Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 11.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[49] effect. Their artillery did not do much injury, as Palmer had silenced eight guns with his regiments, who under cover acted as sharp-shooters, and picked off the cannoneers as often as they advanced to work their pieces. No better evidence can be given of the desperate nature of the conflict between Judah's division and the enemy, than the loss in McLean's brigade, which went into the fight with one thousand three hundred and eighty-eight men, and lost five hundred and ninety-five in the short time it was engaged. General Newton's division pressed the enemy strongly, and inflicted serious injury upon him. Every man, with the exception of half a dozen stragglers, stood up to the work like veterans. A piece of a shell struck Generals Hooker and Manson, but both escaped without serious injury, General Hooker remaining on the field for some time, while General Manson is rapidly recovering from the effects of the shock. About two o'clock the firing on the centre in front of Newton subsided into a slight skirmish fire.

The division of General Cox, which finally turned up on Judah's left, fought with great pluck and obstinacy, driving the skirmishers back upon their main line and the line into their breastworks, from which they poured into his ranks an incessant fire of shell and ball; across valleys, up hills, through gorges, and ravines, they were driven, until they gained their first line of rifle-pits. Cox soon dislodged them and sent them back howling to their more formidable breastworks. At this moment Cox found that he was out of ammunition, and by some stupid blunder on the part of somebody, the trains were too far in the rear from which to replenish his cartridge-boxes. Yet he was determined not be foiled, and gathering together all his strength, he advanced his line. A cheer went up from his boys, and resounded through the hills as his serried line advanced upon the enemy's works, which they carried at the point of the bayonet in splendid style; but not without the loss of many brave men.

The heaviest fighting of the day was on the centre. Palmer's corps, on the right of Newton's division, had heavy skirmishing along the whole line, lasting from half-past 12 until one o'clock, when Carlin's brigade, of Johnson's division, advanced down a slope of a hill, and drove the enemy into their breastworks on the south side of a hill, rising out of the valley on the south. An assault on the breastworks was not ordered. The brigade at once sought cover in a ditch, formed by a dried up stream, and until night covered them, acted as sharpshooters and did good execution in silencing batteries engaged in enfilading Judah and Newton. Mitchell's brigade, of Davis' division, got into a similar position and picked off every rebel whose head protruded above the breastworks.

Turchin's brigade, of Baird's division, joined Judah on the left of Palmer's corps and fought desperately, but were compelled to fall back with Judah's division. The loss in the corps, outside of Turchin's brigade, was light. Captain McDowell, a promising young officer of the Fifteenth Kentucky, was killed during the engagement. Captain Sheridan, of the Sixth Ohio, well-known in Cincinnati as an actor of some ability, is among the wounded, and will probably be compelled to submit to the amputation of his right arm.

The Fourth corps, under command of Major-General Howard, the “one armed veteran,” as he is styled in the corps, played a very conspicuous part in the tragedy of war enacted to-day. All the corps, with the exception of Beatty's fighting brigade, for which room could not be found, as the circle was gradually compressed as we advanced, was engaged and covered itself with imperishable glory. Wood's division was ordered into position on the right of General Stanley just before noon, and was soon hotly engaged with Hazen's and Willich's brigades driving the enemy. For some time a destructive infantry and artillery fire was kept up, and ere long his main line advanced in overwhelming strength upon the enemy, who fled, at his approach, to his rifle-pits, from which the energetic Wood soon dislodged him and compelled him to seek shelter under cover of their breast-works, from which he was driven later in the day. Hazen and Willich's losses were severe, but nothing in comparison with those in the Twenty-third corps, which, to-day, bore the brunt of the battle.

After three o'clock the resistance offered by the enemy on the centre, through which he had vainly striven to force a passage, grew more lax, and very little firing other than skirmishing was heard. Foiled at every point in his efforts to break our walls of iron that environed him, Johnston, early in the afternoon, commenced massing heavily on our left, where Stanley, with as brave a division as ever marched to the music of the Union, had been skirmishing and feeling the enemy while awaiting the developments of the enemy's attempt to break the centre. Generals Sherman and Thomas were not slow to detect the enemy's design, and preparations to resist it were at once commenced. Joe Hooker's gallant Potomac veterans were selected at once, and immediately retired from the line and commenced moving to the left of Stanley, whose flank was covered by McCook's cavalry, in front of which Johnston was massing his columns for the desperate effort. Hooker arrived none too soon.

At seven o'clock, when quiet reigned along the whole line, with an occasional interruption from a sharpshooter's rifle, the expected attack came. Down upon Stanley's exposed flank came the enemy in overwhelming numbers. For a few minutes the line nobly resisted the terrific shock; but as it was renewed with ten-fold fury by the enemy, who fought with a desperation equal to anything ever performed by our own soldiery, the line wavered, and the regiments on the left were giving back in confusion and disorder, when, above the roar of the artillery