrew
and passed on to Ross Gap, where
Thomas reformed his line. They had
little trouble. altho the Conrederates be-
came aware of the movement, and
pushing forward to interfere with IT,
captured sdme2prisoners. The main
loss were portions Of the 21st Ohio. s9th
Ohio and 22d Mich. regiments belong
ing to divisions which had left the field.
but which hadfbeen fighting gallantly,
but Independently. on the line with
Steedman. Not being in any division,
they did not receive the order to with
draw. and were left behind ard cap
tured.
Gen. Davis after rallying and reor-
ganizing his division and portions OIL
other commands at McFarfand's Gap,
started out the Dry Valley rad to Join
Thomas. BY dark he had reached the
creek west Of the Viditoe House. where
he received information that Thomasl
was retiring.
Sheridan also rallied and reorganized
at McFarland's, and then marched down |
the road to Ross Gap, and then start |
ed out the Lafayette road to join Thom- !
as on the left, and at dark was some |
three miles on his road
Negley moved down to Ross's Gap, |
and took position there
(To be continued,D