Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-02

there Are there any more or your We
want every one OF you fellows" Nearly
i,5Go were captured at the angle.
An orderly here came up 20 Sheridan
and said: col Forsyth OF your STAFF is
killed sir TITS no such thing cried
Sheridan Il don't believe word of Il.
You'l lind Forsyth's al right" Ton
minutes after Forsyth rode up. II was
the gallant Gen. Frederick Winthrop who
had fallen in The assault and had been
mistaken for him sheridan did not even
seem surprised when he saw FORSYTH.
and only said: There told YOU So /
mention this as an instance OF a peculiar
trait Of Sheridan's character which never
allowed him to b. discouraged by camp
iumors. however disastrous
The dismoGnted cavalry had assaulted
as soon as they heard the infantry rre
open Tine nattN caNalrmeu. with tight
earbincs. sWatmed through the pine
thickets ana dense underground looking
as If they Fad been especially equipped
for crawling through knot holes Those
who had magazine suns created a racket
in those pine woods that sounded as IL
couple q army corps had opened fite
The cavalry commanded 10y the gallant
Merritt made a final dash. went over the
=
battery Of artillery and scattered every
thing in front al them. Here Custer.
pevin. FitZhuEh and che other cavalry
leaders were in their element and WED
with one another in deeds Of valof.
+
After the capture Of the angle | started
off toward the right to see how matters
were going there Here | met Sheridan
again. Just a little before dark. He was
laboring with ali the energy of his nature
TO complete the destruction or the enemy's
forces, and 10 make preparation TO pro-
tect his own detached command from an
attack by Lee in the morning. He said
he had relieved Warren. directed him to
report in person 10 Gen Grant and placed
Griffin IN command of the 9th Corps. |
had sent frequent bulletins during the
day TO the aeneral-in-chlef, and now dis
patched a courier announcing the change
of corps commanders and giving the gem
.ral result of the roundup.
Sheridan had that day fought one of
the most interesting technical battles of
the war almost perfect in conception.
brilliant IN execution, strikingly dramatic
IN It's incidents and productive of Inn
mensely important results.
About half-paSt = o'clock | started for
general headquarters. The roads in places
were corduroyed with captured muskets.
Ammunition trains and ambulances were
still struggling forward for miles team
sters, prisoners, straeglers and wounded
were choking the roadway. The coffee
boilers had kindled their fires. Cheers
We're reSounding on all sides and every
body was riotous over the victory.
horseman had TO pick his way through
this jubiant condition Of things as best
he could. as he did not have tho right OF
way by any means. As L galloped past "A
group of men on the Boydton plank my
orderly called out to them the news OF
the victory. The only response lie got
was from one of them, who raised his
open hand to his face. put his thumb To
his nose and yelled: No. you ont-Aprl
fool" / then realized that il was the LIST
of April.
/ had ridden so rapidly that / reached
headquarters before the arrival OF the
last courier ] had dispatched Gen. Grant
was sitting, with most of the stan about
him, before a blazing campfire. He wore
his blue cavalry ONercoat, and the ever
present cigar was in his mouth. ! began
shouting the good news soon AZ ! got
in sight. and in a moment all but the
imperturbable gencral-n-chief were on
their feet. giving vent to wild demonstra-
tons of JOY.
ing state of excitement. graspins OF
hands tossing up of hats and shaping Of
one another on the back. " meant the
beginning of the end-the reaching of tho
last ditch 1t pointed TO peace ana
home. Dignity was thrown to the winds.
* x
The general as was expected, asked
his usual question: How many prison
ers have been taken?' This WAS always
his first inquiry when an engagement was
reported. No man ever had such a fond
ness for taking prisoners. think the
qualification arose from the Kindness OF
his heart, feeling that it much
better to win In this way than by the
destruction of human life I was happy
TO report that the prisoners this time
were estimated at over 5000, and this
was the only part OF my recital that
seemed to call forth 4 responsive ex-
preston from his usually impressive fca-
lures.
After having listened to lie description
of Sheridan's days work the general,
with scarcely a word walked into his
tent and bv the light of "A 0iekering
candle took mp his manifold writer" a
small book which retained copy of the
matter written, and after finishing seN-
eral disnatches handed them 10 an order
IL TO he sent over the field wires. came
out and Joined our group at the campfire.
and sad as coolly as If rcmarking upon
the state of the weather. I have or
dered an immediate assault along the
lines" This was about 2 clock.
Copyright. 1912. by the Century Company