The National tribune., 1907-09-05

found the second fort unoccupied. and
then saw gbat he. was directly in rear
! and commanding Fort Magruder. Very
strangely Longstreet had had his at
tention so concentrated upon Hooker's
attack that he had overlooked these
vital points. In some other forts TO the
| left there were forces of the enemy,
who were hncerttttin as to who he was
until he showed His colors conspicuous
ly. when they began an attack, which
he easily ..repulSed, Some few rein
| forcements. came up to him, and he
boldly advanced 10 the attack. Gen.
Sumner sent orders to him to fall back.
but Hancock reb1ied that his position
was so advantageous that he would not
do so unless the orders were repeated.
which they We're. But Hancock saw
that the crisis of the battle with Hook
er had arrived, and stayed to help him
out with severe and effective artillery
fire. He sent a written communication
to Gen. Smith, stating his very advan-
tageous position, and begging for rein
lforcements. He said he would wait
reasonable time for an answer and re-
Inducements, and then retire If none
came, iDr the enemy. seeing the neces-
sity of driving him off, were concen-
trating apon him. A heavy rain began
to fall, and no reinforcements arriving,
Hancock began to slowly retire, ham
ding his men with consummate skill.
The enemy pressed hardly upon him,
but his regiments behaved with the
greatest steadness only retiring upon
order. and facing about and firing de-
structive volleys- when the enemy
pressed too close. Finally he arrived
at the fort first captured, and, placing
his regiments in position, awaited the
assault. When the enemy got within
80 PAGES he fired two volleys into their
faces, and then charged with the bayo-
net, actually bayoneting some of the
foremost of the assaiants. The regi-
ments he had placed on the flanks de-
livered a terrible cross-fire, before
which the enemy melted away, and not
an unhurt man remained within SOC
yards of Hancock'S terrible line From
prisoners Hancock learned that he had
fought six regiments. under Gen. Jubal
A. Early, who was wounded. The en-
gagement had lasted % minutes Han
cock estimated that he had 1000 men
in the last part of the affair. He re-
ported 10 killed, SO wounded and 81
missing. and estimated the enemy's loss
to be 120 killed, $50 wounded and $50
prisoners.
Phil Kearny Sent For.
Gen. Sumner was direfully possessed
of the fear that the enemy would break
| thru his center, and bring overwhelm-
| ing disaster to his army, and this was
| his reason for not sending help to eth
| er Hooker or Hancock in spite of their
| opportunities Sumner had that haunt
| ing dread, which always dominated the
higher officers of the Army of the Po-
| tomac, that the enemy was everywhere
else on the field as strong as he showed
| himself at the point of attack. Gen.
erals of a different type are apt TO rea-
son that If the enemy is massed at some
particular place he must have weakened
| his line elsewhere. But neither Nc
Clellan, Burnside, Hooker nor Meade
could ever persuade themselves that
this was the case, and the result was
| that they left the attacked portion of
| their line to fight it out, making no
| demonstrations to relieve the pressure
upon it by attacking the enemy's thinly
garnished lines elsewhere. 1t was the
quick perception of the aforesaid truth
that had made Grant great man in
a few minutes at Fort Donelson. Not
daring to weaken his center, Sumner
had kept casey's Division lying idly in
| the rear, where it was in everybody's
way. About, $3.50 he sent back an order
to Gen. Phil Kearny at Cheesecake
! Church, nine miles away, to advance
rapidly 20 Hooker's assistance. Kearny
received the order about IL. Never was
an order to advance more welcomed by
an ardent spirit. KeaTny. the very en-
bodiment of a dashing soldier, had lis
| tened to the sound of the conflict float
| ing down thru the damp woods, and his
soul burned to be in the fight. Imme-
diately upon receipt of the order he set
| his division in motion with an urgency
that few other commanders could in
| fuse into their men. The road up to
the front had become by this time an
awful Quagmire, thru which Kearny's
eager men splashed and 1oundered as
they pressed forward. By 80 p. m.
he was within three and a half miles
tgr 4
halted his column for n brief rest and
to close up its struggling files. The
pace had been a rapid one. with a
| double-quick whenever ground at all
hard could be found, and naturally the
regiments, with all their zeal, found
themselves badly strung out. The in
cessant roar of cannon and musketry
fired Kearny's soldierly soul with burn
ing impatience, and he commanded his
men to pile knapsacks, and in a few
minutes ordered Forward" again. A
mile from the front he was held for a
moment by a command for three regi-
ments to go to the left and support
Emory's Cavalry. This left him only
two brigades, and at the same time
Aids came from Hooker saying that
his men had exhausted their ammuni-
ton and that help was sorely needed.
Reaching Gen. Hooker, Kearny took in
the field with his quick, soldierly eye,
deployed Berry's Brigade to the left of
the Williamsburg road, Birney's Brigade
to the right Of it, and sent help to Maj.
Wainwright to reopen fire from his
decimated batteries. Hooker's exhaust
ed men having expended their ammu-
milton. passed 10 the rear, and Kearny
hurled his two brigades squarely upon
the pursuing enemy. The 3Sth n. Y.
charged down the road, and took the
enemy's rifle pits and abatis in flank
The 40th n. Y, under Col. Riley, swept
up against the center pits and abats
and drove off several pieces of artillery
which Longstreet rushed up against
them. The 5th Mich, Col. Terry, made
a gallant charge against redoubt, car
ry:ng it at the point of the bayonet, and
actually bayoneted many of its defend
ers. OF these 63 were found dead in
the work. All the regiments We're ami
mated by Kearny's fiery spirit and
hurled themselves into the fight with
a hot courage that swept back the fresh
troops Longstreet was hurrying up to
check them. Gen. Keyes had founi
Peck's Brigade, and succeeded in get
ting it up on Hooker's right, and it took
an important part in the concluding
hours OF the battle.
End of the Fight.
Darkness settled down to stop the
fighting, with the enemy everywhere
| nuGha1 hapiy frop, front fba,, h,