Year: 1862



 Army Correspondence.

 CAMP 9th c. V. REG., NEAR

 *A ' X SrRAsBuRa, Va, May 20th

 DEAR ENQUIRER -Seated beneath the shade. not of my own "vine and fig tree," but of a friendly locust, the spontaneous production of sacred soil, purpose to indite a letter, which may like it's immediate predecessor be forever lost in the corners of Uncle Sams mail bags, or consigned to the dark confines of that drawer. from which no rejected MS. ever returns, till it is brought forth only to be destroyed by fire. Now, MT. Editor, I am somewhat of a gossip. and would like to retail or wholesale news, &c, as the case may be to relate the numerous exploits of. 5. D., would not only be vain repetition. but of small importance, a fact, which you are with out doubt, fully aware of. would say, how ever, to the credit of the division, that what it has done, is aceH done, if countermarching is any criterion, for here we have but marched from Strasburg to Harrisonburg, and back: going we chased Stonewall Jackson, coming back we were put Tn pursuit of our supply trains, for reasons winch are obvious. A man of warlike tempera- ment and fond of carnage and strife, would have round but scanty fuel to fire these propensities, had he been member of the 5th, for to the best of my recollection we have never met the Chlv- airy ID actual combat some portions of B. D., in our long chase have had opportunities to fire up on the enemy, but then you know, it was 'ua- ma'ag lire. said the regiment had never been engaged, but there is an exception in favor of Co.'S l. and k., and as Co. l. is composed of Litchfeld County boys, will give you an ac- count of the affair, for the benefit of whoever it may concern. About or on the 3d of May, and and while the reg iment was encamped near liar rlsonburg, Va, the above companies were or dered to supply themselves with one days rations and report to an officer in command of signal corps, which we did in due time.r All were in high glee, and why shouldn't we be, for we had left behind that Bunyan like burden, our knap- sacks. Away towards the camps of Jackson, mounting far above its less aspiring brethren, was the lofty summit of the Blue Ridge, and to establish upon that point signal station was our object After rapid march of six miles, we ar rived at the base Of the mountain, and as we rest ed there, we cast our eyes up-up till they rested upon the heavenward summit, so far above us, ofthe fatigue we should experience in getting there, we soon had a practical illustration. No matter, we well knew our toll and climbing would be amply repaid by the view that so elevated position afforded. Others had been before us and they told us of the valley beyond, of the magnificent scenery, and above all, the numer- ous rebel camps that dotted the mountains side, over the valley, or lay half concealed in the woods. Anon, we commenced the ascent up the rugged pathway, two miles in length, and in that two miles we must stand upon three distinct peaks, which resembled three huge steps. Of course we did not proceed in direct line, as that would be giving greater elevation to the Blue Ridge than truth will admit. Could you have stood up on the plain below, and could the old mountain have parted for while, with its trees, rocks and shrubs, you might have traced us as we pursued our way in line to irregular to be serpentine, line which all the way up was dotted by those unable to keep pace with their more sturdy con- rades, for so little was any collision with the ene- my expected, that no effort was made by. many to keep up, but each took the time that his strength or inclination dictated, thus you sec that when the stronger had reached the top, many of both companies were>far behind and unable to support those that were attacked. Of those that were foremost, twelve were sent forward a DOT tion to be stationed as guides, when we should come Gown. Five of these had been posted, and the remainder proceeded towards the summit When within some forty rods of that point, thew were somewhat astonished to behold several si- mon pure secesh directly in front. By this time three of the eight were back, leaving only five in advance these not considering whether the rebels would dispute their passage, rushed forward, each securing man as far as they went. Sergeant

 

 fastened to Lieutenant, at the same time, using an army phrase, '' You're my neat" A strug- gle ensned, and had the rebels contormed to the rules of the London Prize Ring, and shown fair play, we would have had a prisoner and saved one of our best men. But, alas! for human hopes! Tue boys eated with their success, fail ed to take proper nokcs of events that were talk ing place, and which if successful would be high ly prejudical to their personal safety. But glance was, sufficient, and induced the belief, that they had caught, not one tartar, but whole company, for from behind rock and tree emerged dozens of rebelous heads and bodies, each boar ing rife rebellious as its owner if steel can be tainted with treason. On the right, in rear, in front, they were closing on that little band of fve-to surrender could not be tolerated, to fight would be useless in retreat there was hope Like one man, all but Cogswel sprang to the left and ill front ofthose that were closing in up on the rear, thus-they had placed themselves in position to fall back to their companies The rebel captain saw the movement and gave the command, " Each man pick his man-Fire r'- But 1t came too late, for the boys had got behind trees and rocks, and the bullets went whistling oyer their heads, or buried themselves deep in the bodies of the trees. But where was Cogs- we'll? Intent on securing his prisoner, he had not observed the rebels their position, till it was too late for retreat. By this time many of our men had came up, and joined in the fight In answer to the enemys harmless volley, there came the quick spiteful crack of our Mississippi rifles, not in a body, but two or three at a time "teling the tale ;'' each bead covered a man, each bullet went on 8 mission of death. From behind tree or over rock the bright barrel would glide and geam, like sunbeam hssng out its venom, of powder and ball, and disappear again. At last our boys finding it useless to fight against such odds, fell slowly back, still firing from behind trees as they retreated. About this time, one of our men was wounded. Edward Van Deuson, of Salisbury.) He had just loaded his gun, and was in the act of firing at his man, when the other proving too quick fired first, the ball glancing from his gun, struck Van Deuson on the left hand, tearing the flesh in an ugly manner, and slightly wounding the right. Had it not glanced by striking his gun, the ball would have pierced his right breast, and no doubt would have killed him instantly. As the darkey thought when the brick dropped from four story scaf- fold onto his head, so our man concluded some thing had struck him, and forthwith dropped his gun, and stood gazing on his hand in silent tonishment, surprised that ball should create such dire effects. Recovering his presence of mind he picked up his gun and walked coolly off, thus saving what few wounded men do, their arms. You may ask why they did not fire on us when we first came in view, can only reply that they wished to capture all they could, and instead rof firing closed in, but the boys were too sharp for them and defeated their plans. Those in front finally fell back to the main body of the companies. Here it was decided to stand if the enemy followed, the officer in command not deem