Year: 1863




A terrific struggle for life and mastery


A hundred rebels smitten 20 the bloc,
stained earth, hideous yell for mere,
from the throats Of whole brigade o
rebels, and the terribly contested place
is ours.


Meantime the main body Of the rcbe
force had left the brigade IN its fate. cras
sed the bridge, and left il in flames. Tn,
prisoners and guns, together with al
ammunition train, supplies, and arms
were collected, guarded and sent TO IN,
rear and that column of our victorious
army to which belonged LAWYERS Bri-
gade, pressed on to keep pace with the
progress Of the others in their advance
upon Vicksburg


THE SITUATION OF vICKsBURG.


The exterior Of the city is perhaps fa -
millar to every reader, and il certainly
is the best index to the interior, but lest
this should seem like avoiding the duty
OF showing the her side of the picture.
which IS even more dark than that on
which the eye Of the nation has been
bent with anxiety and suspense for over
twelve months, shall endeavor TO de =
scribe the scenes as presented TO my view.
The front of Vicksburg, viewed from the
river, presents to the eye a series of hills
| abruptly rising out of the dark valleys
thickly studded with trees, and an al
most impenetrable underground. The
city is Gmbowered on the side of one of
one of these hills, but is so completely
shut in that it cannot be seen except
from the immediate front or from the
apex OF some of its sister hills, which.
Immediately surrounding il, are now held
by rebel cannon. The rebel line of for
tllcations forms a semi circle, around
which we have drawn our line, in some
instances occupying their works, which,
at the commencement, were intended Co
include much larger interior, say ten
miles, but now not more than six. per
haps, for such is the character of the
country, the unevenness of the surfaoe
and the meandering nature Of the roads.
that it is impossible either TO see anv
considerable portion of our line or tell
its exact extent


THE REBEL DEFENsEs.


One who has seen the movement of a
snake through the grass, especially if the
reptile attempts to turn his course from
right to left, can form pretty correct
idea of the shape of tho rebels line.
On each curve or of the snake-shaped
line place a battery, and draw the head
and tail of the reptile in toward each
other, and yon have the shape of the
rebel line and the position of the de-
fenses. Immediately under all their lat
teries they have lines of rifle pits, COM
pletely commanding the face of the hill
under them, and these pits are in turn
enfiladed by masked batteries


The rebels are said TO be from 25,O0O
to 10000 strong, and have rations for the
latter number for three months. Penn
berton is said to be in command, and
Johnston is expected with reinforce
ments, but lest should wander into the
domain of camp rumor, | shall confine
myself to facts as presented to my own
observation or represented on what |
deem good authority.


At two o'clock on Tuesday then, the
assault was to be made During the
forenoon our batteries tested the rebel
guns, and found that 30-pound PARROTS
were not wanting. This was a sad dis
Covery, for the situation was one of
magnificent distances" and our Par
rolts were few and far off. However the
order was given and the ball was opened
with great vigOr on the right and center.
The left did not come 10 time-cause
unknown to your informant A steady
artillery fire was kept up for two hours
and musketry until sundown. The roar
,f AoyrtE, -
think to hear the dreadful cannonade
that heaven and earth had met in awful
strife.


The rebel center is the strongest of
their wonderfully strong line. On that
point they seem 20 have exhausted all
their skill, and concentrated all their
power not absolutely necessary to hold
their right and left. We advanced in
line and succeeded in some instances Ia
pushing up Immediately under the enc
my's works, but that was all We might
as we'll be ten miles off as two hundred
yards, for our lads on the right, for in
stance, are lying on their faces not dar-
ing to raise a head for fear Of the dread
tul sharpshooiers who are thick as flies
in a hot day. Our casualties are com
paratively few considering the vast ex-
penditure of ammunition, not more, per-
haps, than 800 killed and wounded In
the entire line, and even this number
may be Overestimatsd. The rebel center
is hill crowned with casematsd work,
commanding three sides, and having a
complete and deadly range of our front
for three miles The hill is corrugated
with riGe-pi s, enfiladed with field pieces
and it seems an utter impossibility &
carry it without such a sacrifice Of blood
as must disable the entire army. Five
batteries have been skillfully planted,
and are laundering away az this work.
Our shot and shell are hurled against it |
with precision aud without stint, but !
nothing is effected, and the sun goes
down on over three hundred killed and !
wounded of our brave lads, nObly fight !
ing, in Blair's division alone.


OPERATIONS on WEDNESDAY.


The failure Of Tuesday only served to
whet the edge Of desire, and an electric
thrill ran along the line as shout after |
shout went up to the rebel ears above |
from the throats Of men painting to dash
over every obstacle aud drive them from
their intrenchments.


On our right two 20-pOunder PARROTS
were planted during Tuesday night, aud
at daylight they were opened on 30
FOUNDER Parrot which kept the lst Iowa
and 9TH Ohio Battery almost silent on
Tuesday. The rebels had thrown up
breastwork of cotton during the night
TO give additional strength and effective
ness 20 their gun, but a few shells from
H. - IL ---------- d =