The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-11-08

saw with my own eyes,
hitherto not often deceived, and of
what l heard with my own ears.
which in this country are not so much
to be trusted Let me, however, eX-
press an opinion as to the affair of
yesterday. In the first place, the re-
pulse of the Federalists, decided as it
was, might have had &c serious effects
whatever beyond the mere failure
which politically was of greater con-
sequence than it was in a military
sense-but for the disgraceful con-
duct of the troops.
"The retreat on their lines at Gen.
treville seems to have ended in a
cowardly rout-a miserable, causeless
panic. Such scandalnus behavior on
the part of the soldiers | should have
considered impossible. as with some
experience of camps and armies !
have never even in alarms among
camp followers seen the like of it.
The Action Begins.
"The North will. no doubt. recover
the shock. Hitherto she has only said,
Go and fight for the Union The
South has exclaimed, Let US fight for
our rights The North must put. it's
best men into the battle or she will
inevitably fail before the energy, the
personal hatred and the superior
fighting powers of her antagonist. In
my letters as in my conversation, l
have endeavored to show that the
task which the Unionists have set
themselves is one of 10 ordinary diff
ficulty, but in their state of arro-
gance and supercilious confidence,
either real or affected to conceal
sense of weakness, one might as well
have preached to the Pyramid of
Cheops.
"At last Centreville appeared in
yond which rose bald hill, the slopes
covered with bivouac huts, commits
sariat carts, and horses, and the top
crested with spectators of the
fight. The scene was SO
peaceful q MAJ might well doubt the
evidence of ones sense that great
contest was being played out below
in blOodshed. But the cannon
spoke out loudly from the green
bushes, and the plains below were
notified, so to speak. by puffs of
smoke and by white rings from burst
ing shells and capricious howitz
ers. With the glass | could
detect now and then the flash of arms
through the dust clouds in the open,
but no one could tell to which side
the troops who were moving belonged,
and I could only judge from the
smoke whether the guns were fired
towards or away from the hill.
"In the midst of our little recon
naissance Mr.. ViZetelly, who has been
living and, indeed, marching with one
Of the regiments as artist of the
Illustrated London News, came up
and told us the action had been COM
menced in splendid style by The Fed
eralists, who had advanced steadily.
driving the Confederates before them
"a part of the plan, as | firmly be-
lleEe, 10 DrlnS THEM uHueT the range
of their guns. He believed the adj
vantages on the Federalist side were
decided, though won with hard
fighting.
A Disgraceful Rout.
"As | turned down into the narrow
road or lane there was
forward movement among the large
four-wheeled tilt wagons when
suddenly there arose tumult in front
of me at a small bridge across the
road, and then | perceived the driv-
ers of set of wagons with the horses
turned towards me, who were en-
deavoring to force their way against
the stream of vehicles setting in the
other direction. By the side of the
new set of wagons there were a num-
Der of cCmmissariat men and soldiers
whom at first sight | took to be the
baggage guard. They looked excited
and alarmed, and were running by the