Year: 1866




and, once in, too steep to crawl out; anC
amid the roar of conflict came curses
groans, and shouts from its muddy depths
Geary, prompt to take advantage Of thi
obstacle and diversion in his favor, imme
diately ordered his men to lay low and
sight along the surface of the ground and
thus keep the rebels imprisoned in the
trap into which they had so Unexpectedly
fallen, and at the same time ordered his
artillery to shell the dense woods beyond
the fields in front, in which the enemy
seemed massed in great numbers, and as
the shells were screaming and crashing
through the tangled wood, they became a
fit bass the rebel yells and the patriot
shouts, and the incessant rolling musket-
ry that reverberated against the rocky
heights on either side with prolonged and
deafening roar and rumbled far away in
many an echo. The conflict was fierce
and determined, but the fatal gulch and the
sheeted flame of fire that leapt along our
line, carrying storm of death over the
brink, and the hoarse execution of our
heavy guns among their crowded ranks
beyond, was too much for even Confede-
rate enthusiasm and desperation, and
backward they reeled, sullen and disor-
dered, into the obscurity of the woods be-
yond, leaving the field strewn with their
dead and wounded, and hundreds of their
comrades imprisoned in the gully in front,
who dared not raise their head for fear of
the leaden hail that swept just above its
brink.


Their charge was fercely made and
bravely repelled, but the confidence of
assurance and their overwhelming num-
bers, added to the Importance of success,
made them quickly rally their shattered
columns and make ready for second as
sault. Our dead and wounded were speedi-
ly removed to the rear, where farm
house was improvised for hospital. Our
breast works were strengthen. Troops
were shifted and every measure taken
that could add to our hopes of Defence
The interlude of battle hummed on the
night air, but did not last long, for press
ing up dense masses of troops to the We
ry edge of the gulch, they poured in an
incessant and deadly fire on our barricades,
while strong columns deployed right
and left to turn our wings and, if
possible, attack us in flank. That on our
right partly rushed along the railroad en-
bankment and partly to the right of it,
while that on the left crept along the mar
gin of the wood, turning the head of the
fatal gully and feeling their way along the
margin of the swamp, struck us heavily on
the left wing and stubbornly forced it
back inch by inch-it turning as if on a
hinge about one-third of the way down
the line, thus forcing US back and back
until we were at right angles to our orig
inal position, and our condition OF battle
being on three sides of a square at once.
This forcing back our left wing was ow-
ing to the weakness of our defences in
that direction, and swung us around thro'
our trains parked on that side, and left
them entirely uncovered, and outside OF
our line; and, strange to say, it created a
diversion in our favor. AS soon as our
troops swung fairly clear of the wagons,
the rebels ceased firing and commenced
plundering, thus giving our sorely press
ed veterans chance to rally at the foot
of the knoll on that side. But still the
fight was fierce indeed, and along the front
it was one incessant sheet of angry light
ming, leaping up and down the lines and
flashing on the midnight darkness with
vivid and constant play. Again the ar
tillery came in need. 1t swept the rail
road embarkment on our right and one
gun hauled over the grade by strength OF
hand enfiIadcd their advancing ranks
and moved them down by scores until
batfied aud bleeding they once more roll
ed back on their reserves in the obscure
ty of the wood; aud Geary seeing our
trains captured and our left sorely press:
ed, ordered our guns to fire canister and
percussion shells among the rebels. bust
| ly employed in ravishing our trains on
that side, and at the short range of two
hundred yards they poured in their terri.
BILE death dealing vollcys, crashing amid
the tangled woods, wagon wheels and beds
and plunging animals, and dealing death
and destruction, and quickly threw
them into confusion, rendering the ground
they had taken untenable. Our left wing
being reinforced again pressed them back
and driving them wildly before them
capturing many prisoners among the
wreck of the train, and not only recover
ing their old line of breastwork, but actu'
ally advancing it (turning forward on the
same point it turned backward) some
thirty degrees, along which they threw
up rude dcfenses


This last result was stubbornly and flu
riously made, and as desperately ropulsec
as it was made. Yet in spite OF our de
Ifenses, in spite of the natural strength o
our position and the immense advantage
of our artillery,-we had suffered severely
and our ammunition was running low
and we could plainly hear their hoars'
ominous cry to pick oil the id artll
L ] e -c-l 1nho rnH